#if anyone's interested i think i have a couple bookmarked on ao3

[unrealwasteland]

Tom Cruise fic recs

If someone had told me a year ago that this is what I'd be reading in 2023, I probably wouldn't have believed them. Anyway, here I am with a list of some of my favorite RPF fics.

This list is pretty PWP-heavy and includes mostly bottom!Tom because I'm predictable like that. There are a few different pairings, but they're all m/m. No archive warnings apply to any of these fics.

With you, I'm already winning by Fuddlewuddle 4k, E Tom Cruise/Miles Teller, secret relationship, semi-public sex, belly bulge

Tom and Miles go to the Oscars. The ceremony goes on for so long, no one is going to miss them for a few awards while they go to the bathroom together. Just as long as they're back for the Best Picture award, it'll be fine. Miles isn't sure he'd be able to stop himself, even if it wasn't.

Oscars fix-it! This was lovely and really hot.

Kinkmeme fill: Asphyxiation by anonymous Not rated/E Tom Cruise/Miles Teller, asphyxiation, unsafe kink

Prompt: Tom has a thing for Miles' hands. It's only a matter of time before he asks Miles to choke him in the bedroom.

This kinkmeme fill is short but amazing. It's extremely well written and the characters are very believable.

all we are is indestructible by yellowdressilsa 4k, E Tom Cruise/Chris McQuarrie, wingfic

Chris always wears his wings up and out of the way - Tom finally gets him to let them down.

Somehow an AU where they have wings just makes so much sense for them. I love the intimacy of this.

so come take my hand, come on by notyourwinter 1.5k, E 🔒 Tom Cruise/Chris McQuarrie, shower sex

Tom would stay in the gym forever if McQ let him. McQ doesn't intend to let that happen.

Chris taking care of Tom is just so sweet, I want to live in this fic.

reading about yourself on a plane by yellowdressilsa 2k, E 🔒 Tom Cruise/Chris McQuarrie, topping from the bottom

Tom looks at him a moment; his expression is unreadable but then again, Chris isn't wearing his glasses. "You want to have sex?" Tom asks finally.

I think this was the first Tom/McQ fic on AO3. 10/10, absolutely perfect.

Truth or Dare by anonymous 3k, E 🔒 Tom Cruise/Miles Teller, armpit kink, boot worship, praise kink

"Truth or dare." "No!" Tom said decisively, waving his finger at Miles. "I'm way too old for that." "I'm also too old." Miles shrugged. "But it will be fun! We'll get to know each other, and all that."

This is really hot, I love the praise kink (and so do they).

Turn it on, knock me up, turn me loose by yellowdressilsa 2.5k, E 🔒 Tom Cruise/Glen Powell, pregnancy/breeding kink, top!Tom

Tom probably means "I wish I could have carried them" as an offhand comment, but it starts a wildfire in Glen.

I know I keep saying this about every fic on this list, but this is super hot.

twice as sweet as money earned by Saturn 5k, E Tom Cruise/Paul Newman, first time bottoming, praise kink

Tom could pretend he doesn't understand what Paul is offering but there is no denying the meaning behind Paul’s proposition. They’ve been building toward this for weeks. Tom’s not certain what the details entail, and he’s not sure he wants what’s on offer, but he still manages to sink his next four shots. It’s about options. While filming The Color of Money, Paul teaches Tom far more than he anticipated.

This is the only fic on this list with younger Tom, and I just adore how he's written here. And of course I love how Paul takes care of him.

[takiki16]

Hey so I am starting to get into Jupiter Ascending fandom (a couple years late but what can I say). I was thinking of writing a fic. Do you have any resources for JA extra information?

Thanks in advance. Also I am loving your fic (it's how I started getting into the fandom lololol). can't wait to reread!!!

HOOOOOOO BOY!!!!

I'm paging @bemusedlybespectacled, @gallifreyburning, @vr-trakowski, @sorrelchestnut, @florentinequill, @fuckyeahjupiterascending, @vrabia, and honestly ANYONE ELSE who wants to chime in here, bc HOOOOOOO BOY!

(I made that sweet puppy in fucking 2015 on my dying laptop in the travel study dorm in DC, JUPITER ASCENDING HOW I LOVE THEE)

The eternal fucking tragedy of Jupiter Ascending is that the wider world doesn't love it like we do. Does it have every single thing that turns my crank, id-wise? Sure! Does it have gorgeous over-the-top sequined costumes and extravagant set pieces that remind you at every minute that this movie specially thanked Swarovski Crystal in the credits? Sure! Does it have theeeee single most pinpoint reading of MY PERSONAL FEMALE GAZE that Channing Tatum has ever done? (sorry mister Magic Mike, but you do not even come CLOSE to "may I kill him?" in terms of sexy) SURE! Was this movie a commercial or critical success? Absolutely not 😔

There isn't, as far as I'm aware, an art book. There isn't an official novelization. There isn't even an actual script posted to the usual internet databases that isn't just an automatic shitty talk-to-text rendition of the movie dialogue. There are concept art paintings and old cast interviews floating around, and this auction website where the Wachowskis auctioned off some of the props from the movie, but as far as canon resources and extra material beyond the movie itself there isn't much. A quick duckduckgo search would probably be more helpful to you than anything else, if any of the websites still have the articles up - it WAS eight years ago, and doesn't that just break my fucking heart.

My corner of tumblr LOVED this movie. In 2015, there were TONS of posts gathering interviews, posting concept art, making cosplays, all the signs of a small but healthy fandom ecosystem. However, we call this the blue hellsite for a reason - not all of those resources are still there, and the ones that survived time and incompetent archival site coding are probably difficult to find. I would definitely recommend trawling the JA tags of all the blogs I tagged at the start of this post, as JA introduced me to two of my longest and most beloved of all mutuals. ALL of their insights were key to A Fine Chain.

There is also my own jupiter ascending tag and my more specific jupiter ascending meta tag, although I don't know how bored you are lol. The general JA tag is 105 pages - I would almost recommend just starting at page 105 and working forward from there since it chronicles my descent into kinky space angel werewolf brain rot pretty nicely. There are also my ao3 bookmarks for JA.

I WILL SAY that it has been 8 years, and I have changed into a very different person than the one I was when I first saw this movie. I don't REGRET the first few chapters of A Fine Chain, or any of my breathless meta posts, but I do think that if I were to write any of them over again, I'd hope that my writing style has matured and I'd have lots more extra material to draw from. Actually graduating from law school, writing long fic in another fandom, and generally percolating more as a person has given me lots of new perspectives on JA that make it more interesting even as I still enjoy it (for example, HBO's Succession is ODDLY RELEVANT and I wish there were more JA fanwriters to take advantage of that fact).

...I hope that was helpful? I will ETERNALLY mourn the fact that this fandom wasn't isn't bigger - we haven't even broken 1k on ao3! But EYE MYSELF am here to discuss JA stuff as long as this weird spurt of creative energy sustains me, and my inbox is always open!

[sflow-er]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you so much for the tag, @silvagrey!💜

How many works do you have on Ao3?

Eight.

What's your total Ao3 word count?

355,461 (that's a bit deceptive; one of my fics is 239k).

What fandoms do you write for?

Young Royals. I did write for other fandoms all through my teens, but those fics haven't been online for a long time now.

Top five fics by kudos:

Other people's secrets (1,215) Matters of adjustment (190) The real deal (180) Like you better (152) Last chance (126)

Do you respond to comments?

I respond to every comment on new fics and WIPs. Having discussions in the comments section is the best thing about sharing a story, and I love my little community of regular commenters!

