#this is my indulgence au but part of that for me is specifically exploring how this would play out and committing to the ugly bits

[definitelynotshouting]

Any pearl thoughts? 👀 (Hunger au is my new hyperfixation, but any aus work lol)

-🍂

I think Pearl in hunger au is in the very unique position of being caught between the general understanding she has for Grian's actions (she gets it-- maybe not as clearly and intimately as Scar, but she's known him since Evo so his behavior is less of a surprise to her), her anger (at him, at the situation, at everything), and her fear of losing Grian a third, permanent time. She's got a lot on her mental plate right now, and i think she copes with that by distancing herself from Grian while he's in the early stages of recovery, and her own conflicted emotions. She's not a caretaker. There are other people more suited for that, so she tries to help in different, practical ways. Farming, animal handling, resource gathering, construction. That sort of thing. Those are things she can see and hear and touch, and have the progress bloom right in front of her-- Grian's situation, by contrast, is far more fragile and inconclusive, so she isn't as present for it.

Of course, that's gonna send a message, intentional or not. The whole thing really is just one big mess, with a lot of pain and tangled emotions on all sides.

[alexanderlightweight]

*Wednesday is subjective and can last up to 36 hours due to insomnia. Wednesday starts on Wednesday and ends when the author passes out sometime later.

The Rules + Notes

Only Malec prompts accepted

It’s okay to prompt another chapter for an existing fic, even the oneshots. There is a chance i won’t be able to or want to fill it, but i’m always willing to consider. Just be polite.

I write a lot of dark stuff, so feel free to specify if you want to avoid something or want something specific.

I really do enjoy just the fun of building a fic from a single word, but I’m also happy to try and tackle any longer and more complex prompts. 

If your prompt isn’t filled the week it’s sent it, I’m still going to write it. I always respond to an ask to explain why I won’t fill it if I’m not going to.

If I can’t/wont fill a prompt, I’ll post it and explain and say it’s okay to send another.

prompts are only open on writing wednesdays or if i specify otherwise (this was changed because of how many prompts i get easy wednesday and thats the specific prompt day)

feel free to ask me if i've got your prompt but please know it sometimes takes time to get to all of them and I write verses based on the mood I’m in

I don’t post all of my fic fills to ao3 but I do try to do about half of them. Posting takes a lot of spoons and I generally end up adding more to the fics when I post them so it takes a bit.

I want it very clear that I do this because it’s fun and healthy for me and everyone who prompts is super sweet and I don’t do it to get feedback from prompters (but I always enjoy it)! It's really just worth it to me for the expression of shared art. Because I wouldn’t write half of the fun stories I love creating and exploring without the prompts from others to tickle my thoughts.

However, my partner and I are very protective about my mental health and I have social anxiety to the degree that I sometimes still need my handheld after strangers talk to me so I don't go rolling into a blanketball and scream.

If you are rude, I will sic my boyfriend @saeths (who is an asshole) on you and they will happily come down like a blistering gust of burning wind from an out of control wildfire. Seriously, they think it’s fun to fuck with people and they’re very protective. {i have npd and a lack of acceptable targets -saeth}

They would enjoy it, except the part where it made me upset. 

So don’t make me upset and I won’t set saeth on anyone.

Also saeth and i tend to flirt in posts on our blogs back and forth. so if you don’t want to see that because you’re here for fics and want to avoid it the tag is always ‘saeth & kitten’

- Lumine

The Author likes to write

darkly!soft romance

magical realism & magical flora and fauna 

Dead Dove: Do Not Eat (3DNE)

Magnus/Cat/Ragnor friendship 

Exploring the eldritch and angelic natures of nephilim and the fallen divinity of greater demons

Alec’s Institute and shadowhunters being competent 

creature!character fics

soulmates

The Author won't write

non-con/rape

cheating

major character death

hurt no comfort

sad endings

any main pairing besides malec

mpreg/kidfic

camille centric fics

non-magical mundane/shadowhunters inverted au’s

Verse List (under cut)

this eldritch delight – soft-horror malec (Alec is the Trueblood heir, Addams Inspired) 

star eater – sentient!shadow Alec Trueblood au 

the agony of living – chronic!pain alec

Elysiums Tears – Alec is cursed with visions of the future(s)

all your cracks I’ll paint gold – deruned Alec 

the bonds i'd break – all your cracks i'll paint gold au

in his wake, petals fall – Alec loves flowers and Magnus loves indulging him 

cider verse – Alec and Magnus are in a secret relationship since before canon 

pray to the hunters – Alec worships dead shadowhunters instead of Raziel 

the price of lust – Manipulative dark Magnus 

a stolen blade – assassin!alec au soulmates

dressed to kill – mob!wife Alec

flames of triumph – Phoenix Magnus & unicorn Alec 

ripples of magic – Sentient Institute & wards

in the light of the night – Alec hunts circle members to feed the angelic core 

the core of me belongs to you – Alec is the institute 

rituals & souls – Magnus summons an alec for himself after meeting the possibility of him 

to find, to yield – power imbalance, dominion magic

the frost of fury – competent Alec takes no shit in his institute

to break with fate – the circle wins 

all my fears forgotten – alec has amnesia 

like real people do – dragon!alec 

saint & sinners – shadowhunter!magnus & mentor/mentee

hoarfrost kiss on lips aflame – nephilim are more eldritch than mundane and it presents in the most chilling of ways

heartbeat like fire – sentinel!magnus & guide!alec 

spoils of war – Alec is a political hostage disguised as a groom 

devotion across worlds – Alec Trueblood (sentient shadows) is summoned to another universe and mistaken as an angel

marriage of inconvenience – Magnus marries Alec to save him from marrying Clary 

running from my dreams – alec has to work through past trauma when the Institute is poisoned 

walls of adoration, claws of desperation – Magnus and Alec are pre-canon secret relationship. alec is older in this fic, he's 7 years older than izzy and was raised by trueblood grandparents

bleed for desire – Magnus is king of the east coast and happily steps in to take care of newly born vampire Alec 

art of obsession – au of bleed for desire (instead alec ends up falling into Edom and Magnus decides to keep him there for a bit and go on vacation for a bit)  

your heart is full of jewels – alec is mistaken by mundanes as a sugar baby

an extension of you – alec is known as belonging to magnus' and that means something for downworlders

not all that glitters is gold – dragon!magnus with a lot of kink and monsterfucking

for you the world will burn – maryse isn't a good person, but she is a good mother and that is sometimes the more dangerous combinations

finders keepers – alec ends up in another universe and that magnus decides to keep him

feral sweetness, like honeycomb – incompetent shadowhunter and Alec deals with them and Magnus is there watching *its how they meet

soulfire – magnus summons another magnus bane to help him save his soulmate. magnus/alec/magnus

flames so cold they shatter – alec gets the lightwood family gift and remains the lightwood heir... and the only lightwood left

to tremble from your gaze – BDSM verse, dom!magnus and sub!alec

the craft of adoration– alec manipulates his way into magnus' arms

the most fragile of poisons – magnus pretends to be a damsel in distress, aka enjoying overprotective alec

undertow – kelpie!alec au with accidental courtship and BDSM

the treasure of kings – alec and magnus aren't impressed to find that lilith's son takes after his mother (aka wants to bang a lightwood)

the same sky – malec time travel to back a few years before canon, both of them

a warlock's hoard – a/b/o universe, omega/omega malec

to be or knot to be – a/b/o universe, alpha/alpha malec (look it was punny, i couldn't knot use it)

the worth of a life – asmodeus asks for the parabatai bond instead of magnus' magic to save jace

the desecration of souls – lilith has a claim to alec as her son thanks to valentine's experiments

the bonds i'd break – au of 'all your cracks i'll paint gold' where alec takes a chance and steal leaves nephilim/shadowhunter society but keeps his runes

guided by my unchained heart – alec resigns from the institute when jace is made hoti and goes to magnus

the taste of his magic – dragon!alec and magnus (he can shift into a cat) meet because alec can't keep his claws off of magnus' garden

(i'm trying to add some stuff but saeth will come back and fix it!)

