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🎱 ⇢ post your AO3 total stats 🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction? 🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that? 🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately? (Hope you have fun with these! And you don't have to answer all of them if you don't want to !:D)
writer's truth or dare ask game
🎱 ⇢ post your AO3 total stats
a lot of my old ninjago stuff has tons of hits and kudos n shit even though i do not care about it anymore lol. some of it's good some of it Is Not. but i digress. anyway i added the word count graph bc i think it's really funny that DLD is lapping the second longest item twice over (and it's going to be more than 3x over after i finish chapter 5 🥴 <- DERANGED)
🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction?
kinda a long story actually. starts with reading a TIME magazine article about HP fanfiction back around the time the last movie was coming out. (i read it in print though, can't figure out where to find it online. it had a lot of like fic recs n shit in it, honestly kinda funny looking back on it.) from there i found out that the HP news fansite my dad visited a lot (mugglenet) had a fanfiction subarea and went through a lot of shit on there. eventually i tried posting my own bad shit but it got rejected by the moderators (deserved lmao) and from there i moved over to FFN somehow and started doing shit there. at which point i was still in the middle of my Coraline Special Interest phase and thought "hm. coraline seems very Killable". and the rest is history lmao
🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that?
N/A because i actually don't really do much editing. my mom was a newspaper editor for her career before she had me and the general rules of grammar got knocked into me very quickly from the combination of Her and just like. looking shit up sometimes, or mimicking how things were written in books maybe. fuck if i know honestly, i've been writing as a hobby since i was like 9-10 or some shit and over time it's just gradually become part of my process that i don't fuck up formatting and if i do it's only genuinely by accident.
as for shit like rewording sentences and shit like that, i also generally do that as i go but i'll also do that on rereads (because i reread my stuff all the time). ill just see something that's like "oh that's awkwardly worded or there's a word missing or whatever" and i'll make the edit as necessary. that kind of stuff is 9/10 and only because i have to find where the edit is needed again in whichever area im editing it
🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?
no paragraph breaks or far too few paragraph breaks. everything else im flexible on but that's my hard rule. from there it's shit like if the spelling/grammar/punctuation is especially bad - it's like if you didn't care to Write this well then i probably won't care to Read it well. theres other things (e.g. it often bothers me when people leave blank paragraphs between every paragraph even if i won't stop reading it over that) but those are the ones that'll make me click off INSTANTLY.
thanks for the ask!!
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First fanfic bound
After my little introduction into bookbinding I bound my first fanfiction. To edit the text I heavily relied on @armoredsuperheavy and their incredibly detailed "How To Make A Book". Word still kicked my ass... I think I cried a little while trying to implement the pagenumbers but mostly because I didn't read the instructions right. I abandoned the project for a while and started over after a few months and suddenly it worked 🤷♀️.
I chose "The Soldier and the Parade" by Stele3 (I don't know if they have a tumblr...). It's an incredibly captivating story about Bucky deprogramming himself after Hydra and working to find his place and live his life. He also has to solve that problem called Steve Rogers. Go read it! It's soooo good. I'm also a really big fan of MCR so double plus.
After I beat Word into submission and sourced the material the actual bookbinding wasn't so hard. I build some tools after noticing how hard some steps are without, but that's something for another post. Here's the result (It took me over a year from August 21 to November 22):
After I finally wrangled the formatting I printed it... at home... It kept eating and crinkling the paper and because of the signatures I couldn't do it in parts and had to start over and over again. Then the ink was empty and I had to get more. Then the toner-dust-container had to be exchanged. Then it refused to print this particular document. It worked with another laptop though, don't ask me why. In the end I had to sit besides it and take every page out. Then I had to press them down because they kept bending upwards and jamming the printer. After three days I could print the other side. Needless to say I know use a local copy shop because I'm not going through that again...
I made two copies. One is just glued (Lumbecker) and one is sewn. At that point I had no Cricut so I printed the Title, cut it out with my nail scissors and stenciled it on the cover. Sadly, it bled into the linen quite a lot. The one one the right I reworked some time ago.
Here you can see the spine, where I noticed that I have to have a minimum thickness to have enough space for lettering.
Aaaand the slightly unclean binding with industrially produced endbands. I didn't yet know how to do them by hand...
Half Title
Front Matter and Headings
Binding Details: Text Body: Garamond, 10 Chapter Heading: Ink Free, 18 Part Heading: schriftgenerator.eu (Bleeding Cowboys) Full Title: fontmeme.com (My Chemical Romance Font) Word Count: 50.577 Pages: 200
The paper is normal copy paper that I had cut out from DIN A3 to get the grain right. That was a very difficult problem to solve
Some progress pics:
That's how I did the binding before I build my own sewing frame... Do you believe me if I said this killed my back? I did it laying in front of it on my stomach and afterwards even my ribs hurt :D not doing that again. At least that ladder finally found some use.
My work table at the moment, though I'm in the progress of renovating a room in the basement so that I'll have more space.
The covers before the final assembly.
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For the ask game (if you haven't received these already) 💖
7. A popular fandom opinion that you agree with
16. One of your favourite tropes
18. Something you initially did not like but came around to
Hello, hello! :D AH Thank you for being here!! And for these lovely questions.
Fandom Positivity asks from this game here.
7. A popular fandom opinion that you agree with.
Let's talk about something that, in some circles, may not be actually a popular opinion LOL because like, in the tag, some people certainly have problems with this situation. BUT. But. Art has always pulled forward things like this.
Let's talk about
✨Messy People Being Messy People ✨
Or, nuance in reading characters in TES.
I am not a fan of hard good vs evil in reads of media so when I see a large section of a fandom discussing nuance, my little heart is just so happy. It's because as a writer, I find the best kinds of heroes are often the ones that make all kinds of terrible mistakes and have to resolve them. And the best kinds of villains are the ones who are doing what they're doing because it is, to them, the only way forward.
Not everything has to be cut and dry, right? And I think TES does a fantastic job in a lot of ways throughout the series of showing that kind of nuance.
Just for an example...hmm. Yes, okay! Morrowind gives us Divayth Fyr. He's QUESTIONABLE on a good day, but how many good days are there really in Morrowind? Not many. Not many at all tbh. He helps the main character, sure, but there is just so much fucked up shit happening in that tower and in House Telvanni to begin with. So nuance. Nuance. And the fact that not everything has to be surface level.
Depth of character is important, both in the source material and in what we, as fanfiction writers, bring to the table in our own work. How do we show these mistakes? How do we redeem characters who need it? How does one come back from certain kinds of mistakes? Can they ever? Why or why not?
I think there's a certain kind of catharsis in analyzing text in this fashion and/or reading more deeply and so...people who are as in love with the nuance of TES's characters and worldbuilding as I am are always welcome here.
16. One of your favourite tropes.
ooooh. I love this question! Mostly because tropes can be such good tools! Hmm. It's difficult to pin down one favorite. But I think...
Yes let me ramble on about @paraparadigm's Always Read the Fine Print for two tropes I quite enjoy her hot take on.
The first is Modern Girl In Skyrim / Isekai. I haven't really dove into the deep end of the trope, but the way Para has accomplished worldbuilding for Vera on TWO SIDES is fucking phenomenal. I am as invested in Vee's difficulties in Tamriel as I am in her past, her version of earth and the absolute t r a g e d y it was. Like. I don't want to give away any spoilers but holy hell, was it amazing. I'm rereading it now for the past timelines for ~clues~ in her sequel.
Next is Enemies to Friends to Lovers. This is specifically interesting to me because I don't usually see all three stages in full, or that slow change from each stage. And as it carries into GS, the nature of their relationship is just so fricken nuanced (that word again lol) and I just. I love reading it. I loved to see the entire progression so far. I can't say it enough.
