#it surprises me a lot (i won't count how many time i've written surprise and again in this post lol)

[screamingcrows]

Like a self indulgent fool, I made a complete set of Genshin style voicelines for Celeste who features in this. (Written as if speaking to the Traveler, I like to think she meets them when they're in Snezhnaya)

Hello:

I'm Celeste, assistant to The Doctor. I've heard a great deal about you and it's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. There's no need to be nervous, I'm neither interested in nor skilled enough in combat to harm you. It's a little soon to go into the details of my work, but if you need anything related to medicine or the like, you're welcome to ask and maybe I can be of assistance.

Chat: Cooperation

Clear communication is important for cooperation. Just make sure to distinguish between being clear and being rude.

Chat: Tail

Yes, it's soft. Touch it, and I'll make you regret it.

Chat: Samples

Did I properly seal those flasks before leaving? Ugh, would I even have enough subjects to start over?

When It Rains

I wonder if Snezhnaya has legends about what controls the weather. You wouldn't think the Tsa- wait, maybe I shouldn't say that.

When Thunder Strikes

It's a bit loud for me, but watching lightning strike the sea is mesmerizing in it's own right. If you count the seconds from lighting flashes you can- whimpers make it go away…

When it Snows

Really? ...Doesn't this just make you want to curl up inside?

When the sun is out

We should get a move on, this won't last forever.

In the desert

If you see me start digging, look away… No? Well I thought it was funny.

Swimming

I'll find another way, I don't like to get my fur wet.

Good morning

Starting your day with a glass of water is beneficial to your health and helps wake you up. We lose a surprising amount of moisture over the night.

Good afternoon

I'm going for a nap.

Good evening

It's time for dinner already? Time truly waits for no one.

Good night

You can go ahead and lay down, I have some things to get done. Hm? It's fine, I work best at night anyway.

About Celeste: Expressions

I've been told that I don't have the most expressive face, my ex would constantly pinch my cheeks and tickle me to get me to smile. As far as I'm concerned, it's preferable to wearing your heart on your sleeve. It's unfortunate that my body will still betray me, if I'm not vigilant my ears tend to move around a lot.

About Celeste: Pieces

We leave little bits of ourself in everything we do and everyone we meet, it's inevitable. Just make sure not to break yourself beyond repair.

About us: Friends

It's admirable how you always go out of your way to help your friends no matter what it takes, especially with how many people you seem to know and how they swarm you, it's a miracle you have time for yourself. It must be nice to be so adored. Make sure never to leave with things unsaid, but you probably don't need to be told that, do you? Anyway, I'd like to observe you a little more, maybe some of your 'friendliness' will rub off.

About us: Loyalty

As a way of thanks, if you'd like of course, I can set up a meeting between you and The Doctor? Just remember, you'll be on your own from there, certain circumstances keep me from being able to take your side should a confrontation ensue.

About the delusion

My delusion? Mm, you've got a sharp eye. It's more akin to those carried by Harbingers than regular soldiers, that's as much as I'll say. A certain someone was adamant about ensuring there would be minimal risk of backlash from using it.

Something to share

There are things in this world that should be left alone. Figuring out who spread this idea and why should be at the tip of our ambitions.

Interesting things

It is easy to think that the eyes of the gods are a blessing, while this might seem immediately true, power is never given away that freely without any strings. When it all turns to ash, they will be the hardest to save.

About Dottore: Segments

It's important to get familiar with all The Doctor's segments, not only does it make working with them a lot easier as I can defuse any situation before it gets really ugly between them… I'm kidding, don't look so concerned. It also lets me pick the ideal one to approach if I need his signature on something, did you know, his handwriting hasn't changed one bit since his youth!

About Dottore: Relationship

I was quite surprised to find that The Doctor is quite the lenient boss. As long as I get done what he requests, preferably without damage, he's satisfied. He'd rather I speak my mind and correct him than simply go along with whatever he says out of fear.

About Pierro

How do I put it, The Director is, well he has an aura that commands respect wherever he goes. I rarely see him, but whenever I have, he's always looked a little weary up close. His patience must be tested daily having to manage the rest of the harbingers, either his tolerance is boundless for arguments or he just tunes them out.

About Arlecchino

The Knave is, rightfully so I suppose, a little wary about anyone who associates with Dottore. However, she's invited me to accompany her to Fontaine on multiple occasions, with the hopes that I could help one of her children. I'd go so far as to say we're on amicable terms now, last she returned, I found a box of madeleines outside the laboratory along an invitation for tea.

About Childe

I think you've spent more time with him than I have, and I'd prefer to keep it that way. It's a pity he's so obnoxious, I'd like to run some tests on him but there are limits to what I'll tolerate. Maybe you could get some biopsies for me? I can provide detailed instructions, I'm sure he wouldn't mind.

About Sandrone

You want to know something about The Marionette? I'm afraid there's not a lot to tell, she keeps to her own wing most of the time and we rarely interact save for a few times where I've had to borrow some spare parts from her. She pretty much just shoved it into my hands and spun me around…

About Columbina

Every time I've spoken to The Damselette, there's a strong desire to rip out my brain and scrub it. Something about her presence clings to you like a mist and makes your blood run cold. She always speaks in riddles, popping out of nowhere, and clearly knows much more than she lets on. I'm just happy I'm not the one who has to keep her on a leash.

About Pantalone

The Regrator is such a stuck up bastard, avoid him at all cost. You couldn't pay me enough to willingly listen to his incessant monologues, always bragging about his newest acquisition. I always make sure to drag my tail along his furniture whenever I visit his office, white fur on black furniture is such a good look. If you do end up meeting him, sounding convincing enough when arguing can make him lose his cool, oh and wipe that dumb smirk off his face for me will you?

About Capitano

If you're waiting for me to gush about his bravery, strength, or dreamy voice, you're going to be sorely disappointed. While The Captain is certainly and honorable man, I just don't see him enough to have an opinion. I've heard about his exploits, it's impossible not to, and think his actions should speak for themselves.

About Signora

I never really had time to get to know The Fair Lady, as I was otherwise occupied before she left for her last mission. I do feel an odd sort of kinship hearing about her past, maybe if fate had been kinder…

About Wriothesley:

Oh you've met The Duke as well? Did you get in trouble or something? I had to sit through a meeting with him once, something about borrowing resources from the institute. I've never seen anyone look so displeased by the coffee I made.

About Furina:

So she wasn't really an Archon? It's not too surprising if I'm being honest, she's always seemed more like a spoiled child, a cake topper if you will. Oh, so that's what happened to her… Makes me feel pretty bad for almost assaulting her once. Maybe I'll speak with Arlecchino about delivering an anonymous gift…

More about Celeste: I

You want to know more? Ah- I think you already know what you should.

More about Celeste: II

From what you've seen on your travels so far, would you say the Fatui are inherently bad people? I used to be of that belief, now I believe that what binds us together is desperation more than anything.

More about Celeste: III

Every once in a while, I find myself regretting not moving to Sumeru. I even passed the entrance exam to the Akademiya and all. Maybe it's for the better, having heard about all the wondrous sights and places to explore, I'm not sure I'd have finished a single assignment.

More about Celeste: IV

There was a time where I could be easily goaded into just about anything to prove myself. I wish diving headfirst into a rock had made me sit down and think.

More about Celeste: V

There's nothing worse, in my opinion, than disappointing those who have hopes for you or are counting on you. That might be partially why your altruistic nature is so confounding, aren't you afraid that something will slip through the cracks? It's so easy to blame fate for our misfortunes which can be both a blessing and a curse. It might sound rough, but in a sense, I'm grateful to my misfortune in Fontaine, it woke me up to the bitter truth that I'd grown complacent.

Celeste's hobbies

There's just something about laying in the grass and watching insects pass by, living their life undisturbed by all our tribulations. Not that I can do it anymore, not living in Snezhnaya, so I've settled for taking care of my little terrarium instead.

Celeste's troubles

I hate when there's dissonance between what people say and what they do, even worse if they themselves are completely aware of it. Is this about someone in particular? No, why do you ask?

Favorite food

If you're thinking about making it for me as bribery, don't even bother, I can't even replicate the taste myself. You still want to try your hand? It's relatively simple in theory, just regular crêpes.

Least favorite food

Seafood. I've had enough of that for several lifetimes. The smell alone should be categorized as a hazard.

Receiving a gift: I

You made this for me? It's good, even if it was poisoned, it'd still be worth it.

Receiving a gift: II

I'll admit, the presentation had me a bit skeptical, but I enjoyed it. Would you show me how it's made?

Receiving a gift: III

This is… Unexpected. Were you really going for this?

Birthday

Birthday? But I'd heard that you-.. Nevermind, if you say so. Happy birthday then, would you like a little celebration? Or perhaps you have a request for something you need? In any case, I hope you can enjoy yourself a little extra.

[booksandabeer]

Hey,

I love your blog and I love how much work you put in when someone ask you to recommend fics for them, you’re truly beyond AMAZING! Just getting that out of the way.

And now, can you please tell me your favourite underrated stucky fics. I know this might be too big of an ask because there are SO MANY out there, so just tell me a few if you don’t mind.

Thank you so much ❤️

Hello Stranger!

Thank you for the ask and your very kind words! ❤ It's so nice to hear that people like my rec posts because they really do take a surprisingly large amount of time to put together. Anyway, I'm not complaining & this is a lot of fun for me, so on to the recs!