[arcielee]

Interview With a Writer

Here is part 6 of my Interview With a Writer series with the super talented @sapphire-writes ♥ Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions and keep this going!

You can go to this post to review the other amazing authors I have spoken with ♥ Just some BTS of the talented minds on Tumblr and ao3. 

Name: Sapphire-Writes

Story: Down in Flames

Paring: modern Aegon x Reader & Aemond x Reader  

Rating/Warning: Explicit, sexual themes, 18+. Pay heed to the warnings for each chapter, it gets messy. 

So, when did you start writing? I started writing probably when I was about 9 or 10 years old. I did creative writing throughout my teens but never delved into fanfiction until now!

What was your first fan fiction story? My first fanfiction was for HOTD. I started writing my Aemond x OC story A Song of Flames & Fury and that was the first writing I ever published on here!

Where did the plot for Down in Flames come from? I always loved the idea of a band story, and back in 2018 I was reading A LOT of fanfiction for Bohemian Rhapsody because Roger Tyler had me in a chokehold. So some of the inspiration definitely came from that, but mostly I was just curious exploring the Dance of Dragons in a modern setting.

I feel like bands are stuffed full of drama and just the perfect setting for this story. I definitely knew I wanted the Reader and Aemond together, and I knew the conflict would be around Jace and Luke leaving to support Rhaenyra's side. I knew there would be sneaking around and stuff but other than that I sort of went with the flow, figured out the characters. There were a couple things I had in mind originally that didn't end up working out/making it in.

Do you want to share any of the "cut scenes" or ideas that did not make it in DIF? So originally I planned that Jace would actually cheat on Baela, following the "Sara Snow" plotline. In part 1 that's who offers to buy him a drink at the bar. But I liked them too much together and wanted Jace to be a complete good guy to root for.

Explain your interpretation of Aemond. What drives him? Why is he the way he is in DIF? Aemond is a lot like our show canon Aemond in DIF. I see him a lot as a duty driven guy, trying to keep the band together, supporting Aegon even though he's this vain, self centered front man in the band. I think what drives DIF Aemond is this sense of responsibility, that he can't let his family down no matter what, even if it makes him unhappy.

You could sense she wanted the best for Aegon. ♥ She definitely did. And she realizes in the end that its not about her, that its about him, and we love that growth!

Was there anything in specific that inspired your Reader portrayal? I think I definitely was a little self indulgent, as I feel always happens as an author. I really wanted the Reader to be this person who wanted to save Aegon, she really wants to help him get better and that's just not how it works out. So definitely some savior complex stuff, but I also wanted to balance it with her being really human, if that makes sense? Like she wants to leave him, she knows she deserves better but she loves him at the same time!

Do you feel your Reader compliments Aemond well? I think in the beginning of their relationship her fire really matches his, and as they start their relationship, I think she really softens Aemond's edges. I think she really drives Aemond crazy because she does what she wants and it’s all the choices Aemond would never want her to make, like dating Aegon!

Do you think you'll return to this HotD AU? Maybe a sequel? I will definitely return! I have some drabbles/one-shots planned because I know people are curious about this group. I just really wanted to wrap the main story before burnout occurred and while it was so clear-cut.

What is next for our author? Right now I'm working on a couple things! I have a modern!Aegon story Thin Ice, I have to finish my Aemond x OC, I still have An Ego Thing ongoing and now a new Daemon x Rhaenyra x Reader The Au Pair!

Do you have a personal favorite story you'd like to share? (Yours or other?) My personal favorite story I've written I think is Dragon's Bane (it’s still unfinished). As for someone else’s, I'd have to say Burning Jasmine by @scalyfreaks​. It’s an Aegon x OC and its so incredible!

[princesseevee06]

love your swap au lots!!! its very interesting and id love to know more about it :)

especially shin and sou's whole deal (theyre identity thefting each other!!!! thats so interesting???) and maple and kugie crumbs.. 😳😳 though just about anything is great to see!

hope to see you post more on this au!! :D (also your art is very tasty. yum)

auuughghhh thank you so much you’re so kind!!! ;-; glad you’re enjoying my au. it’s a very self-indulgent thing, and when i started posting about it i thought not many people would be interested, so your support means a lot!!

i definitely plan on posting more stuff for this au (especially about shin and sou because they are my favorite characters hdjdjsjhd), but i keep getting sidetracked from making posts about the story because of my desire to create silly doodles instead… rest assured more content is on the horizon!!

since you asked, though, i can provide you a lil bit of insight into my ideas for the characters!! :D

- for shin and sou, i wanted to focus on the idea of their relationship being more evenhanded, where shin is able to stick up for himself (because as much as i love bullying shin that man needs a break sometimes). i thought it was an interesting angle to play at because i think the both of them can be very cunning when it comes to getting the results they want, and i wanted to explore what it would look like if they worked together as allies while also using that trait against each other… so the mutual identity thefting sort of functions as a show of the uneasy trust they’ve built, if that makes any sense?

- kugie is a very pivotal character in the story, and what’s really interesting to me about her is how her grief over losing her sister would manifest itself differently from kanna’s. i definitely think she’d react a lot more with anger and hopelessness, pushing others away and trying to solve problems on her own. she does warm up to a couple of the other characters though, such as ryoko and kai, and that fuels her a lot more to start working with others.

i also just think she’d be a lot more prone to calling people out for their bad behavior than like…sara, for example? i definitely don’t see her taking shin’s constant lying lightly.

- maple was also very very interesting for me because i had to think about what her life would be like as a human, and also how she would’ve gotten involved with asunaro. i thought it would be cool to connect her with mai, since they’re both bakery gals, and that’s eventually how i came to the idea of her signing the form to protect mai from the organization (and so, mai never gets kidnapped…)

personality-wise, i wanted her to take on an “older-sister” archetype, but also have it be clear she’s already burdening herself with a lot as well. she really just wants everyone to get along…

i know im probably just repeating a lot of what i said in my original post on this au haha, but i worry this post would get overly rambly if i got into specific in-depth story points… though i’m pretty much up for making posts about any part of the story (i’m planning on making one about the dummies soon), so if there’s anything specific you wanna see me touch on first let me know! :D

finally, here’s a lil maple as thanks for your support :)

[eclipsecrowned]

but yeah like. the more i think about it the more i want to make it 100% clear that as a canon writer i don't appreciate forceshipping, so in writing my ocs i will never assume a dynamic with a canon in turn. for the most part, i try to let people come to me when it concerns characters that might derail or change canon significantly -- for example, the oc in question odessa, or my ice and fire oc mira, or countless others -- because i never want to step over boundaries or force interaction with someone whose lore or character is at odds with my own worldbuild.

if i do post about an original or player character muse's dynamic with a canon, i hope it is understood that one of three things is happening:

i am talking about my own dual muses. ie if i allude to stray and ard*n having a special bond, or that i ship hel and dream, i am talking specifically about the ones on my own muse page. i am not forcing my own idea on my partners. stray does not have to be a reflection of the main villain. hel is not going to go throwing herself at every dream in the tag. if things go that way organically with a partner's muse, i'm not opposed to exploring my takes with someone else, but it's never my intent to railroad my mutuals into indulging my own personal lore. at that point i might as well write fic and leave other people out of it.

i am talking about a dynamic established in a pc's playthrough -- using my most recent gaming experience as an example, i might reference helstarion/valheart/wybelle/auzel/ruetash as being romantic, but i would never just spring that on my writing partners who play the canon, or assume they have to cater to my own savegames. i'm simply talking about in-game lore in my own personal playthroughs that help shape my take on the pc. this applies to other fandoms/games as well, too. ismail does not have to endgame with a grippy sock drow milf, it's just that he does in my worldstate. einmyria doesn't have to take the bull by the horns, that's just how i played the game. me musing about in-game ships does not mean i go into interacting with accounts for those canons with expectations.

more often than not, i am referencing ships with established partners. for example, this morning, i was talking explicitly about the irudessa ship with lee. i was not jut posting for my health about a hypothetical dynamic, i was talking about a one-on-one ship between my muse and that of a friend. this applies to more than romantic shipping, too -- ex, lea and tarhos are siblings per my and ferret's lore, aria and eld's loki are cousins in his da au, and that's between us and lightly sprinkled into other threads with friends. i may not always namedrop this fact, because i assume other people trust me as a partner enough to understand i am not throwing dynamics out there without proper plotting and discussion.

thank you, friends, have a normal one.