However, I am currently learning not to beat myself up for not getting round to answering every backlogged comment on OPS. I still try my best, but I had to change my previous "always respond" policy when @willedeservesbetter left very long thought-provoking comments on the first 20+ chapters and I simply couldn't keep up... 😅 I'm trying to trust that people know life gets in the way sometimes.

That being said, I do reply to all comments where the reader has shared their personal thoughts on the ace rep! It may take me a while to get to them, but they never fall off my to-do list.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Årnäs, February 2016. I don't necessarily think the ending is "angsty", but it's a very bleak fic with no happy ending.

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

It's impossible to choose between all my Walty fics. Does the emotional payoff from all the angst make OPS the happiest ending? Or is it one of the fics that are sweet from start to finish?

Whichever one it is, I would like to think none of them are too sugary sweet. They are very happy on the romance front because I want them to be a comforting read, but there is usually at least something left for the characters to figure out on their own after the story with the insight/support/lessons they have gained.

Do you get hate on fics?

Thankfully no. There is one rudely worded public bookmark on OPS, but it doesn't qualify as hate. Also, I once got a comment calling a plot point "ridiculous :D", but the person didn't mean any harm.

Do you write smut?

I did write a couple of scenes in my teens for one fic, just emulating what I had read. The feedback was good.

I think I've mentioned this on here before, but I actually tried to write some as an exercise last year! From a "technical" standpoint, it turned out okay, but from an emotional standpoint, it just made me cringe and roll my eyes a lot. I don't know if it's a grey thing or a me thing, but I just can't buy into it at all. And I'm not interested in writing allo PWP, so unless I decide to write an explicit ace sex scene one day, the answer is no. I don't write smut.

Craziest crossover:

I'm not really a crossover person.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Well, I did enlist my "live-in expert" as a consultant on ÅFeb16 (to help me get child August's POV right and sign off on Carl Johan's characterisation and all the bad stuff bubbling under). I really enjoyed the collaboration - but I don't think actually co-writing a text with anyone would be a good fit for my process. I wouldn't even want a regular beta reader because it would only stress me out.

All-time favourite ship?

To write? I don't have an all-time favourite, but since I started up again, I would obviously have to say ace Henry/allo Walter.

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

I've got two WIPs at the moment. One is an unfinished and unpublished S3-compliant Walty fic, and the other is The real deal. At present, I'm feeling a resurgence of motivation for TRD, so the other fic is shelved for now. I do plan to finish it, though!

What are your writing strengths?

My planning and research game is pretty strong, as are my grammar and language skills. I guess the overall quality of my writing is decent when I'm not too stressed or low on creative energy. Many readers seem to find my writing fairly engaging, and they have said nice things about the dialogue, my characterisations, and the relationships between the characters.

Oh, and I think I'm pretty good at writing kissing scenes.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Perfectionism, self-criticism, "compulsive editing syndrome." When I'm unhappy with a passage, I tend to get stuck in a rewriting loop until I either get it right or spiral into writer's block and severe self-doubt. I also have a tendency to get swept away to the point where I neglect my wellbeing and burn myself out, which affects both my update schedule and the quality of my writing.

If you want more tangible weaknesses, I'm too wordy, my teenagers are unrealistically mature, and I occasionally overuse exposition.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

This is only my personal opinion and others are welcome to disagree! I'm not judging or criticising anyone in any fandom for using dialogue in another language in their own stories!

As a translator, my day job is all about conveying the same message in another language, and I can't just turn that logic off for writing. If the characters all speak one language throughout the text, it doesn't make sense to me personally to render some bits of dialogue in that language and others in English (unless those bits are truly untranslatable).

Not to mention that languages work differently, from word choice and grammar rules to the underlying communicative conventions and even thought patterns. Many people feel that using some sentences in the language that is actually being spoken adds authenticity, and that's a valid opinion! But to me personally, it's the other way around. I feel that the dialogue can only be consistently fluent in one language at a time, and if I'm writing the story in English, my dialogue will be an English rendering of what the characters would be saying in their own language. Similar to a translated book, only without a source text.

Now, if someone in the story is actually speaking another language, that's another matter! Dialogue in that language could be used very effectively in different situations, as in @silvagrey's example of Linda switching to Spanish to talk to Simon and Sara.

Again, this is just my personal opinion that I apply to my own writing! It is not the only valid opinion!

First fandom you wrote in?

If writing in my English notebook in lower secondary school counts, it was Final Fantasy X. The first fic I ever posted online was in an obscure anime/manga fandom in high school (and yes, I did use Japanese greetings and such back then).

Favourite fic you've written?

Other people's secrets. It's one of the best stories I've written, the one and only reason I'm still writing now, and one of the most meaningful things I've done for myself and my own ace identity (and apparently for some others too, which absolutely blows my mind). Furthermore, it was my first fic in over a decade and the biggest creative project I'd ever undertaken, so even just finishing it in a way I could be proud of was a huge accomplishment.

.

Thanks again for the tag, I had a great time answering these! 💜

No pressure tags: I honestly don't think I know any writers whom I haven't seen tagged yet (not ones who usually blog about their writing anyway)! So I'm just going to say if anyone reads this far and wants to play along, please tag me in your post. Or if you want to be tagged first, just let me know!

[rey-jake-therapist]

It's kinda hilarious but mostly sad for me that from the moment I muted the JohnLock tag because I was tired of seeing so-called TLJCers "meta posts" from 8 years ago and was looking in vain for Sherlock fans who had other interests than a non canon ship, I just... Don't see Sherlock related posts anymore? Except for a couple of Adlock and Sherlolly posts, but I don't engage with these ships either so 🤷

I took my Sherlock x OC fic off AO3 because I ended up losing interest. Never did I take off a fic from AO3 after only three chapters! And it wasn't even because it wasn't read: I was actually surprised to see it bookmarked, receive several kudos and even a couple of lovely comments. The kudos were anonymous for most of them but so what. It was nice to see the attention anyways. So it's not a case of "woman bitter because her shitty fanfic wasn't successful". Considering I had only three chapters online, it was a promising start.

Yet, I lost interest because my passion for the show wasn't fed by exchanges with other fans. I mean, I had a few very nice discussions, -I don't want to tag anyone but the three of you I have discussed Sherlock with several times should easily recognize themselves 💜-, but before I muted the JL tag I spent more time scrolling down than anything else. I think it's a shame because there was so much to this show than a ship. With my story I wanted to explore Sherlock's past, uncover a potential trauma caused by something else than Victor Trevor's death, open a discussion about this, about his relationship with his brother, his sister and his parents.... And I KNOW that Sherlock's relationship with John, wether it's considered platonic or not, is very important. I just wish I could find something else to discuss than Sherlock's feelings for X or Y, or his sexuality.

Some could say it's pretty much the same thing for the Hannibal's fandom: there's no doubt that if I muted Hannigram I wouldn't find any Hannigram related posts. Or I'd probably find anti Hannigram posts, ew. The big difference to me is that Will and Hannibal's relationship is at the core of the show. The show is called "Hannibal" but it could just as well be called "Hannibal and Will": even if you don't ship them, take the relationship out of the equation and the show has nothing left to say, like... Literally.

Don't get me wrong, Sherlock without the pair Sherlock/John would probably be crap, but it would still have Sherlock's relationship with his family to cover. And boy there's much to say, imho. While Hannibal has no one else than Will. Will has no one else than Hannibal. That's the story. Also Hannigram is canon. So it makes sense to me that most of the fandom's posts are focused on Will and Hannibal. It hasn't stopped me from starting a pre-Hannigram fic because I'm very intrigued by the professor Lecter had an affair/student Alana Bloom storyline they hinted at in season 2, but I know I won't lost interest in this fandom anytime soon, because I feel fed by it. And this weird/toxic/and yet very romantic relationship between these two weirdos keeps fascinating me, even after four rewatchings! Besides, most Hannibal fans are unhinged which is I must say, a quality I appreciate very much 😁

[suspendingtime]

20 Questions for Fic Writers!

I've been tagged by @stars-of-kyber and @andthebubbles. 😁 So although I feel barely qualified, I guess I best do this...

