#i'm starting to doubt my writing ability a little bit but it might just be bc of burnout and imposter syndrome in my academic life

[amiharana]

15, 28, 🧑‍🎨 !!!

(ask games from here and here)

i am Desperately going to try to keep all these sections shorter than i would normally write because i have to answer three things and i'm not trying to make this a graduate dissertation on revalink so HERE WE GO BESTIES

🛌 15. Going through their bedtime routine.

link's bedtime routine is pretty simple and it looks like this:

take a shower. he uses shampoo, conditioner, and body wash personalized to his hair & skin conditions that revali forcefully helped him choose. it's because he used to use that fucking. 7-in-1 body wash shit and revali was appalled when he found out

brush his teeth & hair. link feels like the type of guy who doesn't like mint chocolate ice cream because it tastes like toothpaste. revali argues with him about it all the time because what the fuck kind of toothpaste tastes like ice cream and they have to switch him to kiddie non-mint toothpaste

moisturize. link also used to not do this until revali made him. it's not like he had super dry skin before, but after he started using lotion, revali would absentmindedly rest a hand on his thigh or something and caress it because it's soft. so link kept using moisturizer LMFAO

get dressed. he only sleeps in boxers. he would actually like to sleep naked, but revali said no :[

wait in bed for revali to be done with his bedtime routine 😞 he whines the whole time about how revali is taking too long and that he's cold

wrap himself around revali like a koala when revali finally gets into bed. revali complains because he's probably got a sheet face mask on and he doesn't want it to fall off, but he's weak for link so he just lets himself get wrapped anyway. simp

sleepy time <3 link falls asleep easily if he's with revali 🥺🤍 revali is basically his safety blankie

but revali's bedtime routine... whew. revali does a slightly different thing everyday depending on what day of the week it is like he's got a hair-focus day, a face-focus day, body-focus day, etc you know what i mean? he's got a routine for every fuckin part of his body fr but here's like a general daily list

shower. actually, revali is the type of guy who does a bath and lights candles n shit, but if he's short on time, he'll do a shower. and by short on time, i mean link is whining at him from the bed to hurry up because he wants to cuddle so. revali has three different conditioners, shampoos, and body washes, and a body scrub, and all of them are from sustainable brands. he also has a couple of those pumice stones to get rid of calluses on his feet and keep them soft. he only washes his hair once a week because his hair is thick and regularly uses hair masks and protein supplements for his hair.

skincare. compared to link, revali usually does one of those 10-step korean skincare routines KJHDFKDJ he has a morning routine and a night routine, he double cleanses every other day, he exfoliates every three days, he has five different essences, dermatologist-prescribed treatments because he used to have terrible acne in his teens, and he even has a mini-fridge where he stores all of his skincare products, sheet face masks, pimple patches, etc. revali definitely got some fucked combination skin and had a lot of cystic acne in his teens, so he's very well-prepared for any skin mishaps. and it all pays off because you will not find a SINGLE blemish on this man's face. lowkey thinking about making an actual fully fleshed out morning and night time skincare routines for him.

get dressed. revali the type of guy to have matching shirt-and-pants pajama sets. the type of guy who has one of those sleeping caps AND a sleeping mask over his eyes. freak

most days, revali is probably doing a hair and/or face mask before bed for 20 mins to an hour, so he'll have a whole hair wrap in and a face mask on getting in bed with link who latches onto him immediately. link is a sleepy little guy as we all know, so of course he wants to go to sleep the moment revali gets into bed with him, but he hates it when revali moves to get up and wash out the hair mask or throw away the face sheet mask, etc. link was already warm and comfortable, why did you move!!! so they both just talk about their days or whatever to try to keep link awake until revali is done with his hair/skin treatment masks.

btw revali also taps the product into his skin and uses face rollers. the first time link sat by while revali was doing his skincare routine, revali was tapping the toner into his skin and link was like ???? Why are you hitting yourself????? and revali was like. it's for stimulation and blood circulation. and link was still like ??????? but now he really likes it when revali uses face rollers on him because it's vv relaxing

revali goes to sleep with a silk hair wrap to keep his hair moisturized. they also have silk pillowcases that revali insisted they buy because cotton dries out your hair.

and FINALLY, revali will get back into bed to let link wrap around him once more and go to sleep with the glossiest, most moisturized and perfect skin and hair ever fr

🍺 28. Link gets into a bar fight and Revali steps in to help.

(disclaimer: i've never been in a bar fight or a fight ever, so this is what i imagine it would be like LOL)

link is dodging a punch by the time revali finds him on the other side of the bar. he's got a nasty black eye, a bleeding split lip, and his gorgeous blond hair that revali had lovingly braided prior to coming here is a rat's nest on his head. his face is pulled into a snarl, brows furrowed in anger and concentration. revali sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose; no matter where they go, link is a beacon to all trouble.

by the time link's assailant is gearing up to throw his next punch, revali has already made his way to link and he pulls his boyfriend back by his elbow. link yelps in surprise, falling backwards into revali's chest, while his assailant loses his balance at the lack of a target and faceplants onto the floor. link is hot to the touch, and revali can practically feel the blood and adrenaline thrumming underneath his skin.

"'vali?" the blond says, looking back at him with wide eyes. "how did you—?"

"you aren't every difficult to find," revali replies, deadpan. "you leave a path of destruction wherever you go, and if i lose sight of you, the chances you've already gotten into trouble are incredibly high."

link winces. whether it's from an injury or guilt, revali doesn't know but he doesn't like seeing link in pain either way. "sorry."

"it can't be helped now," revali sighs resignedly, and lets link stand up on his own. he immediately misses the warmth. "let's just go home already. you look terrible." contrary to his words, revali's gaze softens and he reaches up to cradle link's cheek with a hand, brushing his thumb against the corner of his lip with a featherlight touch. link's shoulders drop, his eyes fluttering, and revali almost smiles; he loves the way link relaxes at his touch.

"no way!" shouts the assailant, who has since drunkenly struggled his way up to his own two feet again. "we're not done here! blondie's got a lot to 'pologize for!"

revali narrows his eyes at the extremely drunk man and drops his hand, stepping in front of link. "and what exactly does he have to apologize for?" he says curtly. "in fact, it should be you who should apologize for wasting my time and assaulting my boyfriend."

the man's face flushes a bright red and he grits his teeth, swaying in one spot. "how about you and your boyfriend get down on your knees and say sorry for being pathetic instead?"

revali's jaw tightens and link tries to step forward. "shut the fuck up, man—" he starts, but revali holds an arm out over link's chest, keeping his eyes on the man.

"we will do nothing of the sort," he says, his voice as sharp as the point of an arrow. then, revali takes a deep breath and suddenly throws a punch, his fist colliding hard with the man's jaw. he drops to the ground, knocked out, and a collective hush falls over the people surrounding their portion of the bar. revali gives a nod of acknowledgement to all of them.

"a good evening to the rest of you," he says, polite but terse. "we'll be taking our leave now." then, he grabs link's arm and stalks towards the entrance of the bar, the blond following after him easily.

he doesn't stop to breathe until link is safely seated and buckled in the car, and he's in the driver's seat and the doors are locked. so much for a casual night out with link.

revali turns to look at link, who is looking down at his hands in his lap. "are you alright?" he says gently. "did you sustain any other major injuries?"

"i took a couple hits to the ribs," link mumbles. "hurts a lot."

revali chews on his lip. he might have fractured a rib. "okay. does it hurt enough that we should go to the ER?"

link feels around his ribs for a moment before shaking his head. "think i'm okay, might just be bruised bad. just wanna go home now..." his voice falters and he still won't look at revali, and that hurts more than his worries about link's injuries.

"hey," revali says, trying to make his voice as soft as he can. "look at me, please?" link doesn't move. "songbird, please?" link glances at him but returns to his initial position. "little jewel?" the blond pauses before moving his head just enough that revali can see his eyes. "there we are, snowdrop. tell me what's wrong please, darling."

"nothing," link mumbles and fidgets in his seat. "just... sorry for all of that, and being an inconvenience. he was being a fucking creep to this girl and wouldn't leave her alone, and no one else was doing anything about it. so i wasn't going to just stand there and let it happen. but it escalated before i realized and we started fighting and..." link fidgets even more. "tonight wasn't supposed to go like this. i'm sorry."

revali just stares at him for a couple moments. of course link's selflessness wasn't going to allow itself to be ignored in such a moment. "it's alright, songbird," he says. "you did the right thing. i'd rather not find you beaten half to death the next time you do something like that, but i'm not mad. so can you please actually look at me?"

and this time, link complies. his eyes are bright and wide and shining blue, and revali is reminded why blue is his favorite color. he reaches over to take link by the back of his neck and presses a kiss to his forehead. "i love you," he murmurs against link's skin. "let's go home and clean you up, okay?

"okay," link whispers back. "you're not mad?"

"i'm not," revali assures him. "irritated that you were in a fight and that the guy was an arrogant shithead, but i'm not mad at you. never."

link hums. and after a second— "but if you're not mad, then why no kiss?" and taps on his mouth.

revali rolls his eyes. "i just gave you a kiss on the forehead. i'm not kissing you on the mouth right now, it's covered in blood, idiot."

link pouts. "whatever. let's go already." he sits back in his seat with his arms crossed.

revali snorts. "you can have mouth kisses when we get home and you wash up and treat your other injuries. does that sound acceptable?"

"i guess," link replies, but revali can hear a smile to his voice.

"okay," revali says, turning back to the wheel, smiling himself. "let's go home then, songbird."