[yukidragon]

Hi Yuki! I just want to say that I adore the character Alice and all the writing you do for her! Her personality, her backstory and family, and especially her story with Jack are always such a joy to read, and I love learning her lore or how she'd act in different scenarios! 💞 If it's alright to ask, I am also attempting to write a character who experiences a similar chronic pain/illness as Alice, but I'm having trouble finding information. Do you have any recommendations or references? Thanks!

Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm so glad that you like Alice, her family, and her story, as well as all the AU variants involving her. It really makes me happier than I can express that you and others like her so much.

Well... if it comes to chronic pain/illness, there's no one size fits all. You need to decide what sort of condition feels right for your character, and what you feel comfortable enough to explore with tact and empathy. After that, it's a good idea to look for places where people who have those conditions feel comfortable enough to talk about them publicly. Medical pages can give information about symptoms, but they don't paint the full picture about what it's like to live with that sort of condition. Chronic illness/pain takes a mental toll on the people who live with them as well as their loved ones, and personal accounts can tell a lot more than medical textbooks about the human side of things.

For instance, the reference I use for Alice's illness is from, well, my life. She has the same chronic illness that I suffer from. She's the first character that I've felt comfortable enough to express this very personal part of myself and explore it in various ways.

I'm afraid that I can't tell you what the condition is called... because the doctors don't have a name for it. That's why I intentionally chose not to name it in writing. Not naming it is its own form of self-indulgence for me, if I'm being honest.

Admittedly, I allowed Alice's reality to be kinder to her, and in her world doctors do know what it is and have a treatment for it, if not a cure. She can live a normal life with minimal pain as long as she takes medication, with only the occasional intense flare up, like I wrote about in this post.

Honestly, this is something that I really love about fandoms like SDJ and the OCs made for it. We're all encouraged to put larger pieces of ourselves into our OCs and really explore parts of ourselves that we might have been too worried to touch on. Alice is a very special character for me because through her and the fandom I've grown comfortable enough to finally explore a character with my same condition in fiction.

Alice isn't a self-insert of me, as there are still plenty of differences between us and our experiences, but I can't tell you how freeing it's been to explore these elements of my life through her. Every character has a piece of their author in them, and Alice is the first one I've given some of my harshest pieces. That's why I'm so, so appreciative when you and others tell me that you like her too. Thank you so much.

With that said, I'm afraid that I can't point you to a specific website for references on writing about characters with chronic illness/pain. I do think it's very admirable that you want to write a character who deals with that. Honestly, I would have loved to have seen more in fiction as I grew up with my illness. There's something truly special about being able to relate to a character on such a personal level, especially when they're going through something similar to what you struggle with. It makes me happy seeing characters who struggle with such harsh conditions still managing to have adventures, happy relationships, and memorable experiences.

Something I can suggest is to approach the subject with empathy. A chronic condition means that there is no magic cure for it, at least not completely. Often times there are ways to treat it, or at least manage it, even if it's something as simple as taking it easy and accepting that some things are more of a challenge for someone with that condition.

A chronic condition is something that someone must simply live with, but that doesn't mean they can't live full and fulfilling lives. If anything, it makes me happy to see someone with chronic pain/illness being the hero. I loved Eda from the Owl House all the more because she was living with a chronic condition, even if it was a magical curse. It makes me happy seeing stories that explore that sort of struggle.

A chronic condition is another challenge for a character to face and overcome. It's a constant struggle, but it can be rewarding to persevere and succeed in spite of the added difficulty. It's also something that can leave them feeling vulnerable, and how they deal with that can tell you a lot about that character. It can also serve as an opportunity to explore how the people around them will react when someone they know has to deal with a chronic condition that can't be cured, and how they continue to deal with it as an outside observer.

Good luck with your writing and crafting your character. I eagerly look forward to seeing what you create, and I hope you have a fun and fulfilling experience. 💗

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur

[marley-manson]

Daemons, crack treated seriously, first time, not everyone dies/some live, crossover fusions, crossover reincarnation, Amnesia

tyyy!

Daemons

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don’t even know |

I do love a good daemon AU. I feel like this is one of my more self-indulgent tropes lol because ime daemons usually add very little, they tend to be canon retellings or brief little ficlets that mainly just showcase the cool soul animals rather than anything meaty, but man, I eat it up every time.

crack treated seriously

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don’t even know |

ABSOLUTELY one of my favourite tropes. When a good writer takes a ridiculous premise and really explores the ramifications thoroughly, that's what fanfic is all about man. A lot of my favourite fics fall under this category imo.

first time

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don’t even know |

I'm not really a fan of this trope. For some ships it works all right as a default, but it's never something I'll seek out, and when it's focused on as a virginity or inexperience kink I tend to run - though I do sometimes make an exception when it's an inexperienced top with an experienced bottom, bc I dig the reversal of the usual dynamic.

not everyone dies/some live

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don’t even know |

Hm never considered this as a trope, I'm assuming this is like, as a type of fix-it AU to a tragic/dark canon with a lot of deaths? Because yeah I can definitely be into that. I'm into a few canons where this could be applicable, and I'm down for AUs where some of the characters don't die.

crossover fusions

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don’t even know |

Yeah I often enjoy these, depending on the fusion. I can have a more difficult time if I'm not familiar with the fusion fandom, eg Hunger Games AUs sometimes go over my head, but for the most part they're solid and fun AU concepts.

crossover reincarnation

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don’t even know |

I love that you differentiated between different types of crossovers, bc yeah it makes a difference. I'm not really a fan of these - when it comes to crossovers where characters from two different canons interact, I prefer some kind of handwavey magic/same universe explanation. I feel like it loses most of the fun if the characters aren't meeting for the first time with their own unique histories, but rather half are just born into the other canon in an AU way.

amnesia

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don’t even know |

This really depends. I really dislike amnesia as a trauma response (sorry Mash, you did it well but I'm still not that into it), and I dislike buried memories that reappear for drama (sorry Mash), and I really really dislike it as a plot device to insert stuff into a character's backstory or explain away continuity issues.

But I can definitely enjoy amnesia when it's used for character/relationship study - eg a character hits their head and acts unlike themselves and we discover which of their personality traits are deeply ingrained and which are more of a put-on, and/or we get to see how their partner reacts. And I am an absolute sucker for a specific amnesia trope in which character A makes friends with/takes care of an amnesiac character B, and A and B are enemies.

Send me a Trope and I’ll rate it!