I struggled a bit with how to define "underrated" and I think everybody has their own ideas of what exactly that means. Also, the Stucky ship has been around for more than a decade (even longer if you count the comics), so creative output and reader interest will fluctuate and ultimately decline over time. A Stucky fic posted after 2019--no matter how insanely good it is--will never do the numbers it would have done in the Golden Age of 2014-2018. So, for the purpose of this list, a fic written in 2016 with 15K hits or less does qualify as underrated, while a fic posted in 2021 with 10-15K would not.

Also, as always, this list is by no means an exhaustive one.

the wrote and the writ by declanlynchsrack | G, 10K

Author's summary: Bucky’s crying before he’s off the boat and he’s the least surprised out of anyone to realize it.

He’s always been a softie, a leaky faucet, and the war hasn’t changed that, so he doesn’t know why the sob that smacks him startles him bad enough that he grips the strap of his bag doubly hard, ready to swing it around like a battering ram, ready to find that cloying, invisible enemy. He’s not being ambushed, on his belly in the muck and camellias, cypress hanging low, moonlight casting an eerie smile upon Lake Como like it’s enjoying the hell out of muffled gunshots and the wet grunt of lifeblood spattering onto the undergrowth.

That’s done. He’s safe.

An AU in which Bucky--minus one arm--comes back from the war and Steve never got to go, and never became Captain America. A scrappy little story that is at once full of emotion and yet completely unsentimental. This story socked me on the jaw, tackled me to the ground, and then sat on me while twisting, twisting, twisting my arm behind my back. It also has one of my favorite descriptions of the SteveBucky dynamic I've ever read: "They’re all roughed up, the two of em, a pair of old marble statues weathered by time and harsh touches, but they know each other’s chinks and foibles and can side-step them with grace while still treating the other about as delicately as they’d handle a sack of potatoes." !!! If you prefer, you can also listen to it here: [Podfic] the wrote and the writ by quietnight

Hollywoodland by romanticalgirl | E, 69K

Author's summary: In 1930s Hollywood, the world is run on the studio system. Stars are told who to date, what to wear, what to say, and how to look pretty doing it. The only way you can really do what you want is if you don't get caught.

Steve's dating Peggy, which works out because she's married to Sam, even though it's not legal. But it's the perfect cover for the fact that Steve's gay. He's managing just fine skirting the system to find companionship, but then he meets James Barnes and life gets a lot more complicated.

If you know anything about me and my love for Golden Age Hollywood, then you won't be surprised that this pushes all of my buttons. This is loosely inspired by the real life relationship of Cary Grant and Randolph Scott (the exact nature of which we will probably never know, but let's just say it was most likely not strictly platonic). Is the world the author created here entirely realistic? No--and it's not intended to be. While it is indeed rooted in many of the horrible realities that queer people and POC have faced in the past (and are still facing today), it's a slightly kinder version of it that allows for a hopeful, if not a strictly happy ending in the traditional sense. A sumptious story with gorgeous art.

make progress together by frankoceansmoonriver | E, 24K

Author's summary: He feels like Steve’s mistress. He feels hollowed out. He feels like a jammed gun still trying to go off. When he’s not with Steve he convinces himself he’s ruining Steve’s life, and though he tries, he’s too selfish to stop. When he’s with Steve, he’d fight God himself to keep it, this tangible perfection that makes him drunk and anchors him in ways he did not know existed.

Or, the one where they both survived the war, Bucky loves Steve now, has loved Steve since he was fifteen, and the year is 1945.

This is a story that I have reread many, many times because it is the perfect wish fulfillment fic for me. It's the slightly unrealistic, or one could also say: optimistic version of what I imagine would have happened had Steve and Bucky both survived the war. That's not to say that this fic doesn't have its very angsty moments, but ultimately, this is a story about love and hope triumphing in the face of adversity, and sometimes you just want to see good things happen to good people. I know some readers may find the formatting and the non-linear structure challenging, but this is a beautiful story and I really urge you all to give it a try!

I'll Light Your Way Home series by BeaArthurPendragon | M-E, 69K, 5 parts

Author's summary: Two lost Vietnam vets find each other in a Hell's Kitchen gay bar one hot September night. This is how they find their way home.

A pattern emerges! Can you tell I'm really into (No Powers) AUs set in the early to mid 20th century? Well, here's another one, but we're actually moving into second half of the century, specifically to 1969, for this one! Bea is quite possibly my favorite Stucky writer and I have recommended her stories many times to anybody who will listen to me. It's debatable whether or not she actually counts as "underrated", I guess, but it is my personal opinion that her fics should have ten times the kudos/comments/hits they do and that she deserves to be up there with the "big names". This story in particular just completely won over my heart with its gorgeous (but not ostentatious) writing, its confident and mature characterizations, and great eye for historical detail. I *cannot* recommend her fics enough. /unabashed fangirl moment over.

The Northern Lights by ThisChairIsMyHomeNow | M, 21K

Author's summary: “I can’t feel my face,” Steve shivers.

“I can’t feel my left arm,” Bucky says, deadpan. Steve barks out a laugh. It’s all white puffs of vapor in the chilly air.

“This the spot?”

“Nah,” Bucky pants, breath ragged from the long ascent up a mountain. “Almost there.”

A post-CW canon-divergent story that the author jokingly describes in their author's note as "gay superhero reluctantly gets therapy in the jungles of Wakanda, then goes on a covert road trip." And yes, maybe I wouldn't put it quite so flippantly myself, but it's not... untrue. And yet there is so much more depth to it. If you like a Bucky who takes back his life, his identity, and his future on his own terms, a Steve who isn't reduced to being his recovery prop but instead gets to shine in all his glorious, intense, stubborn Steve-ness, and a Sam & a Natasha who aren't just window dressing for the SteveandBucky-Show, this is for you! Cap Quartet Road Trip where all four members get their moment to shine--what are you waiting for?

Misplaced Pencils | T, 13K & and our words would take us 'round the world | T, 13K by Somanywords

Author's summary:

Steve and drawing throughout the years. Also Bucky.

&

Bucky is two years old when he learns to talk.

I've spent a good 30 minutes debating with myself which one of these two I should include here, and then I just threw up my hands and said "why not both? Both is good!" So here they are, two beautifully written mid-length full-arc (childhood to sometime past TWS, where they diverge from canon) fics that I love both equally. These are standalone stories and are not set in the same universe, but they do read and feel like companion pieces to each other because both stories are told through the lense of Steve and Bucky's respective artistic sensibilities and how they use their art as a framework to make sense of the world. Misplaced Pencils gives you artist Steve who, from a very young age on, has always tried to understand the world by taking it apart into its visual components & falling back on a fixed set of questions that help him to categorize and compartmentalize the people he encounters and the emotions he feels for them (just like he will later do in other areas of his life). Only that there is of course one person who's always refused to fit neatly into just one of his categories. and our worlds... on the other hand, gives you storyteller Bucky who's constantly talking, singing, writing. Who, in the end, can't help himself but narrate even his own fall and who is later delightfully affronted by his own narrative arc in a "if I had been the one in charge, I would've written it better!" way. Both of these stories are very dear to my heart and they deserve a million more hits.

+ Bonus!

Fics that definitely could/should be on this list but that I've recced before:

You are here by dharmashark

A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall by DisraeliGears

Prisoner One by ancientreader

As Time Goes By by Trouble_With_The_Snap

new topography series by brideofquiet

What I'm Looking For series by TessaBennet

Welcome Home, Son series by BeaArthurPendragon

I'm slowly working my way through my rec asks, so please be patient with me! Next up: Road Trip fics!

[solarmorrigan]

Hello! I was tagged for this by the marvelous @paperbackribs about... *checks watch* four months ago! I'm so late, I'm sorry, time is meaningless and slippery!

How many works do you have on AO3? 300 (!)

What’s your total AO3 word count? 976,101

What fandoms do you write for?

At the moment, I'm only writing for Stranger Things, but I've written things for about 40ish fandoms over the years.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

In Phony Matrimony [Fantastic Beasts]

Shared Space [Homestuck]

Simple Association [James Bond - Craig movies]

Made with Love (and Yarn) [Stranger Things]

These Days I'm Fine (These Days I Tend to Lie) [Stranger Things]

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to! I used to get fewer comments, and it was easier to respond to each of them. Having recently been in some much larger fandoms, though, I've kind of been getting overwhelmed and have fallen behind. I'm so grateful that people take the time to even just send a little heart--to tell me that they read this thing and enjoyed it--and I'd love to respond to everyone, but at this rate I'm not quite sure I'll manage to catch up D:

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably either For the Love of You (James Bond, established 00Q, in which Bond is forced to go after Q when he turns out to be a traitor) or either of the fics in the Forever and Ever, Amen series (also James Bond, 00Q, in which Q is a necromancer and won't let Bond die). I've written other dark things, but I tend towards hopeful endings even with those

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

Most things I've written! I'm a big fan of happily ever after and I write a lot of short fluff pieces. But as far as fics where the happy ending is sort of earned, I'd say maybe He Dreams, Until Such Time (Hades game, gen, in which Hypnos is the Elysium boss fight after having been banished from the House, and Zagreus finds a way to get him back in) or We Have Surplus If We Need It (Pacific Rim, established Newmann, in which Newt tries to figure out who he is in a post-kaiju world and cooks a lot about it)

Do you get hate on fics?