18. Something you initially did not like but came around to.
Something, or someone?
Ulfric Stormcloak was one of my least favorite characters in Skyrim LOL. I think part of it was just the whole situation in Windhelm. The entire situation. He's supposed to be running the place and from the get go we get hella BS, we get a murder mystery with a serial killer on the loose and the guards just...what are they doing?? We get racisms said guards look away from, we get dilapidated slums in which they store actual people out of sight out of mind, and Ulfric is spending all the coin for ... a war? When his people are very clearly suffering? (Granted I do understand some of his point about the war. But the entire situation with the civil war is fucked tbh.)
That is but one read of this man, tbh. And I do, also, write him as a villain in World.
But you know who doesn't? And who shows a whole other facet to this particular character? @thequeenofthewinter. Oh here we go with more nuance :> I love it, I love it. Let me, for a second, plug her fic By the Light of the Moon, which is some of the first exposure I had to her work outside of WIP posts!
Here's a bit I loved about this piece:
If the Jarl is honest with himself, he has been awake more than he would like to be at this strange, in-between hour, and he has grown to both love and loathe its coming and going. On one hand, it is quiet, and it brings with it a type of clarity which helps him conduct his responsibilities in peace, away from the daily bother of the far too fast-paced cadence of his life. And on the other, well, he is tired, both physically and mentally. But this is his job. This is his duty. This is what is required of him in order to keep the people of the land he loves so fervently happy. He puts them and their needs first. His needs are always second because there is no time for Ulfric Stormcloak to be happy. It is very rarely that he indulges himself in thinking about his own happiness. I don’t deserve it, so why would I dare to dream? These types of wishes are for those who have more time on their hands and much less responsibility. When have I ever been allowed to be happy? He turns his head to look at the sleeping form behind him. If there was one thing— Ulfric shakes his head, chasing away the thought as he swirls a glass whiskey and drains it. He has no time for these types of thoughts right now. He has work to do. He turns back to the paperwork on his desk, watching the dark ink of his quill moving fluidly over the parchment he is currently looking over, a request for more supplies to be sent to the Snow Quarter. Ulfric sighs.
I just really love seeing the way things drift through this man's head. I love to see the anxiety. I love this sort of valor, of wanting to do better but already doing the best he can. It's so different from the main source material. But it's also possible. It's also possible. And that's the sort of nuance I do love, that he can be read in so many different ways. I used to dislike him. Hate him even for a myriad reasons. But now I find him relatively sad, except when I read Winter's work. Then I love him lol.
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New Backer-Reward Fluff Story by J. D. Harlock!
An author who we recruited to do a fluff story for our monthly backers on Patreon and ko-fi unfortunately wasn’t able to complete it due to life going haywire for them (and we are glad they stepped back when they needed to! Accommodating peoples’ real-life challenges is one of our Press-wide goals), which has meant that for some time we’ve been “one story behind,” owing our backers the story they were supposed to receive in September, 2023.
This is that story! This cute, funny story about “the Solarpunks” – a group of teens trying to exercise their rebellious years in the midst of an early semi-utopian solarpunk society – has our young offenders being forced to attend a workshop to try to “fix” their rebellious ways. It’s a sequel to the first Solarpunks story, Viva la Revolución, which is also a Patreon/ko-fi exclusive!
Title: The Solarpunks (are Forced to) Attend the Workshop to End All Hate and Misunderstanding Ever with Infinite Love and Endless Laughter
Author: J. D. Harlock
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: General Audiences
Relationship: friends
Character Features: bipoc, non-binary
Tags: alcohol use (casual), humor, past tense, pov third person omniscient, teenage rebellion, solarpunk
Teaser:
“Do you all know why you’re here?” Mx. Majzoub asked the attendees, with one eye on Dokgo and the other on Sami. “Anyone?” Dokgo raised his hand, but Ms. Majzoub kept looking around the room. “Anyone else?” Dokgo jerked his arm back and forth. “Anyone?! Please…” Dokgo stood up to speak anyway. “Okay, fine. Dokgo.”
“Mx. Majzoub,” Dokgo pushed back his spectacles with a smirk on his face. “Does it have to do with ending all hate and misunderstanding ever with infinite love and endless laughter?”
The students groaned loudly as Mx. Majzoub nodded and smiled as hard as she could. Dokgo, who seemed to enjoy this, then raised his arm again.
“Now, class.” Mx. Majzoub readily ignored him with one eye on one of the drawers on her desk. “For this exercise, I want you to pair up. One of you needs to present their fist, and the other needs to open it with whatever method they can think of. Hint, hint, it may involve some love and laughter.”
Length: 9 pages/2,304 words
All backers on Patreon and ko-fi, from our minimum level of $3/month and up, can read this story now for free!
Brighten up your mid-week with some solar sunshine and teen shenanigans! Back us on Patreon or ko-fi and read The Solarpunks (are Forced to) Attend… now!
Who we are: Duck Prints Press LLC is an independent publisher based in New York State. Our founding vision is to help fanfiction authors navigate the complex process of bringing their original works from first draft to print, culminating in publishing their work under our imprint. We are particularly dedicated to working with queer authors and publishing stories featuring characters from across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. Love what we do? Want to make sure you don’t miss the announcement for future giveaways? Sign up for our monthly newsletter and get previews, behind-the-scenes information, coupons, and more!
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im printing a fic to read while in school and this is ,,,,,,,,,, THE CHAPTERS WONT LINE UP
#haven't read the fic in a while though and everytime i get glimpses of lines i go !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#YEAH THIS FIC IS !!!!!!!!!!!!!#I Could and Have written essays over it.#why is printing fanfiction hard D:#i only have 27 of the 164 pages printed.. .#fuck it im making an egg sandwich#egg sandwich#while printing a fic from eg#ah how poetic <3#half considering hand writing this all down in my notebook#(id likely get caught less that way too the teacher would just think im reading notes)#(that's also how i never got caught not paying attention in class while drawing :D!)#(i drew in a notebook and the teacher thought i was just taking notes <33)#but also that's writing down 164 pages#oaky okay okayy im printing this bad boy#i mean that's the least i could do after someome wrote down all of it.#fucking litterally too#HEY EG EG DID YOU KNOW GONE AWAY IS 164 PAGES LONG?#BECAUSE I DIDN'T#HOLY SHIT BUD YOU SAID YOU WRITE IT ALL DOWN IN A NOTEBOOK TOO#YOU WROTE 164 PAGES BY HAND AND THEN HAD THE ENERGY TO WRITE IT ALL DOWN#***TYPE IT ALL DOWN FUCK#HEY EG HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU FOUGHT GOD AND WON ?#and how's your hand doing?
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Your Content and Accessibility For the Blind
Hello everyone! I was thinking about accessibility and wanted to make a post to help creators. This is going to cover general accessibility for blind people interacting with your content. Some of it may be obvious to some and this is by no means comprehensive, so feel free to add anything you think of that is helpful. Also, I wanted to include some ideas for DeafBlind people, but I am not DeafBlind or D/deaf, so I simply listed some general accessibility ideas. If anyone has any other tips or things to consider, please add them in a comment or message and I’ll include it here.
Remember, blindness exists on a spectrum. This post will focus on making things accessible for totally blind people, although these tips can also be beneficial for people with residual vision who use screen readers to reduce eye strain, for small text, for clarity, etc. D/deafness and DeafBlindness are also on spectrums. Some DeafBlind people have some hearing, some vision, a little of both, or none of either. If someone asks you for better or different accessibility services for your content, listen and try to accommodate them as best you can. I have provided some links and resources here to attempt to explain accessibility for blind people, which will include blind people who are DeafBlind. The point is accessibility issues can come from both sides whether it be the audio or visual sides.
