#i've only just finished book 4 so i'll probably add to this as i read more :D

[pichirobi]

put your hands together for yet another hualian college au 🥳🥳🎉

once the star valedictorian of his high school, xie lian is now a broke, failing college student surviving on packaged ramen fished out of cafeteria garbage cans. his luck turns for the better when he meets the mysterious art student who's filled his canvases with portraits of xie lian.

fic series | au tag | notes under the cut! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

xie lian (he/him, asexual)

xie lian's parents laid him off so he takes odd jobs, tutors, and does homework for anyone he can get to pity him. all of his money is spent on rent, and a cheap gym membership he abuses so he can at least look like he's functional on the outside. he bodybuilds his stress away.

his grades are terrible. xl's actually a greatly diligent student and does all his work, he just keeps misremembering due dates, and his professors are the kind that give zeroes on assignments typed in the wrong font.

he's kept fed by his roommate, shi qingxuan (she/he). xie lian's saved her ass from academic probation enough times for it to be embarrassing. their bond is more of a silent agreement to look out for each other.

hua cheng (he/they, demisexual)

his parents died when he was young but they left him a small fortune. he doesn't show off his money, unless it's to dress opulently outside of class and treating xl to expensive restaurants.

hua cheng takes like six courses a semester, four of which are obscure electives. he says it's because he likes to keep himself well-rounded and busy, but he has a ridiculous amount of free time anyway.

he's a perfect student but his professors are wary of him. he thinks very little of most professors and talks back to them in such a way where they can't tell if they've been insulted or not.

hc chooses the same art concentration every semester. portraits of the same beautiful boy at various ages. sometimes his art professor can get him to paint butterflies feeding on flowers.

hualian's backstory

their story begins on a playground. 10-year-old xie lian scares off mean kids bullying 8-year-old hua cheng over his heterochromia (one of the mean kids is qi rong). xie lian tells him he thinks hua cheng's eyes are pretty. xie lian wears earrings and has long hair that he braids with flowers, and he doesn't care what other kids think of him. he won't let anyone be bullied for their appearance.

we know what comes next—endless pining. hua cheng's infatuation grows as, from a distance, he watches his noble, gracious, special classmate defend kids who are easy targets (with the help of feng xin and mu qing) and earns the title of teacher's pet. hua cheng gains the bravery to stop covering his eye, until hualian are separated in chuzhong (secondary/middle school). the bullying returns and hua cheng swears to never take off the eye bandage again.

hua cheng's "young soldier" moment is at a halloween party in their last year of gaozhong (high school). hc's dressed as a ghost, face painted and almost unrecognizable. xie lian's dressed as a rabbit. qi rong spikes his cup of water. xl's top is sleeveless and it's unintentionally drawing unwanted attention to his shredded arms. some asshole teen girls won't leave him alone and keep flirting with/grabbing him. hua cheng tells them to fuck off and scares them away. although xie lian is indeed incredibly gorgeous and hua cheng is incredibly flustered, after the party, he makes sure to escort a drunk xie lian home.

some guy xl's never seen the face of starts rumors that xie lian paid off the administration to name him valedictorian, and that he sweet-talks his teachers into bullshitting his grades. he's the understudy for the lead role in a school play. the girl who was meant to lead falls horrifically sick and is in the hospital for some time. the guy who hides his face spreads another rumor that xie lian is the one who put her in the hospital so xl could have the attention/spotlight. other students gradually join in on the fun of bashing xl, knocking an admirable figure down to their level, until people start avoiding him, and his popularity is lost. feng xin and mu qing distance themselves from xie lian. hua cheng gets more detentions than usual for picking fights with anyone who dares to insult xie lian in front of him.

hualian in college

their third-first meeting is when xie lian is down on his luck, drenched from the rain as he just barely misses his bus to campus. hua cheng appears, stands next to xie lian with a red umbrella, and wordlessly waits with him for the next bus.

xie lian doesn't see the kind stranger again until he needs to track down the dean of xianle university, jun wu. jun wu is chatting with the head of the studio art department. while xl politely waits for their conversation to end, he looks around at the art students milling about, and catches that tall, handsome, kind stranger staring at him. the stranger smiles, looks down, and leaves. xl wanders the room to check out the art pieces scattered around, and comes to an easel in the corner. xl is faced with a painting of...himself. the signed name is written so poorly he can't read it.

hua cheng comes to him next. he introduces himself as "san lang" and asks xie lian for tutoring—not for any subject, but to improve his handwriting. cue montage of soft-spoken critiques and hands gently touching and hua cheng confessing his admiration via the poem they're practicing writing together. xie lian doesn't recognize hua cheng from their childhood but fixates on that lovely deep voice, trying to place where he's heard it before. hua cheng tries to overpay him but xie lian refuses, saying hc can tip him by grabbing lunch with xl. they meet up for calligraphy practice once a week.

san lang is generous and protective and patient. san lang is flirty and dependable and mischievous. he's also very, very handsome, distractingly so, "how can it be that no one's fought for the affection of a guy like you?" throughout the wild events of xie lian's life, hua cheng is right by his side. from helping ling wen the librarian organize hundreds of books and scrolls, to uncovering the schemes of pei ming's vengeful ex, to stopping the dangerous "pranks" of xl's insane cousin qi rong.

xie lian and shi qingxuan's dorm is falling apart at the seams. hua cheng spends a day and night with them helping to clean and renovate. he sleeps over (AND THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED ?!). xie lian wakes up to a new canvas painting on his bedroom wall. it's a beautiful portrait of himself, as a child, with flowers braided in long hair. in the bottom right corner is a signed name that xie lian can now read, the handwriting marginally improved.

xie lian finds that he stops expecting misfortune. he gains friends. his grades improve. at one of shi wudu's lake parties, xie lian nearly drowns, and hua cheng gives him totally unnecessary mouth-to-mouth. (they take this as inspiration to find completely bullshit excuses to kiss in the future.)

later on at the same lake party, they find a moment alone, warming/drying up by a fire pit. hua cheng alludes to being in love with someone who saw him at his worst. xie lian is envious of that. he firmly tells hua cheng that what matters is him, not the state of him.

misc

hua cheng has been going blind in his right eye for over a decade, and by college, he can just make out changes in light with it.

hualian definitely have a "draw me like one of your french girls" scene while their relationship is ambiguous. feng xin walks in and has prayed every day since then that he's knocked on the head so hard he gets amnesia.

hua cheng gradually leaves more and more of his belongings in xie lian's room until he practically lives there ("oh gege, how silly of me, leaving my toothbrush with you for the 23rd time this month 😇").

feng xin still calls xie lian "dianxia"; it was xl's nickname throughout primary school because he was such a beloved little prince 😌

feng xin and mu qing insist they're sworn rivals, but sign up to be each other's dormmates every semester. ("i know mu qing's every move. how many pillows he enjoys sleeping with. how he likes his coffee in the morning. you have to keep a vigilant eye on the enemy, dianxia.")

shi wudu offers xie lian an absurd amount of money to spy on report back weekly updates on shi qingxuan's life. xie lian politely refuses.

pei ming and lang qianqiu are gym lunks. sometimes they workout with xie lian, barely disguising their true intention of competing with each other.

hua cheng will occasionally waste time at a bar owned by he xuan. he plays poker and wins nearly every game by sheer luck. he doesn't bet money, but instead has the losers do something embarrassing for his own entertainment. he gains a fearful reputation, and mixes drinks when he's bored of playing or when no one in the room is brave enough to bet with him.

hua cheng makes up increasingly ridiculous stories as to why he covers his eye when he's asked. "it shoots a deadly laser." "a bear scratched it out, but i took its skin after. it made a nice rug." "my eye is right there. what are you talking about? are you okay?"

xie lian rescues a small, hungry cat he names banyue. he asks hua cheng to house her as he lives off-campus. the conversation goes like this:

"gege..."