Not particularly. I've gotten a few randos trying to tell me off for writing slash, and one or two people who were clearly just mad at a specific trope and happened to land on my fic, but I've been very fortunate to get largely positive feedback

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do! I'm not sure it's exactly my strongest suit (and, in fact, often worry that it's not very good at all), but I guess I keep at it?? I've written PWP and plotularly significant smut before; whatever serves my purposes at the time

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

Not often, but I have! The first fic I ever tried writing on my own was a Buffy/Scooby-Doo crossover, and I've written a fair bit for Gravity Falls/Over the Garden Wall. Not sure how wild either of those are, though?

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I've been alerted to, but I've been posting fic for something like 20 years now, so it wouldn't surprise me if at least one of them has cropped up elsewhere under someone else's name

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yyyyyes...? Pretty sure I remember that happening! I think it was over on ff dot net, so I don't remember which one it was. Good odds it was one of my Criminal Minds fics, though

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

A few times! I've done RP-style co-writing, round robins, half-and-half, and just plain collaborating. Most of them never reached the point of being able to publish, but they were still fun

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Gotta confess: I don't think I have one. My favorite is usually whatever I'm focusing on at the time; I don't dislike ones I've shipped previously, but they tend to settle fondly into the background once I've left a fandom

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

I had a whole Stranger Things fic planned out exploring the potential relationship between Steve and his mom, and I'd love to get at least the bare bones of that done, but there's something about it that just kind of refuses to come

What are your writing strengths?

Characterization and emotion. Emotion is something I feel like I don't identify particularly well in real life, but I think I'm pretty good at getting the intended response from people in my writing. (Also maybe dialogue, but that's just so fun to write)

What are your writing weaknesses?

I! Am! Impatient! I tend to rush through things sometimes and screw the pacing up or skip over important details because I worry writing it out in full will take too long and I'll lose interest. I can also get a little too rigid in trying to achieve a particular outcome, instead of letting the story flow

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I don't tend to do it, but that's because I'm only fluent in English and don't want to jar anyone with a bad auto-translate job. If someone is speaking another language, I usually try to find a way to signify that based on whether or not the POV character also knows that language

First fandom you wrote for?

It was either HP (forgive me, this was over 20 years ago) or Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Scooby-Doo (crossover fic I wrote when I was, like, nine?)

Favorite fic you’ve written?

Ever?? In my life?? My dude, I could pick a favorite per fandom maybe, but just straight up favorite?? I cannot. Of things written more recently, I'm very fond of Under My Skin (Steddie, exploring the possibility of Steve with physical scars). Of things written slightly less recently, I still have a complicated soft spot for We Have Surplus If We Need It

Gently tagging (if you've already done this, I'm sorry, just ignore me): @spiritofcamelot @ato-the-bean @puppy-steve @emchant3d @lexirosewrites

[lostcol]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

tagged by @eusuntgratie 😘

How many works do you have on ao3? 24

What's your total ao3 word count? 195,342

What fandoms do you write for? primarily men's hockey rpf and queer as folk, but I've also written for teen wolf, 911, and cmbyn.

Top five fics by kudos: Catalepsis (britin, qaf) Sick Day (buddie, 911) Open Your Fucking Eyes, Justin (britin, qaf) A Knight in Shining... Clubwear? (britin, qaf) The Great Poxing of 2013 (sterek, teen wolf) okay this is making me sad for my hockey fic 🥲

Do you respond to comments? always! but I don't get many, comparatively, and i produce like two one-shots a year, so it's not hard 😂

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? probably Confrontation (britin, qaf). It's a short, dialogue-only fic of an argument, and there's no resolution.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? oof I don't know, I tend to write happy endings, so there's a lot of choose from. I have a couple tknp fics that are about them getting together, which always makes for a happy ending, but I'll go with Wildflour (tknp, men's hockey rpf) because it ends mid-hookup, and that's always fun.

Do you get hate on fics? not yet 🙏

Do you write smut? yes! it's not my strong suit and it always takes me forfuckingever to write, but it's in there.

Craziest crossover: I haven't done any. Although a friend and I have (briefly) discussed the possibility of a tknp/firefly crossover, which I think would be amazing if I could wrap my head around the scope of it.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? not that i know of.

Have you ever had a fic translated? nope, but that would be so cool.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? nope. writing is a very *very* casual hobby for me, and I know that it would stress me out to feel like I constantly had to keep with a deadline and/or that i was letting my co-author down.

All time favorite ship? christ, sophie's choice much? Even though it's not the fandom I'm currently writing and reading the most right now, I've got to say britin from qaf. They're so formative for me, and I always come back to them. They're like, the foundational sunshine/grump ship in my world. With tknp a close close second. Currently I'm mostly reading firstprince.

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? i'm not really a wip person, I only have the brainpower to have one fic in my head at a time, so i tend to write, finish, post before i start something else (no matter how long it takes goddammit). but I do have some slightly more fleshed out qaf ideas that I may or may not come back to... but since most of them are pretty similar (something bad happens to justin, brian helps him out), I definitely won't write them all. I also have some ideas for fandoms i'll probably never write for again, but then again, never say never.

What are your writing strengths? dialogue. I like writing it probably more than any other part of my fics, and I feel like I'm good at it. Humor, which surprised me when I started writing because I started in the qaf fandom and almost all of my fics there skewed angsty, but I love adding humor in when the situation calls for it and I feel like I can be funny? I hope? 😂

What are your writing weaknesses? oh smut for sure. it takes me FOREVER to write it because I just... I don't know, get bored? I think I just find writing action sequences difficult generally, and what is smut if not action. Also world-building, which is why I tend to stick to very canon or canon-adjacent writing.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language? sure, if it fits the character and situation. I haven't had reason to do it, but I could throw some basic Spanish in or like, single words in other languages, but I'd hate not getting it right so that would hold me back. I do find it annoying as a reader when there's a lot of foreign language dialogue in an english language fic and there's no translation.

First fandom you wrote in? first ever was technically buffy back when I was 14, but that was me writing it with the intent to change the names and pass it off as original fiction for my freshman english class. And I got an A! The first straight-up fic I wrote was for one tree hill. First fandom i was *involved* in and wrote for was qaf.

Favorite fic you've written? oh god why. I can narrow it down to two IF I MUST. First, Catalepsis (britin, qaf), it's my only true multi-chapter fic and at 82k it's my longest fic by like 70k. It took me literal years to finish, I'm super proud of it, and even though it's long I've had multiple comments about people rereading, which is always amazing. And The Great Poxing of 2013 (sterek, teen wolf). I just love it, it's funny and sweet and flirty and the only teen wolf fic I've written. It wasn't planned, I had a flash of inspiration and banged it out in two nights in front of the tv.

tagging @bigassbowlingballhead @madsworld15 @winderlylandchime and anybody else who wants to do it! (sorry if you guys already did it and I missed it, this week's been crazy) 💚

[bluespring864]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you @yoellglia, @kingfisherprince and @shambolicchaos for tagging me even though I haven't done one of these in months, I appreciate it <3 And look at this, I am actually doing a tag game.

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 57. How did that happen.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

418,066. Some of those 57 are pretty long ;-)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Well I won't list them all, we'll be here tomorrow. The published ones are mainly: Tatort, Good Omens, Potter, Tennis RPF, Skating RPF and a few Music RPFs. There's an awful lot of WiPs from Sherlock Holmes to Poirot to Star Trek to Oasis to Austen to various Panel Shows to Les Miz to The Hobbit and back again though. Plus WiPs for all the published fandoms. Sigh.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Alright this is going to be a trip down memory lane, seeing as I'm mostly active in very niche fandoms these days. Also, this statistic is perhaps skewed by the fact that lots of my fics are in German (a few nearly made it onto the list though!) and my RPF is locked (for registered users only).

Days in the Sun: Tops the list by a very long way. Harry Potter. A Snape/Hermione post war fic published in 2018. I'm a different writer these days but I still like lots of things about it.

To Trust in One Another: Good Omens. Aziraphale/Crowley post Season 1. I remember the response to this overwhelming me at the time, I had never gotten so many comments so quickly after posting and haven't since. This fandom is so lovely (and filled with writers!).

To those who wait, eventually: Harry Potter. Snape/McGonagall. I love this pairing and this story. And while I am very surprised that both the Potter Fics I actually published are het, I am not surprised they both feature Severus Snape.

Almost Too Kind, or: Prometo: Figure Skating RPF. Yuzu/Javi. I still like the Yuzu POV, although I think I've perhaps written more interesting skating stories, but this was obviously the most popular parinig at the time. Hence the amount of kudos I guess.

Language Barrier Sidestepped: Figure Skating RPF. Yuzu/Javi. This one surprised me because it's just a silly fluffy oneshot. But with some language nerdship in the title and the story (that part is less surprising, if you know me)

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

Always, and sometimes too verbosely :D I like a good comment discussion and I have made friends that way.

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

Angsty endings? Me? I would if I could. Maybe some day. I guess the angstiest one is this unrequited love drabble in the Tatort Münster Fandom.

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

Well, most of them have pretty happy endings, I think.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not so far. Most of the comments I get are really nice. I can remember only a handful slightly weird ones over the years.

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

No one is more surprised than me, but yes. In my case, it's usually part of a story and has a function in the story. But it can be pretty graphic because it's weird to me to treat sex as something to gloss over. That being said, sometimes a story decides on a fade to black. On the other end of the spectrum, I've also come pretty close to writing PwP, depending on your definition of it.