🧑‍🎨 A musical artist where you drop everything to hear their latest work

it's bts. i'm purple blooded through and through y'all 🤞💜

i swear it's like a whole event for me every time there's a bts comeback or if one of the members is having solo promotions or something. keeping up with bts is so difficult bc these mfs don't know what the word "rest" means, they're always dropping new content all the time year-round 😭 i mean in comparison to other groups, armys are WELL FED, we are never starving in terms of content. but by god is it overwhelming ☝️😞

like crow is gonna beat my ass but i've watched like. five episodes of 'in the soop' season one, 10 episodes of run bts, and like. one episode of 'bon voyage' i forget which season but it's the one where they went to hawaii. LIKE I STRUGGLE SM TO KEEP UP WITH THEIR VARIETY CONTENT but if it's the music, i'm fucking there baby. except for D-DAY as of recently because i've been depressed. i will listen to it soon (tonight methinks i'll liveblog it if anyone's interested)

[d34dg1rl5]

Hi! New follower here!

I don’t really know what you write for but I thought I’d ‘shoot my shot’! 😂

Do you think you could write ✨something✨ for a dbd? Like the killers (or at least Ghostface because I love him lol) meeting a new member who completely dominates the maps?

Like he/she/they/we know our way around the maps, know how to get away and even mess with the killers before getting away to safety.

(I’m basing this idea like a former player of the game just spawning into a game in the entity’s realm and just enjoying the whole experience, even if the occasional ✨hit✨ is unavoidable)

If not I completely understand, keep up the good work!! ❤️

Hello! I am so sorry for not seeing this earlier! Of course I can do this, I added some other killers to it too, I hope you like it!

Danny Johnson (Ghostface)

💀 You think you dominate the maps? Yeah, you might. But he knows them the best.

💀 You navigate through the maps, knowing them better than your own house. But suddenly Danny jumps out from around the corner.

💀 "Did you really think I didn't study those maps all these years I've been here? How cute!" He aims for your chest but you manage to dodge his attack, earning a cut across your arm.

💀 "Shit-" You run as fast as you can knowing your way around the MacMillan Estate. Now someone just needs to open that stupid exit gate, so you all can escape! Danny hasn't even killed one yet, what is up with him today?

💀 The siren blares and the timer starts to run down. Quickly you make your way across the map and finally reach the opened exit gate, the way to freedom - for now.

💀 Just as you want to get to the sweet exit gate, Danny suddenly jumps out from behind a bush, tackling you down. You're now laying on your back, Danny is sitting on your stomach.

💀 You can't see it but he is grinning behind his mask. "Not so snarky now, are we?" He puts his knife to your cheek, slowly digging the sharp blade to it, drawing blood.

💀 "Goodbye, toots. You gotta study a little bit more if you want to handle me!" With that, he plunges his knife into your chest multiple times. Just before everything goes black he lifts his mask a little above his mouth, pressing a little kiss to your cheek. "See you!~"

Frank Morrison (Legion)

🎭 Frank gets tired after a few minutes of chasing you around the Yamaoka Estate. How the hell are you even that good?!

🎭 He gives up and just lets you run away. But this made you turn and look at him. "What? Are you tired?" You giggle waiting for his reaction.

🎭 Frank angrily turns towards you, gripping his knife tightly in his hand. "Shut the fuck up, you asshole! Just fucking get lost! You should be grateful that I'm not killing you on the spot!"

🎭 You shake your head. "I'm just too good at looping you. You're too slow."

🎭 Frank grunts and suddenly goes into frenzy mode. He lunges forward but you quickly loop him again, making him yell in frustration.

🎭 "I will fucking get you next time, twat!" He angrily walks off, not bother to chase you again for the remaining trial.

Max Thompson Jr. (Hillbilly)

⚒️ Max is angry. And sad. And frustrated. And doubts his abilities as a killer. Just because of you!

⚒️ As soon as he sees you're in a trial with him, he ignores you completely. He won't give in to the annoying clicking sounds of your flashlight or to you hopping in and out of a locker to make him come to you.

⚒️ You know your way around every map imaginable. Even when he's tunneling you it's a rare occasion when he actually lands a hit.

⚒️ Like I said, he starts to ignore you. He doesn't care if he displeases the Entity by not sacrificing you. He'd rather be punished than to put up with you looping him the whole time and dropping pallets on his head (his head already hurts!).

⚒️ If he sees you at the exit gates, he SOMETIMES tries a chainsaw attack but you dodge it as always.

⚒️ He's trying his best, but you're just way too good.

Me re-reading this realizing it's so bad because I didn't write a fanfiction in AGES:

Also. I am now part of the CoD community. Ghost and König got my heart. And Soap too. Oh my god, did y'all know how König is austrian?? It's so funny because I'm austrian too?? Like whaaaaaat. Anyways, feel free to send asks, inbox is open! Love youuuu ❤️✨

[snakebites-and-ink]

Whumper-Turned-Caretaker CYOA 10

CW for the series | Masterlist

You chose to chat some more.

You’re gonna try to hopefully get to know them better. For someone you’ve been around so much, you know little about them. You didn’t exactly keep them around to talk with.

What do you want to learn? Hobbies are a good place to start, right? Not overly personal, and maybe something you could use to make them a bit happier. "So, Whumpee, what do you like to do for fun?"

They hesitate, most likely cautious about having their answer used against them.

"There's no trick, I'd just like to know," you reassure.

“I, um, like to read, I guess sir,” they answer timidly.

“Alright, cool. What kinds of things do you like to read?”

"Anything, really, but especially sci-fi."

You make a mental note. Maybe you'll make a library trip later. 

You avoid the deep stuff for now; you don’t want to undermine whatever hesitant trust you’ve managed to build up with them by making them relive their capture or reminding them of the things they’ve missed most because of you. You tell them your favorite color and find out theirs is green, and you get a bit of a better idea what kinds of foods they like.

You stifle a yawn. Probably means it's time to figure out Whumpee's sleeping arrangements.

There’s a spare room they could stay in, but it doesn’t have a proper bed currently. You do have an air mattress you could get out and inflate. You’d really rather not give up your own bed, though maybe you wouldn’t mind sharing.

Taglist: @kabie-whump, @whumpanthems, @whumpsoda, @3-2-whump, @generic-whumperz,

@taterswhump, @alivenova, @whumped-by-glitter, @expressionless-fr, @whumpycries,

@whumpsday, @moons-cozy-corner, @echo-goes-aaa, @whumplr-reader, @starfields08000,

@whump-blog, @ivymyers, @currentlyinthesprial, @lumpofsand, @coffin-hopping,

@sunglasses-in-the-bentley, @catnykit

*Note: This may not be the final version of this chapter. I'm feeling sick right now so I'm doubting my current writing abilities/brainpower and I might come back and revise this once I'm feeling better. The general idea will at least be the same. But I'm putting it out as-is for now so the poll duration constraints don't shift the whole updating schedule to be late because of one bad day*

[robinwithay]

robyn's top/bottom/sub/dom azicrow analysis or Nobody Asked: The Post

so. i think it makes the most sense, thematically, for Aziraphale to be a sub(ish) bottom, and Crowley to be a dom(ish, service) top.

a bold claim, perhaps, i grant you. hear me out.

i'm gonna start by saying that ultimately, i think they are both very capable of switching - i just believe they also both have strong preferences. also that this is just my opinion, and i'm not trying to attack anyone in particular or piss anybody off by making this post. i'm writing it for fun, feel free to ignore it.

let's get something straight, shall we? top, bottom, dom and sub have NOTHING to do with the way that you look or move. nothing. zip. zilch. nada.

being a top, a bottom, a dom or a sub, and indeed the ability to switch between and combine any of those, are all in your personality and dynamic(s) with your sexual partner(s), and even sometimes whether you are physically able to take a particular role. your body type and look can contribute to those dynamics if you participate in certain gay subcultures, but even then, it isn't exactly set in stone.

there are implications to topping/bottoming in terms of angel and demon characters specifically, i think. there is duality in both; topping can be seen as dominating, subjugating and taking, but it can also be a selfless act of service, of giving, even of worship. bottoming, likewise, can be seen as lazy and self-indulgent, letting the focus be on you and your pleasure, or it can be seen as passive and innocent, an inactive role. it's probably worth mentioning that it's usually in cishet sex that topping is seen as taking and bottoming is seen as passive, and the opposite in queer sex. obviously, A+C are undeniably queer as fuck, no matter your headcanons.

considering Aziraphale and Crowley's characterizations, where they generally align with what you expect of an angel and a demon but also rebel against those expectations in their own way - Aziraphale being a hedonist, bastard angel and Crowley being a kind, moral demon - i think it fits best for Crowley to be the selfless one, and Aziraphale to be the one indulged. this is also what we're shown is their dynamic canonically, as well.

Aziraphale likes to be rescued, Crowley likes to be his rescuer. Aziraphale passes over the opportunity to do something good and selfless, something that a demon would otherwise have no reason to do, to Crowley every time he gets himself in trouble, and how intentional that is is another discussion entirely. he loves to be the damsel in distress, and we have no idea how long that's been going on, really - how long he might have been doing that just for an excuse to see Crowley before realizing that Crowley liked it, too. that's getting into the weeds of speculation a little bit, but based on what we see in the show, the fact remains that Aziraphale indulges Crowley in his fantasy of being a protector while he is vulnerable and swooning.

i have no doubts whatsoever that Aziraphale is actually capable of rescuing himself, but that's not the point - it's one of their rituals. it's a scene. Aziraphale textually acknowledges the fact that he likes to be taken care of, and that he knows Crowley likes to take care of him, in S2E5 - "rescuing me makes him so happy!"

we all agree he's Anthony J. "Acts of Service" Crowley, right? why would that not translate to the bedroom?

i think this also relates to their respective purposes given by Heaven and Hell. we know Aziraphale is made as a guardian, a warrior, a fighter with a flaming sword. as an angel, Crowley is a creator, a studious inventor, and then as a demon, he is the tempter, a sssneaky sssnake who uses words and manipulation; someone who uses brains over brawn, either way.

in their relationship, Crowley and Aziraphale allow one another to shed these given roles and embrace the opposite of their purpose. Aziraphale was MADE to fight, it's what Heaven expects of him (he's expected to fight in the war at Armageddon, after all) but he's...soft. he gave away his sword out of selflessness and refuses to fight in the war, openly dislikes conflict, violence and tbf, exercise as well. Gabriel calls him soft in s1 and appears to be referring to his physicality; regardless of the fact that an angel probably shouldn't particularly understand or care about human beauty standards, Aziraphale seems to feel some guilt about the fact he's soft, both physically and mentally. it's not what he was built for, but he also clearly likes the way he is - he could change it, but he doesn't. he likes to be soft, a creature of comfort. it just doesn't gel with what Heaven made him for.