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

7. 🤗

I started about 2 months ago, so... and yes, they're all Kanthony. Initially just started as a way of contributing to Anthony Week 2023, and I didn't even expect that I'd actually do all 7 days.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

13,370.

Currently ranging at 661 to 3,779 per fic. Rookie numbers!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

So far, just my beloved Bridgerton.

But there have been a couple other shows that have tempted me...

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Astride  - 166

Nursery  - 118

Hunt - 105

Yours - 94

Temptation - 88

Having published a handful with various ratings, it's quite interesting to see the kudos, bookmarks (private vs public), and subs ratios! Much to think about.

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

Yes.

Why... I sort of have a need? Idk, when I see a comment it's hard to just leave it hanging there and not to reply. Like irl if someone looked at something I made and verbally commented on it... and I just stared back blankly not saying anything. 😐 This is how it feels to me on the receiving end at least haha. And my replies saying various forms of 'Thank you!' is probably quite repetitive, but hey ho.

Plus comments give you that lil hit of dopamine; from both povs as a writer or reader. Being on the reader side for most of my Ao3 activities I tend to comment on most of fics I read, I can't help it - I must tell you what I loved about it and why, and there's a pleasure in reciprocating that back too. Look, now I've written half an essay on the subject, gaaah. (I've not been on Ao3 as much as I'd like to recently, and because I opened it to scoop out the stats for some of the questions above I can now see that I have some unreads... and the need is happening.)

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

Hmmm *thinking really hard*, I don't think any of them have an ending that is all that angsty. If I had to choose, maybe Temptation?

The pattern I've shown so far in my posted works is that it's gonna be 90% fluff. Though that is liable to change. 😆

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

Probably Nursery?

I'm not sure, cause they've all ended on a pretty optimistic note so far. But that one has Kate and Anthony with a few of their kids, so it's the furthest on the Kanthony HEA timeline.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet...

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

Ummm 👀 I may have dabbled in some smut.

What kind... hm, the kind where both people are panting for each other, and end up caving because they literally can't hold their horniness in anymore (this totally explains why I went feral for Bridgerton S2, ha). Another pattern I seem to have is making Anthony a submissive man puddle.

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

Not yet, but I do have some crack ideas I may explore.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of, I very much doubt it.

How often does this happen to people?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No. I'd certainly be all for it if anyone ever wanted to translate any works of mine. 😊

If I was proficient enough to write in other languages, then I would probably try publishing the different versions from the get go.

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

Kinda?

Nothing formal, but there was a lengthy comment thread on Reddit some months ago where myself and another user went back and forth re-writing the script for that stormy library scene 😅 (not so much re-writing what was already there, bar the last few lines, more of a continuation in a universe where Kate hadn't fled).

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

Must I even answer this? Kanthony, c'mon now.

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

There's only 1 work that I have, where I've actually started a chapter 2. And I have all the faith that I will finish it. ✍️🤓

Other potential WIPs, that are currently just posted as one shots, only exist in my head... who knows if they will see the light of day.

16. What are your writing strengths?

This question feels illegal to be asked.

I have no idea, I'm very new to this whole writing thing. At least in terms of fiction, so I'm not sure what I'd consider my strengths to be. I feel like I need some more practice before I can get a real sense of this?

I would say that dialogue usually comes very quickly to me, and it's having to fill in the bits around it that takes more brain muscles. So that might indicate something.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Everything apart from the answer to the question above.

But really I think it's remembering that there is a world outside of the main couple happening, and trying to describe the details there. Also other general 'setting the scene' stuff like clothing, weather etc etc. I usually just want to jump straight in with some random dialogue.

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

On writing it... no thoughts; not done it yet!

If I needed to for some unknown fic reason in the future, I'm sure I'll be apologising profusely in the author notes for trusting Google translate and probably butchering whatever language it is.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Still just the one so far, Bridgerton. 😌

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Hunt 🥺🥹 I was a lot of feels, and just very indulgent tbh.

I also really enjoyed my shortest one, Obedient, which was in 2nd person (hadn't done that before). The writing of that one was just really fun and I idky but I've reread it quite a bit!

__________________________________________________

I'm woefully looking at my Ao3 bookmarks (which has grown exponentially since joining Tumblr), full of things that I've not got round to reading yet. So I'm tagging partly based on stuff hanging out on top of that pile: @islemeadow, @ladykettlechips, @hydriotaphia, @eleanor-bradstreet, and the smut aunties @colettebronte & @fayes-fics 😋 (if y'all wanna do it, ofc. I tried to find those who hadn't been tagged/done it yet, sorry if you've actually already done this and I've just not found it).

[do-angels-dream-of-starry-seas]

Congrats on the win from a stucky shipper! I have actually never heard of your ship before this poll and am of course vexed by the results (because I do love my star crossed lovers who got fucked over by canon), but to honor your hard earned win I would like to read one fic about your ship to see what the fuzz is about. Can you or anyone recommend one or should I choose the one with the most kudos on ao3?

If anyone wants a recommendation the other way I think most stucky’s would choose Not easily conquered:

https://archiveofourown.org/series/115516

😲😲 thank you so much for the kind message! Also that fic does look good, so I'm thankful for it

At the end of the day, it's a silly shipping poll, and it illustrates how the current landscape is far better in queer rep than it was ten years ago

And ooooh, if you like canonically queer pirates who have seemingly opposite aesthetics but are both insane and want to break free from their confined roles, then you'll love gentlebeard and Our Flag Means Death as a whole. Perfect timing, since s2 is coming out Oct 5th.

And I know you said one, but I hope you don't mind a few. I'll specifically talk about gentlebeard, but I'll mention a couple general crew ones

Anyone else can reblog their own favorites or their own writing if they wish!

First off, my own :)

Dancing With A Partner (E) - nebulous post s2, so eventually not canon compliant. Stede and Ed's first time, a one-shot. I tried to capture what I picture will happen in the show, which led to this emotional lovemaking scene with hints of playfulness

Clowns To The Left of Me, Jokers To The Right (T) - some of Stede and Ed's crew gets stuck in a walk-in closet. More silly, and I tried to capture the side characters personalities. One-shot, post s2, eventual not canon-compliant

Now, a couple bookmarks of ones I saved (tried not to have em all be explicit, but yknow):

B is For Beach, V is For Vacation (T): nebulous post s2, one-shot, the captains and all crew are on a beach for a vacation. Slice of life, and hear you'll see all the main characters and they're personalities, so I recommend this if you want to understand the show before watching it.

Hold Me (T): one-shot, post s2, eventual not canon-compliant. Stede and Ed cuddling in bed and showing each other love, really summarizes their relationship.

Distant Worlds (T): canon divergent after ep 9 of s1. Multichapter and finished, Stede is trying to find Ed a partner, believing he's bored and wants to help him. Really funny, really interesting, an overall fantastic story.

In Favor With Their Stars (M): A finished multichapter AU, Ed is an engineer on a spaceship and falls in love with S.T.E.D.E., the ship's AI. If you want an AU that still captures the characters and their relationship, then you'll love this. Even I'm picky about AUs, but the writing is by far my favorite out of all of these choices.

[killerandhealerqueen]

Shipper Tag Game

Tagged by @brazilian-whalien52 thank you friend!