[seiwas-interact]

hello ms sel! i feel lowkey creepy for like frequenting your ask box so much today but i just wanted to ask what your fav au’s are with iwa?? or any of your favs in general!

please feel free to ignore/delete if you don’t want to answer! IM ALSO SO SORRY FOR THE LONG ASKS AKBSJSNSNSSN keeping this one short and sweet i promise :3

hi koi!!! 🥹 you are so adorable omg please don’t feel creepy or sorry!!! (you can also very much ask this to my other accnt omg this is just my main that i use for following, sending asks, & replying to posts 😭)

please feel free to drop by my inbox anytime 🥹

my fave tropes/au’s with iwa / in general oooOOO!!

with iwa i default to a slowburn friends to lovers 🥺 my ongoing series for him is self-indulgent in that way 😭 (literally their entire life from friends to getting together eventually 😭) i think it allows a lot of depth!! & comfortability (which is good for iwa!! bc i don’t see him as the type to open up easily!—being friends w him first would establish a lot of trust 🥹)

college au’s are rlly good too! can overlap with other au’s/tropes as well!! i like exploring how much he changes in college!

am into bodyguard/mafia aus in general too!! and think he suits em so well 😵‍💫 (i feel like i’ve read some before too!)

underground fighter/boxer aus for iwa specifically intrigue me!! (there are only a handful of characters i like this au for!!) (i know there’s a series somewhere with this au for him!)

fwb!!! with iwa!!! my god. it goes against (kinda) my slowburn friends to lovers but it’s insane how much i love love love fwb fics w him 😭 i’m still torn between thinking that he gets it in college and not but like 😭 he’s so hot i wouldn’t be surprised if he pulls a lot 😭 (a part of me just cries thinking abt him being a player 😭 or a fuckboy 😭 bc… it’s hot but also… would he 😭 i don’t want to think abt him playing w feelings or being mean 😭)

roommates is also interesting!! and bsf’s (oikawa) little sister ones too 😭😭

that’s all i can think of rn! idt im very creative w the aus i gravitate to 😭 i just know i avoid love triangles aiankszjb literally if u have me choose between oiks and iwa i will cry (i will choose iwa but i’ll cry) 😭😭

[uwusillygirl]

For the end of the year asks, can I have 6 and/or 15? 😍

6. which one would you say is your most popular work of the last year? are you glad it is this one that turned into a sensation?

according to my stats (not including kinktober!), "celebrity skin" from my semi-charmed life series has the most clicks (probably because it's chaptered!). i would say semi-charmed life -- my modern porn LA AU -- as a whole became my new "thing" this year; one i am insanely pleased to talk to people about, to explore. it was such a deeply indulgent idea and to have it lead to new friendships and new conversations and new readers in the community has been so awesome.

15. have you created any new OCs this year? care to introduce us?

i want to say that next year is going to be the year of more OCs for me, inspired largely in part by @gingertumericlemon's OC work. shouting queenie out once again! but i feel like her work has changed how i feel about OCs.

the concept about OCs in general in hellcheer specifically is an interesting one, because we work with characters with SO LITTLE screentime to start, that takes a lot of extrapolating and projecting. and YET a totally original character freaks me out!

some of the people that chrissy and eddie work with in semi-charmed life are fleeting little OCs, but as i scroll my ao3 right now, i'm noticing that i don't know i've done any in-depth OCs yet! what the heck?

these questions are from this ask

[turianosauruswrex]

9 for both? Hier sind Kekse.

Thank you so much Bleu!!

9. what is your favorite part of having this oc?

With Katya, I really love playing a charisma caster, more specifically a charisma caster who has no reason to be such. It's my favorite thing about sorcerers-- they didn't appeal to a higher power, they aren't super smart or talented, they're just like this. Katya can be as dumb or rash or faking both as I want. She's still got like +11 to her Persuasion.

I also really love how much of her story has been about love without being a romance. Everything she's done to get where she is has been out of love, misguided as it was, mistaken as it was. She's let me explore an aro-ace-spectrum character and honestly really help me come to terms with my own orientation, and having her learn love is not just one thing, all-consuming, with only one look to it has been really wonderful. There is love in grief. There is love in Grief.

With Peregrine, I love playing someone way more selfish, way more of an asshole as compared to my usual type, and watching how they react to people who are not that. They are out for themselves. They want their Father's approval and that's it. They have fellow party members but they are not seeking lasting relationships, they will be done with them as soon as they're all out of the Hells. That's the idea, anyway. I looooove playing them with this facade-- and it was kind of like that with Katya, too, at first. Peregrine talks a really big game about not needing anyone or anything but Bhaal's approval but they have been lonely for a hundred years. Put them in a pressure cooker, see how they come out. I also get to indulge my interest in cults when considering how growing up in the Temple of Bhaal formed them and their interactions within it.

In the Blood Feud AU, which is where my bestie and I are writing as if our respective campaigns aren't happening, I've really enjoyed watching them change as they are loved. It's also given me the opportunity to write some tasty tasty nightmares and horror scenes which I always love to do.

It's also just. Both places. It's just really damn fun to play and write a child of the god of murder. Like what does that look like? How does that inform their behavior, knowing they were so vastly different from any of their compatriots at every point of their life? How can they wreck shop in combat? How is that going to inform the relationships they're forced into-- what is the party going to think?

Also the designs for both Katya and Peregrine just go hard as fuck. I'm really really proud of them both.

[mellowthorn]

I was tagged by @gwenllian-in-the-abbey, thank you so much for the tag! (and sorry that it has taken me forever to do this)

How many works do you have on AO3?

Three currently (I’ve written more for other fandoms but I orphaned those years ago)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

55,643

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I only post for Realm of the Elderlings, but I also sometimes write Kingdom Hearts fics purely for myself

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Uhh, I only have three on my current account, but in order, Someone Other Than Us, After The Sun Has Set and then Ever Your Fool.

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

Yes, or at least I try to! I have a bad habit of thinking my response but never actually writing it down and then forgetting about it completely... But I try my best to remember to reply, even if it ends up taking a while.

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

Neither of my finished fics/oneshots have closed endings, so I guess it depends on what you imagine happens afterwards. Neither of them are exactly happy though.

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

I haven’t finished posting it yet, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise that After The Sun Has Set will soon take that title. I mean, it's already happier than anything else that I've written

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No

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

I do, occasionally. I don’t know exactly how to describe what kind, other than that my smut scenes tend to be quite sad?? I like using them as a way to explore or exaggerate some complicated character dynamic, and I guess that’s why they often turn into something at least a little uncomfortable. As much as I enjoy reading smut that’s all sexy and romantic, for some reason I can’t write it myself at all haha

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

Nah

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Nope

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

Fitzloved is my current favourite (and I've never been this intense about a ship before), though Zemyx (from Kingdom Hearts) is the one I always eventually return to

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

Last spring I wrote about 45k words of post-Assassin’s Fate happy ending AU. The outline for it is massive, and what I’ve written so far covers maybe one tenth at most. I know I will never have the patience to finish it, but somewhere at the back of my mind I refuse to let it go. I’ve been trying to see if I could turn parts of it into one-shots or something, but who knows what I’ll end up doing 🤷

16. What are your writing strengths?

I’d say I’m fairly good at characterization, as well as building up tragic and angsty scenarios. My favorite thing when writing fanfiction is to take some (usually sad) aspect of a character/relationship/etc and then dive deep into that, and I think I do it pretty well.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

My prose, especially detailed descriptions and creative similes and metaphors and the like. Writing those does not come naturally to me at all, and I feel like I often get stuck using cliches and specific words or phrases, and then have to spend half my time editing to make things less repetitive.

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

 Not my thing, I prefer to keep everything in one language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

 Harry Potter, I think? Way back in like 2008 or 2009.

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

From RotE stuff, After the Sun Has Set. It’s the first time I’ve managed to fully write, edit and post a multi-chapter fic from start to finish, and that alone is a huge achievement for me. Writing every chapter from a different character’s PoV was also a really fun (if sometimes frustrating) challenge and I’m really glad to have done it. Outside of RotE, a few years back I wrote this super self-indulgent novel-length Zemyx fic. I never posted it anywhere and it’s kind of crap quality-wise so I never will, but since it’s basically just every romance trope I’ve ever liked, it’s fun to reread for comfort every once in a while.