(as an aside, i think this is part of the reason that the widely-accepted headcanon that Aziraphale is secretly very fit and buff bothers me, personally.)

but because Crowley loves him, it's alright. Crowley in his role as protector takes the responsibility of being that strong warrior Aziraphale is supposed to be away from him, says "it's okay that you're not what Heaven made you for, you don't have to be. i'll do it for you." and in return, Aziraphale allows Crowley to be something a demon is not supposed to be - a hero of the story, a saviour. Aziraphale IS fiercely protective of others, still, especially humans, so this is arguably also Crowley saying "you protect everyone else, but who's protecting you?"

Crowley isn't physically strong either, but he doesn't have to be to protect Aziraphale. Aziraphale clearly has so much faith in Crowley's ability to think and talk his way around a problem, to put those devilish smarts to good use. again, in S2E5, he says "Crowley will be back in a moment, he will have a plan."

this swapping of roles, to me, supports the idea that they would also swap roles when it comes to sex. Aziraphale is indulged, Crowley indulges him.

i think fandoms have a problem - well okay, they have a lot of problems actually - but the problem HERE is the knee-jerk reaction that expectations MUST be subverted.

sometimes expectations don't need to be subverted, sometimes tropes exist for a reason. it can in some cases even be actively unhelpful, disregard authorial intent and clear characterization to attempt to subvert tropes via headcanon. i see this issue A LOT as a masculine lesbian; masculine sapphic characters are often softened and feminized ("they secretly love makeup and fem things") by fandom because it makes them more palatable, under the guise of subverting expectations. that's not to say that there aren't masculine sapphics who do like traditionally feminine things, of course there are, but when i see it happen repeatedly to masculine sapphic characters, it starts to form a disconcerting pattern. there is nothing wrong with masculine sapphics who like feminine things - i am one myself - but nor is there anything wrong with masculine sapphics who fulfill every stereotype and expectation in the book.

i, unfortunately, often find myself thinking the same thing about Aziraphale and Crowley. don't get me wrong, the GO fandom is very different from others i've been in, and a lot of the fluid gender representation i see in the fancontent here is absolutely wonderful. unfortunately, i do still feel like i see a lot of railing against the idea that Aziraphale is how he is portrayed in canon; a soft, fat, feminine, perhaps sometimes borderline stereotypical pansy-esque gay man(-shaped being) who traditionally would also be assumed to bottom and/or sub, and force him to fit headcanons that frankly don't seem in-character at all or defy what we are shown to be the truth in canon, all in the name of subverting expectations.

i could honestly say more but i fear what i've said already is confusing enough so i'll stop there. if you get it, you get it, i guess, and please remember that i'm not trying to upset anybody here. i sort of half-joked about making this post and a couple people actually showed interest in reading it, so i wrote it!

don't even get me started on how i think Aziraphale is a brat, i have the receipts

anyways, i'll leave you with the Word Of Sheen;

[niennawept]

20 Questions for Writers

I was tagged by @lordoftherazzles and by @thenookienostradamus! Thank you both! These are some cool questions!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? Thirteen at the moment (not counting an Adar headcanon collection), but likely to be more soon.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 170,865 (not bad for a year and a quarter)

3. What fandoms do you write for? Tolkien broadly (so far it's been Rings of Power, The Silmarillion, and The Hobbit - no LotR yet, but I do have an idea for one)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Click with caution, all of these but the second one are rated E; apparently, I am mostly known for Adar smut: Scars of Silver and Gold, Because the world is ending, Mistletoe Mischief, Calendar Girl, Until the Stars Burn Out

5. Do you respond to comments? Might take me a bit, but yes, I always do. I figure that someone gave me a little of their time in writing out a comment and I can give them some of mine in return. It's especially fun when people are predicting things; I love hearing what they think will happen.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Mmmm. I think it's probably Scars? Without spoilers, my protagonist lost something very important to her and although there's a lot of good things about that ending - she's still going to have that loss to grieve in the next fic and it'll inform her next arc. I'd say it's still a bittersweet ending.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I don't really do purely happy endings? I write a lot of hopeful endings, but most of them have some darkness lurking under them. I guess if I have to pick one, it's into the wild because that's technically a fix-it fic with Nienor getting saved by Mablung. Although, I might continue it some day, and it would inevitably get some Nienna-the-Song-is-tinted-with-grief flavoring.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not so far.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Uh, yes. I'm not sure what "what kind" means here? I guess I've written a variety- from kind of dreamlike and romantic to fics featuring BDSM-related kinks.

10. Do you write crossovers? I have never written one. I think that I'd probably never directly write one. But I might do something like shove Elrond into the plot of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight for a bisexual awakening set sometime in the Second Age. Not sure if that's a crossover or just a retelling though.

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

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes. Into Russian, if I remember correctly. It was a long time ago and I'm not in that fandom anymore.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yeah, I'd say my THAUC piece counts as co-written in the sense that my artist partner and I talked through the main ideas and beats of the story together.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Uhhh for Tolkien, I'm afraid I don't have one (I like a lot of ships, but there's not one all-consuming one). So - I guess I pick Sesshomaru/Kagome from Inuyasha? That's the pairing I read when I don't know what else to read.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I don't start a lot of WIPs. I have a lot more ideas for fics than I have documents or text written, but I do have a Finrod piece that I'm not sure I'll ever finish. I have a lingering idea that might save it, but I think that needs more time in the oven.

16. What are your writing strengths? Mmm - I think worldbuilding, specifically for culture is one of my strengths. I also think that I have a pretty good ability to make OCs that people care about (something that was important with a mostly OC cast).

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I struggle with internality a lot. I find thoughts cumbersome to write, because I process most things by talking them out or writing them down. I also think I could tighten up the cast of characters and subplots. It's something I'll definitely be careful with in novels going forward.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? It really depends on the fic. In Tolkien's world, I think so much of culture is tied up in language that it's a little hard not to include some bits and snatches of other languages. It's important to provide translations in text, I think, but otherwise, go for it if it's important to your characters and your plot.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Alas, I don't talk about that fandom anymore. The author turned out to be terrible.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? Definitely Scars of Silver and Gold. It's my first completed longfic and I'm very proud of it, honestly. Are there some things I'd do differently? Yes. But I do love it. Honorable mention to peaches we devour, dusty skin and all. The YEARNING.

tagging (no pressure, just love): @runawaymun, @polutrope, @melestasflight, @fishing4stars

[invsibl]

hey! i'm super excited to be here and start writing with all of you. you can call me xion (25, she/her). let me introduce my odd little (tall) boy who has a knack for stealing borrowing things. he's a bit grumpy, but also a major goofball. if you want to know more in depth details about jaeyeol, check out my pinned post. if you want to plot with me, just like this post and i'll slide into your dms (respectfully) <3 (we can also plot on dc, just let me know your preference). also, a little heads up, i might be a bit slow with replies since i work a full-time job, but i promise to reply within a week. it just depends on my schedule.

summarized backstory:

yoon jaeyeol grew up as the middle child in a large family, quickly developing middle child syndrome. he always felt like an imposter, as if he didn't quite belong. though his parents loved all their children, jaeyeol often felt invisible to them.

being a quiet kid only made him fade more into the background, harming his self-image. it was as if he didn't even exist. when his main ability eventually manifested, jaeyeol took it as a sign that he was meant to stay unseen.

though jaeyeol wanted to be noticed by his family, he eventually grew accustomed to being invisible and used his ability to his advantage, hiding from his family whenever he wanted to be alone.

most of the time, they were embarrassing and unbearable to be around, so coming home late or staying invisible in his room became the norm.

the moment he turned 18, jaeyeol moved out without telling his family where he was going. they keep trying to locate him, but he never allows them to get close. he calls them occasionally, but only on special occasions like their birthdays.

he hasn't seen his family face-to-face since he moved out, and he doesn't plan on changing that anytime soon.

a bit more info about jaeyeol:

jaeyeol prefers to go by his alias, zed. it's a nickname he gave himself when he was trying to become part of the aeternals. even after being rejected, he decided to keep the name and now uses it at work as a news journalist.

he works at the herald, often roaming around town to report on odd stories, many of which he doubts are even worth reporting.

his neighbors frequently complain about their stuff going missing, unaware that jaeyeol lives by the rule: finders keepers.

jaeyeol's main ability is invisibility, complemented by his minor ability of mimicry. both powers have made him feel lost and out of place. he struggles with his self-image and self-worth, constantly questioning who he truly is.

oddly enough, jaeyeol has a peculiar obsession with the bakery next door. he's a regular and eats there every single day. if he doesn't get his favorite bread daily, he becomes grumpy and takes it out on his peers.

he's an introvert who prefers to stay unseen, finding it easier to be alone than to deal with other people and their issues. unfortunately for him, others interpret his silence as an invitation to overshare and talk nonstop around him, but he hasn't made any effort to change this narrative either.

some vague plot ideas:

co-workers who: get along or don't get along. have to work on a major project together but fail miserably.

neighbors who: can't stand each other or get along really well.

friends who: are inseparable or only hang out from time to time, but are still really close with each other.

let's put their abilities to use: either your muse's abilities can be tested out on jaeyeol or he can annoy your muse with going invisible or turning himself into them.

[igglemouse]

Song of the Day! New Music Friday!

I realized something...this year will be my 10th...yes, 10th year here. I'll probably make a post about it later but it has given me a thought.

