#thank you so so much to everyone whos commented or kudoed 😭💕

[i-am-gun-robot]

Getting close to finishing chapter 11 for Abrtl. I'm around 7k in - about 2k of which has been written for over a year - and have probably 1k-2k to go. It's so exciting to make real progress quickly again, I finally feel like I have direction for what I'm writing and I'm enjoying the process again. Most of chapter 10 was a slog to write, especially because I've been so excited to get to the next part of the story.

[milla-frenchy]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for the tag, @goodwithcheese 😁 loved these ao3 questions ❤️ @thundermartini @sawymredfox @mermaidgirl30

1. how many works do you have on AO3?: 35

2. what's your total AO3 word count?: 158,827

3. what fandoms do you write for?: Pedro and Boyd

4. top five fics by kudos

Smack my b*tch up

Blackmail

Wolf like me

Room 301

7 am

5. do you respond to comments?: I'd say, 95% of them

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?: easy 😁😬 Wolf like me

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?: Morning waves, I think? Probaby the fic with the most positive vibes, everyone's nice and happy 😌

8. do you get hate on fics?: so far, never

9. do you write smut?: that's the only thing I write, actually lol

10. craziest crossover: Blackmail. I don't know if it's crazy, but Joel/Javi P? Fuck yeah!

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

12. have you ever had a fic translated?: No

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?: Yes, @aurorawritestoescape and I wrote several fics together 💕

Keep on your mean side

The burglary

Bad girl

The hounds of hell

14. all time favorite ship?: Hannibal / Clarice Starling

15. what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?: There's one called Dopamine. In my drafts for sooooo long. It's almost finished, but I didn't like it enough to post it. I guess my writing changed, maybe I should try to rewrite it a little, and see if I can do something with it

16. what are your writing strengths?: @iamasaddie wrote this in a rb once:

can’t explain it, but there is a very specific voice you use when you write dark fics, I would always recognize it. I love it so much, it’s not tacky, not filled with stereotypes, it is creepy in a way that makes you exited 😈

I love it so much and I think it's a strengh

17. what are your writing weaknesses?: English isn't my native language, I have a ton of weaknesses 😭😭😭

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language?: as a writer, I used some spanish in Glory O. I don't speak spanish at all, @toxicanonymity helped me with it 🙏

As a reader, I like it, if the translation follows immediatly the dialogue. If I need to check at the end of the fic it takes me out of it 🥲

19. first fandom you wrote in?: Pedro

20. favorite fic you've written?: Blackmail, I think. I love this story and I'm kinda proud of the ending 🙏

npt: @toxicanonymity @corazondebeskar @covetyou @aurorawritestoescape and anyone who wants to play 🙏

Tagging some moots but I don't know if you're on ao3: @joelmillerisapunk @604to647 @mermaidgirl30 @mountainsandmayhem @bonezone44

[amidnight--dreary]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks so much for the tag @zsparz !!!💖

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

166!

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

2.013.111. I write when I‘m stressed, can you tell?

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly the MCU. Frostiron my beloved 💕 I recently posted a Huskerdust fic, though, and a couple years ago I posted some Good Omens stuff! I have another Good Omens wip brewing, but I haven‘t worked on it in a while.

4. Top five fics by kudos

First one up would be Your Call, a multi-chaptered ABO Frostiron thing that‘s sadly unfinished because I‘m not happy with where it was going somehow. Then Corners of Reality, my baby, Yes or No, Dereliktion and last but not least Vita Nova!

5. Do you respond to comments?

God I try. I’m so bad at it though. On long fics I always answer comments on the last chapter when I post the new one, but I keep forgetting to reply to comments on older chapters or oneshots😭 They all mean the world to me though.

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

Ohh I wrote a few angsty oneshots but it‘s been a while. Maybe Here, that‘s the most recent one. Of the older ones I remember all my light most clearly. Tony is dead or dying in both of these lol, poor Loki.