[kendochick-moor]

2022 Reader Survey Q&A!

Thank you everyone who responded to the Q&A! Here are some answers to your questions.

What kind of fics (or alternate universe adaptions of them) do you like to read? (Top 3 listed below)

Romance Fics

Smut Fics

Dark Fics

/moor: Y'all have great taste. ;)

If moor were to update (and hopefully finish) three (3) fics in 2023, what fics would you like her to focus on? (Top 3 listed below)

Kimono no Onna (MadaSaku) Shangri-La (MadaSaku, IzuSaku/KakaSaku) The Art of Dating a Rich Man (TAoDaRM) (HashiSaku, MadaSaku/IzuSaku... TobiSaku)

/moor: I've taken this to heart and am currently plugging away at "Shangri-La". I am going to work on the above fics, along with the final chapter of "Pop the Top", to try and move them as far forward this year as I can. There's a good chance "Shangri-La" and "Pop" will be completed, along with *possibly" "Kimono no Onna", if I pull hard. No guarantees for “TAoDaRM”, but I’ll try and crank out two chapters this year, if possible. We’ll see how close we get to the end from there. ;) Thank you for helping me prioritize!

What do you wish moor would write more of?

i guess more akatsaku fics? i've been lowkey wanting a comeback era of akatsaku fics like back in the days While I love moor and her writing, I have a soft spot for her UchiSaku fics in particular. Historical AU/ japanese lore MadaSaku and KakaSaku, i'm a big fan. MinaSaku please 😅 but generally stories where prospective partners of Sakura are somewhat possessive and experience jealousy over other interested males 😅 Mada/Saku happinesses. There's always drama plots, I would like for them to have a happy ending for once! DILFs. Of all shapes and sizes. Comedy

/moor: Dude, for the AkatSaku fics, I'm with you. I've been wanting a renaissance of those fics, too. (Then again, I've also been wanting to indulge in more dark!fic writing where I could explore some of that, and comedy, to have fun with it again.) I wasn't confident in my writing (fanfic for one thing, but Naruto-fanfic) back when those fics were popular (pre-2010s or so?), unfortunately. ^^; Fingers crossed we can have a few little one-shots this year that get to dive into those days. /moor: UchiSaku: My luv, I'll never part from UchiSaku. My ADHD/hyperfixations don't allow me to give up some things, and dark haired brooding men are here to stay. /moor: Historical AU/Japanese lore: Ooooooooh, I wonder what I could do with this, maybe in a one-shot... I loved writing the "Tengu" fic... Let me see what Ghibli-ish notions cross my  plot notebook as I ruminate on this a bit. /moor: MadaSaku and KakaSaku: Mmmm.... favs of mine, too. I admit, I stopped writing as much KakaSaku very specifically because they were my most frequently plagiarised fics. I spent most of last year's writing time (literally, weeks and months from January through early autumn) taking down plagiarised fics and fic-scrapers. It killed my will to write and is the main reason there were so few updates last year. I have nearly a dozen KakaSaku WIPs that will likely never see the light of day because of how certain I am they'll be plagiarised (again). HOWEVER, I am participating in a few fic exchanges this year and am currently working on several KakaSaku one-shot gift-fics, so those WILL be published probably by the end of March 2023. If you're on my Fic Update Notification List, I'll be sending out a link when they're ready! (And there will definitely be more MadaSaku.) /moor: MinaSaku: I want more, too. I have some plans for this pairing—Likely won't be available until 2024-ish, but yes, they're coming along. ;) /moor: Possessive of Sakura-fics: YES. More coming, and definitely in 2023. "Shangri-La" and "Kimono no Onna" in particular, but more beyond that, too. /moor: MadaSaku Happiness: I promise that there is definitely at least 1 MadaSaku fic I'm currently writing that will have a very, very happy MadaSaku ending. I'll see what I can do beyond that. (Maybe a comedy one-shot or two?) /moor: DILFS of all shapes/sizes: I see what you did there, and it had me laughing. Fine. Yes. More coming. /moor: Comedy: YES. I agree. :)

moor is thinking of running a few events in 2023. Would you be interested in any of the following? (Top 3 listed below)

Dark!Fic Weekend (write/sharedark fics, fanart, collabs, etc.) Naruto DILF/MILF Week II (runevery other year?) Win-A-Fic Weekend (moor opens up prompts and your prompt is chosen)

/moor: I'll post an Interest Check form sometime soon to gauge potential participation and get back to you about these!

What do you think moor's biggest writing problem/challenge is? (delays between updates? low-quality updates? poor organization? poor writing? skipping between ideas for stories? inconsistent updates? inconsistent story writing? moor not keeping promises/meeting expectations? etc.)

I think that we are lucky you share your stories at all, but if I had to pick something it would be that you have too many WIP open at a time. Since all the updates that come out are meaty and high-quality, I don't mind the wait at all. One thing I struggle with trying to find a specific fic from Moor if it's been a while since I've read it. There are a lot of platforms and posts to check and sometimes I fail to find what I'm looking for. Maybe a sort of index page/masterlist of the fics and their location could help in case it's a common issue? (I suck at bookmarking and lose fics all the time which is a me problem, so feel free to ignore this wish and sorry if I'm being unkind/selfish :)). Delays with updates. Your quality is immaculate and I cannot emphasize enough how much I love your fics!!!111oneoneone ❤️🔥 if I could have one wish it would be more frequent updates, or maybe some update schedule? but I know that’s hard so I’m happy with what we currently have esp when it comes to my absolute fav, Forest Fire ❤️ I have no problem with your writing and I think you keep your readers updated enough.  If I were to be extremely nitpicky, maybe have progress reports on fics?  

/moor: Too many WIP: You're 100% correct, and I have no excuse, I'm sorry. /moor: Masterlist: This was an excellent point and I took it to heart. The Masterlist is available now and updated when I post each fic and update. :) /moor: More Frequent Updates/Update Schedule: I'm currently trying to update more frequently to close out a few fics; I'm not sure I'm able to be consistent enough for an actual update schedule, unfortunately, and I'm sorry. My real/non-fandom life doesn't lend itself to consistency. /moor: Forest Fire: Some know this after following me for (literally) years, Forest Fire is one of my precious babies. One of my fics that I worked hardest on. Huge portions of FFIII are written; however, it's one fic wherein I refuse to compromise my writing. My goal is to (someday) have it fully written so that I can post regular updates for it again, as I did for FF II. Possibly monthly, or even bi-weekly, updates, to keep the story flowing without suffering from huge gaps of time between posts. I apologize, I don't have a timeline for when that will be possible. /moor: Progress Reports: This is possibly feasible. Let me think about this. Do you have any recommendations for what form you'd like this in? Like, a webpage where I indicate how close a chapter is to completion, or a spreadsheet wherein I write at what stage each chapter or fic is?

Do you have any questions for moor?

would you ever be interested in writing sakura crossover stories? /moor: Absolutely. Time is what limits me. :)

Do you enjoy teasing/breaking us? /moor: I thrive on your suffering.

How did you decide on your name? How do you think your personal experiences have informed your stories, if at all? What is a trope you would never write because it doesn't appeal to you? Alternatively, is there a trope/plot you are dying to write but you're afraid you won't do it justice? /moor: My name is a variation on part of my first name. Many/most of my stories are based on personal experience in one way or another. :) A trope I could never write would be... hmmmm... Constant suffering, I think. Particularly children suffering and abuse. A trope/plot I would love to write but am afraid I would never do justice... hmmm... (You ask good questions, they have me thinking). Kindness. Or a story where the protagonists don't come out on top; I like seeing people win and overcome their challenges, but that isn't always a mature outlook, as we in reality must often learn to live and accept that we won't win all our battles, at least not in the way we'd like. I struggle with accepting that, so it's something that I wouldn't write in my fics often/well because it grates on me. : )

When will you update kimono no onna? Its so good and no pressure just really curious and eager for more😅 /moor: I squeezed in an extra update for you over the holidays! :)  There will be more coming later this year. We're closing in on a major plot point.