Some general helpful links:
AFB’s Advice for image descriptions here
Screen-readers here
Improving Accessibility for the DeafBlind community here
How DeafBlind People Use Technology and The Importance of Braille and Transcripts: Understanding Assistive Technology
Online Content:
GIFs, Pictures, Fan-art, PSA and info posts, Memes, Screenshots of Text Posts or Screenshots of Twitter Threads- Provide an image description on your original post! This is the best option, as you probably know your content best and what you wish to draw attention to. More importantly, every reblog will include an image description, which means the blind person doesn’t need to hunt for an image description in the reblogs! If you know more than one language, include image descriptions in those languages.
Note: Always include descriptions when you post images with or about blind people or characters. Particularly fan-art you made of blind characters. If you don’t, consider why and think about how it would feel to be shut out of something about yourself.
What should you include?
Write Image Description in brackets and include End of Image Description at the end for clarification. As for what you should describe, it depends on what the picture is. Include where it is from. For example, “a screenshot of a Twitter thread by BlindBetaIsAwesome”. Include the text and describe any GIFs or images it includes. Write everything out as they appear. Describe emojis as well. When writing out screen names or hashtags, capitalize the first letter of each word. Otherwise screen-readers read it oddly. For example instead of #accessibilityfortheblind try #AccessibilityForTheBlind. If you think someone will want to search a name, include a link.
You should describe what is important in the image, especially for conveying information or humor. General ideas include: image origin, who is in the image, what they’re doing, any relevant colors or clothing, objects they’re holding, their facial expression, any emojis, and any text in the image. Blind people do like to know about color. For NSFW stuff, include ‘NSFW’ at the start, but other than that, yes, blind people also generally like NSFW things described.
Fanfiction:
Generally, fanfic is very accessible to screen-readers and Braille Displays. However, there are a few ways you can make it more accessible.
Pictures: Include alt-text for any images you post such as artwork or character social media posts. Describe it like you would any other image. Alt-text is different from an image description because instead of a screen-reader saying “image” when it finds an image, it will describe the image. An image description is the text included beneath the picture that everyone can see. Including some kind of description, especially for plot-relevant images, can allow all blind readers to experience the fic.
Chat conversations: Again, for hashtags and screen names, capitalize the first letter of each word for the ease of screen-readers. For characters who don’t use capitalization much, you can add a hyphen between each word to make it easier to read like this: blind-beta-likes-fanfic-too.
Emojis: Screen readers can’t fully read emojis like this one that uses keyboard slashes and symbols to create an image ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (image description: emoji of a person shrugging with both palms lifted upwards. End description.) However, they can read emojis that come on a phone such as 🧁which screen readers read as “cupcake”.
Podfics are also good for hearing people with no vision or reduced vision. Having a podfic with good quality (maybe one that can describe images found in the story) will reduce some of the issues listed here and give blind people another, fun way to interact with content. However, I would try to keep in mind the things I mentioned above for the sake of screen-readers and Braille Displays, which are particularly important for some DeafBlind people who may want to read your fanfic and may not be able to hear well enough to use a screen-reader.
Lastly, keep in mind that any kind of comic may be inaccessible to some blind people. Write with them in mind. Include a message at the start of the story, maybe that it contains material from the comic, graphic novel, or print cartoon. If you know of a comic dub, link to it. If there is none, include details in the story so that a non-manga or non-comic reader would be able to understand.
Web-Comics/Web-Graphic-Novels:
First, I did research and found a comic book store for the blind called Comics Empower. Unfortunately, when I click the link provided on Twitter and the articles I read, the site seems to be down.
However, this is about you all and sharing your comics with blind readers. You have a few options:
Alt-text. This is descriptions directly ‘inside’ the image, which is not visible to everyone. You can read about alt-text for comics specially here and you can read general info for alt-text for screen-readers and Braille Displays here.
Image descriptions. These are descriptions of each comic page (hopefully with a paragraph for each panel) that can be visible to anyone. You can describe your comic, who is in it, what they’re doing, and what they’re saying, probably beneath the image.
Comic Audio Performances. These are accessible to both blind and sighted audiences. These are videos using actors for the dialogue, sound effects, and moving comic panels. Pros for this style include increased viewership, increased accessibility for the blind, and perhaps more revenue if you have a way to monetize the content. Cons include that it is more work, could potentially cost money when hiring actors initially, may not be accessible to anyone with hearing loss, and may still require a bit of audio description for some panels that are hard to follow with only sound effects.
What can you do?
A few ideas I had were to use a combination of image descriptions and audio performances to make the comics accessible to a number of people who may be blind, or DeafBlind. Having options is helpful. For ther issue of some panels needing extra description in order to make sense, I thought of including time-stamps and descriptions in the description section, labeling it as image descriptions for the blind. Include dialogue for reference. Or an audio description could be added such as:
Audio narration: “Bee sits on a couch writing.”
Sound Effect of a purring cat.
Audio narration: “Blind Beta picks up an orange cat and puts him on the couch next to them.”
Dialogue: “I’m so glad I have a cat to cuddle with!”
I will touch on this in the video section, but while it is sadly not possible to add audio descriptions onto YouTube as of 2021, you can add them manually through websites you like YouDescribe. For your comics, I suggest, reading about YouDescribe, downloading the app, creating a narration transcript for your web comic performance, and posting the described audio performance onto YouDescribe. Post both versions as close to the same time as you can, and include a link to the described version in the YouTube description. A glance at YouDescribe will tell you not all videos are available with descriptions and not all blind people are aware of this service. Not all videos are searchable in their library either. However, it is an option I wanted to include.
You could also simply include the audio narration in your main YouTube video if you would like. Or any combination of my suggestions you feel comfortable with.
YouTube Videos/Video Clips:
I wanted to cover YouTube videos and video clips shared on websites like tumblr. For small clips, image descriptions and transcripts could probably be listed together. I have seen this done and it seems to help people.
Again, the original poster should post the description with the video. This is because they know the most important parts and because all reblogs of the post will include the description, so no one will have to hunt down a description that may not exist.
For the clip or clip compilation, mention where the clips come from, who is in them, and what they are doing. You could probably have a separate paragraph for each clip and include times-stamps if possible.
For videos you post on YouTube, descriptions can be very helpful! Unfortunately, YouTube does not support adding an audio description track at this time. Ideally, YouTube would have a description track one could turn on and off such as with subtitles. Until then, if you want to add a description, you should add one yourself when you post the video onto YouTube or any other website.
Before I get into how, let’s go over something else.
What videos need descriptions?
-Recipe videos - especially ones with only text. Ingredients, steps, measures, methods, any flourishes or special scenery (such as when shopping for ingredients) should be described. Blind people don’t just want you to read the recipe to them. They want to know what is happening in the video and how it is being done.
-Tutorials - These often contain a voice-over and accompanying images to demonstrate. A creator can opt to simply include more visual description along with the other information in the voice-over or add extra narration later (see the “How?” section below). For these videos, make sure to avoid or expand on any visually dependent parts such as “click here” or “fold here” or “when you finish, it should look like this”. Videos that contain only text and demonstration, however, will need a more traditional audio description the same as any other video.
-Silent aesthetic videos - Sometimes containing music or focusing on natural noise, these videos are usually vlogs with soothing activities or daily routines. They often show scenery, pretty things, or tours. Because these videos are silent, sometimes containing only text, they are not accessible. However, they can be easy to describe, perhaps in a soothing or educational fashion.