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

I like to think the happiest endings in stories are ones you had to fight for a little bit, so maybe Dereliktion. That was a long ride filled with angst and messed up relationships lol. I think Haywire (my first and so far only Sentinel/Guide fic, I love that trope a lot akfj) also has a pretty fluffy ending, and I have some oneshots that are pretty much all fluff!!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Occasionally? Just the other day I got another anon ask on here complaining about my recent stories. Makes me extra thankful for everyone who takes the time to tell me they enjoy my stuff!!💖

9. Do you write smut?

I do! Pretty much all the time lol. I love writing Dom/sub relationships!

10. Craziest crossover?

I don‘t think I‘ve ever written one before?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yesss. I‘m not sure if they just didn’t know any better though, they deleted the copied parts as soon as I told them.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes!! I‘m always so happy when that happens!!

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

Also yes. One year I did a whole Frostiron Advent calendar with @rabentochter (do you remember this????? How did we have the time??????? Insane) and we wrote a few more collabs beyond that.

14. All time favorite ship?

Frostiron!!!!!!!!!!!! I love my sassy messed up geniuses lol

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

Uhhh I‘ve got a few. I‘d like to finish/rewrite Your Call. Once I also had the cracky fever dream of Loki doing random standup comedy shows in New York because he‘d KILL that. Can you imagine the sarcasm. The gallow‘s humor. Anyway I started that and then realized I Cannot Write Standup Routines at all. So there‘s that.

16. What are your writing strengths?

What I like to write the most is character and relationship development, so hopefully I‘m decent at that? Also dialogue, I hope, but that kinda comes and goes depending on the conversation.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I kinda suck thinking of longish plot that goes beyond “will they kiss?? Will they FUCK???” so I’ve been trying to practice that. Also scenes with lots of action😭

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I like it. I’ve been wanting to write a fic where Tony can properly show off his language skills but I don’t know enough languages to pull that off lol

19. First fandom you wrote in?

The VERY first was Dracula, back when I was 13 or so. I had a big thing for van Helsing back then. My first fandom on ao3 was Once Upon a Time!!

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Ooohhh. That would be Corners of Reality, because I worked on it for years before I even started posting it and I love how it turned out. It’s a slow burn time travel enemies to friends to almost lovers to enemies to friends to lovers to enemies to allies to lovers fic. I had SO much fun writing it I still think about it all the time😭😭

I’m just gonna tag some writers I know are on here: @endlessstairway @xottan @izhunny @arabesqueangel @bouncydragon no pressure though!! And if you see this and you’re a writer please consider yourself tagged!!💖

[livi-in-digital-circus]

Our adventure with "Who were we before we met (again) in the Digital Circus has finally come to an end!

Thank you so so much for your support, these 3 months were crazy. To be honest, I didn't expect so much interest in my fanfic. I watched TADC for the first time when the second episode was released and immediately fell in love with the show and Bunnydoll

The decision to write this fanfiction was a tough one as I had never finished a multi-chapter story before, but I took up the challenge and don't regret it!

Soon I will post a new Bunnydoll story, unfortunately it will not be for everyone (M or E rated, lots of trigger warnings and disturbing content, sorry not sorry 😭)

Once again, thank you so much, not only for kudos and comments, but also for accepting me in the Bunnydoll community. I love you guys 💕

With that being said, the 15th (final) chapter of the fic is live now!

[dayseternal-blog]

Okies, here's my NaruHina Fair wrap-up bingo card 😭💝 The month went by way too quickly. THANK YOU everyone who participated for all the wonderful NaruHina fics and art and moodboards and other stuff!!! Even if it's not on this list, I enjoyed everything I saw and read 💖 I loved reflecting on NH Fair last year, and this Bingo card gave me a way to think more deeply about everyone's work again this year 🔎

This SHOULD NOT be opened in public *opens it anyway* - @iamdslr's nsfw art that she surprised us all with on discord 🔥🤯 absolutely gorgeous depiction of one of my fave positions 🙈 sorry tmi

Flooding this artist with tons of notifications - @shirii My fave was definitely the Evil AU!!! So cute, so evil. A perfect art to match madglow's "A New Dawn" fic! Also I love how saturated the colors are in shirii's art.