1. What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care anymore?

All of my old ships, like Destiel, Sabriel, Johnlock, Mystrade...I used to be super into Supernatural and Sherlock but I've like completely moved on from them. Though I do like to dive back into Johnlock fics every now and then

2. Which ship would you consider your first one?

USUK from Hetalia or either KakaVege from Dragonball Z. It's between those two, I think

3. Your first fanfic belonged to which couple?

Definitely USUK. You have no idea how many fics I read over on Deviantart about them. So many

4. Do you remember the first couple you saw a fanart over?

USUK or Russia x China from Hetalia...it was one of them. Can't remember, honestly

5. Did you ever get into ship discourse?

No. I don't get into discourse. I'm not very confrontational and I never liked fighting with anyone over their ships

6. Did you used to have any no-otp or have it currently?

FRUK or whatever the fuck France x UK was called. Can't remember. They were never a favorite of mine. Also Wincest. Like why?

7. Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read?

Bai Yutong x Zhan Yao (it was my own fanfic, thank you)

8. Currently, do you have any OTPs?

Normal about them a normal amount (don't look at my blog or ao3)

9. Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together?

Um...honestly, I can't remember.

10. Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting?

No, not really. If I dislike a ship, I just tend not to interact with it. So I won't go looking for content about it or check it out, even if a mutual or someone is talking about it

11. Do you have any ship that, in the past, was considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

Sebaciel, Eren x Levi, anything hetalia related...these were all like the normal ships in middle school for me and like...now people (especially on instagram but who the fuck listens to people on instagram) just do not like them. But I still like them.

12. What was your favorite crack ship?

I never did crack ships, honestly. Which might seem weird to some people but it was just never my thing

13. Who is the couple you read more fanfics off?

Now, if we're talking about my own fanfics, it's Yuezhi. I read so much of my own fics about them. But if we're not then...McDanno is the one who has the most bookmarks in my ao3 bookmarks

14. What most of your ships usually have in common?

Enemies to lovers, doctor x cop, black and white couple (means one wears black/dark clothes majority of the time and the other wears light/white clothes majority of the time), grumpy x sunshine...i'm sure there are other things but i can't remember

15. What you absolutely hate in a ship?

Miscommunication. Like, you're supposed to be in love with each other, right? Which means you communicate with each other for fucks sake. I know miscommunication is a big romance trope but it's just so stupid. It causes so much drama and unnecessary anxiety and just...just fucking talk to each other you assholes (I will give a pass to this trope if it's done well...like you think it's a misunderstanding but actually the characters have talked about this and they're faking the misunderstanding/miscommunication. Killer and Healer has some miscommunication but it actually makes sense why there's miscommunication...doesn't mean I have to like it, but it makes sense, so it gets a pass)

tagging: @clawbehavior @missjudge-me @hyperbolicgrinch @ahhhnorealnamesallowed @fourth-quartet @nineninepetals @marulo @writerwithoutsound @hils79 @godotismissingx @darktecno @zennialemo and anyone else who wants to play

[cielpansyhive]

I haven't checked my stats on AO3 in a year or more. I know people rank things different ways. Some people go by hits, others kudos, some by comments, bookmarks, subscriptions, ect. You get the picture. Hits are tricky, I've heard of people getting hits by bots. Which throws everything off, you see 50 hits and zero kudos, like, "fuck, these people read and hated it?" Maybe, but also it could have been a bot. For me hits can be more discouraging than helpful. I go by everything other than hits. So, with that in mind, I want to talk about my most successful works. (This is in no way meant to be me boasting. I'm a small-time writer. My point is, if I can do it, YOU can do it.)

-

I believe my most popular work is Revamp, it has the most subscriptions and comments. It's the work I'm known for. It's a little on the lower end for kudos and bookmarks, but it's not finished. The very fic people know me for is also my first work. (Because of this I'm working on revising what I have before updating another chapter. No worries, it's not abandoned and never will be.) That said, I was terrified to post it originally. Not only was it my first but there were maybe ten other fics at the time with trans Ciel and that was it. I didn't know if there was a reason for that. Lack of interest? People getting hate? I was clueless. But I had a story to tell so I sucked it up and posted and I'm glad I did! I've talked to so many people and befriended some because of that fic. I take forever to update and people still get excited over it when I do update. It really means a lot! My life changed because of posting it and it gave me the courage to pursue writing and share my stuff.

My highest bookmarked and work with the 3rd most kudos is a smut one-shot (That Butler, Sensitive) that I was worried would be "too weird" for people. I know way more people who think hand kinks are weird than ones that are neutral or into it. It was another I was reluctant to post and bam people loved it. I'm still shocked by the feedback.

My highest kudo work, the first couple chapters were awful. They were quick little things I wrote for tumblr, I got enough feedback I decided to post them on AO3. Chapter 1 I wrote drunk, I'm not even joking. Did I have fun with it? Yes. Was it to my standard? Fuck no. I have since revised the first two chapters. The third chapter, Sebastian is so OOC, but once again I did have fun with it. The last chapter has figging, a kink I don't know anyone of really having...at least in my personal life. The work as a whole (Canon Divergent SebaCiel) is just fun debauchery. In the beginning it was difficult for me to post smut. It was difficult to write too, I'd get stuck in my own head. But if you write whatever thoughts flow out, it's so simple! Because I became more comfortable, I was able to write my second highest kudo work (Clathrus Archeri) that was inspired by a fungus. Yep, we get that freaky with it. My readers enjoy it, it's all good.

My fourth highest bookmarked and fifth highest kudo work (Relax) is one that I stated was "the worst smut I've ever written." It was extremely self-indulgent but at the same time I spent so long editing it that at the end I hated it. I thought in comparison to my other smut it was low level. It also had trans Ciel, so I'm glad one of my works with him made it in the top 5. Yet, I wouldn't have that had I not posted.

While most of my works are obviously Kuroshitsuji, I do have works for Voltron too. I have almost zero interactions with the Voltron fandom. I will reblog things and read (kudo, bookmark, subscribe), but besides comments on my own fics I haven't talked to anyone. A big part is that I'm shy. Another is that I'm too old for fandom drama, ship wars, and what have you. If someone wants to chat with me, I'm glad and I will talk, but I'm not putting myself out there. The same will go when I start posting Vanitas no Carte fics. I'm very ship and let ship and that will piss off some people. It's easier for people to approach me rather than me trying to figure out if someone will hate me for my ships or not. Okay, very long intro for my next point. My third highest subscribed work (Atlas Ocean Rescue) is for the Voltron fandom. They don't know me from anywhere, exception the kuro people that also like Voltron, but apparently my work has readers. This fic is super self-indulgent, I love mermen okay? I'd say overall my Voltron works aren't doing too bad considering I basically just post and run. As anxious as I get to post anything, posting for another fandom was really hard. There wasn't the pressure of people knowing my work, but there's the very real feeling of, "oh fuck, this could flop terribly." A few Voltron works have already surpassed my "worst" Kuro works...so success? I think so!

-

For anyone who read all my nonsense, you get a gold star. I hope you also noticed the patterns here. That is, write for yourself and your audience will find you. Don't censor yourself, be true to you and go with the flow, have fun! Write characters how you want to write and read them. Indulge in your kinks, I swear you aren't the only one that has them. Step out of your comfort zone every once and a while. If you post a fic and it flops, so what? It's not the end of the world. What if the fic you think will fail ends up being your best one? You'll never know what will happen unless you post it, it might surprise you. As your skills improve it's okay to go back and revise and edit. But don't let your skill level hold you back from posting in the first place, we all have to start somewhere. You can engage with fandoms as much or as little as you want. (I do encourage reblogs, kudos, bookmarks, ect.) But if you are too shy to talk or don't know anyone in a fandom, don't let that stop you from creating for that fandom. If you only have one work in you for a fandom, do it! If you have multiple? Do it! Rarepair? Go for it! Someone else will probably thank you for it! Vent writing? Dead dove? Extremely therapeutic for you and for others that are more so readers than writers. (Note writing dark stuff just for exploration and entertainment is fine too!! Horror is a well-loved genre for a reason. Fiction is fiction.) Bottom line: don't let you get in the way of yourself.