-Music videos - Because these videos are by nature visual, they may not be accessible. They may also have inconsistent, poor, or changing lighting for aesthetic purposes or set changes. This means audio descriptions would be helpful.
-Text-based videos - Obviously these are not accessible or may be difficult to read depending on font size, style, or background. For these, putting the text in the description may suffice. Label it so that blind people are aware they are getting the same material. If the text includes pictures or short clips, you could also simply include your own narration on the video itself or see the “How?” section below for another alternative.
-Game Play-Throughs - Games can sometimes be completely inaccessible pe very difficult depending on the person’s level of site. A lot of video games a not accessible or difficult to play, with quick-moving graphics, perhaps small text, or other difficulties. Because of this, blind people may enjoy game plays on YouTube for video games and mobile games.
-Skits or other performances - Think of these as Netflix shows with audio description tracks. Blind people may miss out on some visual humor, plot elements, or other fun visual aspects like costumes.
-Original Films, Animation, Clips From Shows - Again, think of it as any TV show that needs to description to cover visual aspects of what is happening. Scenery, characters, what they’re doing, any text, facial expressions, etc.
Pet videos- Because pets are cute and they should be described! Especially because these videos are sometimes hard to follow, such as a pet doing a trick.
How? How Do We Provide This?
There is always the option to add your own audio descriptions. However, that way confuse already-existing narration or may not be possible for already-published videos. You may also have trouble speaking and wish for someone else to provide audio descriptions. The video may be a music video or one you want to remain silent for the aesthetic. You may want to add a description to a video you enjoy that is not one you uploaded personally.
A free website and mobile app called YouDescribe can help with that. It allows people to add audio descriptions to videos on YouTube. You can even describe videos on a wishlist. Find out more here.
If you describe your video or have it described, be sure to link to the YouDescribe video in the description of your YouTube version so that people can find it easily, or note that it is available on YouDescribe.
Here is a link to the website
And a link to the app.
This site may be a bit too niche, but I figure if it helps one person, I’ll be happy. My entire blog is niche, when you think about it- targeting writers who specifically want to write and read about blind characters. It’ll be fine.
Keep in mind that audio descriptions may not be accessible to all DeafBlind people. An inclusive option could be to include a description under your video so people with Braille Displays can read it.
Print Books, Audiobooks, Large Print Books, or Braille Books?
Let’s get into something you writers might be interested in. Books! Let’s say you wrote a book with a blind character. How do you make sure it can be accessed by blind readers? You want to have a few options.
Print books - These are accessible to people with reduced vision. It is also possible to scan print books to read with voiceover, but I can’t imagine many people buying books simply to scan unless they borrowed/found it. So it could be an option, I suppose. Scanning books also takes time because you need to do each individual page.
Audiobooks - Audiobooks are great. They are accessible to blind people who can hear. They are cheaper to produce than Braille books, take up less space, and are better for the environment. They can be expensive when you buy them. Libraries have extensive collections now, however, because libraries don’t usually have any Braille books and very few large print books, not all blind people use them, even for digital access. However,many blind people love audiobooks so it a good way to make sure your content is accessible.
As of now, my library app is accessible with a screenreader, so reading audiobooks is possible. E-books are not currently accessible with a screen-reader on this particular app.
Make sure to release your print books and audiobooks at the same time or as soon as possible. It isn’t fair for blind people to have to wait, although there are cases where not having an audiobook is understandable. Keep in mind that the less options you have, the less accessible your content will be.
Large Print Books - I used to get large print books myself. I would say it is less likely publishers will want to publish large print books because they are, of course, larger and take up more space. (Not as much as Braille books, but we’ll get into that.) As you may assume, they are also less popular with readers. Publishers make exceptions for textbooks, so if you are making a textbook or an educational book, particularly one with drawings, publishers might allow it. They also might consider making large print editions of children’s books. Large print books can sometimes be found at libraries, although they are usually crammed into their own limited section. That shows how rare it is for large print books to be printed compared to regular-sized books. I have an extra note about this in the children’s book section, but for the most part, I think you can get away with not having a large print edition of your book.
Braille Books - I should you one doesn’t just make a Braille book. Feelings toward them are generally complicated. They can wear down over time, cost a lot, and take up a lot of space. One volume of a book is several volumes of Braille books. Libraries don’t generally have them- you have to request them from various places like The National Library Service for the Blind (NLS). For more information about obtaining or borrowing Braille books, look here.
Braille Books have largely been replaced by refreshable Braille displays and audiobooks. However, they are still important. They can also help DeafBlind people, if a book cannot be read on a Braille display (see the section on e-books below). My suggestion would be to skip Braille books unless you are writing for children (see the Children’s Books section) or your book contains many diagrams that need to be embossed.
Children’s Books -
I wanted to briefly discuss children’s books. With children’s books, you will, of course, want to have a print book and an audiobook available, perhaps even someone reading the book on YouTube. If the book has pictures, descriptions of the pictures would be nice. This is also where I think large print and Braille books may be not only possible or more likely, but important. Children are just learning to read and will continue to explore a love for reading. Therefore, a lack of reading material can be challenging.
If possible, you may want to consider asking your publisher if large print or Braille versions are possible. While websites are available so that children can get books, you may want to ask for your book to be published in these formats if your story has a blind MC.
Braille literacy is declining in the blind community, with children (and frankly many others) choosing to use VoiceOver and audiobooks to read rather than Braille. Being able to read helps reinforce spelling, grammar, meaning in ways that are not possible with having things read to you. That said, children should also be encouraged to learn technology and use audiobooks when they feel comfortable.
If you are publishing a children’s book, particularly with a blind MC, consider what your options are for increasing accessibility.
E-Books:
This is one of the more accessible options, as it can be read with a screen-reader or Braille display. E-books are also common enough that they are released at the same time as print books. The text can usually be adjusted and readers usually have a Search feature. However, accessibility is still a problem with e-books. While authors cannot fix this, they should be aware of it. You can read about accessibility issues here.
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I hope all this helped somewhat. I provide sensitivity reading for blind characters for anyone who is interested.
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Tagged by @pidgeonpostal! And not tagging anyone else because I have SOILED the original template (soiled it!!) in deference to my [brushes off skirt] mostly clean public-facing appearance.
...I’ve been making a lot of Spongebob memes lately for someone who has not seen Spongebob.
How many works do you have on AO3?
71!
What’s your total AO3 wordcount?
...306,834. Jesus.
How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?
Uh. Many! I do a lot of one-offs (and/or start long things I never finish) in many different places. My top three fandoms by fics written are RWBY (29), Undertale (25), Gravity Falls/Transcendence AU (4).
Bet you can’t tell where my hyperfixations have fallen.
I’ve also got some Pokémon and Sonic the Hedgehog fics back on my ff.net account, or I think I still do, anyway, but let’s never go back there pls
What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
1. Sweeter Than Honey (Undertale): Taking a Completely unsurprising first place, with over 600 more kudos than the runner-up, the haphazard Underswap fic featuring a post-college self-insert I wrote just after high school! I shake my head some at how overblown and ridiculous the gap between this and all my other stuff is (c’mon, guys, I’ve written way better fics), but this is also the fic which prompted me (and at least one other person!) to start using they/them pronouns. I’ve gotten a lot of really sweet comments about how seen and appreciated it’s made people feel, so I can’t get down too far about it.
2. To Be A Hero (BNHA): I don’t count myself as part of the BNHA fandom, for a number of reasons, but for something that’s arguably the main motivation for the entire plot, Midoriya’s quirklessness is something I’ve never thought has been handled well. This fic marked the first time I (somewhat tentatively) claimed the disability label (thanks again to Sweeter Than for prompting that realization) to hold that lens over canon. It also really shot up my chart, dang! It’s the only thing here I’d consider “recent.”