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

Never written one, very rarely read them.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

People have asked for permission several times and I always grant it (of course I do) but I don't think I've ever gotten a link to a finished translation (which I always ask for). I get it though, some of my stories are pretty long and I know all about the difficulties of translation :-)

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

It's not finished but I hope we can get back to it @kingfisherprince! I might not always be the easiest person to work with, but I thoroughly enjoyed it so far.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

I don't have one, I write whatever pairing is interesting to me. And would love to write more gen fic if inspiration strikes. The concept of an OTP used to make no senses to me either, though I guess I've come close with Novandy in the Tennis fandom. I still write lots of other stuff in that fandom though.

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

I have trouble going back to the Potter stuff for various reasons. Would love to finish a Snarry which is already at almost 30k but doubt I will. I also have a Poirot/Hastings case fic I really want to finish but (see writing weaknesses)

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'm not sure. I hope Í write realistic relationships that make sense in the story. I try to write clear prose that's not too cluttered (I don't always succeed). Sometimes with my longer fics I've managed to slightly miraculously tie things together, which is amazing to me when it happens but I can't control that at all.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I sometimes overexplain. I tend to forget about 'setting the scene' descriptions now and then. And the big one: I can't plot for the life of me, I write as I go along, which isn't always a problem but definitely is when you try to write a murder mystery (I've got an unfinished Poirot one and an unfinished Tatort Münster one which I would love to continue).

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

I like it, though I tend to use it relatively sparingly and either add translations or try to make it clear in other ways in the text what was being said (a translation degree comes in handy for this).

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Well the first time I tried writing fic it was Kirk/Spock but the first thing I finished and published was Tatort Münster.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Don't do this to me. The answer will be different every day, I think, and for lots of reasons. This is not me being pretentious (I hope), because I would have just as much trouble choosing my favourite song or book etc. Let's pick Two and Two Together for today because I never would have thought I'd write a 42k poly fic, but here we are. I think we've established I sometimes surprise myself.

Tagging: I think most of the writers on my dash have been tagged... but maybe @bonos-grindcore-sideproject and @advantage-sinner and @savageandwise and @all-my-worlds-a-stage if you want to do it?

[anneapocalypse]

🎇20 Questions for Fic Writers🎇

Tagged by @dreadfutures 💙 Thank you!

Tagging @chocochipbiscuit @farfromdaylight @rakshadow @skyeventide

Blank questions for your convenience! My answers are below the cut.

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

2. what’s your total ao3 word count?

3. what fandoms do you write for?

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

5. do you respond to comments?

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

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

8. do you get hate on fics?

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

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

14. what’s your all-time favorite ship?

15. what’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? T

16. what are your writing strengths?

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

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

19. first fandom you wrote for?

20. favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Answers!

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

If I count everything, 181. If we're not counting meta pieces, 163.

2. what’s your total ao3 word count?

802,674

3. what fandoms do you write for?

I've written for quite a few, but my big ones have been Fallout, Red vs. Blue, and Dragon Age. I've also written for The Penumbra Podcast, RWBY, Mass Effect, Person of Interest, and The 13 Clocks. (And now I'm also writing for Final Fantasy XIV, though I haven't posted anything yet and probably won't until after I'm caught up with MSQ.)

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

Homecoming (Red vs. Blue, Tucker & Junior, rated T)

Juno Steel & the Fox's Teeth (Penumbra Podcast, Juno/Peter, rated E)

Sensibility (Penumbra Podcast, Juno/Peter, rated E)

Respite (Red vs. Blue, North/Wash/York, rated T)

Home Front (Fallout 3, Amata/F!LW, rated T)

I was genuinely surprised and charmed at how well-received "Homecoming" was (and continues to be), as I considered it fairly niche at the time of writing, but then, Tucker is a popular character. The response to my Penumbra fics certainly caught me by surprise, in the manor of, "OH, this is what it's like to write the popular pairing!" "Respite" was one of my very early RvB fics and it's not one I'm particularly happy with now, as I think I would have done certain things differently had I written it later, but nonetheless it was well-received; not a lot of people were actually writing North/Wash/York at the time. "Home Front" is one of my favorite Fallout fics I've written; I'm still proud of it.

5. do you respond to comments?

Yes, I try to! Sometimes I take a bit longer these days, but I do try to reply to every comment, barring the odd rude one which I'll just delete or ignore.

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

It's maybe cheating to say The Fall, given that it's the second in a trilogy so the story isn't actually over at the end of that fic. But that fic is a downer the whole way and ends with the main character's probable death, so. It's pretty angsty. After that, I'd say "Please (Don't Leave Me)", an RvB South/CT fic where CT doesn't live and South is dealing with the aftermath, poorly.

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

I'd say I've written quite a few--I'm a big fan of the hard-won happy ending. I'm going to distinguish happy from fluffy here--I could pick any number of my one-shorts for fluffiest ending--and say The Landing, because relative to what comes before, and also canon, it's an incredibly happy and optimistic ending for Maine.

8. do you get hate on fics?

Rarely. The vast majority of my readers are perfectly sweet and kind. For some reason, my Mainelina fic has drawn the most bad commenters out of any. I wouldn't call those comments hate, but I have gotten a few that were pretty rude and/or backhanded. My guess is that I hit a particular unfulfilled niche with a long Maine-POV fic that happened to appeal to a particular kind of RvB fan, a kind who like Maine and like the fic but also felt the need to like, flex on me about it. Most of them have seemed not overly familiar with fandom etiquette and transformative fandom culture in general. Embarrassing for them tbh. I just ignore or delete them.

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

Whatever kind I feel like! Less in recent years perhaps, but that's less a lack of interest and more that I get bored easily if I feel like I'm writing something repetitive, and writing non-repetitive smut can be genuinely challenging! We only have so many words, descriptors, euphemisms, and slang terms that actually sound appealing when you're trying to write erotica, so I think writing good smut requires no small amount of creativity and resourcefulness, and I always admire those who do it well.

Bondage is a theme I've explored repeatedly. I would say that I enjoy writing established relationship smut the most because it can be assumed that the characters already know each other's likes and dislikes. But first-times can be fun too. I think I most enjoy writing smut between characters who trust each other and have a high level of emotional intimacy, whatever the specific activities involved might be.

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

To be honest I'm just not really a crossover person. I can find the idea of a crossover interesting, but at the end of the day I just don't enjoy transplanting characters out of their home setting as much as I enjoy exploring who they are within that setting and how it's shaped them.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes. I had a kink meme fill straight up plagiarized once, very obviously, such that when I took it to the mods it was an open and shut takedown.

I've also had less cut and dry incidents, and those are much harder to know how to deal with. I have had people basically rewrite a scene that I wrote, using pieces of the same dialogue, almost as if they thought we were both interpreting a scene from canon when we were not, it was something that I had made up. And yet it's not really plagiarism strictly speaking, and it wasn't worth the social fallout of calling them out on it, so I never did more than grumble vaguely about what happened. I've also had things where like... I ran across something pretty distinctly inspired by a fic of mine that I know the author had read, without bothering to give me a shoutout. That's not theft, but it is a bummer.

In every such case if the author had just asked me, "Hey, can I borrow your idea here? Can I post a remix of your fic?" I probably would have said yes without hesitation. Hell, even if they had not asked and simply given me a shoutout in their author's notes, I would have been pleased to have inspired them. But they didn't do that, and there's nothing I can do about it but I am going to be cranky about it.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

I did have someone ask about translating a fic of mine once, and I gave permission, but I never heard back after that, so I don't know if they ever did. (This is something I have blanket permission for, by the way, so long as you let me know about it!)

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

Sort of? A friend and I did post a polished-up RP as a fic once, though we ended up not keeping it up. In general I think I'm a pretty solitary writer, though I wouldn't rule it out entirely, but I'd have to really feel that both my style and my writing process meshed well with my collaborator.

14. what’s your all-time favorite ship?

I'm too much of a multi-shipper to have a real answer to this.

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

If I want on any level to finish it, then I consider it still on the table. It might take me years to get back to it, but I still mean to. I still want to finish Small Blessings. I still want to finish Radio Silence. I trust that their time will come, even if it's not now.

16. what are your writing strengths?

Character voice, I think. Both dialogue, and getting inside a character's head and writing a plausible inner monologue.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Combat, always combat and action scenes, though I do think I'm getting better with practice.

Selfishness. As soon as I need to write something as an obligation to someone else, I don't want to do it, which is why I'd make a terrible professional writer, at least one who has to write to order.

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

Just write it. You don't have to italicize it or put some kind of indicator marks around it. Language is language. I think it's fine to post translations as a footnote but I don't think it's 100% necessary all the time, when it's something the reader can easily look up for themselves. I know I'm willing to do that kind of legwork for a fic I'm enjoying. I suppose it depends on the reader, and what kind of reader you want.

There are also times when it's perfectly fine to just write it in English (or the default language of the piece) while indicating in the narrative that the character is actually speaking in another language, such as ASL. Again I don't think you need to italicize or use some kind of weird formatting. Just write "He signed," and what he said in quotes like you would any other dialogue. If you've firmly established already that a character primarily speaks in ASL, you might not even need that. The reader can keep up.