Will you get hate? You might, I won't lie. That said, people troll everything, any hate you get just shake it off. Odds are it's nothing personal or about your writing, it's they don't like the ship, or any AU, or the dynamics with smut, or the kink, or they're phobic, or if you write intense stuff it's too dark of content for them. If you tag things, it's on the reader if they ignore the tags or they purposely expose themselves to content they know will upset them. I highly recommend if you are concerned about hate, only let registered users leave comments. That's what I do with all my fics and I have had zero negative comments. People are less likely to leave nasty comments if they have to show their face, it's so much easier for them on anon. Some hate I've got on here (tumblr) could be from AO3, but I honestly think it's mostly just other tumblr users that have never read anything of mine.

I'm not as active as I once was on here. It's been years since I updated or posted a kuro work on AO3. I don't have the spoons (energy) to do as much one-on-one as I used to, but know I am cheering on all the creators, new and old. I am here if anyone needs some extra encouragement. But honestly, just write. Even on the off chance you're the only one that likes your work, you have at least one fan. If you don't write for yourself, then who are you writing for? I swear readers can tell the difference when you write something you're into verses something you think will be good, but you don't care about as much. Your best writing is the writing that YOU would read. Don't focus on what you think others will think. Your people will find you.

We all start as that person that's afraid to post our works, it's natural. Tackling that fear was one of the most difficult but best thing I've done for myself. If you want to post, do it! 💖💖💖

[kwockwoc]

Hi Kwoc,

So I know you for some time now as one of the people who lives in fencedom, and I wanted to ask you some random questions that just popped in my head. So how did you come across Fence? Do you write any fics and if you have a favorite fence fic which one would you recommend me to read? Who is your favorite Fence character? What's your favorite movie and favorite genre? What book are you currently reading? Also what is your favorite food of all time?

Have a good day mate

XOXO

Atom

P.S what style of music do you listen to?

G’day Atom --

Okay, wow! Thanks for the lovely ask in the ol' Inbox!

The answer was more wordy than I expected, so it's below the cut 👇

I was a little overwhelmed when I first read your ask, because I think of myself as kind of occupying space right on the edge of the fandom, and am slightly mystified at the thought of being ‘in’ it!

I first came across Fence (but didn’t initially read it) when it was recommended to me by a friend. The first issue was being launched by CS Pacat at my local comic book shop, and this friend was quite insistent that I should go to the launch event and read the comic, because “it’s written by Cat and it’s gay and it’s got swords in it and you’ll love it!”

Anyway, I took a look at a preview, realised it was about teenagers fencing at a boarding school, and I thought –

Not for me.

I had already read CS (Cat) Pacat’s Captive Prince trilogy when the final of the three books first released (Wikipedia tells me that was in February 2016, which seems a staggeringly long time ago, but is probably correct). I sat down and devoured the trilogy over the course of about forty-eight hours. I loved Damen and Laurent and enjoyed the worldbuilding. I then met Cat at a book signing at a local bookshop, and had really enjoyed the interview Cat gave, so thought that whatever was next published would be interesting…

But… teenagers? High school? Uh…

Anyway, fast forward a few years. Fence got nominated for a GLAAD award and I thought oh, it must be pretty good then, but then still didn’t pick it up. Around the time of the release of the compiled volume four in a graphic novel format (mid-2020), I realised that the series was still being published, albeit in a piecemeal fashion. I borrowed the first three bound volumes of Fence from the library, and I was hooked.

I’m not a comic book reader – not now, anyway. I grew up on Spider-man and read Marvel comics well past the age most guys stop (some of my fave characters have faded to darkness, now – Nightwatch, anyone?). I wrongly thought of comics as something that couldn’t engage me anymore. Wrongly? Very wrongly. I enjoyed Fence a lot and wanted to spend some more time in its world.

Yes, I do write, but not much. I used to write more, but I stopped creative writing in… I want to say about 2012, but I can’t really remember. Every time I think about it, the timeline shifts a little. 2012 would make sense, though. I took a break because I was working in academia, and I would be ‘all dried up’ in terms of writing by the end of a normal semester. Nothing left! No energy, no inspiration. Academic writing took me over for a long while – a lot longer than I expected it to. I wrote a few flash fictions here and there over the intervening years, but only returned to doing some focused creative writing in 2023.

Favourite Fence fics – wow, amazing question! I have a soft spot for everything that inagartenforever writes – I’d suggest you check out anything and everything by ina. (Full disclosure – I’ve gifted a couple of fics to ina, so this is hardly a ‘disinterested’ recommendation 😅) 

Looking through my bookmarks I’m surprised how little I’ve bookmarked – there are so many great writers both active and inactive in the Fence fandom. Maybe just spend some time browsing and see what you find interesting!

The only things written in the Fence fandom and currently visible on ao3 that I’ve bookmarked that AREN’T by inagartenforever are two pieces by Merrilly, both of which are E-rated, if you’re OK with that – Pas de Deux, and Shattered Pieces Shine (I am a bad reader because I so often forget to bookmark 🙇). My other bookmarks are from other fandoms, perhaps most notably OMGCP.

Favourite Fence character – hmm. This is like a parent picking a favourite child. I’m going to say Nicholas, although my reasons for choosing that guy are unclear, even to me, because I do love Seiji. What an interesting guy Seiji is! I also have an enormous and growing soft spot for Robert Coste, not for any particular or even real reason – only because of the complicated head-canons I have invented about him 😅

Favourite movie – I’m not a movie person, really. I do love The First Wives Club and The Castle. Oh dear. As you can see, I apparently stopped watching new films in 1997 😅

Favourite genre of movie – I’m going to say that I don’t watch enough cinema to have a fave genre 😔 I look over at the DVD collection on the bookcase, and there’s a lot more TV boxsets over there than there are films! In terms of TV – all-time favourites are the US Queer as Folk, and Futurama.

Currently reading…? – oh, dear Atom, this – this question. This question. Oh no. I have so many different books I’m partway through (yeah, I’m one of those readers, too). Currently in the “yes honey I promise I am reading these” pile are:

Bunt! (Ngozi Ukazu),

the bars are ours (Lucas Hilderbrand),

White Trash Warlock (David Slayton),

My Next Date (Casey Morales – I’m listening to this as audiobook narrated by Jon Curtis),

and I’m also re-reading It Takes Two to Tumble (Cat Sebastian – yeah, another writer named Cat). It's basically a riff on The Sound of Music, but set 130 years earlier, and much gayer.

I adore Cat Sebastian’s writing – very cozy with a happy ending. In general, I re-read frequently and without regret. If I like it, I’m going back to it. Just try and stop me. I’m looking at you, Lord of the Rings.

Favourite food of ALL TIME – if I can set aside the question of nutrition, I’m going to say veal saltimbocca as cooked by a guy named Tony, which I used to have at a little place in South Yarra called Tamani (sadly, now long since closed). Dinner at Tamani and then a night out at a gay or gay-friendly bar/club south of the river was a guaranteed good Saturday.

Favourite style of music – I had an EDM/trance ‘phase’ for a long while in my late teens/early twenties. I listen to… well, more or less anything, now. A lot of Lana Del Rey these days. My top listened-to artists this month (March 2024) are Lana Del Rey, Kesha, Gregory Dillon, RAYE, Troye Sivan, and… uh… Taylor Swift.

Once again Atom, wow! What an amazing ask. A whistle-stop tour of kwoc’s life. Appreciate the questions!