"san lang 🥺"

"FINE."

qi rong buys a cat just to copy xie lian and names it guzi.

[agirlandherquill]

writeblr intro!

this has been a long time coming and i've finally gotten around to it after, what? 4 months of being a part of this delightfully and beautifully chaotic community known as writeblr,

so, about me - well, let's see, i'm A Girl and Her Quill - a moniker i'm adopting because who doesn't enjoy a little sense of mystery? now, what else is there to say about me? i love words, i adore stories, and i love books - my favourites are impossible to narrow down to a simple list so i'll just name a few off the top of my head: great expectations - shockingly fell in love and decided to study it for literature coursework (it paid off, 24/25 marks, best damn essay i have ever written), ready player one - this needs no explanation, the brilliance is clear in the title and i also love its sequel, and for the last of the few books i can think of i'm going to say outlander - i'm reading it at the minute and its beautiful (i've seen up to s2 of the show, so i will be rewatching once I finish the book, and start the second book probably, i just can't resist)

why am i here? - as aforementioned i love stories and i've been writing my whole life, (insert a respectful nod to the graveyard of childhood manuscripts long since abandoned) and i've been working on writing a novel for, well, about four years now? that novel being `Ruin's Reprisal, which has undergone one draft, a total rewrite, and now i'm on to edits - and that story has been with me through some of the most crucial years of my life and thankfully, it's almost done (small white lie, i'm editing chapter 20/roughly 40 at the moment, but i'm getting there); and as for why i'm on writeblr well, as the description of my blog states, it really was a dark night with rain battering the windows, and the mood of it so to speak gave me the courage to sign up to the wonderful world of chaos that is tumblr and to start sharing my writing with the world!

and speaking of sharing my writing, i signed up to ao3 as of this morning and i've been collecting all of the posts relating to my novel from tumblr on there, so if reading on ao3 is more your thing than Tumblr, you can find me as: agirlandherquill

so that's about it from me for now, if i think of anything else to add i'll update this post, and i just want to say a truly heartfelt thank you to everyone who has made me feel so welcome and enjoyed the little snippets i bestow from time to time (i do my best to post daily, reckon i've only slipped about 3 days in total so i'm rather impressed with myself)

signing off on the long overdue intro,

~ A Girl and Her Quill

[beforeiread-studies]

Korean Learning - Month 5 recap

I've failed at most of my goals but that is not a bad thing at all, I simply focused on different things than I expected.

Things I didn't do

I did not finish the King Sejong Institute Beginner 2 course (I'm at 6/20)

I did not add numbers to Anki (I have a couple of them on there, I'll add the others holistically)

I did not watch videos with Korean subtitles - I tried but the subtitles were SO FAST and it was just discouraging. I will try again in the future. (on the other hand, the more I try to read Hangul the more I'm surprised at how fast I can read the latin alphabet)

I did not go get the Korean grammar for Italians book at my local library.

I did try to speak to myself in Korean. It was successful to an extent but I still need to learn more vocabulary for sure.

Things I did do

I stayed consistent with Anki. My deck is now formed by 938 cards! Of which only 41% are new

One of my goals was to finish reading the first Easy Korean Reading book by the end of the month. Well, I just started the fifth book! I crushed it. I can not recommend this series enough. SERIOUSLY!!!

I downloaded TikTok and forced my algorithm to believe I'm a Korean displaced in Italy, therefore showing me lots of Korean content. I get a lot of comedy sketches and pet channels. Sometimes I can understand a couple of words or at least recognize sentence patterns (written) and it's always SO satisfying. I've also discovered a lot of cool places to visit in Seoul.

Why all this stuff happened

I think I dropped the ball on King Sejong Institute because it's more laborious and less satisfying than simply read an Easy Korean Reading chapter. Also, I do get some grammar points from Easy Korean Reading so... Also, I had uni exams.

I still want to finish the course tho but it will probably take me more time than the first one.

Some things I've noticed: 1 I'm now good enough at reading Hangul that I'm able to add audio to my Anki cards. Yay! 2 Reading out loud actually helps me understand it better? No idea why.

Goals for June

Reading: I want to at least finish reading 3.1 and 3.2 of the Easy Korean Reading series, but I think I'll probably manage to also read the Level 4 books. If I have time even after that, I want to start reading this King Sejong free ebook I've had downloaded for a while.

Listening: I think I'm now mostly ready to listen to ChoiSusu's beginner podcasts. I want to listen to at least 1 new podcast every week.

Vocabulary: keep going with Anki. I've decided that by the end of August, I want to have 2k cards in my deck. Therefore, I need to add another 500 cards next month, or 16 cards a day, which feels doable. I'm currently learning 20 new words a day but I'll try to amp it up to 25.

Writing: I've heard that Anki allows you to add "fill it out" cards, so I want to add some to improve my spelling in Hangul.

Speaking: I want to start taking conversation lessons on Italki. It will be tricky to do because I still have to balance work and an exam, but I promise myself to book at least 1 lesson a week for this month. Gaaah, I'm nervous!!!

[sky-kenobye]

13 books

What’s up readers?! How about a little show and tell? Answer these 13 questions, tag 13 lucky readers and if you’re feeling extra bookish add a shelfie! Let’s Go!

Thanks @willameena for the tag! :D

1) The Last book I read:

Idk if it counts since it's a graphic novel but the last thing I read was Bolchoi Arena, by Boulet and Aseyn. It's a sort of Ready Player One universe (less dystopic i think though). I really like it, but I'm waiting for the fourth volume to come out and there isn't a release date yet 😭

(I don't think there's an English translation (yet) so i can only recommend it if you speak french, sorry)

2) A book I recommend:

Iron Widow, by Xiran Jay Zhao. LOVED IT! I'm bad at recommending stuff but: big monsters, pacific rim style machines to fight the monsters, polyamory, ruthless woman, plot twists... So cool!

Also Loveless, by Alice Oseman, because it's about aromanticism and asexuality which is almost non-existent in... any media really, and that book is very dear to me.

3) A book that I couldn’t put down:

All the ones I really like x) I struggle a lot with putting down a book once I'm into it. The first advice to fall asleep easier is always 'don't use your phone before bed, read a book instead!' but if I do that I won't even try to sleep, I'll just keep reading all night...

But I guess the one that I was the most surprised about not being able to put down is The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follet. I'm not particularly into historical books, and that's a huge book around the building of a cathedral, so I was a bit skeptical, but damn, it was great! It's over 1000 pages and I still managed to read it in less than a week while on a school trip.

