#loadthebases

[plothooksinc]

Tagged by @loadthebases

Turns out if I search by mentions I can find it immediately! I'm so clever. (And yet. I only just went "oh hey".)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

22! I am not as prolific as some-- a lot of these are one shots. |D And most of them are ancient.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

475,671!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The fandoms I write for that are published are Rurouni Kenshin, Final Fantasy VII, and TMNT '03, '07, and ROTTMNT. Unpublished I also have One Piece, Tiger & Bunny, SPN, FFXIV, annnd The Untamed, most of these just being snippets etc etc. (And then RP is another bag entirely, writing in a different format-- you can include Blade of the Immortal that way.)

4. Top five fics by kudos?

It was only recently I managed to clock the 1000 mark, and I did it on two fics at once, lmao. Uhhh--

Underdark - 1089!

No Rest For The Weary - ....1089. (You guys really are neck and neck still.)

The Zaibatsu Project - 291

Some Rest For The Weary. As A Treat. - 221

Snowblind - 174

Not altogether that bad, considering Ruroken is such a dead fandom these days. /o/

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yup. Unless someone is leaving a whole stream of one word OMG/!!!!/EEEK in which I'll probably just answer the last one they left. I did go through a very long period where I did not because I was too tired, but I started again around the 2020 mark when I actually started reading fanfiction again. And started engaging, etc etc.

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

I write angsty endings? :|a 404 File Not Found. I think the closest I got was the tiny ficlet I wrote for Ruroken which was just Kenshin being depressed in the rain after Tomoe's death, and I'm not sure that really counts. That was like three paragraphs of "well my life sucks" lmao. It never made it to AO3. (It's on ff dot net still, though.)

...OH. But I can tell you which one's going to have the angstiest ending and that's The Legacy. Which given the last chapter I had finished with Raph holding onto his dead not!girlfriend, I would assume most readers are not gonna be surprised by this fact. (File Soon* To Be Found.)

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

Idk man I tend to angle for happy endings in general, so that is very hard to answer as it comes under YMMV - people have different views of happy endings, after all. Probably Underdark as the most distinct "Yes, everything is okay now" ending.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nah, not really. I did have one serial reviewer that reviewed every chapter of Tanabata Jasmine back in the day with a lot of backhanded compliments and condescending comments? And one person who started off reviewing Misconduct with "well my friend told me to read this" and two chapters later said "okay I'm bored now bye", but none of this is hate. The only actual "hate" I got given was not actually ...for me? I don't think? It was someone who literally said: Why did you delete your slave fics? BITCH!! And I'm like... I have not now nor will i ever write... one of those...? So yeah. Think they mistook me for another author or something. Maybe Kikide. EH. Not my division.

9. Do you write smut?

Nah.

10. Craziest crossover?

Zaibatsu Project is a Rurouni Kenshin/Cyberpunk 2020 crossover, so that's taking all your 19th century samurai types and ditching them wholesale into 2029 Tokyo. It's fun. Maybe one day I will even write more of it.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Outright? I don't think so. Buuut I've certainly had people ping me in the past to tell me someone's lifted a chunk of it wholesale or "they've written Snowblind, only with smut!" or there was one person who wrote a BNHA fic which followed the same plot of Underdark complete with dialogue borrowed directly from the fic. That last one I contacted the author and they apologised and offered to take the fic down and I told them they could keep it up provided they credit me for the inspiration somewhere. I'm sure by now some AI has scraped my stuff, but largely I write in fandoms that don't get lifted and sold like others do. And honestly, the above examples are more kinda flattering than anything else.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! I believe most of my longer works have been translated into Russian, at the very least. I found Tanabata Jasmine back in the day being re-released onto a Russian forum site and I had a lot of fun translating the site to read responses (and laugh a bit at the machine translations because they kept telling me the readers were legless). Underdark has for sure. I've also found Snowblind.

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

I wrote a few pages of one with @shadowbends at one point! But we didn't get far in and we both got distracted with other projects. And I also wrote half a fic to set up the other half for an author, but she didn't end up going ahead. Alas. So.... kind of?

14. All time favourite ship?

I'm honestly not much of a shipper. I mean-- actually, I ship a lot of different pairings, but only kind of superficially for the most part? Like I really enjoy reading ships but I still vastly prefer gen. I will very rarely read an outright romance fic, there's gotta be a plot. (Or at the very least some interesting smut, god.) It's easier for me to point out ships that make me go UGH GOD NO rather than a preference. (In RP I'll ship a little more if the dynamics between our characters work out really well, but I still won't be crushed if nothing comes from it. This is a hard question for me to answer. I definitely don't have an all time favourite in this lukewarm pile of ships, that's for sure.)