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

2022 Writing Review

Tagged by: @ttimbradford on the LAST DAY OF THE YEAR because she wants me to scramble

1. Number of stories posted to AO3: 14

2. Word count posted for the year: don't make me say it 386,717

3. Fandoms I wrote for: 9-1-1, The Witcher

4. Pairings: Buddie and Geraskier

5. Story with the most: 

kudos: The Best Lie is a Truth (My Best Mask is My Face) - 2,149 bookmarks: same as above - 997 comment threads: Let My Ink Stain Your Pages - 671

6. Work I’m most proud of (and why): This is a difficult question. I'm proud of a few stories I worked on this year - Direct Deposit and Further Than Blood (Or Than Bones) had me pushing myself as a writer and delving into topics I knew wouldn't necessarily be popular. However I think I have to go with In the Gray You are Golden, one of those magical moments where the inspiration hits like something divine, the words flow like water, and it all comes together.

7. Work I’m least proud of (and why): Don't Play Games (Come My Way) - I'm a perfectionist and while I can't quite articulate why, I don't feel like I quite nailed this story the way I should have. Like I just missed the bulls-eye.

8. Share or describe a favorite review you received: @mistmarauder never fails to delight me and make my day with her in-depth comments and general screeching. I think her responses to Further Than Blood (Or Than Bones) and In the Gray You are Golden are my favorites, actually, although I know Curl Up In My Heart and Let Me Keep You is probably her favorite of mine from this year (no one is immune to cat!Buck).

9. A time when writing was really, really hard: Honestly, writing I'll Scrawl it on Every Wall I See was more of a challenge than I expected. I just had a lot going on in my real life so finding time and focus to work on it was difficult.

10. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you: Buck babysitting Chris during the tsunami and while Eddie goes to fight club in I'll Scrawl it on Every Wall I See didn't come to me ahead of time - it just happened as I was writing and I literally stopped and stared into the distance for a second in delighted surprise.

11. A favorite excerpt of your writing: Oof. This was a tough one. Probably a tie between the entire segment of Eddie's thoughts when he's shot in Further Than Blood (Or Than Bones) - the fic wasn't quite where I wanted it to be until I wrote that segment and then went back and sprinkled those quotes throughout the fic, turning the fic into one long flashback (which the reader doesn't realize until they reach the shooting). A small excerpt is here:

The thing he never told anyone is when his lover was unnamed and fed from him all he thought about was love. Love is poured into his mouth and he swallows and he b r e a t h e s.

The other would be frankly the entirety of In the Gray You are Golden but I really liked how I incorporated the tsunami/Eddie Begins into the fic with the flash flood and how I wrote it happening. I got a lot of comments saying how much the last few lines hit them like a gut punch and I'm so proud of that:

Christopher’s mouth is right at Buck’s ear. “Dad?” Buck starts shaking. He clenches his entire body to get it to stop. He shakes his head. Christopher is a child of the wasteland. He knows how to be silent when he cries.

12. How did you grow as a writer this year: I wrote situations where there's a lot of trauma and emotions going on (including during sex) and got a bit darker in that then I usually do, I wrote a couple tropes I hadn't thought I'd ever write or hadn't written before (such as a Zombie Apocalypse AU), I dipped my toe into HTML coding for the emails in I'll Scrawl it on Every Wall I See, and I incorporated poetry into a fic with Eddie's mental landscape as he's shot in Further Than Blood (Or Than Bones) (yes fun fact I approached that segment as a poem).

13. How do you hope to grow next year: I hope to continue to find new and interesting situations to play with for my annual Halloween fics.

14. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer, beta, cheerleader, etc): @extasiswings who always reassured and encouraged me when I was doubting myself - and of course she co-wrote A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words (But Love is Undefinable) with me.

Can't believe I almost forgot @catdadeddie whose Castle AU moodboard inspired me to write a fic that ended up being over 100k words long goddamn you Nova.

15. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year: If it did, I wouldn't be admitting it.

16. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers: If you don't make yourself take breaks to recharge your brain is going to make you and trust me, you will not like how that goes. Give yourself time to rest.

17. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year: Nothing in the fanfic world. I actually woke up with ideas for next Halloween and wrote them down so I wouldn't forget them, but those won't be until October which is a full ten months away.

18. Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read.

@extasiswings @kitkatpancakestack @tripleaxeldiaz

[squibstress]

Fic Stats Tag Game

Rules: Give us the links to your fic with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the least words.

Stats. I have a love/hate relationship with statistics. I sucked at any kind of math in school, but wouldntchaknow I ended up having to deal with stats in my erstwhile career as a medical writer. As in, I developed passing aquaintance (read: ability to fake it) with them in order to sound less like the total ignoramus I was (and remain) when I was talking to researchers. I learned to love them in an asbtract kind of way as a language of truth that everyone could speak. So, anyway, OF COURSE I keep track of stats for my fic, and pretty much everything else in my life. Thank you to @perverse-idyll for tagging me and giving me an excuse to trot them out.

Given that I write mostly rarepairs featuring Minerva or sometimes the other old folks of the Potterverse, my stats aren't especially impressive when compared with the others doing this game, but they're mine, and I'm quite happy with them. Fact is, I write mostly for myself, and if anyone else is interested in my scribbling, I'm as chuffed as a Niffler in Cartier's.

Most Hits

Epithalamium (Minerva/Albus, 181k words), with 10,145 hits on AO3. Makes sense, as it's my longest fic, and one of my earliest forays into writing fic (and it shows.) Mostly written because a) I still love this ship and b) I couldn't find much fic about them that made any kind of sense to me. Most of what was written before JKR told us about Albus's grand amour with Grindelwald seemed to portray Albus and Minerva as adorable opposites, with Albus making extravagant romantic gestures to woo a Minerva who bore only a passing resemblance to the one in my head. (According to Fanlore, one of the early nicknames for this then-semi-popular ship was "HMS Frivolity and Felines". Shudder.) I take my Minerva/Albus with a side of toxicity.

Second Most Kudos

The Peculiar Resilience of the Refugee (Petunia & Rosmerta friendship, 7,777 words), with 218 kudos. I was pleasantly surprised at how much people seemed to like this fic, since it's gen and Petunia-centric, but I'm so glad. I loved exploring Petunia a bit more deeply and giving her (and Dudley) a shot at a happy-ish ending. It was also fun to fill in Rosmerta's backstory a bit.

Third Most Comments

Till 'A the Seas Gang Dry (Minerva/Albus, 55,110 words), with 48 comments. A sequel to Epithalamium, and one of my fluffier efforts, written for a friend who is a die-hard Minerva/Albus shipper and enjoys happier fare for this pairing than I am wont to give them. Travelogue as fic, with Venice as the star.

Fourth Most Bookmarks

Epithalamium, with 27 bookmarks.

Fifth Most Words

Because It Is Bitter, and Because It Is My Heart (Minerva/Severus 34,874). My problem child. I started this around the same time as Epithalamium because I (kind of) knew where I wanted to take that story, and I was eager to get to the oh-so-bitter end. I reworked it a bit a couple of years ago because I disliked how I handled some of the non-con in the story. I think it's better now, but still not my best work, although I think it has some good moments.

Least Words

Requiem for a Spy (other characters talking about Severus, 100 words) A drabble, written for Snape100 drabble community on LiveJournal. The prompts were the wondeful words "etiolated" and "lexicon".

Anyone else want to play? @ladyvoldywrites @kellychambliss?

[cathsith]

Hi, reddit people. I hope you're encountering more friendly people than douchey people.

There's a shit ton of useful and thorough guides that provide instructions on how to use the site. This is more of a "shit that's good to know, in no particular order" type of guide

Random thoughts:

💠 Profile: put whatever you want, as long as you put something. It's up to you what you want to share. Just practice common sense internet safety.