Things do shift a bit when you're writing in a fictional language, especially one that's very incomplete and not a true conlang. I'll go with the obvious example of Dragon Age's Elvish (and yes, canonically the language is called Elvish or Elven, it's not called Elvhen, that's the people, not the language). Even if I string the appropriate words together, the meaning might not always be strictly clear to the reader out of context because Elvish is a pretty simple cipher. It doesn't have conjugation, for example. Nonetheless, I think often context clues can be enough for an engaged reader, especially if it's a word we encounter a lot in canon. Where it might not be clear, and if it's very important to the story, I will usually simply work some kind of translation into the narrative itself. This can work particularly well when your POV character also has it as a second language. Example from my Briala/f!Tabris draft:

Gheyna and Cammen, having finished tending to the halla, stood aside, hand in hand, and Gheyna waved. "Dareth shiral, Keeper. Talith, Briala, dareth shiral. Sylaise ma ghilana vhenas." Cammen added solemnly, "Dareth shiral, Talith. Elgar'nan ma ghilana, lasa mala enasalin." At that, Talith's expression grew solemn as well. "Ma serannas, lethallen. Dareth shiral." Briala recognized a few words. Dareth shiral, "Safe journey." Vhenas, enasalin. And the names of the elven gods. Gheyna had bid the Hearthkeeper guide them safely home.

I personally prefer to stick to what we have in canon for Elvish (I'm not going to set myself up to be jossed if I don't have to), or if I ever really need an unknown word I'll make something up for myself. While there are some fanmade Elvish dictionaries out there, I'm not comfortable hanging too much of my own work on someone else's fanon, and also I inevitably disagree with some of their decisions on ambiguous canon words. (Ma does not mean "my," it means "you." This is consistent with every canon use of "ma" except one, and that one is in DA2 and is thus really, really likely to have been an oversight due to rushed development; every other instance of "ma" supports it meaning "you." Sorry, that has been eating at me for ages and I needed to get it off my chest. 😅) That said there are multiple fanmade Elvish dictionaries out there at this point, so if you're going to use someone else's, in this case I would strongly recommend supplying the reader with a link, both to credit the author and so the reader knows where to go to look up the words if they choose to. Don't assume that everyone knows you're using so-and-so's Elvish dictionary; I had never even heard of the big popular one until a couple years ago.

That was a lot, but at the end of the day, it's all about making a judgment call on how much you need to hold the reader's hand, as with anything; I personally tend to err on the side of trusting my reader, and if I assumed too much, well, maybe that's my mistake and maybe that reader wasn't my target audience anyway. 🤷🏻‍♀️ You'll figure out what's right for your work.

19. first fandom you wrote for?

The first fandom I wrote for was actually Dragon Age, but that early writing never saw the light of day. First fandom I posted fic for was Fallout.

20. favorite fic you’ve ever written?

OH MAN. That's hard! I referenced The Drop, my Mainelina trilogy for RvB, multiple times in this post so obviously I'm still pretty fond of it. I'll add to that Inroads, my Kimbalina series. For Fallout, I'm real happy with Home Front (Amata/F!LW) and Cast Your Bread Upon the Water (Dr. Li/Star Paladin Cross, past Dr. Li/Catherine/James). And for Dragon Age, my current faves are No Woman Rules Alone (Anora/F!Tabris) and A Pot to Piss In (Sera backstory fic).

[tinacentury]

Fic Writer Asks

Been a minute since I crawled out of my cave here, but an ask game remains the best way for me to do so. Thanks for the tag, @folklauerate!

How many works do you have on AO3?

21. Here they are so I don't have to link them all below.

What's your total AO3 word count?

107,797

What fandoms do you write for?

I was vehemently a one-fandom (Sailor Moon) person until Bridgerton season 2 came crashing into my life. I've accepted being a two-fandom writer now, but it's still weird.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

These are skewed because the Bridgerton fandom is bigger, so, by fandom:

Bridgerton: Follow the Sparks, An Involuntary Thing, Unframeable, Mine to Keep Warm, Canis caminan non est

Sailor Moon: Belonging, Familial Eyes, Win a Date with Tuxedo Mask!, Contrition, What Wasn't Said

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I definitely try to, but I fall behind. I like the fandom engagement piece of responding to comments and talking to friends and readers, but when it becomes an expectation at the expense of my sanity, I let myself off the hook. That's generally the approach that has worked best for me with all things fandom-related. This is supposed to be a hobby, not a chore.

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

Contrition.

Do you get hate on fics?

Haven't gotten anything I would really describe as hate yet, but I have gotten some "this is boring" comments, and just recently had someone decide my comment section was the ideal place to talk about current world events. I do think it's absurd that we live in a world where I had to turn comment moderation on because of this.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

It's not my main focus, but yes. I'm not sure what it says about me that smut writing comes more easily to me in Bridgerton writing than it ever did in Sailor Moon writing.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Nope!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Hard nope!

What's your all-time favorite ship?

I think it has to be a tie between Kanthony and Usamamo. Usamamo has the stronger history, being that I've shipped it since I was 11, and while I'm not super active in that fandom right now (tbh is anyone?), I won't be at all surprised if/when I get inspired to dive back in. Kanthony pulled me in the same way Usamamo did, so I can't not include them here.

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

Given my update speed, I tend to lean towards "never say never", but things don't look good for that Contrition sequel I've been banging on about since 2019.

What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm pretty good with dialogue; it comes more easily to me than all the other moving pieces. Went through a phase during which my writing got compared to poetry a lot, but I don't think I've been able to pull that off in any of my Bridgerton work yet.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I can tell you they're all tied to perfectionism -- speed, anything that happens in between dialogue making things sound pretty instead of dry and academic (damn that too many years of schooling), over-explaining things, and writing the same damn kiss the same damn way multiple times.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for fic?

Lol tell me you came of age in the 2000s without telling me. I would sprinkle it into Sailor Moon stuff, but there's a fine line between "this is useful" and "this reads like a geocities fanfic site from 1999." I haven't done it with Bridgerton just because I don't know enough, but I'll definitely ask @folklauerate and @hydriotaphia if I ever do!

First fandom you wrote for?

Sailor Moon when I was very, very, very young (cool that an eighth-grader did this, but not cool enough to show to anyone ever).

Favorite fic you've ever written?

-The Benedict chapter of An Involuntary Thing

-Despite a whole host of issues, 5 Years

This was fun and took me back! Tagging @kasienda, @penny-loaf, and @daikon1

[killerandhealerqueen]

Fic Author Interview

Thank you for the tag @hils79!

How many works do you have on AO3?

270 (as of right now)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

2,888,650 (as of right now)

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Wait, We're Married?! (The Devil Judge, Kang Yohan/Kim Gaon) - 1,543 kudos

Succulents and an Overprotective Kang Yohan (The Devil Judge, Kang Yohan/Kim Gaon) 1,243 kudos

Kang Yohan's Relaxing Day Off (The Devil Judge, Kang Yohan/Kim Gaon) - 844 kudos

Protect You (The Devil Judge, Kang Yohan/Kim Gaon) - 817 kudos

Kim Gaon Is Mine (The Devil Judge, Kang Yohan/Kim Gaon) - 761 kudos

I'm honestly still kinda surprised my Devil Judge fics are doing well, considering that I don't write for the fandom anymore

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

I always do, unless they're rude, then they're just deleted. There's no point in fighting/arguing with someone who doesn't understand the story I'm trying to tell

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Oh, my Chinese Paladin 4 fic Promise to Keep. It's one of my only fics that has Major Character Death, which is INCREDIBLY rare for me, but it's the only fic I've ever felt comfortable writing an MCD for because I was actually okay with the ending of the drama. But it won't ever happen again because I cried while writing this fic and I don't think I can go through it again

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

All of them but Promise to Keep

7. Do you write crossovers?

Yeah. I mainly do crossovers between Killer and Healer and S.C.I., but I've done crossovers with other dramas too

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I did, yeah, and made a whole fucking post about it because the person was really fucking rude and not only came for me, but for my readers and if you come for me, fine, I'll just delete the comment, but the moment you come for my readers I will fucking end you

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

Nope

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I did, back when I wrote for the Untamed. Someone had took my The Untamed Moments and started posting it, word for fucking word, in Spanish over on Wattpad. Thankfully a reader told me about it and I got it taken down but to my knowledge, none of my fics since then have been stolen

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Oh yeah, a few. It makes me really happy/honored

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

Waaaay back on AsianFanFics...haven't since then

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

It's been almost 3 years and I'm still not normal about them

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I always finish my WIPs, for the most part. It's very rare that I don't

15. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and anything that has to do with describing crime scenes or forensics. Or anything mafia related

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Run ons, maybe. But sometimes, you just gotta

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I never write full dialogue in other languages, but I will use words, like "gege" or "hyung". Sometimes, I'll curse in another language, if I know what it is (mainly in Japanese)

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

First proper fic was either for Dragonball or Black Butler

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

I don't know, no new fandom/ship has like...caught me and made me want to write. If I watch a new show, I mainly just like...want to make an au out of it for my current ships

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written

My baby, my beloved, my Killer and Healer rewrite, right here: 恨君不似江楼月 | Killer and Healer.

It's a fic that I don't think I can ever top. The amount of time and effort and tears that I put into this fic...I just love it a lot. And I'm super proud of it. I mean, I love all my fics, don't get me wrong, but nothing can ever probably beat this fic

Tagging: @sunriseverse @clawbehavior @godotismissingx @fourth-quartet @ahhhnorealnamesallowed and any of my other writer friends who wants to play

[calimera62]

I've been tagged by @flo-nelja, thank you!