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

Any of the WIPs that I have that I never bothered publishing have been abandoned. Anything I want to finish will get finished. It will just take some time. This is assuming I have a long life; I mean, if I'm scheduled to die, say, three years from now, the only thing that might get finished is Infinite Ricochet, lmao.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Action scenes! /o/ Pacing and tension. The most common review I get is from people vibrating from delighted stress, lmao.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Connective tissue. I can get really bogged down in getting from A to B. You can really see it in the early days of a fic where I'm still writing set up and wondering how to scale up realistically to the things I really want to write. Once everything starts going wrong, it gets much easier, rofl.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Depends on context. Like many I started writing fanfic at the time people tried to pepper as much Japanese into their dialogue as possible for realism or brownie points or whathaveyou - you can see that in my first fic on ff dot net lmaooo. Don't do this. Not unless you have a foreign phrase that just loses its flavour when translated through to English. Or, alternatively, when you actually have a non-English character who keeps dropping into their own language, or some try hard teenager who keeps trying to show off how much Spanish they know, as an example. There are always reasons to do so and reasons it will work. But if you're just going "LOOK AT THE WORDS I KNOW"... I recommend not doing so, you will look back years later and go "oh god".

19. First fandom you wrote in?

....look, technically the first fandom I wrote in was Inspector Gadget self insert fic. But I was nine so I feel I should not be judged. /cough

First time I sat down to write an actual story that was based off a show was for the old Defenders of the Earth cartoon while I was ...15? And then when I moved out my one sofa chair was surrounded by notepads as I wrote out my first 1987 TMNT fanfic. I didn't know it was called fanfic back then. In fact I didn't know anyone else did it at all and I was just weird. Please understand that when I got onto the web proper in the late 90s and found fanfic sites I was over the moon.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

It's gotta be Underdark. That thing is its own island by now. It's closely followed by the more recent There Is No Gravy, which much like Underdark wrote itself and also ended up far longer than I intended. It was just fun. It was a soft warm hug for the Rise fandom, okay, I love it.

Thank you! This was fun to reminisce about tbh. :D

I tag: @calliopechild, @radishhqueen, and @bobtheacorn ♥ No pressure, have at it if you like

* please note that the author's definition of soon may vary to yours. She has 13 year breaks between chapters sometimes, after all.

[needcake]

@fearlessinger tagged me to list five all time favorite characters and she did it as a poll, so here's my attempt to do the same!

Please join if you want! @maivalkov, @helianskies, @mystmoon, @dinolil1, @loadthebases

[ruluxe]

loadthebases replied to your post“1, 2, 3, 20 and 26 ^-^”

<blockquote>ajklfjalksdf (doomcake here btw!) I'm beyond flattered that you still love my KHR fic even though I'm so slow at updating haha. <3 Thank you!! Seeing this totally made my morning! ꒰•̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ ﹏ •̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥๑꒱ b </blockquote>

>I will forever love it, there's so much abt how great this fic is and how much it means to me on a personal level that i don't even have words to express jdkghska. it's like, my idol fic, my go to comfort fic, my inspiration fic it's just everYTHING xo

[pentapoda]

10 min prompt fills: ( @corruptedempires​, @charcoal-soul, @bisexualadotham​ (SORRY, I WILL FIX IT XD),   @skalidra, @loadthebases )

Keith/+Shiro/+Allura "No, I'll play the drums"

Shiro with a lightsaber 

UH SHIT, HAHA, OOPS THIS ONE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A GOTHAM PICTURE, I’M SORRY, HERE IS BARISTA SHIRO, MY BAD

Shiro as a king/royalty

Shiro: down but not out

 Pidge/+Hunk "I feel cheated." 

[teaifyouplease]

An Intro of sorts?

Hi! I'm Rinja, and I love tea. 🍵 Welcome to my tea blog! I'll mostly post (or reblog) about tea here, though other beverages may pop up as well. (I like drinking things, okay?) For reference, I will typically post websites where I find my tea (if available or known). Any statements made here are my sole opinion, and any images posted here are mine (unless credited otherwise). I'll probably also be reblogging a lot of my own posts from my main account (@loadthebases) since I've posted some tea journals there as well... it's been a while though haha. Anyway, to anyone reading this, welcome!

[needcake]

Tagging @maivalkov, @helianskies and @loadthebases if they want!

okay i saw this tag game going around where you list 9 books you want to read in 2025 and I wanted to do it too! here are mine :)

Tagging with no pressure @scourgebrother @lesbiancoward @applepeelallergy @tumarati @figgyblossom @kisschases @newtrenchcaot @deletedg1rl and anyone who sees this and wants to do it consider yourself tagged by me!

[exampleofinconsistency]

loadthebases replied to your post “Anyone interested in tossing me some fic prompts?”

Shiro + "can I keep it?" + post-S1 speculation?

I’m on it! *thumbs up* Thanks so much for the prompt!