💠 People have some really, um, interesting names here, many NSFW. Personally, I think it's hilarious to reblog deep social commentary from someone with a porny name, but if you're concerned about having that on your blog, maybe make sure to check.

💠 I'm sure some of you are old enough that maybe you were on livejournal and are still mourning its loss. I miss it too, especially for fandom. Your best bet at recreating some of that experience is to find creators you like (many fic writers include their Tumblr on their ao3 profile or fics) and following and interacting with them here.

💠 You can either comment on or reblog posts if you want. Some people seem to have *opinions* as to whether it's better to comment or reblog but it sort of seems like a generational divide. I decide which one to do based on how much I want to add and if it's particularly interesting, well thought out, and/or funny.

💠 A lot of people talk about how likes are useless, but I personally think it's a YMMV type of thing. For a while I tried to keep my likes limited to things I wanted to save, since you can't save posts here unless you bookmark it on your browser. But I also tend to like personal posts or reblogs from mutuals as a mark of support. Yes, you should reblog art to boost the artist's exposure. And no one does what they should do every time and I'm sure artists still like getting likes even if they'd prefer reblogs.

💠 Some people have started putting DNI (do not interact) in their info on their blogs and may get mad if you reblog from them. Sometimes people reblog stuff that you like and then you find out that you strongly disagree with their politics/beliefs etc. No one sensible expects you to vet every single person you reblog and if anyone puts up a fuss, you can probably safely ignore them unless they report you for abuse. I've never heard of that happening.

💠 You can contact people two ways: asks and messages. Asks have a word limit and if you go past it, will broken up and may be sent in reverse order. Asks also allow you to be anonymous. People can reply publicly or privately. If you want it to stay private, you should probably state that. If you are anonymous, obviously the response can only come publicly. Messages are essentially chats. A lot of people are cool with getting messages, but I personally am too awkward to use them except with mutuals. (But I'm totally cool with getting them, if you are so inclined)

💠 Mutuals: some people follow others back everytime, some never do. But there's a funny thing where we (tumblr people) get deeply attached to mutuals even if we've never had an actual conversation beyond a comment or two. It's a thing, but a nice thing.

💠 There are a couple famous people hanging around. They're great and surprisingly good at tumblr. Be cool.

💠 Blaze posts are relatively new. You can pay like $10 to have your post shown to people like an ad. Some people use it to advertise their etsy or personal store site, but plenty of people also post pictures of their pets or reminders to drink water or hopes that you have a good day. I usually enjoy them but they're fairly unobtrusive if you don't.

💠 Because there isn't much of an algorithm here, ads can be really random and really strange. You can get rid of ads entirely with a paid account. I think that includes blaze posts but I'm not positive.

💠 Tags here are weird. They fall into a few categories:

🔹 Subject tags: fandoms, music, sports, current events, medical or psychological conditions, history, science, etc

🔹 Warning tags: they're obviously not required, but they're not hard to add and are really important for a lot of people. Sometimes they're posted as "cw: warning" or "tw: warning" but sometimes it's just the warning itself. Just do your best. If you see something tagged "unreality" it means that what you're reading isn't real, but may be presented as if it is. This is (to the best of my knowledge) a warning for people with delusional disorders. It's also generally acceptable to request that someone add a content warning.

🔹 Personal tags: people come up with tags they use on their own blogs for categorization. Some of them are pretty clever. If something is just tagged "personal" then it's considered rude to reblog unless the poster says it's okay.

🔹 Conversation tags: I've been here for ages, but I still don't know the origin of "talking in the tags." Whatever the reason, we do it a lot here. Sometimes it's a quick reference or quip, sometimes it's a dissertation. The longer the tags, the more entertaining they tend to be. If you see a screenshot of tags, that means that they have undergone "peer review"and deemed important or funny enough to be moved into the post itself. It's a high honor.

💠 Tumblr holidays - I think this list has most of them

💠 There is some AMAZING original fiction and artwork here, some of which has been deemed Tumblr Folklore. Check out this list

💠 Okay I'm gonna stop now because I keep adding shit and I've had this draft going for almost 24 hours now and I would like my tumbr app back now

Hope somebody finds this helpful! Feel free to say hi if you want

[owengrose]

Shipper tag game

tagged by my friend @sunriseverse (hi friend!!!!!)

What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care about anymore?

johnlock. listen. i'm aware. i am aware. Thankfully I've grown as a person and now I don't care about anything or anyone associated with that mess of a show.

Which ship would you consider your first one?

uhhhhhh aang/katara maybe? I really wasn't interested in romance that much until like middle school, but I do remember thinking katara and aang should get together as a kid.

Your first fanfic was about which couple?

probably destiel. Actually wait no, guaranteed destiel.

Do you remember the first couple you saw fanart of?

i was in middle school when Twilight came out, so I can almost guarantee you somebody drew Bella and Edward fanart and showed me. I don't actually know this for sure though, this is just a guess. The first fanart I actually remember seeing was Percy/Annabeth.

Have you ever gotten into ship discourse?

lmao no. it's just not worth it literally ever

Did you use to have any NOTP or have one currently?

mmm not really. i have ships where I just don't see it, but I don't usually feel all that strongly about it.

Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read?

Sam/Jack from Stargate! This is entirely @kbunny10 's fault, she got me into Stargate and now I have Feelings.

Currently, do you have any OTPs?

I mean, always. The biggest ones are probably Morgwen, Sam/Jack, destiel (i thought i was free but then nov 5 happened so......). But I'm not super actively a shipper these days

Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together?

no bc everyone i've ever wanted to get together did so in my heart. Sam and Jack should've gotten together on screen, but In My Heart they did get together so it's chill.

Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting?

not that i can think of! my romantic tastes tend to be relatively consistent honestly. maybe the gay ones before i became not homophobic (and then not straight! yayyyyyy!!!!! :D )

Do you have any ship that, in the past, would've been considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

again, none that i can think of! I'm kind of a normie tbh

What is your favorite crack ship?

so this isn't actually a crack ship but like. Captain Hook and the daughter of Snow White/Prince Charming on OUAT got together. That was a real thing. They really said "you know who we should pair with our main character, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming? Famous villain Captain Hook. Yeah we're gonna make him young and sexy so it's fine." That was a real thing!! It aired on television and I was REALLY invested!! Man OUAT was such a wild ride lmao

What is the couple you read the most fanfics about?

i thought it was destiel but i checked by ao3 bookmarks and apparently newmann are still unbeat!! shoutout to the year where i was obsessed with those gay little scientists, i went absolutely NUTS for them. My newmann fics that I bookmarked are more than the #2 and #3 ships COMBINED.

What do most of your ships usually have in common?

there's usually an earnestness or a sincerity that either one or both of them has. where one person is just like very open about how much they like/admire the other, or where they engage with people so trustingly, or something along those lines. sometimes its sincere4snarky, sometimes its sincere4sincere, and sometimes its "i'm only earnest around you"

What you absolutely hate in a ship?

lack of communication. it drives me INSANE. unless they're miscommunicating about their feelings for each other, then it's great. but otherwise i hate it bc like, this is your partner!! talk to them!! what the fuck!!

Tagging: @kbunny10, @inesathammar, @cawfeeann, @lacigarra, and anyone else who wants to do this!

[timeforsomethrillingheroicsblog]

ask a reader: B8, C3, D2, D7

B8: Is there a show or a book that you gave up on that you went back to later? Why did you come back to it?

Already answered here! TLDR; I can't think of one but I'm sure they exist!

C3: Is there anything that makes you nope out of a story? What is it?

I'll be honest it really depends on what mood I'm in and how invested I am in a particular fandom/pairing. For example, in larger fandoms with a lot of content, I am sometimes incredibly picky about word choice/writing style because I know I can afford to be.