I've lost count to how many times I've seen/read this. AND I'LL DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN - "Cruel Angel" by @sessakag The horror and the smut is just soooo Sessakag-style. Like no one else could have possibly written this. Also I don't know who suggested "the world's ending and you're far from your love," but I thought the prompt sounded impossible, and you know what, Sessakag can write the impossible.

Had a bad day but seeing this made it better - "For Ruin and the World's Ending" by @badluckbrebis thank u for reposting this because it seems like I completely missed/forgot about this, it seemed new to me 😓 I love it so much, the description of their world is so vibrant, and yeah, an update from you makes life so much better 🥺💕 !!!

THIS IS WHAT TRUE LOVE LOOKS LIKE - @diyas-diaries-98 All of the short stories in "NaruHina Month 2023" are so cute and stars-in-their-eyes in love, but my fave is "Me in Your Eyes"!! The prompt is already a foundation for the fandom, but you took it to the next level in describing how they see each other🤩

THIS DESERVES TO BE SEEN BY ALL *shares work multiple times* - I have recommended @wickermayne's "Chicken Ramen for the Pervert's Soul" several times, and I will do it again!!! Actually I think "Hinata (Light Femdom)" is the first fic I read/commented on for you....anyway, I love, love, love it. Will always love it.

This is so silly. I LOVE IT! - "Things that Moan in the Night" is just....wow. honestly it was a toss-up between the cold shower and this bingo square, but in the end, it's a really fun smutty fic for me that's experimental in a way most smut fics aren't. I love the writing challenge of switching pov's, especially to 2nd pov.

It's not enough for me to see/read it. I NEED TO EAT IT TO BECOME A PART OF ME! - @lavvdil's "devouring you" for the beauty and the beast prompt!! Hinata's just gorgeous!! I would so love to write that kind of NaruHina, the Naruto who's so close to the demon itself, the Hinata who's so precious to the demon... reminds me of utsu's fic "Monster of the Tales". then @avbocetos's "Kiss the byakugan princess!" art is so, so lovely, the blank period/The Last NaruHina kiss is soooo passionate, and mmmmmm I want to write that so badly. That kind of heart-pounding kiss!

it's sooooo FLUFFY! - "My #1 Supporter" by shineofdawn, ohhh my gosh, so I'm already a sucker for pianist Hinata. But just the way shineofdawn was able to have Hinata's piano music be a support for badminton player Naruto, the connection is so wonderful 😭 and "Promise Rings" by @powerful-niya has gotta be the fluffiest thing Niya has ever written. It's sooo...ugh, love!!! They're in love and promising themselves to each other for forever and it's perfect!!!

FREE - @bornonthebreakofdawn's tanka for "Me in Your Eyes" prompt. I love born's poetry, but this one hit it out of the ballpark for me. In such few words, born touched on how sensitive Naruto must be in the way people look at him, and how different and special it must've been when he saw how Hinata looks at him. Something to ruminate on.

You've already left a kudos/like - @cherpring's "Marriage (Thai Culture)" art!!!! I love seeing NaruHina in different cultures, and then on top of that, this art has so many interesting details, the cushions (?), Naruto's pants, the flowers, their pins... I love their little blushes!!! Definitely one of my fave arts of this month.

I need a cold shower - "Another Baby" by Its_Levioooosaa got me invested, I loved how excited they were 😳 and "Dark Circles" by @bunny-hoodlum ahhhhhhh how exhausted but turned on Naruto was, like, yes, I love that energy!!!