If you want to do it, tagging @naehja, @istadris, @saemi-the-dreamer, @modocanis, @amethystsworld, @garnetrena and @andersssandrew

1 How many works do you have on AO3?

100. Most of them are OS and I still have to publish fics I've posted on tumblr and ffnet.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

397,865

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Der Vampire, my multichapter Tanz der Vampire fic (195 kudos)

Baise-main, a Kaamelott OS Arthur&Perceval. Not my best work so I'm surprised it has been liked so much (152 kudos)

Die Fledermaus, a Tanz der Vampire OS and self-indulgent bat!Krolock fanfic (139 kudos)

La Marque, my platonic soulmate AU Kaamelott OS between Arthur and Perceval (132 kudos)

Couronne, my first and last Arthur/Guenièvre OS that I wrote after KV1 (128 kudos)

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

Yes, I try to, though it can take me a long time to do so ^^;;

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Hum... difficult question. I don't usually write angst. There's a Van Helsing OS but I haven't posted it on AO3 yet. I do love to write certain characters turned as vampire against their will, a lot, but I can't say which fic about that trope is the angstiest... Maybe My Blood in Offering, a Krolfred OS, or even La bête humaine (Harry Potter, a Beast of Gévaudan AU, kinda). I can't say for sure...

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

LOL, most of my fics are happy fics so it will be hard to choose which one I consider to have the happiest ending. Maybe Auld Lang Syne or Sleeping Arthur, two Kaamelott OS with Arthur and Perceval.

7. Do you write crossovers?

Rarely, but it happened. I once wrote a Makai Ouji/Black Butler crossover Nevermore, and I would like to try writing for this crossover again. I also wrote a Harry Potter/Charlie and the Chocolate Factory crossover where Willy Wonka was a wizard (Le Procès de Willy Wonka), I had fun writing it!

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

No and I hope it won't happen in the future.

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

I did (two Krolfred OS: Behind closed doors and L'abîme des songes), not very ambitious since I'm not used writing smut but it was an interesting challenge. I also have two Grindeldore OS (À fleur de peau and Nos rencontres éphémères) but the sexual content is really non-graphic.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Le Soleil Levant (Francis&Napoléon, Hetalia) has been translated into Polish; also two Tanz OS (Behind closed doors and My Blood in Offering) translated in Russian.

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

No and I'm not interested in doing it.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Aaah it's a difficult choice. How can you expect me to choose?

Though, if I see the amount of works on my AO3, I've written for Grindeldore (Gellert Grindelwald/Albus Dumbledore) the most.

Most of my fics are mostly about platonic pairs than romantic ones.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Uuh... Maybe L'Alouette (a FrUK OS) or L'ennemi de mon ennemi (a Van Helsing multichapter fic)

15. What are your writing strengths?

Good question. I love getting into the characters's head, writing their thoughts and feelings, as well as writing platonic pairs, but I don't know if it's a strength of mine.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm so bad at describing places and clothes and furnitures D:

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

You mean adding words or sentences in another language when I'm reading fics in my own language or in English? Well... I don't mind if it's a couple of words in a sentence (and if the author adds the translation, though I found it annoying to have to go in the author's notes, at the end of the fic, to go check the translation)

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter.

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

No fandom comes to my mind, but I would love to write Alfred/Sarah (Tanz der Vampire), though Krolfred is my OTP, I have a lot of fondness for this ship and I would like to try writing about them. Same thing, I would like to write a Arthur/Francis/Ludwig fanfic (Hetalia) one day. I also wish to write about César/Astérix one day and not just them as a platonic pair

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Ouch hard to decide again. I'm still proud of La Marque as well as Sleeping Arthur regarding my Kaamelott fics. Regarding Tanz, I really love A New Perspective and Die Fledermaus. For Makai Ouji, I still love Innocence and Curiosity, though The Witching Hour is very self-indulgent hehe. I'm also fond of some fics from Gauloiseries (Astérix); but I really can't choose, between these fics, which one is my absolute favourite.

[that-disabled-princess]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks @bazzybelle for the tag!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Currently, eighty-three! There are a couple more I've orphaned, though.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

83,430. Damn, seeing a big number and my name in the same sentence is weird xD

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The Dragon Prince, Carry On, and Nimona! I've also written for Starkid and She-Ra in the past.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The top three are Nimona haha. I jumped on the Nimona train pretty early, so I'm not surprised.

These scars that never fade [Nimona, G, 300] - 320 kudos

Bad Days [Nimona, T, 500] - 295 kudos

A Second Chance [Nimona, T, 1.6k] - 235 kudos

Kiss It Better [Carry On, T, 2.1k] - 186 kudos

Sexualities and Crises [Carry On, T, 1.5k] - 181 kudos

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

I do! I love interacting with my readers, especially because a good majority of them are also friends and people I've talked to before.

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

Ohoho, so I have been Living It Up in angst land over here! The first one that popped into my mind was a personal fic, so here's another very angsty hurt no comfort:

Lavender hearts [Carry On, M, 3.4k]

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

I joked with @that-one-dingus last night that I write three kinds of fics: stupidly cute, horrifically angsty, and amazingly chaotic. In other words, I have posted lots of stupidly cute fics! 😂 This is one of my favorites with a happy/hopeful ending!

Hurting, Healing (Loving, Forgiving) [The Dragon Prince, T, 2.1k]

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Yuuup. I've gotten quite a bit of arophobia on my aro Baz fic. (I believe this is when I turned off guest commenting.) I've absolutely loved stepping into writing for The Dragon Prince because people took one look at this baby aplatonic writing aplatonic Ethari and jumped right on the train. I adore y'all <3

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

Yes! I'll write almost anything as long as it's safe, sane, and consensual. My favorite kinds of smut to write is anything using non-human parts--which is basically all my snowbaz and ruthari smut! I love getting to use the wings and tail and horns.

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

Not yet, but I do have one in the works... and I'd say it's pretty chaotic. Lamb (Simon Snow)/Aaravos (The Dragon Prince) smutfic. The most top4top struggle to ever top4top struggle.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

...does translating my own fic count? I translated Worst seats known to musician-kind into Spanish!

Other than that, no.

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

Nope. I don't really want to, honestly. Knowing me, it won't be a good idea unless I trust the person I'm writing with really well.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Well okay then, this question went for the throat. Snowbaz is great and all, but ruthari... I adore ruthari. They're murder husbands and fantastic parents. I just... adore them. *holds gently*

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

My disabled Baz fic. The passive--and explicit--ableism in these books is... certainly something. I really want to write a fic where Baz is disabled and has chronic leg pain, but it's just too personal. I don't know if I can continue.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I write short fics really well! I've been told I can hit people right in the feels in just a couple hundred words. I'm also good at flow and poetry-like writing.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing longfics, I guess. My writing is an escape, so I don't tend to look at weaknesses a lot.

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

Sure! I love reading it when authors write other languages into their fics.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter, I think.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Mmm how about one from each fandom I'm active in? I love my writing, and rules are more like guidelines anyway.

Hurting, Healing (Loving, Forgiving) [The Dragon Prince, T, 2.1k] - Hurt/comfort, so much communication, aplatonic Ethari, and disabled Runaan! This one was supposed to be something much shorter and fluffier, but it turned into a longer fic with more feels. (Who gave you permission to have feelings, Runaan?) But that's fine because it was so much fun to write!

Mark of the Beast [Carry On, E, 1.5k] - Speaking of monsterfucking... I am so fucking proud of this lambden fic. It was sooo much fun to write.

Wave your flag high [Nimona, G, 300] - Supportive Ambrosius! Goldenheart doing menial household chores together! Bal gets a disability pride flag! This is one of my favorite things I've ever written. What I wouldn't give for my own disability pride flag...

Tagging @iamamythologicalcreature @hoothalcyon @legend-of-the-fandoms @youarenevertooold @stitchyqueer @cutestkilla @artsyunderstudy @yeonjunenby 💖💖

[wibzenadarksiderwithasoftheart]

Fic Tag Game

Thank you so much for tagging me, @starwalkertales

How many works do you have on ao3?

30… I'm quite proud of the fact that I've made so many, and 29 of them in just 2½ years (granted, most of them are quite short, but there are a few longer ones in between)

2. What's your Ao3 word count?

272,066… Holy Force, according to a quick google search, that equates to about 3 average novels, damn.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Star Wars, mostly the prequel trilogy. I have two “older” Yu-Gi-Oh fics.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

1. Rain with 298 kudos. This is actually my newest story and in just a week after I posted it, it had overtaken all my other works (I guess people like it). It's cute fluffy and smutty obikin, where our boys get stranded and given a small but much-needed holiday.

2. ‘Com’Passion with 280 kudos. I can't hide the fact that my guilty pleasure is threesomes. This one is smut with a lot of emotion, involving two experienced masters (Mace and Obi-Wan) taking Anakin to their bed after he walks in on them.

3. Nanika the daughter of the Force with 279 kudos. This fic, where Anakin is sent back in time as a woman, is my baby and biggest challenge.

4. Hearts' desires with 263 kudos. Sweet, smutty obikin with too much plot, featuring Anakin and Obi-Wan's first time together.

5. All I want for Christmas with 211 kudos. This is last year's tooth-rottingly cute and fluffy Christmas fic, where Obi-Wan returns home and realizes he can't escape Anakin and Padmé's love.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Always! (It can sometimes take a few days if RL is demanding my attention) Commenting is the lifeblood of fandom, and it's through commenting that I've found many of my friends here.

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

Um, I have a few that could compete for that title... but I'd have to say Fallen, it's short, ambiguous and it hurts so much. I have others equally angsty, my very first SW fic In The End is also very angsty.

7. What's the fic your write with the happiest ending?

All I want for Christmas, it is just SO happy that it is nauseating (I got fluff poisoning writing it)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, and I'm very grateful for that. I have a few people asking if I'm going to continue with Nanika soon... I will, promise!