4) A book I’ve read twice (or more):

So many of my childhood books. I almost spent more time re-reading my favorite stuff than reading new books lol. I think the ones I've re-read the most are Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and La Quête d'Ewilan.

5) A book on my TBR:

So many. Soooo many. I keep buying books even though I don't read them, help.

I'll go with the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers because I really want to read them, people keep recommending them, I have them (in a really cool edition), I can literally see them in my bookshelf right now, and yet I don't read them for some reason 🤷

6) A book I’ve put down:

Also a lot. If I manage to put a book down I can forget it exists in a couple of days, even if i loved it, and weeks later I'm like "oh shit, I never finished that book".

One of the few that I put down more or less on purpose is Silo, by Hugh Howey. I'm pretty sure I would like it if I kept reading but something happens only a few chapters in that put me off and kind of annoyed me so I never read the rest.

7) A book on my wish list:

Revenge of the Sith! And many other star wars books. The reason why I still don't have it is that I want it in english so I have to order it online from the UK probably, and between the shipping and the taxes from being from outside the EU (sometimes there are taxes, sometimes not, i don't understand how it works)(one time I had to pay taxes on my own clothes that I sent myself from the UK to France 😭😭 I'm still mad about it) it'll end up being way more expensive than it should, so I'm putting it off x) I looked for it when I was in scotland but they didn't have it :(

8) A favorite book from childhood:

The ones I mentioned in 4) were my all time fav, I can't think of any other right now even though I used to read a lot more books than i do now 🤔

9) A book you would give to a friend:

Honestly I would be so scared they didn't like it that I probably would never give a book to anyone unless they asked for it 😬 (except my family I guess)

Mayyybe a Dan Brown, like The Da Vinci Code? I feel like that would be a pretty safe bet, unless they hate the genre.

10) A book of poetry or lyrics that you own:

I don't think I have any? I had to read Alcools, by Apollinaire for the baccalauréat (french high school graduation exam) but I think it was my mom's copy and i honestly hated it. According to my teacher it was "cubist poetry" which, what? I was not smart enough to understand any of it, and it wasn't doing it for me.

(Literary analysis is my nemesis, I'm usually pretty smart but when I try to analyse a text it's just *no thoughts, head empty*)

I'm really picky about poetry so I don't really know where to start to read any.

11) A nonfiction book you own:

I don't have many: a few anthologies of queer stories, How to Invent Everything by Ryan North (literally what the title says lmao), Eject! Eject! by John Nichol (about the history of ejection seats, super interesting!), Les Guerres de Lucas by Renaud Roche and Laurent Hopman (a french graphic novel about George Lucas), and Tu mourras moins bête by Marion Montaigne (scientific stuff explained, but make it hilarious, also french comics)

12) What are you currently reading:

Ithaca, by Claire North, but I've barely started.

13) What are you planning on reading next?

No idea! Maybe Iron Flame, maybe The Priory of the Orange Tree, maybe Floating Hotel, maybe finally the Wayfarers series, maybe a random other book, who knows 🤷

If you've read all of that, thank you and congratulations!

Tags: @piecesofeden11 @sendpseuds @kingdomvel @bolshoiromanova @renlyslittlerose @intermundia @desmothene @arobiwan @cottonraincoat @starwalkertales @artbythedarkside @shakeskp @somethingsteff (I tried not to tag people I had seen tagged already)(but no pressure!)

[dairogo]

20 Questions for the Writer

Tagged by @griseldabanks ^_^

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

Only 18 :O I have a bunch on fanfiction.net that I never transferred over, but they're all an extra 10 or so years older than the Ao3 ones so ... there's some disparity of quality, partly in the writing but also very much in the content present.

2. What is your total Ao3 word count?

168,935

3. What fandoms do you write for?

FMA! I had other things when I was younger, but FMA bit and it's the one that stuck with me.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

A Bed Too Small (Mustang POV, same bed trope, tongue-in-cheek)

Wayward Youth (Hawkeye POV, learning about crushes and affection from the girls at her boarding school while seeking her father's attention)

Order 3066 (Hawkeye and Mustang POVs alternating, Ishval fic about being broken and coming out of it [still broken, but moving])

Partiality (Mustang POV, post-canon, broaching the topic of a relationship)

The Next Step (shifting POV, written soon after giving birth to my youngest and in a bit of a family-related haze. Mostly fluff.)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I certainly try to! I might have missed some along the way, but I usually get there!

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

Hurrrghgh, one from my ff.net days: The Manga-ka Has Her Reasons. It was basically saying, hey, they can't get together guys - things will go bad if they do. And so it ended with them both dead.

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

I'd say The Next Step, because it's just fluffy and lovely :)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really. The last time I remember feeling taken aback by a comment it was over a decade ago and it was someone rightly pointing out a factual error I'd made. The FMA community I've found myself in is largely positive, and I don't know if that's about the FMA community in general, or that the stuff I write appeals to people who are just cool about community instead of looking to be jerks. Whatever the reason, I'm very grateful!

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

Nah

10. Do you write crossovers?

I've got a half written FMA/HP crossover that I started in like 2005, resurrected a few years ago, and then haven't touched for the last year and a half. Sigh. It's probably going to be stuck in my brain forever.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

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

Not a fic

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

Royai for suuuuure <3 I'm so big on romance as a side-plot, and if that's not the perfect way to explain their relationship I don't know what is. Like, FMA aside, their own personal story is that romance is their side-plot, not their main thing.

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

Wayward Youth! I have a few really rough drafts of later chapters that need to be edited, but I still haven't written all the way to the end and I'm happily working on another project with all the time/headspace I have, so I don't want to interrupt that flow. But I'm hoping to slowly accrue the last of it, then go through and make it presentable and post it one day.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I can write fairly clear action. And I like putting together a lot of threads to tug on as I go - not all big plot things necessarily, but just things that repeat again later to add an extra layer.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I don't know. I feel like I can write in a very blunt way sometimes, so I have to be intentional about adding in colour and emotion - that doesn't always come through on the first try.

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

I wouldn't do this to show to a native speaker, oh boy oh boy nosirree! Currently reading a book on English idioms and my main thought as I looked at it today is that this is exactly why I'll never consider myself fluent in other languages.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

In year 5 we had to co-write a story and my best friend and I basically wrote an AU of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

Look, it depends on my mood. If I want something light and short, I can't go past Desperately Hoping He Didn't Look Like an Idiot (modern AU, Royai without angst). But I'm probably proudest of Order 3066, because it took a lot of work and a lot of emotional catharsis to get through that and I ended up with a bit of a deadline for when I had to finish it up and made it! So I feel good about it.

Tagging @scienceoftheidiot and @fullmetalscullyy if you're interested :)

[samuelroukin]

twenty questions for fic writers!

tagged by @meyerlansky thank you 🙏

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

18..

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

294,445

3. what fandoms do you write for?

right now just cod 😔 i gotta write the third turn fic but the brainrot is strong

4. top five fics by kudos

limerence (i'll be your animal)

no face, no case

baptized in gunpowder

bliss in suffering

bite (this is war)

5. do you respond to comments?

sometimes it takes me a while bc i get Anxiety but i try to respond to all of them, it means so much that someone would take the time and i'd feel horrible not at least saying thanks

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

probably and i'm glad the world is ending bc well. nothing like knocking out the guy you just had weird sex with to make your escape.