IT WAS NOT FINE - What Is This Heartbreak in "Don't Deny Me" by Imanga 😭💔 "Oh, I can't handle angst" she says, "I don't know how you guys can read so much angst" she says. What a liar lol

OMG they replied to my comment!!! - So by far, the longest comment I left this month was for @nightowl27-writer's "Weird Hinata" because imo it was really just the tightest and most skillful writing all month. There was so much to analyze in every line, the relationship between them was so complex, nightowl developed their characters so well!!! I was so happy that nightowl read and replied to my comment 🙈

This fic is incomplete and I shall never rest again - "Free Day!" by @opttagoyeo was the one that got me in a chokehold. What does Kurama MEAN that Hinata might be one of them??? The other fics in "NH Month 2023" are great, too, but there's a little bit more of a closure for the "Red Strings of Fate" and "Time Travel." Priest!Naruto is like 2 more meetings away from seductress!Hinata pulling his pants down and giving him the time of his life, but also what is the mystery behind them??? I must know.

Why is this a one-shot? I need 6 seasons and a movie! - "A New Dawn" by madglow and "ready or not" by @secrettastemakerland, I am so impressed at how they crammed entire gigantic plots that could SERIOUSLY be 2 hour long movies into short fics. How. Just how did they do that. I'm left wanting more!! And also, I'm terribly jealous, like, I wish I could write my ideas that well. "A New Dawn" is the Akatsuki!NaruHina the fandom's been waiting for and "ready or not" AHHHH fox!Naruto!!!!! I just, love fox Naruto. So does Hinata.

How do I ask for an update without asking for an update? - Bunny!!!!! BunnyHoodlum wrote yoga!Hinata and yet another, new troubled!Naruto unlike one we've ever seen before in "Handsy" and I'm so in love with Bunny's writing ughhhhhhhhh, how Naruto is a yes man, how he's so all-over-the-place, and then Hinata, the good girl, rich girl, out-of-his-reach girl!!! This fic hits soo many things for me!

I am drowning in tears and may never recover - @golubhat's "Goodbye Naruto-kun..." art for war and love... you know NaruHina month had barely started, and golubhat just throws this at us from the get-go. That lost look in Naruto's eyes...jeez louise my gosh....the tears...the way he's gripping her head... on the flipside, my fave golubhat art this month was the Soviet high school students au!!!!!!, like, tell me more about that!!!!

11pm is a great time to start a 100k slow burn - I know Powerful_Niya's "Reckless Love" 2-shot probably isn't 100k, but it's definitely on the longer side of fics posted this month, and I did start reading it around 11:00. Anyway, delinquent!Naruto and angelic!Hinata are to-die-for in this fic. They are both down bad for each other and practically in denial about it!!

I don't think I'll be able to sleep well after that - @spaciousignatius posts NaruHina fanfics like...maaaybe once a year, and "Taken" is so terribly melancholy yet so worth the wait 😭 I love it and just hope that Naruto and/or Hinata somehow gets even against these military guys.

Wow, that might haunt me in my dreams - and I mean this in a good way. Just like born's tanka, @opal-chan's "Rage Room" got me thinking... on family, forgiveness, internalizing feelings versus externalization. Opal-chan does a fantastic job with portraying the Hyuuga clan in such a raw way.

[andypantsx3]

I’ve written to you before a very long time ago about things not going very well for me, and things are better now. Thank you for your compassion to a stranger then. It’s given me ideas as someone who also enjoys writing. I’m sure you’ve got variations of this question before so I’m sorry if I’ve missed those somehow but any advice on how to start writing and sharing your writing publicly? Like I created an account to send you this but I have no clue about anything really. Will I seem like a random interloper in the fandom who has arrived out of the blue 😭 I guess my concern is I’ll realize I’m actually not good at writing at all or worse nobody will read any of it. I feel awkward about actively promoting my work too. I don’t want to be famous or anything but it would suck if nobody wanted to read my stuff. You’re something of a stalwart at least for the fandom/genre/pairings you regularly write for and while I won’t aspire to that, how did you deal with self-doubt as an early writer? I know it’s not like I hope to earn money out of this or anything so opinions are just opinions but all my writing feels so personal to me that I’m worried about being convinced nobody cares about what I have to say. How does one really get their start at all. I’m sorry to bother you with all this but I’m super lost. It’s just that if someone’s terrible day or week could be made a little better because of my work, as your work regularly does for people, that would be nice. I hope you’re doing really well and randomly find something you’ve been looking for!