3. Three-Sentence Shipping (Undertale): Self-explanatory.
4. Brothers Beyond Bonedaries (Undertale): Ah, the way-overcomplicated AU³ I got nowhere close to finishing. One of the things I really like about Undertale is the interface screw, how Toby Fox uses the medium of the video game to pull off crazy things and enhance his game, but most of the fic written for the fandom seems dedicated to explaining it away, grounding it, rather than taking it to the next step and messing with the medium of fanfiction when you keep the story going. I tried to do something cool like that here, playing with questions like narrator and authorship and breaking the fourth wall, even taking the “final boss” fight to a “totally separate” fic reached through the first by link – but, well, then I never finished it, which probably didn’t make anything less confusing for the poor folks who missed the intent.
5. Spirit and Such (Gravity Falls: Transcendence AU): A whole fic written to line out a particular image I had, which, naturally, never made it to the page. I consider it a bit of a cautionary tale for myself when it comes to writing (near-)original content; there’s a lot I look back on and cringe. I still love the characters, though �� well, the important ones – and I think just stepping away from the tried-and-true Mizar formula nets it a star sticker here.
Do you respond to comments, why or why not?
>w>; I try, but a lot of the time I just don’t have anything to say? Like, oh, you liked it? Neat. There’s not much to respond to in comments like that, and then I’m weighing falling down on an ~obligation~ to respond to every message in my inbox vs annoying people with copy-paste fluff responses all down the page. Plus I know I make more of an effort to comment on things that didn’t get the attention I feel they deserve, so if I’m driving up my own comment count with nonsense, am I preventing myself from being in a position to receive more comments later? And then if I do comment, am I being too effusive or running people’s ears off explaining things they don’t actually need to know? Sometimes people just want to express interest or admiration and don’t necessarily want a whole peek and guided tour behind the curtain.
Can you tell I have anxiety? x3;
Anyway, I do respond when I can. And I keep most of the comments I’ve gotten to go back and reread.
What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?
Hm, hmm. Lots of stuff in the TQ Nonsense series would probably qualify! I’m thinking of Unfixable, Wolfsong, and Ethanol. And there’s Bursting Through A Blood-Red Sky (I Can Live, I Can Breathe), of course, but that was always intended to have a fix-it epilogue. It’s just that I wrote it in a couple of hours day-of, stared at it, and decided I didn’t wanna just then. But now that’s As Long As You’re Still Burning Bright (I’m Still Awake), and that’s probably the best romance I’ve written, so that one worked out.
Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve ever written?
Now and then! When the urge strikes. Uhhh, I’ve got a series of Doctor Who x Undertale crossovers I actually made a whole dang verse for that never made it to print. Get a couple great comments on that every few months or so. I think the World Trigger x Undertale crossover is probably weirder, though, by virtue of WT being a very small fandom. My enthusiasm kinda sputtered out on that one.
Mostly I just daydream crossovers with whatever happens to catch my eye at any given moment. I have a lot!!!! Though odds are out on whether I manage to remember any of them once the initial thought’s passed, lol.
Have you ever received hate on a fic?
Gotten a couple eyebrow-raising comments, but I think mostly I’m just too small a writer to draw that kind of attention.
Have you ever had a fic stolen?
I don’t? think so? Think my tastes are a little niche for most people to bother ^^;
Have you ever had a fic translated?
I had someone apologize once for any language mistakes in their comment cause they had to run it through a translator! That’s not what you asked (the answer is no), but it’s very flattering to think that someone liked my fic enough to read and comment despite the language barrier.
Have you ever co-written a fic before?
Yes! :D @pidgeonpostal was gracious enough to agree to co-write Five Nights at Denny’s with me off an idea about shoes. This has fulfilled a long-held dream of mine (collabing with someone, not the shoes) and also introduced me to some lovely people.
What’s your all time favorite ship?
Who has time for just one? ;3c Honestly, I care more about the characters and how the relationship – any relationship – between them changes them than I do about ~A Ship~ as a solid, bounded noun-object. I’ve got characters I like more and less and feelings about who does and doesn’t have chemistry in which directions with whom, but finding anything that agrees with those preferences is hard, harder when you take alloromanticism into account. I’ll play in any sandbox with cool toys, especially if other folks have already built sick sandcastles there.
What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?
[kicks every single unfinished fic further under the bed] What nooo no WIPs here, everything on my account is either finished or does not exist
I’ve got a couple extra chapters of Sweeter Than floating around unposted, but 1. that fic’s a mess 2. high school Twixt and post-college Twixt are different people and trying to contort myself into three other me-shapes just cause people Like this fic is not something I’m super interested in 3. it’s headed for an emotional dip and I’d rather leave it where it is than post two chapters, stall out again, and leave folks with a bad end.
As for other fics... it’s looking more and more likely that v7 of my Yellow Brick Road AU will never actually make it out. >w>; I’ve got some really great ideas, but not enough to make me feel like I know what I’m doing, and that’s a big roadblock. Plus trying to engage with RT’s Atlas-Mantle worldbuilding in any serious capacity is... a headache. I can’t recommend the Happy Huntress Cinematic Universe enough, but it leaves some pretty big shoes to follow! And I’ve got small feet. <w<;
What are your writing strengths?
Dialogue’s fun, probably as an extension of characterization. I love tearing into what makes people tick, especially against the backdrop of their environment, the story they’re in, and the people they’re up against. Voice is a double-edged sword; I’ve been told my writing is really recognizable and individual, but on the other hand, I’ve been growing frustrated with with the limits of my narrative ability. There’s a strong rhythm I keep when I write (you might notice it here, even) but that leaves me feeling predictable and stale. I’m not sure I’m great at setting as a matter of course, but I’m pretty good at describing setpieces where the need comes up; that comes from my background in poetry, as does the fun I have with sublimating and abstracting complex imagery. And I think I bring some needed nuance to the universal. For good or ill, I don’t do what “everyone else” is doing.
What are your writing weaknesses?
Well, writing, for one thing. If I don’t know how something’s going to go and don’t have the urge to write it, it isn’t getting done, which means there’s a billion things that will never see the page and a few hundred more that are never getting finished. I lose momentum easily and have a hard time getting started, and I put way too much standing on finding a foothold with other people; as critical as I am of my work, I have high expectations for the stuff that passes muster, and it never seems to measure up. I’m also really uncreative. Yeah, I can mix up elements and extrapolate events, but coming up with things wholesale is really hard, which is why I avoid it wherever possible and steal/reskin stuff from other places instead.
What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?
Something along the lines of “Hoo boy, I am Not qualified for this but hopefully it’s decent anyway.” Maria’s Spanish lines haven’t been a big deal – I’ve used it sparingly and, as a Latin language, it should be easy for English-speaking audiences to pick up on the gist – but I’ve had a harder time with Tai’s Chinese, both because I have Even Less background there and because it is, of course, an entirely different language system. If I write it out in English or Romanized italics, am I colonizing it or changing the meaning? If I write it out in the presumed-original characters (presumed because it’s Google Translate and who knows if I’m even barking in the right forest), am I confusing or alienating my presumed-majority-English-speaking audience? Where should I put the translations? Should I put the translations? And for Frisk’s sign language, thinking back, are the brackets I used instead of quotes alienating/infantilizing? I like that different characters give the text between a different feel, but I’m not an ASL speaker – and I’m pretty sure the word is “speaker,” which would only reinforce that that demographic would rather I didn’t do that. It’s important for all these characters, I think, that they use non-English language where it makes sense; it’s part of who they are. But as a white monolingual English-speaker, I don’t think I can really weigh in.