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

genuinely couldn't pick one, i think they all end on a pretty happy note? i don't always resolve Everything but i leave them in a spot where they can work out the details later if necessary lol

8. do you get hate on fics?

not to my face! i can think of a million reasons why i would, but everyone's been really niceys

9. do you write smut?

me??? write smut?? never.

10. craziest crossover:

i don't have any, and they're not really something i'm interested in so i'm unlikely to ever write one

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

i don't think so, i'm not a big name author so unless it's just ai scraping i don't think anyone would bother

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

nope, not as far as i know! i do have one reader that used google translate bc they don't speak english tho

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

nope, most i've done is discuss ideas and Options which is really fun, but i don't think actual co-writing is for me

14. all time favorite ship?

i don't think any ship i've liked has ever had the grip on me that soapghost has 💀

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

at this point it's looking like part three of the simleb fics but i WILL get to it. i will. i can't abandon my boys. there's also the one with gaz overhearing soapghost and relaying the details to price which i still like but it needs Something and i couldn't put my finger on it

16. what are your writing strengths?

smut. i think i'm alright at setting tone as well, and i like to think i'm ok at building up tension

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

i'm terrible at dialogue and pacing. set descriptions too, i never know how much detail to put in vs letting readers fill in the blanks. i also don't really know how to describe it but i feel like my fics read less like a book and more like a script. and i get pointlessly, annoyingly wordy to say something that could be said in like two sentences lmao. add to that abuse and misuse of punctuation marks and it really is a mess lmao

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language?

i don't like it generally speaking unless it's a word or two. i've used it once or twice tho dkjfhjkhst. it depends on the Why i guess, but if they're speaking another language together (as in one or more characters understand what's being said) i think it's better to be like 'he switched to dutch' and then use italics to go "Okay, this is what's happening, don't let them catch on." instead of writing the language

19. first fandom you wrote in?

i think it was death note? maybe something for a band before that, i'm not sure tbh

20. favorite fic you've written?

miannach my beloved 🙏 it's not perfect but i had a lot of fun with the magic and the crack taken seriously while still also being a little funny, plus it has one of my fave smut scenes i've written

tagging @bayonettotheheart @brotherdusk @meduseld @c4tto626 @ferindencadash only if u want ofc 🫡

[ofliterarynature]

MAY 2024 WRAP UP

[loved liked ok nope dnf (reread) bookclub*]

(100 Cupboards) • The Brides of High Hill • Factfulness • Derring-Do for Beginners • Feed Them Silence* • The Murder of Mr. Ma • The Well of Loneliness • A Dreadful Splendor • Drowned Country • Arabella the Traitor of Mars • Silver in the Wood • The Warm Hands of Ghosts • Arabella and the Battle of Venus • Endpapers • Song of Blood & Stone

Arabella and the Battle of Venus/the Traitor of Mars (4.5/4 stars) - a great wrap up to the series! Since learning these are *not* actually YA, I do wish they had a bit more depth and complexity, but they moved quickly and were very fun to read. Traitor was perhaps not my favorite of the lot, but like, it's got space battles, it's got relationship drama, it was still fun. Also featuring a small reoccurring cameo by Dr James Barry!

The Warm Hands of Ghosts (5 stars) - I was very impressed by Arden's ability to write with her Winternight trilogy, even if I wouldn't call it a favorite. I was blown away by this! Is it because it plays to some of my interests? Yes, probably. I've been growing more interested in the turn of the century and WW1, and the way she incorporated the supernatural elements was just what I love, not to mention a well-earned, bittersweet ending. I might have to pick up a copy for myself.

Silver in the Wood (4.5 stars) - I liked it! I might have liked it more if it were longer, but definitely a good read. I think Drowned Country (4.5 stars) was also good in its own right, but not quite satisfying as a sequel. If this turned into a supernatural casebook-type series I'd have been delighted.

A Dreadful Splendor (4 stars) - on one hand, I would call this an excellent gothic novel on the grounds that it didn't irritate me and I enjoyed reading it. On the other, I do keep forgetting that I read it. Make of that what you will, but I'd recommend it if it sounds interesting to you!

The Well of Loneliness (4 stars) - I'll be honest, this only gets 4 stars on the strength of the fact that I did like the first part of it. Young Steven, who's odd and strange and confused about herself; a mother who's upset but oblivious to why; a father who understands exactly what's going on but is too afraid to tell his daughter. It was so compelling (and pushed me to tears, it's true). But the latter half...I just didn't understand adult Steven, I'll be honest, I found her very unlikable and I think I missed the point?

The Murder of Mr. Ma (4 stars) - a Sherlock-and-Watson-esq duo in the Chinese immigrant community of 1920's London, with a good helping of martial arts fighting to go along with it. This felt like a perfectly serviceable mystery that I had no problem reading, but I can't say if I found it particularly compelling. I'm not sure I'd be interested in reading further if this becomes a series.

Feed Them Silence (5 stars) - what a punch from such a small book! Even before I finished it (in tears I might add), I was so impressed, this was such a smart and clever book. And the main character, despite clearly being a mess and not the greatest person, was nonetheless incredibly sympathetic and compelling. Fully recommend, I might have to get myself a copy (and with definitely be checking out the author's other work).

Derring-Do for Beginners (5 stars) - wonderful! I'm mad at the brain weasels not cooperating so that it took me over a year to finally read this - any Victoria book is a lovely book (now I just need to tackle Bone Harp). I don't want to repeat the entire write-up I already posted, but wonderful, sweet, major Circle of Magic/Sandry's Book vibes. A good place for people new to Victoria's work to start.

Factfulness (4 stars) - this was regularly recommended by a podcast that, admittedly, I no longer listen to. But I'd already picked up a free copy, and not enjoying the podcast doesn't mean it's not an important book. First point, you should read this in print, it's chock-full of graphs and charts that will add to the experience. Second, there will be a poll/quiz near the beginning and you should take it and record your answers. I listened to this on audiobook and did neither of these things lmao, and it could have been a better experience. Overall, this seems like it could be a very important book for some people, but I'm not sure I'm the target audience - maybe I'm being overconfident, but I'm a generalist! I like patterns! I'm clinging on to the good in the world for dear life to stay sane! I don't think I found the info the authors shared quite as shocking as they seemed to think I should.

The Brides of High Hill (5 stars) - delightful as always! I really want to go back and reread the earlier Singing Hills books before the next one comes out. Maybe even buy my own copies :D

100 Cupboards (4 stars) - reread this for the first time since middle school! A little dated, but it hasn't aged too poorly! It was also so very rural mid/western america, it was amusing. I did find it a little bland, but it's probably fine for kids - I'll have to see how the rest of the series goes, because I absolutely don't remember.

DNF

Endpapers - this *sounds* cool (and has a fantastic cover), so I was thrilled when QLL added it on audio! Unfortunately I picked it up right after The Well of Loneliness and wasn't ready or willing to deal with another sad angsty queer book so soon.