[laipin]

loadthebases is too sweet and kind and WHY DOES SHE DO THIS ;A;

BUT.

SHE DECIDED TO BUY MY TICKET FOR EPIK HIGH’S CONCERT IN MAY 28 (since it’s a day after my birthday so she decided early bday present) ;AAAAAAAAAAAA; WHY YOU DO DIS?! BUT STILL THANK YOU ;3; *SQUISH HUGGLES*

[needcake]

tag game for funsies; look up “flowers”, “plushie”, “aesthetic outfit” & “your own name” and pick the first one that comes up to get your vibe

Tagging: @helianskies @maivalkov @rainbowfruitpastilles @loadthebases @spikeface

@suniah help sunaira yours is too cute! ily thank you for the tag <3

tag game for my pookies; look up “flowers”, “plushie”, “aesthetic outfit” & “your own name” and pick the first one that comes up to get your vibe 🩷🎀

npt- @adrakwaalichai @wizardcherryblossom @sailing-forth @kamariya @milkteawithrusk

@artcinemas @mazhai @antiquititties @alliyambal @spiceandtealeaves

@bypatia and anyone else!

[plothooksinc]

For the WIP meme!!: ❔

❔Choose a random WIP and talk about it.

Let's talk Zaibatsu Project some more!

Zai was born from me going through a Netrunner phase at about the same time I was still knee deep in Ruroken and translating characters through into cyberpunk settings as a thought exercise, and then cackling over my Netrunner cards as I plotted out fake corporation runs and oh no whoops now I gotta Write The Thing--

This is especially ironic as up until this point I was turning my nose up at all the AUs in fandom and all the ships in fandom going "Why does nobody build on what is present in canon FINE I will write CANON STUFF ONLY TO MAKE UP FOR IT" (two years later putting on clown makeup: hey what if cyberpunk samurai. Look I love AUs now, they had to grow on me first that's all! Everyone should be thankful I never wrote the RK/TMNT crossover or the RK/POTC crossover or-- anyway.)

There are multiple balls up in the air with this one. Here's a freebie: everyone wants to know who SE is. SE has already made an appearance. SE wasn't even hidden in any way. Some people have made guesses as to who SE is and some of them come close to being accurate. The initials throw people off, you see.

But just remember that people on the net rarely go by their own name. ♪♫ I've been cackling about SE since 2006 and I'm not about to stop.

On another note, did you know Fujita is historically one of the original zaibatsu? Anyway, having reread this very recently and done a speedrun of the manga to boot for canon review, Zai is very high in my thoughts right now. <3

Thank you!

Wip ask meme questions here!

[needcake]

Tagged by @yumi-eleanorus ❤️❤️

5 boring things

1. I've been cutting down my drinking since the pandemic

2. Tropic Thunder is one of my comfort movies (because it's so outrageously absurd)

3. I hate having cold wet feet

4. I love cooking but I hate following recipes, so I'm a big fan of intuitive cooking lol

5. I buy way more books then I can read

Tagging @maivalkov @helianskies @rainbowfruitpastilles @loadthebases and anyone else who wants it!

[plothooksinc]

For the “not in our 20s anymore, Toto” ask meme! 17, 39, 40, 43, 50?

SHRIEK I'M UNDER ATTACK--

17. What's a movie you saw recently that you liked?

Years behind everyone else, I finally saw John Wick and I found it hilarious. I think my favourite line in the entire thing was just "...oh." (I realise I watch very few movies these days, sob. I don't have the attention span for them, think.)

39. What little treat do you always get when you run errands?

It's either a chocolate milk (no added sugar) (I'm diabetic) (but the NAS ones taste like the milks from my childhood so whatev) or those salt and vinegar pea snaps, which I eyed with horror at the concept for years until I actually had one and was like "oh shit these are delicious, actually". (Understand that I was envisioning a literal pod of peas soaked in vinegar and going WHY.)

40. Grocery list or no grocery list?

Nahhh. Occasionally my housemate will go shopping and ask me to remind him via discord what I want so I'll supply a little list that way, but mostly we just go up without. The shopping centre is a 10 minute walk away so it often gets used as a reason to go for said walk, so if we forget something no big deal.

43. Favorite book you've read recently?

I...can't remember the last time I finished a book... I get distracted so easily... there's a copy of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief sitting on my bed and partly read but my sleeping hours have been so skewed lately with horrific tinnitus that i haven't much been in a mood to continue it. I will eventually. (Sob, I used to read six books on a Saturday, what happened to my favourite hobby...)

50. Pro or anti throw pillows?

Much like tchotchkes, these are neutral to positive for the exact same reason. I like the idea of throw pillows but I don't buy them. But if someone bought them for me, I'd absolutely use them.