What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?
Thaaaat’d be Pokémon, followed closely with Sonic the Hedgehog. Whether those fics are still on my ff.net account or not (pretty sure I’ve purged them, but you never know) I’ve still got a couple saved to a folder on my current laptop, ostensibly so I can look back and see how far I’ve come and more practically to allow for the possibility of furthering group cohesion through public shaming.
What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?
I still like the idea behind The Man Who Is Atlas, and Burning Bright (Still Awake) gets props for being my current fic, though it’s currently in that spot where I’m excited to get new chapters posted but also quietly marking everything up in red pen. I think Harbinger gets the crown here, at least for now.
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Red Pens and Keyboards
For those of you who prefer this format to having to click a link and go to Ao3. Cursed Coffee Shop AU. Lancewain Rated T for minor swearing and suggestive themes. Summary: Lancelot is a new writer. Gawain is his editor. They meet outside the office for once at a nook in the wall coffee shop. A little bit of chaos ensues. Percival is the the one with the relationship knowledge in this one. His dad needs to ask Lancelot out already.
Lancelot ran. He was fucked. This was the third time in as many weeks he had been late for meeting his editor. It hadn’t been a common occurrence until lately. For months he had been on time, but the last few weeks he’d been feeling increasingly more inspired and had been staying up later and later to write. That was in his opinion a valid reason for being late of course. He had overslept. Again. He was currently working fulltime and then some during the day and when he returned home at night he wrote. Last night he had been especially inspired, the same way he had been the last three times he’d been meant to meet with Gawain. He didn’t think too deeply as to why the inspiration was linked to these nights, but he certainly would not push it away.
He jumped over a large puddle in the middle of the sidewalk and nearly slipped. Righting himself he carried on, satchel thrown over his shoulder and nose tucked into his greying scarf. Grimacing he hoped that the rain wouldn't ruin the manuscript and his laptop. He’d forgotten his umbrella because of course he did. He ducked around the corner and, avoiding the drip edge of the shop roofs, bolted towards the coffee shop at the end of the block. The problem, he mused, with being a brand new and unknown author is that it didn’t provide an income that was live able. He had self published and had a meager following. Then one day a man had called and offered to take him on Pro Bono. It was a risky move for Gawain to have taken and Lancelot was certain this would be the last straw. Stopping outside Nemos he gathered himself, rain splashing on his face. He looked through the water speckled window for the brown haired man. He couldn't help but smile to himself when he saw him tucked in the back corner table. Gawain was well put together and wearing that green sweater that absolutely did not highlight his eyes or make him look a hundred times more attractive. Lancelot blushed to himself and shook his head. He was half an hour late and looked like shit in comparison. He had thrown his hair hastily into a bun, and knew he had circles that rivaled a raccoon's mask ringing his eyes. Taking a breath and setting his features to polite indifference he entered the store with his shoulders squared. If he was going to lose this gig, better do it with dignity. He approached the table where Gawain was tapping away on his laptop. Swallowing he opened his mouth to speak. Gawain, of course, chose that moment to make eye contact with him and smile. The words died in his suddenly very dry throat. His composure breaks just a touch with it. “Over sleep again?” “Uhm.” He sounded very dumb but Gawain just laughed. “The writing bug got you last night, then?” “Definitely.” He said sitting in the adjacent chair. Why wasn’t he getting his ass chewed? “I apologize. I’ve wasted your time.” “Nonsense. It happens when one works in our business. I can edit just as well here as my office so I’ve been working. Besides, you're my only meeting today.” The editor said putting his laptop aside. “Did you bring the printed version for me?” “Just like you asked.” “Very good, go grab some coffee so you look like you could use it.” Lancelot nodded and left the table as Gawain set to work with his pen. He wondered if the man knew how adorable he was with his face screwed up in concentration, pen resting idly against his very kissable lips. Lancelot rubbed his face. He really needed some caffeine. That was his editor. Nothing more. Despite his serious caffeine addiction, Lancelot did not drink coffee. Tea and energy drinks were his go to, and this being a coffee shop changed nothing. He ordered a hot extra strong, meaning very bitter, black tea. He couldn’t be bothered to care what kind, or brand, only that it was strong. He rubbed his numb fingers together in a poor attempt to regain blood flow. It stung when he was handed the almost too hot cup of tea. He lifted it to his lips and thought better of it. He did not need to scald his tongue and make a fool of himself. The embarrassment of being late was enough. Turning back towards the table he stopped. There was a young boy engaged in conversation with Gawain. He recognized him from the photos in his office. The office that they currently were not meeting in. He brushed the thought aside to be evaluated at a later time and worked his way back to the couple. “How much longer?” The boy asks as though it’s an innocent question. “You’ve got somewhere to be?” Gawain is far from moved by the question, eyes barely leaving the papers in front of him. “No, but I'm bored.” He stretches the “r” and lands hard on the “d”as if to emphasize his point. “You asked to come with me Percival.” And that must be Gawain's dad voice, because the man sounds about as done as done can be with this line of conversation. At least he assumes he's the boy's father. “I know. But really this place is bloody awful, it smells like burnt coffee.” If one's voice could sound like an eye roll that was definitely it. “Percival!” Even Lancelot straightens his spine at the stern tone. “Sorry.” He wants to laugh, the boy isn’t wrong so he bites his lip and smiles, tucking his nose back into his scarf. Quietly so as not to interrupt the conversation, but definitely noticed he sets his drink down and pulls his laptop out. They have a system, Gawain edits, he writes, then he makes those edits on the digital copy. But Gawain likes him to be present for the editing, which is why they go chapter by chapter. He promises that he will read it all at once when it's finished as a final edit and continuity check and that's good enough for Lance. He isn’t the editor after all. Gawain sighs and it brings him from his thoughts. He looks up from the login screen he's been staring at. He should do that eventually. “Lancelot, this is Percival, Percival meet Lancelot.” “Nice to meet you.” He holds out his hand and the boy takes it politely. “You're sure this isn’t a date? Because you never meet people outside your office.” Lancelot feels his face burn and pointedly doesn’t look at Gawain. That is definitely interesting knowledge to possess. The silence that follows lasts a beat or three to long. “I am technically working. And for the record Percival, dates don’t always occur by going out . Now, we have work to do, so here is my laptop, you know the rules, fix your boredom.” The boy rolls his eyes and takes the offered electronic. “Sorry about that.” Gawain murmurs halfheartedly, eyes cast at the manuscript before him, pen twirling in his fingers, and face unmistakably flushed. “That's alright. He’s your son, right?” “Adopted, yes. His parents were good friends of mine.” “I’m sorry.” “Thank you. He seems to be adjusting well.” He tracks Gawain's gaze to the dirty blond boy and smiles. “He seems like a spit fire.” “He is. With a foul tongue at that.” They share a laugh over it. Lancelot changes the subject after. He’s a little unsure where the boundaries are and decides to play it safe by speaking about work. “There's two chapters there… I managed a full chapter last night, and then some.” “That's impressive. How much sleep did you end up getting then?” “Uhm… I think four hours or so.” He squirms under the scrutiny of Gawain's gaze, and withers at the deadpan admonishment that he receives. “It's a wonder your heart doesn’t give out, between your caffeine addiction and lack of sleep.” He nods. There isn’t an argument in his favor. Swallowing he starts again, “If we don’t get through it all that's fine. I just figured I would bring it since I have it.” “I’m grateful you did. One chapter never seems quiet enough. Reminds me of some of the stories I read online. I may be an editor, but I am highly impatient when it comes to stories I enjoy.” “Online, as in self published stuff? Or… fanfiction?” Gawain tilts his