No, only good wish for her ❤️ Can't think of any at the moment 😅 /moor: <3 Thank you! I wish you all the best, too, Wonderfuls. :)

Do you feel your interest is increasing/decreasing for Naruto and therefore your fanfiction? /moor: Hmmm... I don't know if I'd say 'interest' as much as 'patience'. I find myself reading comments or commentary from readers who sound too young to be reading my work, and that frustrates me. I also am tired of dealing with plagiarism, assholes reporting me to AO3 for bullshit reasons and having to deal with the AO3 staff who have deleted some of my stories, and individuals who convey an insufferable amount of entitlement towards authors. I am very fortunate to have the engagement I do with so many wonderful friends, readers, and writers. I struggle with my patience for dealing with the BS that sometimes accompanies writing for a popular fandom. It’s one of the reasons I am (100% seriously) looking into how to create and run my own fanfic/creative outlet website.

Do you listen to anything when you write? /moor: Constantly. :)  I have many different playlists. Some for specific chapters of a fic, some for a fic in its entirety. Most are in my Spotify! :)

Do you have any suggestions or other comments for moor? (can be about anything on this survey or otherwise)

i adore your works, wips, snippets and crumbs! i know life gets in the way quite often, so i hope you never feel too bad about not being able to update or anything! you and your health always comes first! Moor, you and a handful of other writers on Tumblr have kept me going. There were days where all I would look forward to were posts (not even fics/updates) and reblogs. Thank you for continuing to write :) Thank you so much for your time and work that put in your writing! There something i really look forward to and you are seriously talented and amazing! Just excited about the possible subscription to your works in Patreon :) hopefully Patreon and not Ko-Fi 😅 just because i already follow a few artists there. Easier for me to pay as a whole in 1 app. Haha! But this is just my take. If you'll be picking Ko-Fi, i would absolutely still subscribe to your account! 😊 Thank you for your time and effort. I hope this survey gives you good, positive, and filling comments. I appreciate and admire your efforts to connect with your audience and your willingness to receive feedback. You're awesome! Hope to keep supporting you in the future as best as I can. Thank you Moor for your writing 🔥🔥🔥and thank you for existing 💖 As stated above hahah I love your writing!

/moor: Thank you very, very much. <3 I’m sharing your comments above so other authors can read them, too, and are recognized and appreciated for how much their efforts mean. :) Some of you know that a few years ago I was fortunate enough to beat cancer, which took a toll on me. Most recently in the past year (actually, the last six months), the car accident, memory failure, medication complications and then the subsequent multiple heart attacks have also slowed me down, to the point where I'm now on Long Term Disability (LTD) from work, until we can sort out what's happening to my insides  (And no, I'm not "that" old, I'm 41). It's been a battle, and I know I repeat myself here, but I can't express enough how much it means to have my real life falling down at times and yet be able to see a kind comment or compliment on a fic. It reminds me yes I can still do something right even if I can't do everything I wish I could.

I'll keep the updates coming and I look forward to hearing what you think of them. <3

Thank you all so much for reading my fics, sharing your thoughts and opinions in the survey, and helping me help you find a little escape from the everyday through our stories. Keep the comments, advice and suggestions coming; they help me figure out how to make things better for all of us.

Stay safe and healthy out there!

[thistle-and-thorn]

Hey hun,

I really enjoyed the second chapter of float. I hope it’s ok if I ask you some questions about how echo and float came about? You don’t have to answer them, or just answer some. How did you get the idea for the first story? Obviously it’s at least somewhat a show story, do you feel it’s an amalgamation? Can Sansa and Yara get to a place of parity do you think, or will there always be a power imbalance between them? What’s your writing process for echo and float been like? Thanks for reading my random questions.

♥️♥️♥️s (and I hope your foot? ankle? is better)

Omg you can always ask me questions about anything!! With writing, especially, it’s often an exercise that helps push my thinking about stories! I love love love talking about it; it’s an essential part of the process for me, so always feel free to share thoughts and ask questions and tell me if you think I’m wrong about things! Apologies if this gets absurdly long but I spend so much time thinking about these two fics lol this will be therapy.

float and echo came out of a prompt game that @attonitos-gloria and I were (are still?) doing for each other last year to make us write something different than the WIPs that we were working on. And her prompt to me was “sapphic Sansa.” I really believe that canonically Sansa is queer but I hadn’t really ever explored it in any of my fics and so it was a good opportunity to do so. And I have had a life-long fantasy about lesbian pirates. Like, it’s so embarrassing but true! I was an Elizabeth Swann obsessive, I have truly read every pirate AU in every fandom I’ve been in. It just does it for me, I don’t know why!!! And there was a lack of Sansa/Yara content that troubled me because...here is a show with a canonically lesbian pirate—my dream!—and I had next to NOTHING to play with.

The specific inspiration is a fic called Wendy Darling…which is a smut fic, also dubcon, also about lesbian pirates. And this fic has always fascinated me, since I first read it. Like, yes, it’s well-written and hot and it fits a very specific interest of mine lol, but there’s something else about it that is fascinating. In the story, Wendy returns to Captain Hook’s ship and endures a really intense, sexual introduction to what her role will be on the ship. And it’s kinky and fun. But then, it ends…tenderly? The last scene is her and Hook doing aftercare together…it’s very romantic. And it’s such an unexpected choice. As I thought about how to respond to the prompt, I kept thinking about this story and the dual languages in it. The lack of consent, the forced submission, and then, Wendy’s own pleasure and comfort in Hook. Because it’s told from Wendy’s perspective, it’s hard to parse out for the reader what is real and not real, how much she’s been influenced by her trauma to trust Hook by the end or how much she trusted Hook all along. She’s going to live on this ship with little privacy, in defiance of her own social norms. It’s a really challenging choice and, in the end, Hook doesn’t make her make that choice, Hook decides for her.

And I think dubcon in erotica often serves this purpose…a lover who just knows your darkest desires and will indulge them no matter what you say, sex pollen that allows you to free your sexuality publicly being kidnapped and falling in love with the type of person who no one would ever approve of are all cut from the same cloth. When I gave the first part to Attonitos to edit, one of the first comments she gave back was, “Having a woman pin you down and say “You’re going to like it” is a really brutally direct way of confronting your bisexuality lol.” And she’s right…I think that’s part of the root of the fantasy for me and a lot of people. An expression of sexuality through extenuating circumstances feels excusatory on some level; in a way that a fantasy about picking a girl up at a bar doesn’t. That’s too real, that’s something that, like, I have to do in reality. And my reality involves a choice and an acceptance of something that, for me, was harder to accept that I probably would like to admit.

I think erotica is an incredibly important and overlooked type of literature and can be used really effectively to explore characters! Sex is a character study. I think it’s hard to find a lot of erotica I really like though…because there’s a level of theatricality to it. You know it’s role play or that they’re playing a character. A lot of power exchange fiction also has an end or doesn’t acknowledge…like a person living in your house. And maybe they’re your sex slave but you also share a bathroom lol. At the same time, another common romance trope, arranged marriages don’t acknowledge that they are essentially dub/non con fantasies. And so the form of this story came from: what if we took a dynamic common to power exchange and made it real? What if “fear” and “desire to please” isn’t a simulated experience but real and essential? What if, when you zoom out, their arrangement and history was not different than a hundred thousand other couples in this world? I wanted to very intentionally imply that fear (of security, of keeping your partners attention, of physical safety) must exist in lots of these relationships. Sansa was married to Yara for political gain, not for love. The only thing that makes it dirty is…they can’t have biological children. And there’s a thinner tradition of sapphic love stories compared to het or mlm romances, I think, so…inevitably, for someone like Sansa, who defines her experiences through fictional precedent, the arranged marriage love story is her only template and it doesn’t fit neatly for them…and the narrative looseness feeds this cycle of anxiety for her.