Song of Blood and Stone - Honestly it seemed fine, just a bit more YA and focused on the romance than I was really interested in. Looking at the 3 further books in the series filled me with enough dread that I decided to not waste my time picking this one back up.

[reileinaxiu]

Finally obtained the elusive volume 7 of TGCF(It was a calamity and a half trying to find it anywhere in any bookstore when I already had volume 8 for ages (3 months). I binged read everything where I left off from volume 4. I'll be rereading at leisure when I have better time.

Warning ⚠️ Spoilers ahead. Go read the book if you haven't.

Anyways I'm here to gush about the weird roller coaster that was TGCF. HuaLian shall forever have my heart when it comes to best romance journey excluding all the weird add-ons and hanger-ons that was the heavenly court and JW's overall mindf*ckery that he calls favor.

Note: no time to quote anything doing this by memory since I've already stashed my books in the depths of the overly cluttered cabinet that is my bookshelf. Some other time.

The giant mecha fight between divine statue XL and the Heaven Capital was so out of field I felt like the book just added a new genre late into the story. But it was awesome all the same I think my favorite part was when HX's bone pets came to their support.

I just can't get over the fact how profound and all-encompassing HC's love for XL is and that clear moment when XL realized HC's identity(WM), that he was seen so completely in not only his highest but also his lowest most self-loathing destructive moments did XL knew that HC is the one and only person who he can wholeheartedly surrender himself to and love. XL also knows that HC is probably the only one who would ever forgive and accept every part of him even the part that he can't forgive and thinks unworthy. HC would probably say there was nothing to forgive in the first place.

HC dispersing after the final battle just broke my heart for XL. 😭 Dear MXTX knows how to write angst and stab in our vitals where it hurts. There reunion was so heartwarming I'm running out of appropriate adjectives. They should never been parted like that ever again. I would have loved to see more of their fresh reunion interactions where XL utterly spoiled and gave into anything HC wanted.

The extras were also too funny I could barely read them straight with how mortifying some of it was.😂 Nice to know every divine statue got their partner 🤭😏. Happy to have finished this close to HC's birthday.

I was hoping XL coffin trauma would be addressed at some point but I'm happy we got something in the extras, not as lighthearted as I thought the extras would be 😭

The art in the last volume is the best so far 🥰😍. Anyone else screamed upon seeing the blatant HuaLian kissing and domesticity. I sure couldn't not with my mom in the same room 😅. But I really wanted to, it felt like HC got a hundred times more sexy with his prince taking kisses in his arms 🤭🤭🤭

Too many thoughts on the matter! I'll circle back to this in the future I've still got 2ha, Thousand autumn to follow and I haven't finished MDZS novels to my great shame 🙏😖

Next time my dearies.

[nouklea]

Fic Tag Game!

I was tagged by @beri-allen, @writerrose1998, @cosmic-lullaby and @wileyonce. Thanks! <3

20 questions below the cut:

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

16

2. What’s your AO3 word count?

136,228

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Wednesday for now. I used to write for StarWars (see question 12) but no traces remains from that era.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Woe of Wrath

I'm on my Way

Variations on a Main Theme - 1

A Second Chance for a First Impression

Five Minutes Earlier

5. Do you respond to comments?

As much as possible. Usually I respond to every comment, even if it's just to say a quick Thank You. The only fic on which I haven't done that is Woe of Wrath, if fell into limbo and I have a hard time focusing on it right now. And I feel kind of weird to answer comments after several months of silence, but the more I wait the weirder it gets...

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

Doomed is a Dead Dove Do Not Eat fic. The entire text is dark, including the ending.

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

I will go with Double-Date With Dad. Farewell Xavier Thorpe ends on a really good note too (if you are not a fan of Xavier).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

It never happened. Fingers crossed.

9. Do you write smut? What kind?

I try. I find it difficult for two reasons. First, it's tough to avoid clichés. When you read smut, you end up noticing some general patterns, and I do my best to stay away from those. Second, I'm not a fan of some popular kinks, for instance I can't stand the expression "good girl", and therefore I'm not interested in writing it, even if I keep reading authors that use them. Some people probably think my smut fics are boring, too soft, too ordinary. But I don't care (yeah, I do, but shh).

10. Do you write cross-overs?

No. And I have a really hard time reading cross-overs too. And I hate cross-overs in tv shows. Complete respect to authors, however. It's just not my thing.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No. I guess I could translate my own fics in French since it's my native language, but for now I don't see any reason to do so.

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

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I did. It was a weird kind of toxic partnership. The other person was responsible for writing the general plot (because my ideas weren't good enough), and I had to turn every page he wrote into a three-pages long section, adding descriptions and filling the blanks. And correct the spelling and grammar, and add better vocabulary...

13. What WIP would you like to finish but doubt you ever will?

I hope I will finish every WIP I currently have, even if they tend to pile up (WIP bunnies...). My biggest challenge is to go back to Woe of Wrath. It is my first fic, it is a multi-chapter one, and I started to write it just to let the steam out after a twenty-years-long writing hiatus, so the outline was not super clear, there are many plot holes I try to fix, the sentences and vocabulary are bad... I know where I want to take the story and how it ends, but it's hard not to want to start over.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

For fanfics I'll say Weyler because it's the only thing I've ever written. Now besides that... For those who read Guy Gavriel Kay, I'm forever bound to the Diarmuid/Sharra ship, followed by Paul/Jaelle. Quite fond of the Clary/Jace ship in The Mortal Instruments (The books! Don't talk to me about the movie or the tv show!)

15. What are your writing strengths?

No damn idea. I've been asking myself the same question since I was thirteen.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Probably not being able to answer question 15. Imposter syndrome.

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

In French it's not a problem, of course. I've done it in Impulsion. I have studied Latin for two years in highschool so I felt comfortable enough to translate a few sentences in Woe of Wrath. For other languages, I would only do so if I can find a beta reader fluent in this specific language to correct the grammar. I cringe everytime I read English fics with badly written French dialogs, it makes me loose the focus on the story (Same for tv shows, by the way. Come on, you have 2 millions $ to produce an episode and you can't find someone to double-check your French sentence?). It's really hard for me not to comment with a correction (AO3 etiquette: do not provide corrections unless the author specifically asked for it). I don't want to inflict that on my readers by butchering their native language.

18. First fandom you wrote for?

Star Wars. It was a long time ago (in a galaxy far far away), when there were only three movies and a few books (Timothy Zahn forever!). And for those who wonder how old I am, I used to write with WordPerfect, DOS version (it was the pre-Windows era). It had a blue background (terrible for the eyes) and some keycodes you had to use to change the font to bold or italics. Since you can't visualize anything in DOS (it's not a wysiwyg), it used colors, so you had to remember what it meant (yellow letters meant italics...). And I used to save those texts on a floppy my mom took to her office to print.

19. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

It's not a popular one, but I really like Monologue for a Hyde. I like the tone. Pretty happy with Fuck Me Once Shame on You, Fuck Me Twice Shame on Me, too.

20. What fic would you want to rewrite one day?

Woe of Wrath without a doubt. With a proper plan, and a lot of plot holes avoided (that damn cellphone...)