I've been here a long time! I feel like a simblr elder, not sure if that is a good or bad thing but...I am surprised to have been here for so long now that I think on it. Even through some times where I wanted to quit. Each time I restarted my legacy was a moment where I felt like just quitting, except the one with the technical issues. Especially that time where a simblr I was very close mutuals with just stop interacting with me and then blocked me. It was very odd. It always made me feel like someone was saying something about me behind my back which was also odd since...I literally just post my stuff here, reblog other stuff, and try to keep positive energy. I remember thinking at the time, was it something I had done? I couldn't figure out why, I'm socially awkward so I thought maybe that was it...

When I started this simblr, nearly ten years ago, I was not in a good place. I was dealing with pretty bad depression, medicated, suicidal, the whole bit. I might have mentioned that over the years here, I doubt it because I'm pretty guarded, but I think back on it posting was the best thing I could have done then. It was a fun escape and knowing that people saw some value in my writing, even if just a little bit, really helped and it pushed me more and more into writing, which was a good thing. It was something I could focus on. I discovered through this that I have this ability to write and write a lot and here I could play out any story idea I had and I've always had so many come and go.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this one! Sometimes, I just have a thought and it turns into something longer. I would say I'll be here ten years longer but honestly who knows?! I think that's more on tumblr than myself lol as I do love tumblr but I hope there's a better platform in that time to migrate to.

I will say, to all the people that complimented me. That said I inspired them to do this or that, reached out to me, to even those that complimented my writing. Even those that did so and seemed really into my stories until just randomly unfollowing and ignoring me...well, no take backs! I've absorbed all the nice and positive thoughts. Not that they would be reading this any way lol.

So, I guess if you wonder "Why does she keep saying stuff like that!" I guess that's why, maybe its being dramatic but since tumblr/simblr played such a big role in me writing in general I know it meant a lot to me when people have shown me love in any kind of way. Taking things a day at a time is also important to my mental I guess that's why I've always tried to post daily. It's something I've been told years ago to always look forward to something tomorrow and keeping my little legacies going is one small thing in my life that has been pretty consistent.

So yeah! Ten years here will be a cool achievement! If I have the time and have the health maybe ten more years! I feel like even if I became a millionaire I'd still be posting >.&lt; and that millionaire thing is ahem...might be a possibility...life is much better for me now then when I started doing this!

OH! For those new followers, sorry, I do this like 2-4 times a month. I do used my SOTD posts for venting, ranting, talking, whatever!

Also Maria and Araceli tomorrow!

It's always too early to quit. ~ Norman Vincent Peale

[bouncydragon]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks for the tag @amidnight--dreary!

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

Currently 46. No doubt there will be more to come, once I manage to actually finish any of my WIPs.

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

234.084. I'm a little disappointed in myself right now.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The bulk of my AO3 fics are for the MCU but I have moved on from that and I'm mostly writing for Peaky Blinders right now (and possibly in the future as well). I have two unfinished MCU fics that I will eventually finish, I swear. There's also a few fics written for other fandoms but it's usually single fics.

4. Top five fics by kudos

In order: The King Is Dead, Long Live The King, Winter Butterfly, A Simple Act, Early Bird, and Sleepy Head.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes. Though I'm sure I have missed some...

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

Oh, hm. I think it would be Dead Boy's Poem, which in my not so humble opinion is a great story, it's just that it ends very badly.

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'm sure there's a few that qualify... At the top of my head I'd pick there goes my mind racing, just because it's a story that's very dear to me and one I actually love to reread. But honestly, there's probably a few fics that qualify, A Simple Act would be one of them for example. Winter Butterfly might fall in that category once it's actually finished...

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I think I remember getting some way back when but I can't remember what it was about, not that it even matters. I do recall having a brief argument with the person, I just deleted the comment thread. Nothing since then I think... I hope it remains that way.

9. Do you write smut?

Ah, well, not really. I have tried my hand at it but it wasn't anything explicit, basically everything but, so right leading up to the steamy stuff. I felt a bit awkward writing that, so I probably stick to hinting at stuff etc. But who knows, perhaps in the future...

10. Craziest crossover?

Well, I don't think I've written crossovers. As far as crazy stories go though, it's definitely the two stories involving the Avengers and resurrected dinosaurs. (Don't ask.)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so, which is good. Hopefully it won't ever happen.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Sadly not. I have translated my own shit though. Well, one. I wrote it in my native language and later translated it to English to post it. That's also one of the first fics I ever posted on AO3, way back in 2019.

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

Yes! Winter Butterfly is a project of the wonderful @worstloki and me, which we really have to finish at some point... I recall that we talked about it at the end of last year, and I forgot to check on the fic since then... Sorry.

14. All time favorite ship?

Ah damn. I have to say that it's probably Tofie (Tommy and Alfie from Peaky Blinders). It's the ship I write mostly for now and also the ship that kind of has stolen my heart, so to speak. I just love bisexual disaster gangsters. It used to be Frostiron. It's the one I've written most for and it still is dear to me but unfortunately it has been dethroned.

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

Oh. At the top of my head it's a fic called "When Dragons Cry", which I haven't posted and it just sits in my docs and judges me. It's Frostiron and Loki is a dragon and his egg has been stolen. There's convoluted lore to it as well.

But also a fic/series called "here I am alone between the heavens and the embers" which is about Tommy from Peaky and ghosts. Do ask me about that. Maybe if I talk about it, I will actually fucking work on it. It's so ambitious in my opinion, and I don't know if I am confident enough in my abilities to actually write it. I mean, I have started it and I do like what I've written, but damn...

There's probably more... Now I feel awful for all the abandoned projects... Anyway!

16. What are your writing strengths?

I cannot answer this because I don't know. Even if I think longer about it, I probably won't be able to come up with a satisfactory answer. It's probably something others are more capable of answering for me.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Honestly, same answer as 16. Though I guess I could say smut because it's just something I haven't practiced as much.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I think it's good. Though my language knowledge is very limited. I have used some in the past but it's usually very simple phrases that even a translator cannot fuck up.

19. First fandom you wrote in?

I've had that question recently and my answer is still not any more definite. It's probably Naruto, NCIS or Warriors. Though the more I think about it, the more I believe it was Warriors. But can't remember honestly.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

There's a bunch but if I have to pick, I'm gonna pick Lest We Forget again because it's a fic I'm very, very proud of and which deserves more attention in my not so humble opinion.

Tagging some writers, hope you don't mind, also no pressure obviously... @poormeowmeowcollector @justhallucinating @rabentochter @whentommymetalfie @justrainandcoffee @andtherewerefireworks

[ralphiesaces]

thanks for the tag @msmirrorball21 (i think? i couldn't see the tag lol but i wanted to do this anyways!)

-20 Questions for Fic Writers-

How many works do you have on AO3? 3

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 8,194

3. What fandoms do you write for? f1 rpf, tmd, top gun, oceans 11, a little bit of haikyuu during covid too

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? uhh well there's only 3 so promise three words, don't leave unsupervised, and can't start a fire without a spark

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? i try to! i love ppl taking the time to actually comment so i always wanna express my gratitude

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? none, my brain won't let me haha

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? out of my published ones its promise three words

8. Do you get hate on fics? no! thank goodness lol

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? nope, it's not for me!

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? i have not so, n/a

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? no, not that i know of, phew

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? no, i had thought about it but i just don't have to confidence in my french abilities to do so haha

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

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship? hmm great question, probably sakuatsu or ryocean

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? honestly any of my docs, a ryocean one, a osasuna one, a banksway one, a sereshaw one, and a julie/connie one

16. What are your writing strengths? hmm i'm not sure, i think of myself as a very casual writer so i don't know if i have many strengths tbh. if i had to choose one, it might be dialogue or planning?

17. What are your writing weaknesses? definitely flow of the fic and characterization. i feel like my writing style changes so often that the flow and characterization gets cut off/messy

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? i could probably do it in french, but for any other language i would just feel bad for people who are reading it that actually know it

19. First fandom you wrote for? ever? percy jackson. on ao3/tumblr? the mighty ducks

20 Favourite fic you’ve written? at the moment i'd have to go with promise three words, but i'm hoping that i can finish aliferous and that would prob become my favourite

tagging: @magdacimy @nyoomfruits if you want!!

[lokavisi]

how did you develop your clairaudience? i have a hard time hearing loki most of the time, and i could use some tips 😭

That's honestly a great question. I will say that I've been intuiting messages for at least a decade and a half at this point. I was doing it before I even knew what that meant while I was a practicing Christian in high school, though certainly not to the degree that I do now, nor with the ability to recognize exactly who I was hearing. (I presumed the Christian God/Jesus, though in all honesty it could have been any number of angels or even just my higher intuition.) So giving yourself time to develop the skill in general is important. It's also because I've spent so much time with Loki that I am able to recognize when it's them coming through as opposed to anyone else. So again, time. I know that's not particularly helpful when you're frustrated in the here and now, but that has been my experience.

In the mean time, here are some the practices that I do/have done that have helped me build this skill:

1. Tarot or oracle card readings (or other divination tools) - This can be a little more useful when you find a deck attuned to a specific being, but is still a good way to get a sense of who you're talking to. When I started using cards I used an Archangel Michael deck, so I knew who exactly my messages were coming from. Then over time I started to get a little bit of a sense of his personality as I intuited a little bit more beyond just the words on the card. When using a more generic deck, ask your questions to the specific being you are trying to hear. Keep a journal of the answers you get when asking questions of that being in particular. The more you practice, the more you can see if there are certain cards or suits that seem to show up a lot for them, which then gives you a sense of how they communicate. I've found that repetition in that practice has lead to hearing more direct messages as expansions of the cards' meanings. (Which in turn has led to less reliance on cards to hear a message. Though they are still very helpful in this regard when I'm experiencing some mental fog.)