As to the story itself, it takes place in an alternative show. Essentially, the best way to think of it is, instead of marrying Sansa to Ramsay, he married her to Yara. So, all the things she would have experienced, like reuniting with her siblings, having Petyr at Winterfell and executing him, or experiencing the Long Night hasn’t happened to her. Yara rescued Theon from Ramsay. There’s more there in the background that makes it more of an AU but that’s the gist.

Because of their beginning, I don’t know if they’ll ever have parity. I do think they view their relationship differently. For Yara, she sees it as an arranged marriage. She sees it as a love story à la those romance stories about people getting married under crazy circumstances and falling in love! I think, for her, she views Sansa as a partner. She has her controlling her accounts and running the household. It’s traditional and, by their world’s definition, a marriage. Sansa’s protection is her charge because she’s her wife. (There’s a lot of influence from me reading about Anne Lister in this. 19th century lesbian who essentially conceived her relationships in a really, really traditional way. She wanted a wife with all that meant in the 1800s.) Yara sees their bedroom games as being fun; she’s a domme, she enjoys it. But it is theatrical for her, in the way I was talking about erotica previously. For Sansa, she sees their power exchange as her life. She grows more secure in it and I think it’s clear that she loves Yara deeply, is devoted to her, completely but, for Sansa, it’s not a love story. And I think Yara recognizes that Sansa is working out some issues through their sex life; but she sees something like maintenance spanking as the scaffolding of a support system and Sansa doesn’t see anything, just the process of how to have emotions. I think for them to achieve parity…either their marriage would have to have come from a different context or Sansa would have to get on the same page as Yara. And…I don’t know if she…wants to? I really, really don’t know if she knows that for sure. There is a part of me that believes: Sansa is a sub by nature and this happened to work out for her 😂😂😂

It takes me a long time to write it. I tend to write in layers: a skeleton draft, then layer on top the decorations and the linking pieces. It’s similar here. Writing sex always is happening on three levels: the blocking, then the physical experience, and then the emotional experience. Because it’s a smut story, the choreography is important and scenes that in another story I might keep vague or cover with pretty metaphors have to be explicit. And choreography is hard for me! I write that first and then later in the physical experience and the emotional experience afterwards, which take less time over all.

Argh sorry to ramble!!! 🫣 But thank you so much for asking!!! This fic is a joy and so are you! 🥰🥰🥰

[sharkneto]

what made you imagine shifting together five the way you did? the tattoos, the near constant sunglasses. the inspiration, the meaning

Where did my guy come from, a solid question.

I say this constantly, but I did adopt him from orsumfenix's The Shifting Mirrors - up until about half-way through Chapter 5, that's my Number. He's a fucking disaster of a young adult and I'm obsessed with him for it. Writing him, I try to keep a balance of being in-character to this version of Five and to how I understand Five as a character in general.

A read more because I fucking rambled:

Because SM is from Five's POV and it's over such a longer timeframe, a lot of writing my version of him is taking things you only know from reading between the lines because SM Five is not a reliable narrator and making them explicit through an outside POV we trust. SM Five is drinking constantly and not acknowledging that - what's a consequence of that? He's going to be hungover All The Time. What's that look like? Grouchy, slower in the mornings, sunglasses because the world is Bright and his brain hurts. A solution for him could be to Just Keep Drinking so he doesn't have to be hungover, but if he did that that would mean he has a Problem, so he just suffers like 75% of his mornings and decides that's a normal thing (SM Five eventually does take this solution and just accepts he has a Problem).

His tattoos are blatantly from The Shifting Mirrors; he adds to his umbrella during his brief stint at the University of Chicago when he's 18. In my fic of Number vs Apocalypse week, he will also have picked up the couple tattoos he's gotten in later chapters of SM (like the equation to time travel on his ankle so he Always Has It).

But where it came to be that I wrote like 250k words of AU fanfic of someone else's AU fanfic is SM Five's life Sucks. He has a Terrible Time Almost All The Time. And I think that's accurate to what Five's life would be like if he was as on his own as he is in that fic - he's just not prepared or really has the personality to get things lined up right for himself and he just keeps digging himself deeper into holes that he shrugs at and goes "yeah alright that's just how life is" when it's not. He has blips of attempts to fix things - gets sober for a while, Mr. Pennycrumb, moves to Scotland, has a job he likes alright - but it never lasts for him (except for Mr. Pennycrumb who is Always Good). Part of my love of that fic is how explicitly Five is in his narration for how good he's doing while between the lines it's so obvious how Not Fine things are. It's really brilliant writing.

But I saw all that and thought, "But what if support system? What if he got to get his undergrad degree? What if he didn't move to Scotland and become a spy?"

Enter Sarah. I wanted Five to go to college while he was in Minneapolis - he needs a professor and a mentor to keep him focused and from giving up the second he gets uncomfortable. She needs to have a draw that Five can't resist - work on time travel while he dances the line with himself on what is Too Much for working on time travel. She has to be ridiculously kind in order to be committed to helping this fucked up kid while also not really taking any bullshit because this kid is so full of bullshit.

It started as a Just For Me, really self-indulgent project to fill time during the earlier months of the pandemic (I've been writing JT since September 2020). Putting this young-adult Five in relatively normal scenarios that let me dig around at what makes him tick and explore who he is as a character while also making him Better. It's all about breaking down who Five is as a character, specifically this version of him, and giving him something no version of him has had, which is a support system that cares about him with no ulterior motives.

It, uh, has gotten a little away from me at this point, I think lol. We gained more characters (Rob! Amanda and Megan, Rick and Taylor. The lab used to be bigger by two characters but they got scrapped to streamline and they weren't necessary; Megan picked up their parts and it works better for it.) Chapters keep being added as I do normal things in my life and think about Number doing them and how things could go wrong if I was a traumatized former-child soldier doing them.

A few months into writing JT, I got obsessed with the idea of our Five meeting this Five and that's where HIT came from (early versions of that had Number's siblings in there too, which was very fun but holy fucking shit, 14 Hargreeves in one room is too many, they all want to talk all the time).

Anyway, this might have been more of a ramble than you were looking for. The TL:DR is I got obsessed with another person's fic and their version of Five and I adopted him (with permission) so I could give him a nicer life lmao.

[bookwyrminspiration]

ooooo i saw your post about the wings au and have a question. What was your favorite part about writing it? okay, i have multiple questions. Which friendship/relationship was your favorite to write? what was the easiest part about writing this? what was the hardest? also, why did you choose the specific wings you gave each character?

OH I love to answer questions!! Thank you so much!

I think my favorite part about writing it was being able to indulge what I wanted--although the story and characters did still guide me at several points. That's true of fic in general--the ability to focus on relationships that are neglected, to tweak a bit of worldbuilding to your preference, etc. Specific to this fic, i LOVED being able to explore the characters and their relationships without romance; there's so much of it hanging over canon at times, it was so delightful to get rid of it all and figure out the characters without that, see how they behaved with each other.

Which ties into the next question! Getting to have a stronger Sophie/Tam friendship and dynamic was so much fun and probably my favorite. I actually had to consciously avoid putting them together sometimes because I knew I could very easily fall into giving them too much time, and there were other things to deal with. Their banter is delightful and I always smile when I remember I had them commit petty theft together. I love who they are to each other and the way they interact, and I hope to write more of them!