I will tag the Death Metal and Glitter Club members whose Tumblr ids I know, aka @anotherbluesunday, @tastethesetears, @darling-gemini, @darlingfuego,

As well as @broken-everlark, @persephoneed, @bithablu, @allergictocolor and @insomniac1994.

[chrysoula]

Classroom of the Elite

(Note: I have read up to Y2v6 (I'll probably read v7 tomorrow once my housemate finishes it) as well as a summary of the Y0 bonus book.) I really like this series. I think the author is skilled, intelligent and literate. I also think he's writing way above the level of his primary readerbase. Or at least, that's the conclusion I am drawing from going through the subreddit. Maybe it's just reddit, though. Why do I like it so much? I have friends who bounced hard off it because the narrator is such an overpowered isekai protagonist (although it's only an isekai metaphorically). He's pretty much superhuman in most ways. But that's never been the sort of thing to drive me off, as long as there's more going on than a power fantasy. I watched episode 4 of Solo Leveling yesterday and it bored me to tears. I kept comparing it to early Danmachi and early Kumo Desu, both of which had me deeply invested in their boss fights. And this is because Kumoko was being clever and fighting above her weight class (and got the shit kicked out of her). And Bell, while a lot less clever, had emotional growth worked into his minotaur fights just like a proper shonen protagonist. Meanwhile the protagonist of Solo Leveling started out interesting and sympathetic and clever but could not make me give a shit about his totally optional battle with a giant snake.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka is OP by any measure. But that's the point of the story. He starts out OP, and also 'defective'. He's not a hero. I'm not even sure he's a protagonist. He seems to see himself as the antagonist; he's training Horikita and her class up to be the protagonists. He's clever and manipulative and impossibly badass physically, and his personal development over time is obscured by being an unreliable narrator, but there are bits and pieces that add up over the 20+ volumes I've read that make him just as fascinating a character as the students he's helping 'grow'. One of my enduring interests is exploring how human nature works, and from the beginning that's been the point of the story. Kiyotaka has repeatedly referred to the paradox of his goals at the school. He wants something he doesn't entirely believe he can get, and he's striving for it as hard as he can. It's just that his goal isn't 'saving his sister' or 'defeating the demon lord' or whatever, it's 'being defeated in such a way as to prove his father wrong'. That's really compelling to me! Especially when combined with his own character growth. Over on reddit, people say things like, "Why would Ayanogod lie to the readers, that'd be lying to himself, people can't lie to themselves..." which, I mean, that's a very... young point of view. Which is why I'm ranting to the void here rather than trying to find thoughtful discussion there...

What I've been noticing a couple times in the last few books is Ayanokoji noting that he doesn't have the social skills of the far more socially deft students _right now_. Because he didn't construct a socially deft persona; he constructed an Ordinary High School Dweeb persona. The obvious implication is that he _could_ be anybody he wants, with some prep time. He might not start out good at it--he has never been good at emoting even when he seems to think he is--but he'll keep learning until he is. This isn't interesting to me because 'oooh ayanogod is so cool' but because it suggests his own sense of identity is pretty flimsy. And the edges and fragments where he's slowly developing an identity are just... peak coming of age story, and his particular degree of OPness is just... keeping things interesting. In y2v6 I noticed his interactions with Mii-chan a lot. At one point, when Mii-chan doesn't need any more than a slight push to work through all her issues (and this is without heavy interference from Ayanokoji). He describes her as a 'almost a fully complete person'. I think Kiyotaka (yes, also Ayanokoji, I switch between his names by vibe) would be the first to admit that he's a deeply flawed and incomplete person as he is. And that's great! That's awesome! That is what I want to see as an enjoyer of OP characters. Being able to punch out Cthulhu isn't the be-all and end-all of personhood! (I am also a fan of Nobilis and Reinhard van Astrea.) I have no destination with this post. I just wanted to babble. If you came here via the tag and find what I have to say interesting, let me know and I'll say more of it!

[scary-grace]

*ahem* I am here to ask a question, or at least, a couple questions about your barduil fic: Kairos.

When will it be updated, and is that soon... actually, I'm okay with that being a surprise. No pressure.

2. Why did you do that to me?! For context I will have to admit I am only currently at chapter twenty something or other which is pretty good for starting the fic only yesterday. And to avoid spoilers I will avoid saying anything too revealing. BUt HOly cOw You scared me half to death. Okay, to be honest, I do not read "scary books" ever. My imagination is too powerful. But this! This is something else. reading about certain creepy things that happened... okay, completely normal, very cool. *things get creepier* I think I need to take a break, maybe turn on my light and huddle underneath my blanket for a couple minutes.

3. I love this fic, probably one of my favorites ever. Hey everyone? Hear that? Go read Kairos. But in all seriousness are you going to add tags when you finish it? I panicked while reading it and flipped to the front because I was worried I had missed some tags and then it would be my fault, which it was... reading at midnight? Very. Bad. Idea. But still...

4. I want to say how fascinating the whole fic is. One of the things I love the most is how it mentions the Cambodian war. No. Not mentions. revolves around! And its so important that people learn about it and know that it happened. I'm just curious to know what made you decide for there to be where Thranduil and Rirosseth went?

I just wanted to say that though this sounds and has a couple mixed messages in it I am absolutely in love with this work. Sure, its given me the heebeejeebees but I can shake those off. What I can't shake off is how this fic haunts me, and I can't stop thinking about it and craving more and more. This is a love letter. Maybe a love letter with some complaints but Still!

-Short time fan but fan for life now.

-ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh-

<3 <3<3

Hello, and thank you for the ask! I'm going to address your points in order to make sure I answer them all (in recompense for you having to wait a few days for the answer to the ask.)

Kairos typically updates on the first Friday of every month! However, we're on an accelerated update schedule for the next few chapters, so while one will be released on September 6th, there will also be another released in September.

I'm really impressed with making it to Chapter 20 in a single day! That's a lot of fic to get through, and a lot of surprises of the pleasant and unpleasant variety to encounter.

For the tags...I originally went with "no archive warnings apply" because that was my standard tag for fics up to that point, but the more appropriate tag is probably "chose not to use archive warnings". It's possible that I'll update them with a few more specifics after the fic is complete, since I've gotten a few pieces of feedback now that I underestimated the spookiness level.

Some of it was dictated by the time period the fic was set in -- I feel like it would be weird to write a fic set in the U.S. in the 1970s and not at least acknowledge the U.S.-instigated wars in Southeast Asia. From there, I had a choice about what to focus on and how much to focus on it, and I chose the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian genocide. It didn't seem like a subject to acknowledge and gloss over, and with Thranduil's role as a doctor and his desire to help others with all the means at his disposal, the only place that seemed realistic for he and Riro to be was working with refugees. That's the part of the fic I spent more research on than anything else, and it's the piece of it I was most concerned about getting right.

Thank you so much for this wonderful asks! Getting any asks about a fic is exciting for a writer, but long ones like this are especially awesome. Apologies again for the delayed response, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter of the fic when it's posted on the 6th!

[chayscribbles]

chayscribbles’ monthly writing update ☆ march 2023

☆ STATISTICS.

words written: 13 235

projects worked on: technically i only wrote for Andromeda Rogue but i did rotate my other side wips rather violently in my head. like this is not a gentle rotisserie chicken rotating, this is a full-on centrifuge machine

proudest accomplishment: this is the month i've written the most all year ????? also i reached over 50K on AR draft 2!!!

books read: Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo; Artificial Condition (Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells; and i've also just started A Rival Most Vial by writeblr's very own @ashen-crest!