head and smirks, “Both.” “Oh my god. Is that how you found me?” He panics, heart racing in his chest as he thinks about everything he's ever posted. Maybe his pseudonyms hadn’t been different enough if Gawain had found him. Or maybe he hadn’t put it together that the Weeping Monk and The Gray Monk were the same writer. Even when he had self published he hadn’t had the courage to do so under his real name, more accustomed to running around with usernames and gamer tags. “You did self publish via Amazon. And I am always looking for good writers, Monk.” He wants to die. He can feel the burn of embarrassment spread up his neck and slither across his cheeks. He doesn’t know if Gawain knows but that doesn’t stop his brain from running down every possibility in 10 seconds flat. And if he didn’t put it together he sure as hell could now. He’d as good as admitted that he writes for fandoms. Gawain takes mercy on him and chuckles lightly before turning back to his work. Horrified, Lancelot takes a long drink from his still too hot, very bitter tea. Today has been insane and it's only 9:56. He needs to go back to bed. He licks his lips and turns to his laptop. He needs to write. He’s certain that if he can just bury himself in the world he has created for long enough the embarrassment and stray thoughts about asking Gawain out will leave him alone. With some effort he manages to zone out of the coffee shop around them, the sounds and smells fading into the background. His tea goes cold while he works. Patrons have begun flooding the shop for the lunch rush and he doesn't notice it, nor does he notice the muffin that's sitting beside him now. What he does notice is that his character's love interest is starting to resemble his own quiet vividly. Angrily he highlights the section and deletes it with a growl. Can’t have that. What would Gawain think? He has no idea what Gawain's preference is, and the other man hasn’t given much in the way of indication in the matter… not that Lancelot is great at picking up on it anyways. He starts the section over. He focuses on the click clack of his keyboard and writes Gavin slightly differently. It’s not working and he sighs defeated. He should really change the name too. This is his introduction chapter. Gawain hasn’t seen it. There's still time. He’s about to stand and stretch, take a drink of his tea and ask about Gawain's progress when all movement in Nemos stops. “ Why do they have a magic portal in the bathtub? ” Gawain's shocked tone is loud enough that he recoils away from it. He makes eye contact and sucks in a breath. Have Gawain's eyes always been this green? They are shiny with water. Was he going to cry? Laugh? Wait there was a question he was probably supposed to answer. “Uh, comedy? Magic?” Gawain actually glares at him, and he takes a slow measured drink from very cold tea. That was apparently very much not the right answer. He swallows with difficulty, because how can those eyes be this distracting right now. He ignores the spike of arousal it sends down his spine. Nope. This is very much not the correct environment for this. He looks around the room casually. “Lancelot?” “I wrote myself into a corner and needed a convenient way for my protagonist to escape. It seemed clever when I wrote it. Apparently not.” He shrugs and turns back to his laptop. “I can fix it later, when I have more sleep in my system.” “I, no. I,” Gawain reaches across the table and grabs his wrist. He looks up at the man, hurt must be written on his face, because Gawain frowns at him. “I think it’s brilliant and very funny. I just was so unprepared for it. The rest of the book has been so serious and the magic has been all designed for the purposes of combat. I’m concerned you’ll need to go back and fix that or offer an explanation in the following chapters.— “ Gawain's hand is surprisingly calloused and very warm against his own inherently cool skin. He tries not to focus on the point of contact but can't help it. He desperately wants to turn his hand over and hold the others more correctly. He knows Gawain is telling him something important but he can't seem to get his mind to follow what's being said. The contact is a bit much, more than he has had in some time and he is loath to do anything that might break it; so, he nods hoping that it's sufficient for whatever Gawain has just asked. He knows his throat won't push out the air required for speech, even if he willed it with all his being. He tilts his head and licks his lips and gets lost in Gawain's gaze. He has no idea at all what is being said now and can’t seem to get his mind to focus. Percivals' voice is what finally gets his attention. The boy is all attitude when he speaks. “Not a date? You two look like you should be kissing each other senseless. Holding hands and all. You're so embarrassing Gawain. Can I have the power cord, it's been hours and the damn thing is going to die.” Slowly he comes back to himself and glances down at his arm. Gawain rubs his thumb over the skin on the back of his wrist, exposed from removing his jacket at some point, and then pulls away. “If you ask politely.” Gawain says, unfazed save for the slight pink tinging his neck. “Fine, Can I please have the power cord for the laptop, Gawain?” The boy says rolling his eyes and giving a full body shrug. It’s not polite but Gawain's eyes are full of amusement as he digs in his bag for the cord. “Alright, here.” Gawain hands it over, from the depths of his bag. Gawain watches the boy go, and turns back ready to say something but Lancelot is quicker. “Whose muffin?” “Oh, huh, uh yours if you want it. I got one for Percival and I a bit ago and figured you hadn’t eaten.” Gawain laughs out sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Oh, uh, you guessed correctly. Thank you.” He pulls the muffin closer with an awkward smile. “Don’t mention it. I was happy too. Though I wasn’t sure what kind you liked, so I went with lemon. I thought it might compliment the tea.” He follows the casual gesture with his eyes, and flicks them back to the others face. “It’s one of my preferences. You guessed correctly. You seem to be on a streak for that today.” “That’s good.” Gawain says with a wry smile, all his confidence seeming to leave in an instant. Lancelot frowns. He doesn’t think anything he said should have that kind of effect. He tears a piece off of the muffin and chews it slowly, noting the way Gawain tracks the movement. Feeling a little like prey under the others gaze he manages a weak, “You didn’t poison it did you. I mean if my writing is that bad…” He trails off as the other snorts. Good, this is better. He doesn’t like it when Gawain frowns; it doesn’t suit him at all, and he definitely has too many lines from doing it too often. Gawain shakes his head and smiles at him. “Nothing of the sort. I enjoy the eccentricities of it. I was just thinking…” “About?” He takes another bite to fill the silence, and again Gawain tracks the movement and suddenly Lancelot thinks that he wasn’t wrong about the times he glanced up and thought he’d been being watched. It had happened a lot in the office, but more today. “If I’m three for three.” “That depends on what you're guessing.” He shrugs and takes a drink of tea, grimaces from the bitterness. Cold tea always seems more bitter to him than it does when it's hot. He waits patiently for Gawain to supply his guess. The man's face changes emotions several times in the process. He opens his mouth and closes it several times, frowning and then focusing, like a fish out of water. He’s finished both his muffin and his tea by the time Gawain finally say’s what it is he wants to say. “I’m guessing that if I asked you out you’d say yes.” Gawain stares him down, and Lancelot for his part does not let his emotions get the better of him. He keeps his face stoic and posture rigid. “That depends.” Gawain swallows and he follows the bob of his Adam's apple with hungry eyes. Lets them linger at Gawain's collar for a moment and then brings them slowly back to his eyes, lingering on his lips momentarily; predatory where before he had been prey. “On?” Gawain asks a waver in his voice. “If you’ll make me breakfast.” No one said he was good at flirting. “I think I can arrange that. Someone has to make sure you eat more than caffeine and sugar.” Amusement sparkles in his eyes. “Hmmm…. I think that depends on if you like me as a member of the undead or not.” “Being dead could have some, how shall we say, negative effects.” The suggestively raised eyebrow does it for Lancelot. He feels his composure fracture as he hangs his head and laughs. Any chance of continuing their work is gone with it, lost in the early afternoon chaos of their favorite coffee shop.
#Cursed#Lancewain#coffee shop au#rated t#first date#getting together#awkwardnes#emberassment#Author Regrets nothing but her inability to write humor
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I promised pics of the books at the Ket Cave and thus I deliver
There’s a few pics so you can read the titles so if you dont wanna see these I’ve added this handy ‘read more’ for you.