Hello my love!! I'm so happy I could help you out a little when you were in a tough spot!! I am very very happy that things are looking up for you now and I hope things only continue to get better and better!!! 💕

And oh my gosh, I don't think anyone will think of you as an interloper!!! Fandom is a community and the more the merrier imho! The x Reader community in particular is super welcoming and very nonjudgmental and the perfect place to get your start; almost everyone here is super nice and really chill. People will surprise you with how much nicer they are than you expect; I think you should just take a leap of faith and jump in!!

But just in case, let me give you the most realistic and straightforward advice I can. It's easy to dip your toes in and test the waters but I think you will need the below pieces of advice if you plan to battle self-doubt and continue writing & publishing fic without burning out or going nuts in the long term lol.

1. Find balance in the source of your self-worth

With publishing anything online, you always hope that people will like it and will want to engage with it. On tumblr the best measurement we have of that is notes, and on ao3 kudos + comments. Notes/comments/kudos are incredible and will make you feel more cherished than anything in the world. I will always appreciate them more than I can say, but one thing it is essential to know is that they are external sources of validation, and it is extremely dangerous to attach your sense of worth solely to the actions of other people.

If you want to publish fic, you will need to also find some internal sense of worth in your writing. You will need to finely balance that with how much you treasure the feedback of other people in order to stay afloat long term.

I recommend really sitting down and thinking about what you are writing/what you want to write, and why it is worth it to you. What makes your fic interesting to you? What are you doing differently than other people that makes you unique? What does your authorial voice sound like? Answering these questions will help you identify what you are bringing to the table as an author, so you know what it is that you do well, even if people aren't engaging the way you want, or even if you're receiving criticism.

For me, I really find value in the places I diverge from other fic authors. People really love writing powerful hero readers, but I usually write quirkless side characters who have somehow found themselves the main character. Chaptered/long fics are also less common in our fandom than oneshots, but I typically write chaptered fics! And I have a stylistically simple and light voice which is easily accessible.

All of these help me know that I'm bringing some fun distinct stuff to the table, even if what I'm bringing isn't perfect or necessarily as popular. And even if I enjoy other peoples' fics and authorial voices more than my own; I'm still bringing something unique and valuable!! So even when people aren't picking up every single thing I'm putting down, I still know the value of putting them down anyway.

2. Manage expectations

I think it can be easy to compare ourselves with one another, especially if you follow some well-established authors or people writing for super popular characters. Even I succumb to jealousy on occasion; it's just human nature. But it's important to know people will engage with different types of fics in different ways and that other people's success has nothing to do with your own.

I think you should set realistic expectations for how people will engage with your fics depending on what it is that you want to write. Some fandoms are much larger than others and therefore have a wider built-in audience. Some characters are also wildly more popular than others so it is likelier fics for those characters will go a bit further. In my experience, people really gravitate towards smutty scenarios or headcanons, sometimes oneshots, and less so chaptered fic. And some authors have been around for forever, or post constantly so that they are regularly drawing people in, and therefore have a larger reader pool than other authors.

So think about what you are writing, for which characters, and in which fandoms, and level your expectations accordingly. For me, even though Shouto is fairly popular, he also only has roughly 1/3 of Bakugou's level of popularity. So I never try to gauge the success of a Shouto fic in comparison to a Bakugou fic I've written, or even the Bakugou fics of other more established Bakugou writers.

This, combined with my own internal sense of worth as a writer, helps me feel like I'm doing pretty good for myself, even if I get like, 30 notes on a fic compared to someone else's 300 or something.

3. Understand that writing is a growing process!

One other essential tip is to understand that writing is a skill set than can be refined and honed. What you write one day is not indicative of where your skill level will sit the next day. And so critique you receive, or mistakes you have made, are really less indicative of failure and more tools to help you get to the next level.

This is one I've personally struggled with, but it can be worth it to be open to feedback that is not necessarily complimentary, with the caveat that you should know what is objective constructive criticism, and what is more subjective/personal preference. The latter you can disregard, because tailoring a fic to some random person's arbitrary tastes is not going to help you tell a good story lol.