2. Intuitive writing - This is what I was doing during my Christian days and didn't realize I was doing it. (At that time I was reading Bible verses and intuiting prayers.) Another practice involving journaling, write whatever your question is for the being down. Once you do, write the first words that come to your mind. It might be one word, it might be a full sentence, it might be a whole paragraph. The important this is to not overthink it. Just write down the words. Just like with the cards, the more you do this with the same being, the more you'll start to get a sense of their voice. And eventually, it starts to become automatic writing (directly channeled messages, as opposed to intuited). By the time I was working with Loki I was already able to intuit a sentence in response to anything. Now, after spending about 4.5 years with the guy, I can journal full on conversations between us where they use such expansive metaphors it takes up multiple pages of my journal to write. It's exhausting at times lol. This one is easier to doubt when I'm feeling disconnected or unsure of what I'm hearing. It takes a little bit of trust in yourself and the being in question. Though because you're writing it down, you can also go back and refer to previous messages and look for any (in)consistencies that may or may not be present. Anything that seems off might be worth investigating. You can always get confirmation from a tarot card about the message being conveyed if you're really not sure.

3. Put yourself in situations/around people that practice channeling/possessory work - I know this might be challenging depending on where you live and what's available, but the more you see people at work the more you can pick up on the energy of who they're hearing/channeling. For example, I attended a seidr/spae ritual a couple of years ago where two different seers were respectively possessed by Loki and Odin. I had experience with the two of them prior to this ritual, but it felt SO different feeling their energy so present and concentrated in a particular place in front of me (i.e. the seers). As I said, I already had experience with them, so their energy wasn't unfamiliar, but it was much more intense that it's been much harder to mistake it for anyone else in my personal workings thereafter. Besides needing to know people around you who can do the work, there is also the caveat of making sure those workers are legitimate. This is a much less feasible way to build up the skill, but it can be a great supplement to the practices mentioned above whenever you might be able to do so.

I hope this was of some help. It's hard for me sometimes to explain how things work for me in relation to clairaudience because I feel like things just start to happen, even though I do things (like the tarot and writing) to build that skill and connection.

Also, sorry it's taken me a minute to respond. I failed to receive a notification. -_-

[tirsynni]

BIG agree about their relationship; I really love their dynamic and how they're equals to each other, the way few others are, so more of that pls! and 'feud' might have been the wrong word to use re what I meant about RE:V. more like, I personally felt that leon's question to chris and chris' answer wasn't quite resolved? which feels important bcs that question seems to embody where each characters head is at atp in time and they didn't seem to reach an understanding at the end. idk, thoughts?

I agree with you there: the ending drove me nuts. It felt like Leon was asking a serious question and Chris was too busy riding the high of victory (and adrenaline) to pay any real attention to the question, nonetheless provide a sincere answer. When Chris answers with a joke, Leon goes along with it and tries to match the more relaxed mood, and I doubt he brings it up again.

These are bits of conflict that I really, really wish I saw more in fics: Chris and Leon are so dramatically different when it comes to experiences and perspectives. People write fics where the conflict is that they hate each other (see my previous posts on why I hate that) when this conflict is already there. These two absolutely trust each other but their views on the world are so insanely different, and the end of Vendetta shows how it can present problems in their relationship, whether you make it romantic or platonic.

Chris has always been in some position of authority, power, and independence. He's always had the ability to fight and, possibly more importantly, react. When he's done with one fight, yeah, there's probably more fights in the future, maybe even related to this current fight, but he's pretty much done. He's a soldier, a fighter. Organizations like TerraSave handle the clean-up. Other divisions of the BSAA probably help with the clean-up, too, and probably investigations. But in this situation, with Arias, once Arias was defeated, Chris's part was probably done. Debriefings, yeah, but I doubt much else and I doubt that he deals with any significant repercussions from his more dramatic actions. He has the freedom to go after and fight his enemies. He has the power and authority to face minimal repercussions. He gets the victory from defeating Arias and I doubt he has to deal with any of the other issues involved with having a battle in a major city like that: the bloody, nasty aftermath is not his problem.

Leon? From the beginning, he's been involved in an uphill battle. He's had very, very few clear-cut victories. Leon definitely has power and authority by the time we see him in Vendetta but there's always a sword over his head. He's not a soldier working with fellow soldiers like Chris: his first day of work involved him shooting the people who should have been his coworkers, shooting the people who put up a welcome banner for him, and then he's tossed into a viper's nest. He's forced to work for same government that bombed Raccoon City or they kill a little girl. He's surrounded by enemies with no idea who to trust, and often when he does trust someone, he's betrayed later. In Damnation, when he thinks he's making the right choices and fighting the good fight, he discovers at the end that it was a set up from the start. Leon always sticks with his morals and beliefs, and that has to be exhausting when he can't just go "I believe THIS so I'm going to do THIS and I'm going to have a clear victory from it." In his position, he has to bend and be creative and think long-term instead of aiming for an immediate victory. It sounds exhausting with minimal relief in sight.

Chris is a captain and a soldier; Leon is a weapon and a spy. Chris is surrounded by his fellow soldiers, people he can trust. Leon is either alone or with a possible enemy. This has been the status quo for them for over a decade. Just think about that: there is a fifteen-year difference between RE2 and RE6. Leon was just old enough to drink in RE2. By Vendetta, he's edging closer to 40 and Chris is around 40. Years of living like that has to sink deep into the bone. Can Leon even remember how idealistic he was in RE2? Can he relate anymore or is RE2!Leon a complete stranger now? I imagine there's been a hell of a shift for Chris, too, but for him? The core has never really changed.

Vendetta begins and ends with Chris and Leon being in similar positions with dramatically different outlooks. They face tragedies at the beginning. Chris responds with rage and charging forward, determined to stop Arias no matter the cost, including dragging Rebecca and Leon into it. Seriously, neither Rebecca or Leon probably should have been involved and probably wouldn't have been cleared for duty if it wasn't for certain high-level people pushing for it. Leon's position is less clear-cut. Again he was betrayed. Again he was helpless to protect people under his watch. He's exhausted, hiding, licking his wounds, and Chris doesn't respond well to that because the enemy is clear to him when to Leon, the enemy has never, ever been clear. At the end, Chris is cheered by his victory. He had targeted Arias, and now the battle is done. Yay! Leon's exhausted. He knows this isn't the end. He knows that, yes, they defeated one bad guy, but the mess went so much deeper than just Arias.

So Leon asks a serious question and Chris can't hear it and Leon doesn't ask again. Like you see him in previous movies and games, Leon goes quiet and just smiles and hides a thousand secrets behind his teeth while Chris, clever as he is, never notices.

I would love the new movie to address this, but I'm not holding out hope. They like to present problems and not the solutions, which makes sense, as it leaves things open for future possibilities.

[raccoonfallsharder]

tiny lil violet anon here!! hh second guessing is really common w creatives (i would know.. i'm a digital artist) but i want you to know that you're probably one of my favourite fic writers and you actually inspired me to start working on a rocket x reader fic of my own a while back!!! (would you mind if i sent you my fic if i ever finished it?)

honestly, i dont think you have to worry about how well you capture rocket's voice bc honestly you're one of, if not the best i've read— your triptych day 17 fic was genuinely mindblowing for example?? your understanding of how different people write rocket is so in depth and the way you made all three renditions of rocket different but so clearly still rocket got me awestruck (do you have any tips on writing the 3 different rockets btw? i'd love to understand more about how you differentiate them! ><)

i remember reading the boring adventures of space pilot and sweatshirt girl for the first time after reading the rocket comics and thinking that helping rocket out on that ferry was exactly what i was hoping someone would write?? it was the fic i needed and didn't deserve LMAO literally every thing you've written has always filled a gap that i didn't know was there & didn't know i needed ♡♡

sorry for the ridiculously long ask ^^; your work genuinely means so much to me and im totally in love with how you write rocket— while ik every artist doubts themselves, i want you to know that the work you create is so much better than you give yourself credit for!

tiny little violet nonnie!! (⸝⸝o̴̶̷᷄‸o̴̶̷̥᷅⸝⸝) you precious sweet little flower. please don’t apologize for long asks - i love them (they just take a while for me to respond to). this was also so, so sweet, and the idea that any of my writing means a lot to you kinda makes me teary ♡

i would love to read your fanfic! even if you don’t finish it! you can always send it my way via dms or share via ask if you wanna stay on anon. or post it and tag me ♡ the fact that i was able to inspire you a little bit is honestly one of the most lovely compliments i could receive and it is truly an honor

(｡•́︿•̀｡)

i’m also so grateful that you enjoyed sweatshirt girl ♡ one of my favorite things about fanfiction is that it can give us the stories we need and deserve (or give us the opportunity to write them!). honestly reading grounded all i wanted to do was pick up that raccoon and take him home and feed him warm food and that’s how sweatshirt girl happened ♡o(╥﹏╥)o♡

so part of the reason i took a long time to respond is because i was trying to really think about how i write the different rockets. and i decided i only have one “tip” for you (or rather, one thing that worked for me and which i hope might also work for you.

but you know im gonna take ten paragraphs to get there!

tbh even though i refer to them by their respective authors, i don’t think “i need to write rocket like skottie young” or “i need to write rocket like james gunn.” i think “i need to know rocket, and understand him, and figure out how he would react & interact in skottie young’s galaxy” or “in the mcu.”

my short tip for writing any character is understand what makes them tick. what drives them? what do they long for? how do they hurt? what do they fear? in what ways do their insecurities and survival mechanisms weave together and impact the way they see the world, interact with friends, protect themselves from enemies?

your best tool as a writer of characters is your ability to empathize with them.

know and love your characters the same way you do your best friends. as authors we are playing god with their world and their lives and it’s a little bit of a sacred responsibility to at least make sure we understand them as well as we can ♡

so for rocket specifically…

fundamentally, my personal interpretation of rocket in any universe is someone with profound empathy, who feels pain very deeply. and since he hasn’t had the opportunity to like, see & practice healthy coping mechanisms lol, he has learned to survive by trying to hide that empathy and that pain under layers of calcification and sarcasm and spikes and blades. and it like, kinda works?? but sometimes it ends up hurting people who don’t deserve to be hurt and when he realizes that, the hidden empathy kicks in and he hates himself all over again.

and like many people, rocket also doesn’t really want to give up his pain. people tend to fight to keep their most hurtful memories or vulnerabilities locked inside. they build so much of their identities around them.