☆ GENERAL COMMENTS.

at what degree of sparse activity do i have to concede defeat call it a hiatus. i'm doing fine, i've just been really busy with work and haven't had time to devote to writeblr that much 😔

remember when i said i was gonna intro my Third, Secret WIP this month? yeah, that didn't happen. i'm trying to crack down on AR bc i have this goal of finishing this draft by my birthday in mid-May (although i don't think that's gonna happen at this rate...) so i don't think i'll be talking too much about my other wips here until then. but i'm definitely still playing with them every once in a while lol

uhh not much else to say as far as general writing comments go. have some reading comments: Hell Bent was good but felt a bit messier than the first book imo, 4 stars. Artificial condition absolutely fucked, 5 stars. and i'm not very far in A Rival Most Vial but i love love love it so far.

more specific wip-related comments + featured excerpt below.

☆ COMMENTS: ANDROMEDA ROGUE (draft 2)

so yes this draft is coming along nicely.

right now i'm in the weird bit between the drama of the midpoint and the drama of the climax where things sort of slow down a bit... i'm trying to figure out if i need to add stuff to keep it from dragging but i'm stumped as to what.

i can't tell at what point i need to fix things now or leave things for Future Me. like i can't avoid my problems forever lmao i do have to become Future Me at some point...

there's also a few bits where i don't know if it's actually bad and needs to be fixed or if i'm just overthinking things lol. i've already bothered my rubber duckie (you know who you are <3) too many times for things that i thought were problems that in the end only needed the simplest of solutions... so maybe i need to just leave it be and see what my beta readers think?

speaking of betas... i'm a little *insert gif of me vibrating at the speed of sound* at the thought of people actually Reading My Writing... it feels like that might be happening soon... but i'm probably getting a bit ahead of myself 😅

☆ FEATURED EXCERPT.

i can never remember what i've posted for AR yet and what i haven't but i did change this scene a bit from the first draft. so without further ado, have some Azami being badass and standing up to a space pirate who had kidnapped her. warnings for weapons i guess, lmk if there's anything else i should warn for

With a smirk, Song let go of Azami’s wrist, and that was there he made the grave mistake of turning his back to her.

Petra caught Azami’s eyes flick down to his belt a split second before she pounced. Hands still tied, she gripped the handle of his plasma wand, yanked it out of its holster, and jabbed it at the back of Song’s head.

“Answer the question, asshole!” she shrieked.

Song stopped walking, but didn’t flinch. His smirk merely widened as he slowly turned around to face her. “Do you even know how to use that, sweetheart?”

Azami pointed the wand between his legs and squeezed a button. A flash of light filled the room as a blue laser shot out of the rusty handle. It flew just shy of Song’s crotch, singeing the fabric of his pants, before hitting the floor with a loud crack and a flurry of sparks. Petra yelped and jumped back. Song sucked in a sharp breath, finally dropping his cool demeanour.

“That was a warning. I’ll blast your balls clean off next time,” Azami promised, aiming the wand a bit higher.

☆ TAGLISTS. let me know if you want to be added/removed to any of them.

general taglist:

@nicola-writes @dgwriteblr @the-orangeauthor @retrogayyde @quilloftheclouds @ashen-crest @writeblrfantasy @celestepenss @stardustspiral @pepperdee @extra-magichours @avi-why @lefttigerobservation @chazzawrites @bardolatrycore @innocentlymacabre

andromeda rogue taglist:

@bebewrites @nicola-writes @dgwriteblr @the-orangeauthor @retrogayyde @akindofmagictoo @quilloftheclouds @nora-theteawriter @ashen-crest @corpsepng @writeblrfantasy @toboldlywrite @celestepens @stardustspiral @pepperdee @cheerfulmelancholies @extra-magichours @writeouswriter @cilly-the-writer @lefttigerobservation @rose-bookblood @drowsy-quill @chazzawrites @cynic-and-chief @enchanted-lightning-aes @aesa @outpost51

[kazooku]

Nat's got a new interest!!

So I've started reading Percy Jackson. So far, I've only finished Book 1 The Lighting Thief. I read it in 3 days because I hyperfixated on it. Currently reading Book 2, The Sea of Monsters, it's just taking me longing because I've had less free time, lol.

Anyways, this is my headcanon for Percy!! Mix of official art I've seen and some fan designs. Also just some things purely from me like the patch in the hoodie because that thing is probably so beat up. I've seen art of him with a white streak so can't wait to see when that comes up when reading. I'll add that when I get there.

Btw I'm going into this series with a shitton of spoilers lol but I don't mind spoilers because knowing pieces is not the same as knowing the full thing.

The main thing I'm proud of is the background. I've missed doing detailed backgrounds and holy shit I had so much fun. A rare moment of me doing the background first before anything else because of how excited I was.

Running out of things to say now lol.

Also there's like 4 versions of this because I'm indecisive.

And background

[mayalaen]

20 questions for fic writers

@whataboutthefish tagged me - thanks Fishie!!

First, my AO3

How many works do you have on AO3?

191

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

2,150,989

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Supernatural, Stranger Things, Fargo, Stargate, Dickensian, The Blacklist, The X-Files, Angel the Series & Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I'm probably gonna pick up a few more soon.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

CONventional Psychopathy 'Verse - SPN AU Tumblr Ask Box Requests - SPN 40 ficlet challenge Alpha House 'Verse - SPN AU Resonance 'Verse - SPN canon verse with angel sounds Best Brother Ever - SPN with a technique that has gotten me the most questions from readers saying "does that really work?" Yes it does.

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

I do, but sometimes it takes me a while to respond because I get weird and shy about it at times. I love comments and read them over again when I need a boost!

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

I don't usually have angsty endings, but with CH challenge fics I go ahead and do shit I don't normally do - so Inside (SPN) would be the angstiest ending.

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

Probably Splintered - ST fic where I throw a lot of shit at the guys but they all get a happy ending.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Yup. I delete comments and asks immediately though so readers and followers hopefully never see any of it. I don't play that game.

9. Do you write smut?

SO MUCH. SOOOOO much.

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

Open Sesame Street Walker has to be the wildest one I've done. It was a challenge fic. A choose your own adventure style thing, and I wanted to make every outcome disturbing. I did it, but at the cost of ruining Sesame Street for myself and others 😂

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yup. CON 'verse is still being sold on a bunch of sites and the "author" is continuing to add more books to the series. I've tried a few times to get them taken down but only succeeded in getting things taken down for a few months. Out of all the fics that could've been stolen, that's the one that's the WORST because I'm also writing it as original fic and have been for years. I've got proof of that, but if retailers fight me on it when I try to publish, it's gonna suck.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes. A few.

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

I wrote a few years ago but haven't in a while. I'd like to do it again!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

No way I can answer that. I'm definitely a multshipper at heart, and I can't even decide on favorite characters, let alone a favorite ship!