In smaller fandoms I'm so happy that anyone's bothered to write at all, I want to consume all the content there is.

Probably the only thing that consistently makes me nope out of stories is when I start reading and realize the author is character-bashing to a severe degree. I don't mean like, making a character slightly more unlikeable than canon. I'm talking "have this character doing something they would absolutely never do under any circumstances" because the author has a death grudge.

It doesn't matter if it's a character I like or actively hate that's being bashed, it takes me completely out of the story.

D2: Who/Where did you get your last fic rec from?

I actually can't remember the last rec I got! I usually find fanfiction by searching through a pairing or fandom I'm interested in, reading a couple of the top stories when sorted by kudos that look interesting, and then if I like them going to the author's page and finding more of their stories (or bookmarks) and rinse and repeating until I've filled my craving for that particular fandom.

Once I'm caught up with Lost I'd love fic recs though! Or, if people know of fics they'd recommend that don't cover content past season one - I'd love recs now!

D7: Why did you leave your most recent comment? Will you share it with us?

I typically clean out my inbox once I have read/replied to things, so I can't guarantee they were actually the last (is there a way to look up your comments on ao3 if they haven't been replied to/aren't linked to a parent comment in your inbox?), but the last comments I have a strong memory of leaving were on a fic that hadn't been updated in about two years.

I don't remember exactly what I said across these comments, but I went into it knowing it was likely abandoned. I started the story way too late at night and couldn't put it down. Each chapter was beautiful. So beautiful, that even though I knew it was likely the author wouldn't be checking their account at this point I started leaving comments. Just small things I liked, or big things that broke my heart or made me laugh. And then, as I started getting near the end of what had been published, I started reading the comments too because I wanted to know how everyone else had reacted to what I was just now reading for the first time. And the comments were terrible. Just people repeatedly and rudely asking when the author would update their story. Pages and pages of single sentence replies saying "IT'S BEEN A YEAR, UPDATE!"

And I thought about how awful it felt when I abandoned a work because I couldn't figure out how to finish it, lost interest in the fandom, or had writing block, and had people demanding something from me I did for fun in my free time. How it made me never want to touch the story again.

So at four in the morning, after staying up and reading in a single night something that had taken at least a year of the author's life considering the publishing dates, I decided "fuck it." And wrote them a love letter. Basically just saying I went into the story knowing it would likely never be finished, and I felt so grateful to have been allowed on the ride they invented. That it was so kind to publish something that I could escape into without asking for anything in return. I told them I was subscribing just in case, but I was so happy with what I had gotten and I wasn't expecting anything more.

The author never replied, but the story was updated again a few days later. I have no idea if I contributed at all to them coming back to something they loved, or if they even read any of my comments at all, but it's nice to think maybe I had a small part in making a writing experience slightly less terrible for someone.

Ask A Reader Questions 💖

[camgoloud]

a couple days ago the lovely @nancywheeeler​ tagged me to do an ao3 wrapped here! i have had a Very busy weekend so i am only now getting to actually posting, but here are my belated responses:

Works published: 5 at the moment (with at least 2 more i’ll be putting up before the end of the year; possibly one or two more than that if i can get my act together and finish up the treat(s) i’ve been chipping away at in exchange to my main assignments in a couple holiday exchanges. busy end of the year for me!)

Words written: 41510 posted this year so far—more than i thought!

Hits: 3647 on my 2022 fics

Bookmarks: 118

Most popular by kudos: Do my friends think I’m dying? (or do I just need to go to sleep?), my singular to-date contribution to the ted lasso/colin hughes fandom and first foray into redditfic (which by the way was SUCH a blast to write that i think i’m going to have to do it again sometime soon. i ought to be more sorry about that than i am)

Most hits: look at the desperate man (omg rip to this fic... worked on it for a little bit this summer when i was feeling particularly angsty about Some Stuff i was dealing with. ran out of angst steam halfway through the final chapter because my life improved lol, got re-possessed by various locked tomb wips around nona release day, and now i kind of just don’t ever want to look at it anymore. maybe i’ll finish it someday?)

Longest: same as previous

Shortest: shovel talk (in f major) (most of which was hurriedly written in one day as a last-hurrah before nona came out to smash my entire life into bits!)

Most comments: inside problems which people have been VERY nice to me about agghhhh

Fic that made me cry: any discussion about the fics that did maximum emotional damage to me MUST mention syntheseas’ INCREDIBLY ambitious and well-written nothing but dark and sound, which i reread following its most recent update. if you’re a locked tomb fan and you’re not already keeping up with this fic... well you need to be. basically. shoutout also to @forjodssake​’s feeling good was easy when he sang the blues, which i just read this thursday and have STILL not recovered from—AMAZING character work!!!

Fic that made me smile: so many! but my favorite comfort read for the last year and change has been @nancywheeeler​‘s four weddings and no funeral. melts my heart every time! cannot recommend highly enough :)

Gifts: does this mean gifts given or gifts received? unclear. anyway in terms of gifts given—do my friends think i’m dying was my tribute to @nancywheeeler​‘s excellent good old-fashioned lover boy, and i’ve got exchange fics i’ll be posting for a few people shortly. for gifts received, there’s whatever comes out of those exchanges!

Collaborations: none this year—or ever before, actually! BUT i am very very interested in the prospect… 👀 friends/mutuals/likeminded individuals active in any of my fandoms, if you’ve ever got an Idea you want to bang on about together or are particularly interested in fleshing out any of the half-formed Concepts i toss out into the void, hit me up and maybe we can make something happen! (well, hit me up whenever my dms are working again, anyway… the shadowban glitch which i’ve been living under for going on a MONTH now is a curse upon this earth)

Events taken part in: yuletide 2022, and the 2022 locked tomb holiday exchange!

thanks again em for the tag! in turn i will tag @aberfaeth​, @rnanqo​, @palamedes-sextus​, and anyone else who’s interested! (and who actually sees this—unsure if any of you will get a notification when i post this, due to the aforementioned shadowban :/)

[xplrvibes]

Obviously you don't now, but did you ever ship Solby/ or enjoy the ship Solby.

Not saying it's real in any sense or meaning any disrespect to the boys, but sometimes people are like 'its fun to write/read fics or rp imagining if it were real.' while maintaining in reality it's not real.

So I just wondered if you ever enjoyed the Solby ship at any point as your time as a SnC fan. Meaning no disrespect to you either btw, I'm just really curious.

No worries, and no disrespect!

The short answer is: no.

The long answer is: I have no beef with people who do ship solby- although I don't really love when people tag the boys in the stuff directly since both of them have said it makes them wildly uncomfortable- but I've been on this internet way too long and been involved in way too many ships and fandoms over the years to judge or shit on anyone for whatever ship makes them happy.

Except Wincest. I am a proud Wincest hater forever and always.

That all being said- solby is not really my cup of tea. I enjoy them as they are- platonic soulmates who truly defy all labels. I see their bond as a more familial one than a romantic one- although, yes, there are facets of their relationship where they do fill some level of (non-sexual) intimacy that comes with a romantic bond with each other.

Basically, I think they're soulmates in every way except the "going to pound town with each other" way. That just does not seem to be an avenue they would explore with one another.

Now, have I read solby fanfic before? Yes. I read lots of fanfic. I don't really read y/n's (just a preference thing), but I will give just about anything else a try, and I have come across a fic or two in my time on AO3. Do I seek it out? No. I actually only really briefly perused the snc tags on AO3 a couple of times, and whatever had an interesting summary is what got read. A few of them had a solby throughline. They were fine, but not anything that got saved in my bookmarks.

But really, there's way worse ships out there than solby. I mean, there's Wincest.