so the real question comes down to, what is each rocket’s source of pain? how does that impact how he interacts and thinks? what is his support system at the point in time that i’m like, crashing his party? how does that impact his interactions and thoughts?

skottie young’s rocket gets laid, so he’s not going to be worried about seducing anyone tbh. he’s probably got the most confidence out of all the rockets, at least on the surface. geez, the 2014 run? it’s like. all about his copious ex-girlfriends and about he’s the only one of his kind in the whole universe. if i were gonna write a full fic based on skottie young’s rocket, i’d base my foundation on the idea that the reason rocket has so many exes is because he’s constantly searching for something that he doesn’t believe exists (basically, someone who can make him feel not-alone) and he probably ends up sabotaging his chances every fuckin time he gets close.

ewing’s or rosenberg’s rocket? still canonically gets laid but has gotten treated like dirt enough times — including being betrayed by people he trusts at various points — that he’s always waiting for that to happen. and mcu rocket? that boy is so insecure about his worth on every level that if he has any pleasant interaction with anyone, he’s probably baffled about why the fuck it’s happening.

all this to say: how do you see (each) rocket? how does he move through the galaxy his authors creates for him? and how does that change when you step in and make something different for him?

it’s late here and my brain is foggy so i’m sorry if i didn’t fully and properly answer your question, sweet little violet .｡༅:*ﾟ*:✼✿ all this to say that if i am successful at all in effectively communicating rocket, it’s more about studying (my interpretation of) who he is in each setting than studying a writer’s style, if that makes sense.

ahhh good night, little love. i am an old baba yaga and i must sleep

[blackbird0blog]

Avatar Fanfic Rec

In which the rumour mill is thriving, Zuko is ready to give up, and Toph won’t stop laughing.

Also, the citizens of Caldera City might be a bit concerned about how quickly their Fire Lord is apparently going through partners.

A snippet from my favourite chapter, chapter 4:

It's funny, Zuko thinks, how a single letter can ruin your whole day.

In this case, the letter is a piece of unassuming yellow paper, with the words To Fire Lord Zuko written on it in a neat, formal script. It looks like something a noble would write, except it's not tied with silk ribbon or sealed with wax—it's tied with simple brown twine. And the hawk definitely isn't Fire Nation; it's a mottled brown-and-black, with darker eyes than the hawks Zuko's used to.

He opens the letter and immediately chokes.

Dude. 

Did you fuck a dragon? 

xoxo your favourite bounty hunter 

p.s when you send a reply, send it to the blue moon inn in Garsai. It's where I'll be staying for the next few weeks. 

What. The fuck.

How—?

He glances down at the baby dragon snoozing in his lap. Out of all the unexpected things that have happened to him, and there have been a lot, Druk might be the most unexpected. Zuko kind of wishes he could go back and tell thirteen-year-old Zuko that, in twelve years' time, he'd be Fire Lord with a baby dragon at his side, because apparently the baby dragon had imprinted on him when he grabbed its egg by mistake.

That...is what happened, right? Like, Druk's just imprinted? He's not Zuko's biological kid?

Oh, spirits, now Zuko's starting to doubt himself. He didn't sleep with Ran and Shaw, did he? That whole day is kind of a blur. Do dragons have the power to hypnotise people? Do they have the power to erase certain memories?

"Hey." Aang nudges him in the side, startling him out of his unwanted reverie. "Are you okay? Was the letter bad?"

Oh, right. He's at a dinner. With his friends. 'Friends' includes Aang, who was at the temple with him and knows what happened.

"Aang," he says, mentally steeling himself for the onslaught of teasing, "you know that day, when we went to visit the dragons? I didn't, um. I didn't fuck them, did I?"

All conversation dies, immediately.

Aang stares at him, his eyes so wide Zuko can see a full ring of white around the grey pupil. "What."

Zuko closes his eyes. "Please tell me I didn't sleep with one of the dragons. Or both of them. I don't know how dragons work."

"I—why would you—?!"

"So I didn't do it, right?"

"No!"

"Oh, thank Agni." He lets his head fall forward into his hands.

"Dude," Sokka says, "you've got issues."

"Zuko fucked a dragon?" Toph asks, sounding entirely too gleeful about it, that little shit. "Is that why he has Druk?"

"I didn't fuck a dragon," Zuko snaps. "I think we've just established that."

"You shouldn't have to establish that!" Katara looks more than a little disturbed. "Why would you even think you did it in the first place?"

Zuko waves June's letter. "It's from June. She asked me if I fucked a dragon."

Toph snatches it out of his hands. "What's it say?" Sokka asks, leaning over the table.

"How many times do I have to say it, Snoozles? I'm blind."

"Oh, right." Sokka takes the scroll from her and clears his throat.

"The letter says, 'Dude, did you fuck a dragon'," he declares. "And...that's it." He looks at Zuko. "That's it? That's all it took for you to start wondering if you fucked a dragon?"

"I don't know!" Zuko defends. "Maybe I did fuck a dragon and I just don't remember it!"

"How do you not remember fucking a dragon?"

"Dragons have been almost extinct for a hundred years, Sokka. For all we know, dragons have the ability to erase memories."

"I think we're all ignoring the big question here," Suki pipes up. "Which is: why does June think you fucked a dragon?"

Zuko points at her, inadvertently jostling Druk. "Yes! Thank you! That's what I—"

He doesn't get to finish his sentence, because Druk does not like being woken up before sunrise. He makes this very, very clear, by climbing Zuko like a goddamn tree and tearing his outer robe to shreds.

"Hot," Suki says, as the tattered remains drift to the floor. "You should show off more, Zuko. You've got a sexy bod."

"Fuck you all," Zuko announces. Druk curls up on top of his head.

Toph grins and leans back in her chair. "Nah. That job's reserved for the dragons."

[frostyyyroyalmilktea]

Nevermore!Tyler x Thorpe!Reader pt.6

part 1 part 7 this fic on ao3

Hi loves! I know it's been like three months since I updated this story and I'm sorry! Life happens and school does too and also my health started acting up a bit so yeah. It's a lot. This chapter is Tyler's POV with a little bonus at the end. I'm thinking I might starts writing more of his POV, I hope you'll like this format. I'm still going to write MC's POV as well but it'll probably be somwhere around 50/50 split. I just love writing Tyler's perception sm (°◡°♡)

Hope you enjoy! Don't hesitate to drop me a comment telling me what you think (*σᴗσ)

Tyler

Tyler spent a lot of time learning how to tune out the noise in crowded places. With his enhanced senses that shit didn’t come easy. Dr. Shin has been a tremendous help in all of it, and these days Tyler has almost perfected the ability to just not hear every conversation or discern every smell in a 1000 feet radius.

Today, however, something feels off. Tyler can feel the attention directed at him itching under his skin. It’s been like that since he sat down for breakfast 15 minutes ago. People keep throwing very much not stealthy looks at him every couple of minutes like they’re expecting a bomb to suddenly go off where he’s sitting. The conversations are hushed and Tyler’s growing anxiety hinders his ability to concentrate and listen in on at least one of them.

So he just sits there, pulled taut like an exposed nerve, and waits for the other shoe to drop.

Y/n is late again, which by her standards is not late at all. Her morning cup of tea is steaming next to his own breakfast. Cereal was not on the menu today so Tyler grabbed some sugary thing that may or may not be a croissant under all those layers of strawberry jam and nutella. Makes him a bit nauseous to even look at it. Y/n devours it in three bites and calls it God’s gift to humankind. Figures.

Tyler is wiping nutella off her face, the two of them pretending that it is beyond any shadow of doubt a task that requires outside help and not just some awkward flirting technique—God, they’re so bad at this—when Enid plops down at their table looking like she hasn’t slept at all and is already operating on at least four coffees. It gets more concerning, though. She’s followed by Wednesday, who’s followed by Xavier fucking Thorpe himself. Tyler is still confused about their conversation on Saturday. Xavier on the other hand seems to be less hostile towards Tyler this morning than usual. Which is very worrisome.

Enid takes a chair next to y/n, Wednesday sits down next to Enid, and Xavier sits down next to Wednesday, which coincidentally also puts him next to Tyler. Y/n doesn't seem awake enough to comprehend the sheer weirdness of the unfolding scene until Enid turns to her and asks, wide-eyed and distressed, “Have you seen it already?”

Y/n blinks at her a few times, confused. “Seen what, babes?”

Enid passes her phone with trembling hands. Tyler can hear the beating of Enid’s heart, which at the moment resembles a rabbit on Red Bull.

Y/n plays the video that was already pre-loaded. It’s a clip from Good Morning America, a musical segment in Central Park. The title reads Jeremiah Elffire Presenting His New Single “Trust Fund Baby” Live From Central Park!  

Tyler is vaguely aware of this guy because he remembers watching a show on Disney with him as the main character a couple of years ago. Tyler is generally clueless about pop culture so he’s somewhat confused about why exactly is Enid freaking out so hard right now. Did this guy get super famous after his Disney days?  The view count is already sitting at over 500k even though the video was uploaded less than an hour ago.

When y/n hears the first verse, she goes uncharacteristically still.

“I don't want a girl who gets a car for her sweet sixteen

Or spends a stack of dollar bills on a limousine

I want a girl who takes the bus and who wears baggy jeans

Rockin' Nike Airs, what the hell are Louboutins?”

Tyler’s still not sure what exactly is going on here but the angry grinding of y/n’s teeth tells him it’s not anything good.

Xavier leans into his ear and in a conspirational whisper about as subtle as a tornado warning siren informs Tyler, “That’s her ex,” gesturing at the screen of Enid’s phone with his spoon. Then he goes back to eating his oatmeal as if nothing happened.

The video goes on.

“Don't want no fake tan, short skirt, daddy's money don't work

Shop until you drop on the town

I want a smart girl, stronger than her father

Someone who will laugh at tryna fit in the crowd”

“And all we used to dream about

Is getting rich and getting out

Move to the nicer part of town

Where we'd have numbers on our house”

“You little asswipe,” y/n seethes, “you’re from fucking Palo Alto!”