But people telling you what they would like to see more of or things that didn't make sense to them can help you understand where you can make improvements to your writing. And it's not to say your writing is not good enough where it is; only to say there are avenues for you to develop even more experience.

For me, this has largely been in the area of smut lol. I liked my lil vanilla smut scenes, but I used to commonly get a fair amount of feedback wishing they were spicier. And, after initially getting defensive lmao, I could see how that was a common piece of feedback across multiple critiques, and I understood how drawing those scenes out might help contribute to the feeling of intimacy, satisfaction, and closure I want to develop at the end of a fic!!

I think being open to feedback while understanding that critique does not in any way take away from your talent overall, can only help you preserve the satisfaction you have with your writing, and help you refine in the future!! It keeps writing interesting, and keeps your sense of self-worth tied up in the process of writing, not necessarily the product of the writing, if that makes sense.

Anyway that's what I can think of for now. Even with all this advice listed out, I think you should just have hope and trust in people and dive right in. It sounds like you are an earnest person wanting to make heartfelt connections, and in my experience people will reflect that energy right back at you!!

I am sending you all my best vibes and looking forward to reading your stuff, if you end up going for it and posting!!! 💕✨

[ofmermaidstories]

Hello merms 🫶 I am once again here to thank you for writing the most beautiful pieces of fiction. I've been a reader since the beginning of swyr and have to reread everything before reading your lastest chapter(s)! (I've read all of swyr and sjlt at least four times each ahdjaj)

Sorry for rambling, thank you for your hard work!

Since surrender!!! In August that’ll make it three years of us and these stories. 🥺 Three years!!! Oh, gosh. So much can change in three years—people and places and plans. Thank-you for being here; I’m sorry for the extra homework when it comes to reading a new chapter, LOL. 😭 The last chapter shouldn’t be too long of a wait, in comparison (although you never know 😔🔫). Three years!!! I can’t get over that. I’m sure you and everyone else can like, relate to this, but I do recognise names as they pop up—specifically on ao3, where people can’t/don’t change them LOL—and it’s always a comfort seeing the familiar ones in the kudos or the comments. I still remember my first ever comment, and the user who left it, who gave surrender a chance. 🥺

Okay now I’m the one rambling, lmfao; thank-you for being here. 🌷 I’ll keep working hard for you. 🥺💕

[theflyingfeeling]

Finally got time to read your new fic and aahh! 💖 it’s so beautifully written I almost shed a tear and oh the pining!! 😭💕 can’t wait for the second part 😍

Oh I'm so happy you liked it!! 😭💞 I actually had you (and all the other Olli/Allu shippers out there! 👋) in my mind as the target audience for the fic 🥰

btw thank you everyone who has read the first part and left kudos/comment (or just read it at all), I love you all so much 🥺😭 I'll try to reply to the comments on AO3 asap 💗 And y'all should look out for ch. 2 later this week! I've tried my best to write it as beautifully as the first part 🥺👉👈

[stevethehairington]

screaming crying throwing UP i just noticed that i want to hold your hand has passed 1k kudos 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 YOU GUYS 😭😭😭 THAT'S INSANE, I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS READ IT AND LEFT KUDOS ON IT (AND OF COURSE COMMENTS TOO!) THAT FR MEANS THE WORLD TO ME 😭😭🥺🥺💕💕💕💕

[sdktrs12]

Not me binging October prompts again just to feel something 😭 please have something in the works for Brio 🙏🙏

Heya anon!

First of all, thanks so much for stopping by with such a sweet ask! I really appreciate you rereading my fic, that's such a high compliment for a writer!

I think I'm pretty much in semi retirement right now fic wise, because while I am still writing sporadically, I don't have anything I want to post and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon.

I am terribly sorry, but I really do appreciate you and everyone else who continues to leave asks/kudos/comments/etc, you all are incredibly sweet and kind!

Thanks for stopping by to chat! 💕💕💕