9. Do you write smut? What kind?

Yes, I do... I don't know if it's a specific type... but it's not very kinky (I love reading all kinds of smut, I'm just not brave enough to write it yet)

10. Do you write cross-overs?

I have a few faint bunnies in deep freeze, but they're not very detailed and most likely won't be written… so no, but never say never.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nop, but I'm considering translating back one of my own stories at some point, just for the fun of it.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

I have. I wrote The Jedi and the darksider together with my sweet heart Zolita. It was an inspiring and challenging experience to write Melany and Zaya's story.

14. What's your all time favourite ship?

Obikin (I can't deny it), BUT they are not my only love, and I will happily let them take a third to bed with them at any given opportunity.

15. What's your WIP you like to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Pirates of the Galaxy, and it is a damn shame!

16. What are your writing strength?

I've been told that I'm good at writing atmosphere, and admittedly, it's one of my favorite things to write, so it's not really surprising. Haunt me for a year is testament to that.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Dialogue... I struggle with it every single time, but I'm stubborn and will keep practicing so that maybe one day I'll feel like I've gotten good at it.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?Probably not dialogue, but I'm toying with the idea of writing spells in other languages, preferably old Sith, there's just not much known Sith language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Yu-Gi-Oh, back in 2016 before I stumbled into the SW fandom and got lost in the galaxy far far away.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

I love them all, they all have a very special place in my heart and it is almost impossible to chose, but I will say Tave Jen’drajuna; the dark family is just… it is me.

I want to ad a bonus question.

21. What fic would you want to rewrite one day.

My very first long fic Light and darkness. I still love the idea of vampire Sith Anakin, but I was so inexperienced when I wrote it and even though I adore the story the writing could be better.

I will tag anyone who wants to do this, and also @fleetstreetfatality @prahacat @barmadumet @demon----dean @tideswept @briliantlymad @fangeek-girl @dark--whisperings @lilredghost and @knightjane if you have already been tagged or have answered, please just ignore me, and of course there is no pressure.

[aheckinmess]

A BEAUTIFUL MESS

Get to Know Me (Following in the footsteps of @talesofadragon because I thought her "Get to Know the Blog" was a cool idea!):

What inspired you to start this blog? I used to post fanfiction when I was 14 (it was all pure ANGST), but as I got older I posted less because I reached a point where my writing looked so lame every time I wrote anything because I started holding myself to a higher standard. I eventually decided if there were people who enjoyed my fiction when I was younger (what I deemed the worst of my work), I could surely post again knowing it was for the sake of myself; as an added bonus, I get to make people smile!

How did you come up with the name "A Heckin' Mess"? Honestly, I wanted to choose a name that didn't tie me to one fandom because my hyper-fixations tend to last for years, but they still revolve. "A Heckin' Mess" just seemed to fit with the chaotic manner in which I write for different fandoms.

Who is your favorite character to write about? As it stands, my favorite characters to write about are Shouta Aizawa and Enji Todoroki (both from My Hero Academia). Aizawa has always been my favorite character in the series, with Enji being a close second. I feel like they both hold more depth than a lot of people give them credit for (especially Enji), and I enjoy bringing that to life when I write for them.

Which of your works was your favorite to write? Most challenging? Least favorite? Favorite: Hollow Harmony (very therapeutic for me) & Cursed, Not Cute (It was fun writing Sukuna's inner turmoil); Most Challenging: Chapter 3 of Apricity (It just wasn't speaking to me for a while) & Chapter 1 of Cursed, Not Cute (Getting into Sukuna's mindset to keep him in character was a fun time); Least Favorite: Mind Over Mischief (I wanted to write Denki because I really enjoy his character, but it just doesn't feel like my best work).

What do you find most rewarding about sharing your stories? I've always found the joy my writing gives others to be the most rewarding part of sharing them. Even when people write nasty comments or harshly criticize my work, I'm soothed knowing I choose to use it to make my writing better because I know that somewhere out there a person is relating to and/or smiling at that same story. They're using it as a safe place to land from the harsh falls of reality.

Are there any specific messages or themes you hope readers take away from your stories? 1. Write the story you want to write, even if it doesn't follow the general flow of the fandom. 2. Be compassionate but not complacent.

Can you share a memorable interaction you’ve had with a reader or follower? Back around the end of high school, someone on DeviantArt who followed my Dad!Loki x Child!Reader series at the time actually drew fanart for it because she enjoyed it so much. I think that was when I realized that my writing truly had an impact.

Will you be exploring new characters/fandoms? Without a doubt. I'm still viciously maintaining my hyperfocus on My Hero Academia right now, but that certainly won't stop me from writing other things! Recently, I've gotten into Jujutsu Kaisen.

What surprised you the most during your writing journey on here? A lot more people see your posts than you think. I get - on average, not counting my more popular works - about 3-5 notes? But whenever I post a poll, I'll get anywhere from 65-120 votes. It gives me encouragement that even if people may be too shy or uncomfortable interacting with my posts as far as liking or commenting, they're still getting to read it. And it makes me smile knowing that so many people are getting joy from it!

Do you have any unpublished works or ideas that you’re excited to share in the future? Yes! I currently have 300+ prompts that I've written summaries for already (they're just not written), and around 100+ ideas that I've added since watching Jujutsu Kaisen. In addition to that, I'm most excited because I have 5 fanfictions that I'm outlining...so I'm super excited for those!!

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you have a magical day!

[hergan416]

Writer's wrap: 30

AO3 Writer's Wrap (still accepting)

This is honestly a great one for now because it's not even Christmas, I guarantee I'll write more before the year is out.

30. Biggest surprise while writing this year?

Honestly-- how much I wrote. And I mean this as more than just "oh I hit a surprising number of words" it's like... HOW I wrote so much.

I don't think I particularly grew as a writer this year. In previous years I have participated in challenges and honed my craft and really worked hard to make quality writing. Writing... kind of hurt like that. There was a lot of stress to it. I had been asked by friends or acquaintances on more than one occasion why I wrote as a hobby if it stressed me out so much.

And this year... well I won't say I never stressed myself out. The initial update schedule for Poison Paradise was insane. I don't know how I got inspiration to write a chapter a day for that many days. I am glad that scaled back a little.

But at the same time... even without looking, I guarantee you that I've surpassed 2020's word count while holding a full time job. And with hardly ever writing for an official challenge (Albert's birthday was my choice. There were a couple of very fun tumblr prompts & an angst week thing...but like. I have ALWAYS wanted to write hanahaki disease for someone & finally had a chance. And the Allou Trimester & Louiliam2023Winter at the end of the year here are extremely loose challenges with very few restrictions for pairings I would have written anyway.. and when the Louiliam fic ended up having a sherliam element & broke the rules I just.. didn't add it to the event and wrote what I wanted anyway).

Anyway, it was different from the way I treated challenges in previous years-- I wasn't stressed about it. I was having fun. Which is.. ultimately, what a hobby is supposed to be, right?

My word count has to be directly tied to the amazing, positive people I have met in the last 10 months -- who let me be my authentic self and still come back for more. I have never been more unhinged, written more dead dove, let loose like this. I've never been more freakish; and at the same time I have been gifted with the most incredible outpouring of kind words, comments, support, tumblr interactions, and readership. I cannot possibly thank this community enough for letting me thrive like this.

I feel free. I know what I want from writing and it's not perfection anymore. It is to float around on the internet and find my people, bouncing ideas around. It's like I've found my niche as a person.

And the hyperfixation might not always be yuumori. I just binged the rest of One Piece and caught back up and OH DO I HAVE IDEAS, and a friend is starting to drag me into Hetalia somehow, because "I would do good there" or something, although I'm not sure yet if I'll want to write for it. Wherever my interests go though, I feel like I can absolutely carry this energy with me into the future, even in different fandoms where it's harder to "make it." Because I have this sense of "self" and "belonging" and "worth" and "pride" that I had lost for a very long time.

Even if I write less in 2024, if I can keep this confidence moving forward, I will be happy.

[oleander-nin]

OLLIEEE I'm saying hi because you're still fresh on my mind from the other day (and I'm bored) Also I don't think you talk enough and if you're anything like me (you are) then you probably don't talk about stuff unless prompted through ask games because you assume you'll annoy everyone so SURPRISE

✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧

OLLIE INTERVIEW TIME

(I'm putting questions in orange because it's WAY too uninteresting if it's all blue. And I don't know I just associate you with orange so I'm assigning it to you.)

What's your favourite colour?

Because I don't wanna put stuff in orange if you don't like orange lmao

How much do you research for your stories?

I always get way too caught up researching things to make sure it's accurate, get off track, and then time goes by and I've exhausted myself before starting :(

How much do you outline fics vs how much typically comes as you write it? Does the direction change as you go?

For me, it's the same issue again. I spend way too much time thinking about a proper fleshed out outline before I even BEGIN and then I just. never start

Are there any fics you've started, but ended up scrapping? (And if so will you tell us about them pleeease)

I have. So many wips. Will I finish them? No. Do I at least try? Also no.

✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧

(Also, am I allowed to just ask questions like this in the first place? More? Less? Should I keep them about writing or can I ask about you? Probably should've asked all of this before. Oops)

(You don't have to answer any of these if you don't want! You're totally welcome to delete this ask and I won't be upset /gen. Just want to bring you out of your shell a little if I can. Or at LEAST let you know I'm curious about you. Also I'm having fun with Tumblr formatting if you can't tell, I'm still new to this lol)

- ☄️

Hi Comet(if you're cool with me calling you that)! and wow that call out was on point lmao. I have a hard time justifying talking on here lol.