“I don't really want no trust fund baby

I like my women independent

And I say to people, that's my lady

And we don't need nothing else”

“I don't want a girl who takes selfies, want her makeup free

Don't want no mean girl, lady in pink, prom queen”

The plates and cutlery on every table in the dining hall start rattling. Y/n doesn’t notice and Tyler fears that any second now she might accidentally shower people in their own breakfast.

“I want a throwback kid who loves Missy Elliot

Who for my birthday, makes a mixtape and puts it on cassette

Want a girl with common sense, who's dripping in competence

Don't wanna die to get rich but she loves Fifty Cent”

“Alrightie,” Tyler says with confidence he doesn’t feel. “I think we got the general gist here,” he gently extracts the phone from y/n’s deathly grip with some help of his superstrength and hands it back to Enid. 

Enid starts rambling like someone has put her on 2x speed, “I am so sorry to be the one to show you this, oh my god, I hope you don’t hate me or anything but I just, I just thought it would be like a thousand times worse if you haven’t seen it and everyone will be talking about it at school because you guys were absolutely an it couple and all, and then you’re going to be caught off guard and…” Enid runs out of breath, but before she can continue y/n gently catches her hands—which were flying in every direction as Enid tried to reinforce her point with frantic gesticulation—and catches her eye. “It’s fine, Enid.” 

Y/n’s soft and steady voice momentarily deflates Enid’s agitated demeanor. “But, but…” Poor thing tries to form a coherent sentence but she’s not very successful. To be completely fair to Enid though, if Tyler was in her position right now, with y/n’s attention focused on softly comforting him, he probably wouldn’t even be able to recall his own name. 

“It’s just a gimmick. A former Disney kid desperately clinging to relevancy at the expense of a high-profile relationship he was in and a catchphrase that will cause some stirring in the media. Don’t get worked up over this, love. And don’t comment on it to anyone. Publicly or privately. Present company excluded.”

“Yeah no, I would never discuss your personal life with anyone like that!” Enid looks horrified at the thought. 

“Mon petit furet, I know you wouldn’t,” y/n says, sympathtic. “It’s just people know that you’re my friend and any comment you offhandedly make can be twisted and sold off to TMZ by some loser chasing his 5 seconds of fame.”

To an outsider’s eye y/n would seem like the epitome of calm right now, but Tyler already knows some of her tells though. He can see that she’s actually far from calm and he has no idea what to do. He turns to Xavier who lazily watches y/n’s exchange with Enid, chin propped in one hand, sipping from a coffee cup in the other one. “Does this not worry you?” Tyler hisses at him. “Even a little? You can’t not see that she’s not okay.” 

“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win,” Xavier says like it’s a completely normal thing to say about your sister’s trashy ex disrespecting her in front of the entire country.

“Are you quoting The Art of War at me?” Tyler asks in disbelief.

“He is,” says Wednesday without looking up from her gigantic dusty old book. 

Xavier sighs. “What I’m saying is, have patience with her. If you do, it will pay off tenfold.”

“Okay, I don’t know why you’re talking like a fortune cookie right now and I’m not sure I’m too keen to find out,” Tyler says.

At this moment y/n’s phone starts ringing. She declines it on the little screen of her terrifyingly futuristic phone and a second later it starts ringing again. It happens another three times before she shuts the phone off altogether and gets to her feet. “We’ll see you in class, guys,” she says to the rest of the table as she picks up her and Tyler’s bags. “Have a good day.” Tyler catches the tiniest crack in her voice before she takes off towards the exit.

He takes it as his cue to follow her.

***

They skip class. Not that Tyler really expected that they would attend it today. Y/n walks way faster than usual, clutching their bags in both hands like she’s taking them to execution. 

Tyler realizes she leads them to that little shed near the dormitory that he walked her to the night she saw him as a Hyde. The classes have already begun so the forest is very quiet and peaceful. The same can’t be said about y/n.

She throws Tyler’s bag on the ground, then grabs her own with both hands, and covering her face with it she starts screaming into it.

Tyler is so out of his depth here. 

He decides to just wait until she gets it out of her system and then maybe she’ll talk to him or something.

His hopes don’t come to fruiting because when she’s done screaming, she just slumps on the ground, her back leaning on the outer wall of the shed, and starts crying.

Tyler carefully sits down next to her and she leans into him as she tries to take her sobbing under control. He wraps one arm around her and she tucks her face in the crook of his neck. They just sit like that for a while until her breathing evens out.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Tyler asks quietly.

“Maybe. I don’t know. It’s so stupid, Tyler. Like, I meant every word I said to Enid. I know what this is. It’s all about business and trending and getting into charts. It’s not supposed to hurt me but it fucking does and I hate it…I hate it.”

“I think, in a way, it’s good that it hurts.”

“Dafuq?” Y/n asks, raising her head a bit to look him in the eyes. She’s not angry though, her eyes are soft and curious.

Tyler doesn’t really know what to do with this level of trust from someone. 

“It means you’re not like him,” Tyler starts, trying to put his words together with care. “Your feelings make you…well, you. That guy seems to be more like a cardboard cutout of himself rather than a real person. Thornhill tried to make me into something like that too.” I thought she succeeded until I met you, he doesn’t say.

“That’s a nice way of looking at it, I suppose. I just…I hate remembering the good stuff. Because there were good times too, at the begining.” She says quietly, hiding her face again.

“What changed?” Tyler asks.

“On a larger scale, everything did. His career was taking off—mind, not without the help of media coverage he was getting for dating me—and he started to become more and more obsessed with his “persona”. His mom hired this new publicist who, like, tried to mold him into another Harry Stiles or some shit. Steady girlfriend was very much not in the cards for this kind of image. And on a smaller scale, he broke up with me after my powers manifested. Which is such an idiotic display of bigotry too," she scoffs, "like, both my dad and my brother are outcasts, you couldn’t seriously expect me to end up a normie.”

“Probably still hurt, though,” Tyler says, gently petting her hair.

Y/n just hums.

“So what’s next? You’re just going to ignore everything until people forget about it?”

“I really don’t even want to think about him anymore. But ignoring it won't work this time,” y/n says, slowly disentangling herself from Tyler. “I already gave him too much agency over the situation by staying quiet.” She gets to her feet and offers her hand to help Tyler up. She doesn’t let go even after he’s standing firmly on his own. The look on her face is absolutely captivating, eyes burning bright with determination. Tyler is unable to look away.

“This time I’m gonna fight back. Fuck being the bigger person. I’ll hit this fucker where it hurts.”

***

Y/n Thorpe Just Posted On TikTok For The First Time Since The Release Of Her Ex’s Jeremiah Elffire Controversial Song Allegedly Aimed At The 17 Year-Old Influencer And Her Fans Are Setting The Social Media Ablaze

Jemma Young for Buzzfeed News 

This week proved to be particularly eventful for the fans of a 17 year-old TikTok influencer Y/n Thorpe, the younger daughter of a well-known Hollywood medium and soothsayer Sébastien Thorpe. 

After y/n’s outcast status was publicized without her consent a few months ago, following a controversial split from the former Disney golden boy Jeremiah Elffire, y/n deleted all social media sans TikTok (where she unfortunately also stopped posting for a while but was previously known for her musical covers) and went completely off the grid.

This prompted a lot of speculation from the fans on what the cause of the sudden breakup might’ve been and whether y/n’s outcast status had anything to do with it. The official statement from the Thorpe estate's publicist came later that month, assuring fans that the split between two teens was amicable and for now y/n is focusing on her education, switching to a school that specializes in helping young people master their supernatural abilities.

Fans of young miss Thorpe were delighted to see her come back to TikTok with a heartfelt rendition of Rufus Wright’s Hallelujah [watch the original tiktok here] a few weeks ago. Some fans noticed that the song was a bit out of y/n’s usual repertoire, which sparked a discussion on Twitter regarding miss Thorpe’s mental state and well-being. Many of her loyal fans came to y/n’s defense though, stating that they’re just happy to see her doing what she loves, sharing her positive energy and creativity with the world again. 

Some people still had their doubts, though, when a video from one of miss Thorpe’s schoolmates surfaced a few days later where young influencer gets into a verbal altercation with a fellow student. We reached out to the user who posted the video but didn’t get any further comments about that situation.

A new wave of scrutiny came Y/n Thorpe’s way when Jeremiah Elffire released his new single titled “Trust Fund Baby” this Wednesday. He premiered it live on Good Morning America and the video hit one million views in less than two hours. The accompanying music video was released a few hours after that and sits at a comfortable 3 million views at the time of writing this article. However, the like/dislike ratio was disabled almost immediately and fans on Twitter point out that the comment section seems to be heavily filtered. 

Miss Thorpe stayed quiet for the first 24 hours after the release so fans expected her to not make any comments regarding the issue, same as after the breakup. However, this morning a new tiktok was uploaded to y/n’s account that seems to be addressing the brewing drama in a subtle, yet cutting way. 

In a short clip with a Taylor Swift’s song playing in the background, y/n shows what appears to be her morning routine: she creates an extravagant make-up look with vibrant pink eyeliner, her short haircut is tastefully styled with two gold-rose hairclips shaped like little crowns, and even though her outfit isn’t lavish by any means, being simply the school uniform of the educational institution she attends, some watchful fans pointed out the peculiar detail that might’ve escaped the notice of everyman.

[screenshot of the comment by the user “littlemissgetwrecked”]

Guuuuys!!! I don’t think you understand the gravity of this shade!! She’s wearing fucking Louboutins!!! You can’t tell at first because they’re sneakers and not signature high heels but you can see the red soles when she spins!!!! 

Another user followed with a comment supporting this statement.

[screenshot of the comment by the user “notyomama”]

I know!!! I’m literally going feral over this! I scoured the Louboutin website to make sure and she’s wearing Louboutin Fun Vieira , their comics-themed sneakers. I LITERALLY CAN’T EVEN WITH THIS GIRL. The tea is scorching hot *sips aggressively*

The caption of the video boldly proclaims “what’s a girl gonna do, a diamond’s gotta shine” with the hashtag  #makethewholeplaceshimmer, mirroring the lyrics of the song playing in the background.