Easiest part of writing the au, that's a difficult one. Probably staying genuine to the characters, I think I did a pretty good job on that one. I didn't have to come up with the characters or their backgrounds or their voices, only had to adapt very familiar ones (as I had 8.5 books and several years of familiarity) to a slightly different context. I like to think I know the characters fairly well, so that was probably easiest :)

Hardest though was probably posting the au as I went, for a variety of reasons. It required a lot of discipline and commitment to it, because I posted a 7-9k word chapter every two weeks for a year and a half without missing a day, all while being a full time student with other responsibilities. The way I did it, it also meant that I backed myself into a few corners because I didn't have everything set in stone. The story changed and developed as I went, but I still had to try and fit it into what I'd already set up. I ended up with a few odd situations because of it where I had to puzzle things together that could've been avoided if I'd been working on the whole story at once instead of in chunks--not that I'd do it differently, as I got to take inspiration from people as I posted (some very important things in the au are only the way they are because people asked and talked about it!) and the schedule I set pushed me to write, but it was definitely an interesting situation.

As for why I chose the wings I did, the answer is a little different for each character! But generally, it's because I thought it either resembled them or there was a trait you could connect between the two. For example, Fitz has golden eagle wings because eagle is sometimes considered king of the birds and I find gold very symbolic with his character (golden boy, etc.). Sophie's wings are majority bumblebee because she's like a worker bee, constantly buzzing around and doing things and pushing forward, very team oriented, etc. They're partially void and feathers to represent her myriad of abilities and genetic modifications! Those are a few examples, but when I chose them I wanted to go for more known, recognizable wings. That would have more recognizable symbolism and associations, rather than like. A really specific unknown bird no one would know anything about without research.

I could likely go more in depth on all of these questions, but anyway!! Thank you very much for asking i love to talk about all things wings au related :)

[sneakyfox55]

For the fruit ask thingyyy 🍉🍎🍒

<333

🍉 Do you prefer to write short fics or long fics? Multichaptered works or single ones? Why?

I KIND OF!!! DON'T HAVE A PREFERENCE?????? FOR EITHER I GUESS DSHGDHJGSHJ IT JUST. DEPENDS ON THE DAY AND HOW MUCH I WANT TO GET DONE IF, THAT MAKES ANY SENSE!

SHORT FICS ARE EASIER TO WORK WITH BUT, LONG FICS ARE MORE FUN I THINK??? IDSFJDSGJHDSGHHJDSGHJ

I LOVE MAKING MULTICHAPTERED STUFF SO HONESTLY I. MIGHT LIKE THAT BETTER BUT AGAIN, I DON'T HAVE A TRUE PREFERENCE!!! ALTHOUGH, AGAIN SINGLE FICS ARE A BIT EASIER BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE TO WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT KEEPING A CONSISTENT PLOT THROUGH SO MANY CHAPTERS THAT YOU SLOWLY FORGET ABOUT LMBO (COUGH COUGH UTDC YOU ARE THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE IN THAT REGARD)

🍎 Is there anything you straight-up won’t write?

SMUT AND JUST, GENERAL THINGS THAT MAKE ME VERY UNCOMFY (INC*ST, SELFC*ST, MINOR X ADULT, ETC.) IF IT'S GLORIFYING IT. I'M NOT, ENTIRELY AGAINST IT IF IT'S SHOWN SPECIFICALLY AS PROBLEMATIC, AND IF IT HAD TO DO WITH SPECIFIC CHARACTERS AND WAS LIKE. PART OF THEIR BACKSTORY, IF THAT MAKES SENSE??? CAUSE I DO LIKE, TO THINK OF SOMEWHAT EXPLORING THAT KIND OF STUFF WHOLLY FOR CHARACTER AND STORY PURPOSES BUT EVEN THEN FDHGHFGHHH SORRY IF THAT'S, WEIRD,,

(SPECIFICALLY THE, INC*ST AND SELFC*ST THOUGH IS SOMETHING I'D PROBABLY. NEVER TOUCH WITH A TEN-FOOT POLE HSDGDSHJDGHJDS AND I KNOW SELFC*ST IS MORE ACCEPTED AND PROBABLY?? FINE????? BUT IT PERSONALLY JUST, REALLY RUBS ME THE WRONG WAY AND MAKES ME SUPER UNCOMFY)

OH ALSO ALSO ANYTHING THAT GLORIFIES SA OR, DUBIOUS CONSENT,, *ESPECIALLY* WHERE THE SKELEBROS ARE INVOLVED LIKE. PEOPLE HAVE DONE THAT BEFORE WHERE LIKE, CONSENT IS, IMPLIED TO BE DUBIOUS WITH THEM AND/OR THEY'RE FOR SOME REASON PORTRAYED AS PUSHY AND FORCEFUL FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER (USUALLY AU VERSIONS OF THEM TO BE FAIR AND USUALLY IT'S JUST SANS BECAUSE, OBVIOUSLY IT'S HIM LMAO) AND THAT JUST AIN'T IT CHIEF

🍒 What’s your favorite character dynamic to write? (Can be romantic or platonic, specific or general!)

DSJKHGDSJHGSHJGJ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA THAT'S TOUGH BECAUSE. I LOVE TO DO BOTH!!!!!! ROMANTIC AND PLATONIC I MEAN

IN MY EARLY DAYS IN THE UT FANDOM I'D JUST, SPEND MY TIME THINKING OF SKELEBRO SCENARIOS LMBOOOOOO AND I'D ALWAYS KINDA PREFERRED PLATONIC FICS OVER ROMANCE IN GENERAL. IT'S CHANGED SINCE THEN AS I'VE, GOTTEN OLDER AKA I REALIZED I'M IN LOVE WITH SAID SKELEBROS ACTUALLY, THUS BEGAN MY ROMANCE-ORIENTED FICS--

IT'S FUNNY THOUGH BECAUSE I THINK, MY SANS X READERS ARE MORE PLOT-ORIENTED AND MORE LIKE SLOW BURNS THAN THE FEW PAPYRUS X READERS I'VE DONE. PRESUMABLY JUST BECAUSE I PINE FOR PAPYRUS JUST A BIT MORE (HE'S MY #1 COMFORT CHARACTER SO I MEAN) AND THEREFORE THOSE ARE, REALLY SELF-INDULGENT AND FLUFFIER PROBABLY HJDSGHJDGDJHSDHJ (AND I HAVE A WEIRD THING WHERE I JUST, DON'T REALLY LIKE GIVING PAPYRUS A BAD TIME AS OPPOSED TO SANS, AND IF I DO DO ANGST WITH HIM IT'S. GOTTA END HAPPY NO MATTER WHAT, NO UNREQUITED LOVE OR ANYTHING (I SAY WHILE I HAVE CLOSE TO YOU AND THE CLAIRE DE LUNE SERIES SITTING RIGHT THERE))

ALSO FOR SPECIFIC CHARACTER DYNAMICS IF WE'RE, TALKING SPECIFIC CHARACTERS >:DDDDDDDDD SANS AND PAPYRUS ARE MY FAVORITE PLATONIC DYNAMIC TO WRITE AND.

HDJHDSJGDSJH IT SOUNDS SILLY BUT, ROMANCE-WISE I JUST REALLY ENJOY WRITING SANS X READER IN THE NEVER FORGET SERIES, THEY'RE MY OTP EVEN THOUGH LIKE. THEY PROBABLY SHOULDN'T BE BECAUSE THEY'RE TECHNICALLY MY OWN CHARACTERS IDK JDSHGD SJHDSGJH GSDHJJH I JUST THINK THEY'RE REALLY NEAT, THEY'RE NOT PERFECT OR ANYTHING AS A COUPLE AND THEY'VE GOT PLENTY OF ISSUES BUT I JUST. LOVE WRITING IT OUT AND DELVING INTO THEIR CHARACTERS AND STUFF (AND I'M EXCITED TO EXPLORE THEM MORE ESPECIALLY IN, THE MAIN FIC >:DDDDD)