My favorite color is yellow, but I basically love every color but green. Never green. I'm very happy to know I give off Orange vibes though, it's top three.

Depends! Usually a lot. I am not a fan of inaccuracies, especially when it's something I can fix by just spending a couple hours reading articles and watching videos. I get the exhaustion thing though! My best advice I could give is stick w/ a video to start with, and watch it while you're doing something else. Whether it's cleaning, cooking, having just the audio playing while you drive(do not watch while driving pls), or anything else. It's good to just absorb the information first and getting into the nitty gritty later.

Ooo, okay. so, I basically make a paragraph of what my idea is first and that's my 'outline'. Then, I kinda just go at it. If the direction changes and I gain a better idea as I'm writing, then I go for it! It'll usually be better with the 'on the job' plot anyways, since it's what flowed more naturally. Don't try to force a plot just because it was in your outline.

Current count is ~39 personal wips. I wouldn't say they're scrapped, just put on the backburner until I finally finish the requests and get motivation to finish them. Though I do have scrapped ones for other fandoms, like a whole fic I planned for a vigilante Midoryia(which I just checked, had only written 3 pages for before ignoring it lol). And also technically the first draft of TWOAL.

Of course you're allowed to ask questions! Anyone can honestly ask me anything they want, though I may not answer all or I'll just be vague with it if it's something I'd like to keep more personal. I freaking love questions, whether they're about me, my writing, or just anything in the world. I really appreciate you doing this, I had a ton of fun and it's nice to know y'all'd like to know about me. Thank you so much.

also take the writing 'advice'/tidbits with a grain of salt. I have had a pretty harsh wakeup call on how I write, and I've learned pretty quickly I'm a bit of an outlier with how I go about it. What works for me may not for you and that's okay!

[firebatvillain]

20 questions for fic writers!

As seen on @givereadersahug (x)!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I currently have 59 works on AO3, though some of those are unrevealed or anonymous, so the visible work count is a bit lower.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

105k! Wow. Over half of that has been in the last two years, when I've been doing a lot more writing and taking part in exchanges.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Naruto (7) Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling (7) Original Work (7) Warhammer 40.000 (3) Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms (2) Stellaris (Video Game) (2) From there we get into a lot of one-offs that I wrote for exchanges. House MD, Gundam Wing, Good Omens, The Order of the Stick, and many others. Most of the Original Work fics are for particular exchange prompts, some of which are quite fun.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Greatest Weasley [Harry Potter, Ron-Centric, incomplete] - this WIP is my white whale! Ron gets sorted into Slytherin. Only a couple chapters, I should return to it sometime...

Harry Potter and the Independent Path [Harry Potter, parody, one-shot] - This very short parody fic is fun and I'm glad people like it. I actually look back fondly on this genre even if I poke fun at it.

Five Times Sakura Heard the Voice, and One Time It Faded [Naruto, Sakura-centric, one-shot, 2.9k] - This was an fest fic for Fest No Jutsu 2022! I really enjoyed writing this one.

If You Won’t Wait for Me, I’ll Find My Own Path [Naruto, Sakura-centric, drabble] - Wrote this one based on the fandom opinions of my friend @xenosimp. Surprised at its popularity.

Liana and the Labyrinth’s Core [Original Work, Explicit, Het, 2.3k] - I wrote this very explicit fic for an exchange, and had a lot of fun with it! Minotaur/Sacrifice, make sure to read the tags/warnings.

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

For exchange fics, almost always. Otherwise, I do sometimes. It's fun to chat with other fandom people and let them know I appreciate their comments, or answer their questions.

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

I don't usually write angsty endings, but The Rules of Reintegration [OW drabble, prompt: military android masquerading as a human] is angsty.

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

I'd say Four Times Toph Beifong Triumphed [ATLA, Toph-centric, 2.5k words] would be it. It's generally fun! 

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not often, though I got one very baffling comment on a fic where someone questioned the realism of it. I'm not in the big fandoms where there's lots of drama though.

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

Yes, often for exchanges. It typically tends to be straightforward steamy sex. I've got some more kinky stuff posted to anon that I won't share here, heh.

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

I've written one, but it's not usually my style for writing, since it's a challenge for me. I love reading them though!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, and I hope it never happens. I don't think anything I've written is popular enough for that 😅

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope!

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

My fandom friend and I co-wrote Mist and Shadow, a WH40k AU fic about Eldar escaping the fall of the Eldar empire. After about 12k words, we set it down, but we may return someday.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

This is a tough one! All-time, I'm not sure. But at the moment, I'm basically chewing on Durge/Enver Gortash (BG3) and having a great time with it.

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

Oof, this is a tough one! There's a very old Naruto fic that I don't think I'll ever get back to... Lost Root. I can't really recommend it in its current state, but it was one of my first plot bunnies.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm pretty decent at paragraph-to-paragraph rhythm, and I am unafraid to try new things.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Sometimes I repeat certain phrases without realizing it, and pacing scenes can be difficult for me. I also have a tendency to write excessively long sentences. Trying to improve on that last one!

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

Seems like a hard sell for both writer and reader.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

StarCraft pro gamer RPF. No, you won't find the fic on my AO3 profile.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

I'm still in love with Roonil Wazlib and the Goblet of Fire, a 2.8k word Harry Potter crackfic I wrote for Bad Bang V. Is it bad? Yes, oh yes. And it's fun, and so are the comments.

Tagging (no pressure): @xenosimp @vanyalanthirielofmana @chacusha @vampiremonday @uozlulu @miss-ingno @verecunda

[melandrops]

20 Questions Writer Ask Game

Inspired by @thesymphonytrue

How many works do you have on ao3?

18

What's your total ao3 wordcount?

209,022

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

In published works I have 5:

DSMP/RPF (I count them as the same fandom even though they are tagged differently in my works)

Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse

Stranger Things

Legend of Zelda (BOTW/TOTK)

White Collar

I have wips in probably 2 or three other fandoms including Shadow and Bone, Purple Hyacinth and The Magnus Archives

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Hey Lover (Pavitr/Hobie)

Three Rings (Karlnapity)

I'm not a praying man (but I'll kneel to that) (Pavitr/Hobie)

Dancing Barefoot (Robin Buckley/Nancy Wheeler)

We're Sleeping Together (Dnf)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Very rarely to be honest. If it's a mutual or someone I know or they give a comment that I think warrants a response (request, questions, etc) then I respond. Otherwise, I never know what to say and how to thank them for commenting without sounding like an automated message lmao. But if you have commented on my fics trust me I have happy screamed about you <3

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

Love Causes Trouble. 60s/70s era dnf where george gets killed at the end. Very tragic I think.

Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the wildest one you've ever written?

Nah, no crossovers. I do have a hunger games/spiderverse idea, but I'm not sure if it will come to fruition.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

No, god bless. Which is a little surprising sometimes considering the amount of rpf I've written lmao. But my dsmp writing was never that popular so I should count my blessings.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Sure. I prefer quick and easy fade to blacks which I've done before, but occasionally I write smut.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I would be open to the idea. It would have to be a long fic if I did that.

What's your all time favorite ship?

Oh god. I've never written for it but ngl wolfstar has a soft spot in my heart. But there are so many and for the sake of not providing a documented list of everyone I've shipped before I'll leave it at that.

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

My Purple Hyacinth fic. I love it so far, but I just got so burnt out in the middle of working on it. And I have trouble picking up fics when I haven't touched them in too long. I still have it outlined and probably like 1/3 of the way done. So I'm holding out a sliver of hope. But realistically, I probably won't finish it.

What are your writing strengths?

Uhhh no idea. Over the years I've definitely seen a lot of improvement in my descriptive style. Showing, not telling. And I think I've gotten a lot better at making my writing compelling. The first time someone told me that my writing made them cry I also cried.

What are you writing weaknesses?

So much. 😭 I find that dialogue often runs away from me and I get sidetracked, or it sounds clunky and unnatural. Also characterization. I tend to want to make my characters 1 million percent soft and huggable and forgetting that they are quite flawed. Also plot. I can write out a series of vignettes like nobody's business but an actual plot is hard. I've only written something with a genuine plot a few times, and only one of those got published.

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

It's why I didn't include any of Pavitr speaking in Indian associated languages. I don't want to do a bad job on it, and would be too nervous about accidentally appropriating someone's culture. Or just generally making an ass out of myself by writing something silly. Maybe something to work on?

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

Wrote and published? Dsmp. That fic has been deleted (it's for the best) but my first fic on my profile is still a dsmp work. Unpublished, my first fanfiction was probably for the Lunar Chronicles. Specifically Cress and Thorne.

What's your favorite fic you've ever written?

Love Causes Trouble

It is not the most popular of my fics by a long shot, but it's one of my favorites. If I went back and rewrote it there are a lot of things I would change about it. A lot. It's very imperfect but I'm just such a slut for 60s/70s queer love, for artists and writers falling in love and for tragic endings. A bit kill your gays, but I'm at peace with that.

If not for you (I couldn't get off this floor)

I also like this one because it has a few personal ties to me and because it got such a good reception. I got so many comments saying that this helped them process their grief or it was really cathartic to read so it means a lot to me.

I'm tagging a few people but please feel free to continue the game, even if I didn't tag you.

@avi17 @maybeebeee @wulfspyd3r @sunkraken