This particular choice of song is hardly a coincidence. Y/n mentioned many times before that Taylor Swift is one of her favorite artists and a big inspiration for women who want to achieve success in the music industry despite the sexist scrutiny media puts them through. For those of our readers who are unaware, Bejeweled by Taylor Swift was allegedly written about an ex-boyfriend, famous DJ  Calvin Harris, and describes her partner’s emotional absence, as well as him taking the singer for granted. 

Thorpe’s fans quickly connected the dots and the speculation on what exactly led to the Thorpe/Elffire breakup resurfaced with more vigor than before.

 Elffire’s loyal fanbase also joined the conversation to defend their fave, stating that this is “exactly the self-conceited behavior to be expected from an out-of-touch nepo baby [in regards to Thorpe]” and that they are happy that the “toxic influence is finally out of [Elffire’s] life for good.”

The fans are taking sides and the comment section of y/n’s video reminds a battlefield at the moment, yet at the time of writing this article the comments still haven’t been disabled and the tiktok video keeps racking hundreds of thousands of views every day, currently reaching a little bit over 4 million with 1.2 million likes.

Subscribe to our social media so you never miss the fresh news from the celebrity world!

***

author's note:

Enid is so baby in this chapter, this girl was more worried about y/n’s drama than her own brother lol

Btw, MC calls Enid "mon petit furet" which google traslate assured me means "my little ferret". I though it was a fitting nickname because MC likes to give everyone nicknames and Enid is cute and ferrets are cute and also are very good and sniffing out and finding things, like Enid is with gossip.

The song I used as the one MC's ex used to shade her is actually Trust Fund Baby by Why Don't We. No shade to the band whatsoever, I think it's funky little pop song but it fitted my story perfectly so I used it. Jeremiah Elffire is a completely random character I came up with and is not based on any real disney actors. Also I don't really remember if Xavier's dad's name was mentioned in the show and I coudn't be bothered to check so I just made one up for him.

*Palo Alto is an expencive neighbourhood in California so that's why MC reacted the way she did to that line in the song

Btw it's been so long since I updated, idk if people are still interested to be tagged so if you are, please let me know in the comments!

[scottysketches]

[20 Question Fic Writer Tag]

Tagged by the lovely @impossibleprincess35 <3

How many works do you have on AO3? Four! Most of my stories are still in the "needs severe editing" phase lol

What is your AO3 word count? 61,414

What fandoms do you write for? Well, I've become rather singularly obsessed with Star Wars: The Clone Wars right now, but I do also write for Mass Effect and Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

What are your top five fics by kudos? Don't Dream It's Over - 60 The Last Resort of Good Men - 39 Thunder - 8 This Is The Beginning - 4

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I do! I'd respond more if my reaction wasn't just, "AAAAAAHHHH THANK YOU FOR READING MY SILLY LITTLE STORY AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!"

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Not finished yet, but the angst is-a coming for This Is The Beginning, as it is basically my interpretation of the Legacy of the First Blade DLC for Assassin's Creed Odyssey, which is rife in angst.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? The Last Resort of Good Men. Ends with Dorian Pavus and my warrior/mage combo human Inquisitor getting together. I haven't actually read it in years, so I might end up going back and rewriting it if I find it to be not as good as I remember.

Do you get hate on fics? Not as far as I'm aware.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yep. Mostly romantic smut, but some of the stories that are stuck in the WIP folder have been a little... deranged.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? I have written crossovers in the past, but the fandoms would kind of work together anyway? I did start writing a crossover between Doctor Who and Downton Abbey, many many years ago, but never finished it because my favourite Who characters never appeared on screen again despite there being infinite potential to bring them into the fold again.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? No, but I fear it, especially with how sophisticated AI is bound to get before too long.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Not as far as I'm aware.

Have you ever cowritten a fic before? I was about to say no, but then I remembered way back in the day, before I discovered AO3 and was uploading primarily on fanfiction.net, I did kind of co-write a Sonic the Hedgehog story with my oldest Internet friend. Unfortunately, I haven't heard from them for years, and all their social media shows their last post as being from 2019, so I have no idea if they're even still alive? But I would really like to rewrite the story we started together all those years ago, now that I've improved.

What's your all-time favourite ship? Oh, God, are we really doing this? I have way too many to choose just one! But, if you have to force my hand, I'd have to say Ezio Auditore/Sofia Sartor (Assassin's Creed Revelations). I just love their dynamic and how their relationship develops, especially in the novelisation of the game.

What's a WIP you'd like to finish but doubt you ever will? *places a finger on your lips* Shh, they're all being finished!!

What are your writing strengths? Witty one-liners. If there's one thing us Brits are known for, it's our cracking sarcasm. Plus most of my formative years when it comes to my development of my writing abilities occurred during peak Downton Abbey era, with the incredible Dowager Countess of Grantham (portrayed by the one and only Dame Maggie Smith).

What are your writing weaknesses? Hmm... I'd have to say knowing when to break up a chapter. I can go on and on and on if you're willing to let me, but even I would struggle to read a 20-25k-word chapter in one go.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? Well, I've been including bits of Mando'a in Don't Dream It's Over, but that's with the Mando'a dictionary open in one tab and a Mando'a translator in another.

First fandom you wrote for? Er, that would either be Harry Potter or The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Favourite fic you've ever written? At the moment, Don't Dream It's Over! I pretty much have the entire story planned out already in my notes app on my phone, which I just reference from when I need to remind myself what's coming up next in the chapter I'm writing at the time.

I'm tagging @whereforartthoumisthios and @jelly-opal!!

[suleikashideaway]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you @failed221b-chill for tagging me!! I'm still such a little baby newbie fic writer but I'm eager for the chance to reflect and grow more.

How many works do you have on AO3? 2. Hoping to increase that soon!

What's your total AO3 word count? 2,285. Amazingly low compared to my huge chunkin longfic sitting tucked away, unpublished.

What fandoms do you write for? Mainly Final Fantasy VIII, but I've dabbled in Stardew Valley.

What are your top five fics by kudos? Top five, lol. Wellll one of my Laguna one-shots has 5 kudos! I'm pretty happy with that considering there are like 5 FFVIII fans out there!

Much more under the cut!

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Absolutely! I want to talk about my fics all day!! That is, I have only received thoughtful, positive comments from lovely people so it's been easy so far.

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? As of right now, They Are My Family is the angstiest ending I've ever written, though you might consider it a somewhat optimistic ending. In its very short word count, this fic deals with Laguna's immense loss and how he channels his grief into helping other people. I dearly enjoy writing angst, though, just usually with a happy ending.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Grip on My Heart, my other posted Laguna one-shot, is a happy ending (though if you know FFVIII then you can probably see the angst between the lines). However, if I ever post my Stardew Valley longfic it's got a very sweet ending. I wrote that as a total escapist happy ending fantasy tale lol. And hey, I would even argue that my FFVIII longfic may actually have the happiest ending of all, simply because the angst that it took to get there makes it all the sweeter.

Do you get hate on your fic? Not yet, though I anticipate that I am not everyone's cup of tea, and I think I am okay with that. I would hope that people who comment would have the ability to be respectful about our disagreements. Alas, I know it doesn't always work that way.

Do you write smut? Indeed, I do! Nothing posted yet, and nothing too explicit. But yep! I've got little spicy bits peppered through all of my wips. It took me a while to be okay with writing sexy stuff but I wanted to explore that aspect of relationships. I don't think I could ever write straight porn, though.

Do you write crossovers? I have not considered a crossover, but there's still time! I'm not opposed to it, just haven't had any inspiration.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? I don't think so! That would be sad.

Have you ever had a fic translated? No but holy cow what an honor to one day be that important!

Have you ever co-written a fic? No, I've thought about the logistics of this and I'm not sure how much I'd like it, though I may be convinced otherwise one day. And like my bestie and beta @failed221b-chill pointed out, before finding each other the two of us practically wrote the same fic but with different characters and a different plot. Pretty incredible to see the themes I have been obsessing over told in a new way!!

What's your all-time favourite ship? Oh, how can I ever get enough of Squall and Rinoa? dreamy sigh

What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Ooh good question. I'm starting to doubt the validity of my unpublished Stardew Valley longfic. I think it has great potential, and I may go back and rewrite the entire thing, but it's just got a lot that needs work. I am pretty determined to finish my FFVIII longfic so that gets priority!

What's your writing strengths? Ahh, talking about my writing strengths is not one of my writing strengths. After reflecting on this for a hot minute, I think I can appreciate my growing ability to write in a way that is easy to understand. With practice and the help from @failed221b-chill I've gotten so much better at flow. I also have little moments of intrigue, imagery, and maybe a little bit of symbolism that I'm proud of. In general, I think my biggest strength is that I am learning quickly how to make all aspects of my writing better!

What's your writing weaknesses? I feel like I can't end a scene to save my life, but maybe I'm the only one who sees that in my writing! I also struggle with knowing when to dramatize a scene and when to leave it to exposition. For a while I thought that was just the problem with writing a longfic that spans over several years, but I found the same issue in writing one-shots. On a related note, I think I fall in the under-writer category. My rough drafts are usually about 1/4 of the size of the final product. I guess on reflection that's more of a strength: I can flesh things out appropriately during editing! Oh that's a nice discovery :)

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I'm not opposed to it, but I don't see it happening in anything I plan on writing! I'm simply not familiar enough with any other langues (RIP, my almost-fluency in French).

First fandom you wrote for? Probably either FFVIII or Harry Potter. I can't remember which came first! I know for a brief time I was all about that James and Lily ship lol

Favourite fic you've ever written? Definitely my FFVIII longfic wip. As far as published works go, They Are My Family is really something I'm proud to have put out in the world.

I'm officially tagging anyone who would like to participate! Enjoy!