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

Rewritten in the Stars is something I'd love to finish, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to get in the headspace again. It's complicated and rewrites aspects of the characters while sticking closely to canon with a lot of moving parts over a 30-year time frame. The first part of the series feels complete if you read it, but I have 30k written of part 2 and a full outline for part 3.

16. What are your writing strengths?

The thing I get complimented on the most is my worldbuilding. I also think I'm good at natural dialogue - making it sound like actual speech instead of written word.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I have trouble condensing things and it gets wordy 😭

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

I've kinda sorta done it with alien language and angel language, a few words here and there of other languages - most of it just English in italics to show that it's not being said in English. I don't think I'd ever try and use an actual language I didn't know for more than a word or two.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Stargate SG1

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

CON 'verse is and probably always will be my favorite. 💜

Tagging from my activity list with no obligation to do it: @actualalligator @medusapelagia @wheels-of-despair @kallisto-k @ltleflrt @peachonified @underwater-ninja-13

If anybody else wants to play, please tag me so I can see your stuff!

[retlasute]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

THANK YOOOOUU @penny-lane-123 FOR TAGGING ME ❤️ and I'm sorry I'm late, I've had smoke coming out of my ears for three days

And I don't interact with many people here but I'll tag you @imalovelymoth because I'm curious and I'm just entrosando🫶

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? Currently 3, but I have another 2 works ready 

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? Nearly 300.000 words  

3. What fandoms do you write for? Only for hot jojo cowboys

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Turbinio with 340 kudos, itrmw with 70 and Change Partners with 20 if I'm not mistaken 

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? YES I DO! I love interacting with readers and I always take the time to read their comments, it really motivates me to keep writing 

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? None have been finalized and I don't want to give spoilers, but itrmw probably won't have as ''good'' an ending as Turbinio 

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Again, I'm not the type to make truly happy endings, but the most optimistic will be Turbinio 

8. Do you get hate on fics? Surprisingly I've never gotten any hate on my fics ?? I've always been a person who gets in trouble easily and always seeing wonderful comments on my fics is something that disarms me and makes me😳😳😭😭❤️❤️ 

9. Do you write smut? WELL I TRY 😭😭 I'm the last romantic and what was supposed to be a 1500-word erotic scene becomes a complete book and I'm sure that must annoy some people who read looking for cock and get 14 paragraphs of pure internal conflict 

10. Do you write crossovers? No, writing for something silly like steel ball run already takes half my gray matter, a crossover would kill me 

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? YES, but it was at a time when I was still writing stories in portuguese. A son of a bitch stole all my poems and my first jotaro fic 

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Noo 

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yesss and it was in 2020 in a ficwriter community (I fought with everyone and was banned from there) 

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship? HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM I would say gyjo but I'm too jealous so my favorite ship is Joseph x Caesar 

15. What’s a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? I don't think I have something that I'll never finish because I work with random peaks of energy, last year Turbinio was nothing more than a 2000-word one-shot and now it's 65 chapters long 

16. What are your writing strengths? I honestly don't know, I can only answer what I like to do best, which in this case is to describe the appearance of the characters. I like to imagine a more realistic picture of how the characters would look after 116 days crossing deserts and frozen forests, whether they would be vain enough to shave, wash their hair or simply sleep properly. I think details like dark circles under the eyes, pallor, unshaven beards and patched clothes are things that I miss when I read the manga and see that they always look so flawless 

I also love describing specific pains like the tight knots of a suture cutting into the skin, how the salt from tears stings an abraded face and things like that 

17. What are your writing weaknesses? irregularity and laziness. It takes me two weeks to write a paragraph, and then on a random day I make a caipirinha shake and write 5000 words and publish it the same day because I'm too lazy to read and correct it 

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I usually keep only slang and sayings. As the protagonist of Turbinio is practically polyglot, I like to add details to her speech such as a certain slowness or brief pauses, as if she's trying to remember how the word is in english (I confess that this happens to me all the time, so I make her say the word in spanish out of laziness to look up the translation) 

In some of the first chapters I also used to make the answers she gave Diego simpler or vaguer because at the beginning she really struggled to understand that british accent 

19. First fandom you wrote for? Diabolik Lovers 💀💀 

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? IN THE RICH MAN'S WORLDDDD i love this fic because it's a project i started in 2019 and it was SO DETAILED and full of nuances  

now I'm writing a much simpler version but still full of details that I'm really enjoying writing, even though Turbinio has a special place in my heart and I particularly prefer a good old latina protagonist 

[spacejammie-eimmajecaps]

For the fanfic writing meme...YOU pick 10 numbers YOU want to answer! I want to see which ones of those most excite your or you have the most to say.

My attention span is horrible right now tbh, I couldn't even read through the whole list. So these are the 10 that stood out to me when I was skimming it over:

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

One-shots because they are quick and easy (for the most part). Multi-chaps take so much more effort. Although, multi-chaps are more satisfying to finish. Pros and cons with each. I do miss one-shots, though. Been a very long time since I've written one.

Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

I used to only write as I went, which was honestly so fun. I'd surprise myself with unintended plot twists and stuff like that. But now I plan ahead, and that's very necessary for a story like SGB, which is very long, detailed, and packed with subplots. I will say, though, that while there is a plan, I let the chapter change as needed if the plan isn't working or I think of something better while drafting, and sometimes I add scenes last minute (or cut entire scenes if it just doesn't feel like it's working). Having a plan is good, knowing when to be flexible is also good.

Do you like constructive criticism?

Depends on what that looks like.

If someone wants to point out a typo, I'll be appreciative (and I do actually have a fandom friend who used to message me when she found typos in my posted works, which I am grateful for). And if there is an obvious mistake, I don't mind it being pointed out (for example, I was messing up the serve order in games and someone very kindly pointed that out, so I fixed it, and I'm very happy that they pointed it out so that I didn't keep making that mistake).

But if someone said things like, "I don't like how you wrote that" or "that character would never do that" or "you should write that differently" or anything relating to like, personal preference, I'd be annoyed and not grateful at all.

On average, how much writing do you get done in a day?

I used to be able to bang out 10-12k words in a day, back when my health wasn't so bad. Granted, the quality of those 10-12k words wasn't great at all, and part of why I write slower now is because I'm thinking about a lot more technical aspects that I used to be unaware of. Anyway, these days I can maybe get 3k written on a very good day, but 500-1000 in a day is more realistic for me now.

What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

Take a break, read books and watch shows, rest, re-read what I've already written, etc.

What’s your revision or editing process like?

1. Rough draft

2. Fill in details and missing elements

3. Focus setting/sensory details and add last minute details

4. Check that dialogue/body language matches each character (usually end up adding a few more little details as well)

5. Make sure the chapter as a whole makes sense, cut anything unnecessary, check for consistency

6. Proofreading (check line by line for typos and grammar issues)

Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

There are some fics I like to re-read maybe once a year or so, and sometimes I read a fic twice in a row if I really liked it. I'd probably re-read things much more frequently if I wasn't so busy writing.

Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

Hopefully not still writing SGB😭😭😭

Why do you continue writing fics?

Because I'm bored and have nothing better to do, and more importantly, because I enjoy it.

What order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

Chronological. I have to use my favorite scenes as a reward for getting that far in the story, so I don't allow myself to skip ahead.