(Love how these questions are all designed to say "the person who answered these has ADHD with poor executive function" lmao--)

Thank you! Sorry for the delay <3

[plothooksinc]

For the fanfic ask meme!!: F, I, N, P? :D

sorry for the delay had to wait for my hands to come back online

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

Many and varied! But because it's you, let's reach all the way back to cyberpunk samurai days:

“That was really nice bread I got, too.  You know how expensive that stuff is these days?” “Not as expensive as destroying your career.” “Hah!” She grinned.  “You worried about that?  The corporations have to be nice to the press.  They’ll probably just try and buy me off.” “Misao, they just shot at you!” “Uh.  Well, they did.  But they missed!” “Not on purpose!”

And I'm proud of it because my best friend at the time couldn't stop laughing and quoted it for days. |D Apparently the entire scene is one of her favourites.

I: Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)?

...you know technically I can just answer this with a "yes" right--

Not really a guilty pleasure but more an "oh shit do I end up doing it that often?" - the Badass in Peril trope. Someone's getting kidnapped or captured every other fic around here, I swear. Also, a kidnap/capture is absolutely one of the keywords that will make me zing into reading fic, so. It does come with caveats because I also cannot stand someone being helpless when they shouldn't be, so it has to be well written, and it gets bonus points for the person fighting tooth and nail all the way down and taking part in their own rescue.

...>_> Look, some people read coffee shop AUs. Lemme read/write my kidnappings in peace.

N: Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish) for you?

Nah. I would like all the amazing writers I know to save their inspiration for their own works! That isn't to say if someone says "hey, can I write X for you" I would not be interested, but that kind of comes as a pleasant surprise and along the same lines of me writing fic for others: if the author is inspired to tell that story for their own reasons, then by all means.

P: Are you what George R. R. Martin would call an “architect” or a “gardener”? (How much do you plan in advance, versus letting the story unfold as you go?)

It varies! A lot of what I write is purely off the cuff. For others, I am probably best described as a landscape gardener. There's a certain element of design and enough ideas laid out to make sure I can actually get to a finish line, and then you kinda let all the little plotlets you've established go wild and grown on their own. /o/

Thankee! <3

Fanfic questions here!

[plothooksinc]

Tagged by @loadthebases!

Favorite color: Wine red, love that shit

Last song: LMFAO It's actually... uh. Boom Shake the Room by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince /HANGS HEAD IN SHAME (in my defense it just came up, uh, randomly. Totally not in my defense, it's still in my playlist, so...)

Currently reading: Right this second, nothing. I still haven't got more than 5 chapters into the Lightning Thief, have spent months now going "gosh I should get back into reading" and that's as far as I get. (But I'm reading like three dozen fanfics that update regularly, so?

Currently watching: Renegade Nell, Owl House, The Acolyte (LOL this is so very CW Star Wars, I'm here for Manny tho), casual ROTTMNT watching when I need to wheat bag my traitorous neck and have to sit on the couch for 10 mins

Currently craving: ...lunch. (At 10.39pm. As you do. /sticks a frozen pasta in the microwave)

Coffee or tea: Neither, they're both awful. If I must hot drink it up it'll be cocoa. But otherwise I usually stick to coke zero or water.

Hobby to try: honestly nothing springs to mind that i haven't already tried and practice regularly (or tried and went meh to) maybe take up piano again? IG?? I have a portable grand synth in my room, I should actually use it.

Current AU: Uhh one I'm writing or one I'm into? I only have two AUs and they're both on the backburner (Rurouni Kenshin cyberpunk samurai, FFVII hey-what-if-Tseng-pulled-some-strings-and-Zack-never-got-experimented-on-whoops-poor-Cloud). I'm not incredibly into any AU but I do watch varying TMNT AUs go past with interest o>

Tagging: @omgflyingderpywhale, @eggxalted, @washipuppy

[needcake]

Tagged by @yumi-eleanorus

Favorite color: green

Last song: oxalá - Maro

Currently reading: Coronelismo, Enxada e Voto, Victor Nunes (YES THE SAME ONE AS THE LAST TIME I DID THIS MEME WHAT ABOUT IT)

Currently watching: Well House of the Dragon ended last week so nothing now

Currently craving: a vacation

Coffee or tea: coffee

Hobby to try: baking

Current au: I read A touch of necromancy by @sans_sang last night AND I AM OBSESSED all I can think about are horror AUs and I'm even thinking of rewritting Second Skin

Tagging: @shachaai @loadthebases @maivalkov @helianskies @rainbowfruitpastilles @mrcopacabana

[exampleofinconsistency]

loadthebases replied to your post “Requesting a beta”

I'm waaaaay out of the MCU fandom (and I haven't read the original fic) but I have some free time this weekend! If you're not able to find someone by then, let me know and I'd be happy to jump in! <3

Thank you so much for the offer <3 Will do! (I can always use help with wording and punctuation LOL regardless of context)