ONWARD!
I’m working on the setup. And yes that light is blinding.
This is just the lower shelf. I’ve decided to keep my Eragon coloring book pages, Peace and Sirenity binder and folder, and all my paints, pencils, art stuff, etc down here.
Main shelf!
Eragon and Eldest, OFC. I’ve not read Prisoner B-3087 yet, I just got it yesterday. Next is Escape from Camp 14, a biography from a defector from NK who grew up in the ‘three generation’ secret prison camps (this isn’t a long past thing, it’s relatively recent). After that is another new book from yesterday, How to Build a Dinosaur because who wouldn’t want that book? Also I’m lacking paleo and geo books. My Side of the Mountain is always worth some rereading imo, it’s a good book.
Now on to the stranger stuff. The Woman with a Worm in Her Head is a book about some of the more whacky infectious disease and parasites and stories about them. The Hot Zone, while completely exaggerating Ebola a disgusting amount, did boost my interest in infectious disease to a level that led me to enrolling as a microbio student when I first started uni before I switched to Geology.
I’d admit, I bought Pandemic ages ago. It was written in the years following the first SARS outbreak, when everyone was terrified of a combination of another SARS outbreak (oh look what we have now!) and post-9/11 bioterrorism fears. I’ve never really been able to finish it, due to being disgusted by the stereotyping at some points, but I figure i should choke through it due to the current situation.
Next is Spillover. 10/10, ALWAYS recommend Spillover, read it (or at least the first two sections or so) BEFORE you read The Hot Zone. It’s gotten more press due to the current pandemic which is good but means it’s kinda hard to find now.
Hey, Fullmetal Alchemist!
The Desserts Cookbook. Mama Cat gave this to me.
What if? is hillarous and super informative. If it helps, the front is a picture of a TRex being lowered into a Sarlacc pit. A guy answers all the crazy questions like ‘what if you collected ALL the elements of the periodic table one by one and placed them in a periodic table?’ (the answer is lots of terrible things) or ‘what if you threw a baseball at the speed of light?’ etc etc. I really recommend this one.
Jurassic Park and The Lost World. Because I’m a motherfluffin’ paleontology student, ofc I needed to read them! I’m actually in the middle of The Lost World right now but had to put it on hold.
The Ends of the World. Extinction events. They’re like crack to me.
Heheheh. Calvin and Hobbs: Yukon Ho! You gotta have some of that in a new place.
Alright, on to the next shelf!
This is the reference shelf. The two books on the far left are Dr Halsey’s ‘journal’ that came with the limited/extra special edition of Halo Reach. I actually bought it off ebay for a ridiculous amount of money that I wont specify, but it was worth it for all the cool notes on SPARTAN-II augmentations (which I frequently use as baseline reference for Modern Inheritance Cycle elves). The second book is The Book of Runes. Because I’ve always had it with me and it always ends up being useful somehow.
Starting from the bottom of the left stack we haaaaave:
A Guide to Nuclear Power Technology: A Resource for Decision Making. Ironically published two years before the Chernobyl disaster. I’ve read the first three chapters. Having a general understanding is a personal choice.
The A to Z of INfectious Diseases. I mentioned I was going into infectious disease before, right? I’ve read that from front to back and wrote some notes on the 2014 Ebola epidemic. I should probably write an entry on Covid at some point too.
Surviving the Wilds of Florida. Quick and handy reference!
That last one is a book about the crafts of Florida’s indigenous peoples. Nice little book.
Second stack, starting from the bottom again!
Gray’s Anatomy. And no, it’s not the compilation of all episode transcripts, that’s the real, dense deal right there. You gotta know what you could be breaking if you’re writing torture and injuries in fanfiction....
Genki 1 and 2. Still trying to keep up with my summer studies.
A Reader’s Guide to R.A. Salvatore’s The Legend of Drizzt. This was given to me by a woman who tutored/babysat me in middle school. She introduced me to LoD, and thus my first introduction to the world of DnD (though i didn’t realize it at the time), and is why I always chose Undercommon as an extra language in DnD. Fantastic series, beautiful art.
That turned book is actually a custom printed book someone made of me through middle and high school and gave as a gift at graduation.
Woop Woop, Eragon coloring book!!
A Practical Guide to Dragons. I think this might be tied in to one of the older DnD editions. It’s still a fun book with lots of different dragons in shapes, sizes and colors.
And that’s it! :D
#adventures of ket#the ket cave#ket's tastes#Ket reads#the future ket cave#lots of infectious disease books#old habits die hard i won't lie
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My dearest Captain,
The story of Thaddeoso is much less exciting than one might think. Basically my grandpa told a story of this huge frog that hung around when my mom was young and they called him Thaddeus. Then then my cousins and I found this huge frog by the spring and my sibling suggested we call him Thaddeoso, so we did.
1. Could you maybe stop judging others and let them enjoy things in peace please?
2. All the ones I’ve seen so far (tos, aos, tng, and voyager)
3. That’s a hard one. I like all of them Janeway and Q and Geordi a lot though
4. I don’t know, I actually haven’t thought about it
5. Yep! I like most musicals, but I think my current favorites are Sweeney Todd, Singin in the Rain, and Cats (not the newer movie though)
6. Maybe maple cus we used to make maple syrup back at the first place I lived
7. You know what should be a thing? Space mythology. Like dragons who live in black holes and hoard light and sirens that mimic distress signals to lure spaceships into asteroid fields and vampires that steal the oxygen from your lungs (I have been thinking about this a lot today)
8. It’s currently tied between a black pair with neon kinda flowery/geometric shapes and a white pair with jellyfish
9. I haven’t been in public lately and I tend to tune out most of the other people in school so I don’t really have anything for this one. I hit my creative writing word count goal though! (8,000 words (everyone set their goals at 8,000 except this one kid who set his at 8,001))
I have never had a brookie, but it sounds amazing.
Yours,
L
Dearest L,
To continue the pattern of answering my own questions:
1. I would probably do 1 of 2 things (depending on my mood). Either I would tell everybody to treat all people with respect or kindness, or I would just rick roll everyone on the planet.
2. My favorites are also all the ones I’ve seen so far (I swear it is so hard to pick a favorite Trek! They are all so beautiful and wonderful and unique in their own ways, and its hard to compare them to each other.) These include TOS, TAOS, DS9, and TNG.
3. Data would probably be my #1 favorite, and my second favorite would be everyone else because I can’t choose.
4. I relate to Data’s curiosity and not understanding humans all the time, and I relate to Julian Bashir’s awkwardness. But the character I probably relate to the most is Reginald Barclay. Like every time he comes on screen and so much as breathes I’m like “MOOD. THAT’S ME RIGHT THERE.” I also relate to Riker because I like to put my leg up on random things.
5. I like a lot of musicals. My favorites would probably be Hamilton, The Fiddler on the Roof, and Bye Bye Birdie (I was in that one for my high school’s theater program. I was a background character.) Singin’ in the Rain is also really good, although I haven’t watched it in a while. I do remember my first time watching it, though. I was a little kid and I was at my grandma’s house and she got out an umbrella so we could dance along to it. :D
6. My favorite tree would have to be the Rainbow Eucalyptus:
I’m sending pictures of the most amazing trees, you’ll be obsessed with all my forest expertise! (Sorry that was a Dear Evan Hansen reference) (I’m not even that big of a fan of the musical, that line just popped into my head right now) (Although Sincerely Me is sincerely a bop in my opinion.) (Dang that was off topic, where was I?)
AH, yes. TREES!
I just-look at its colors. Asfshdjkds. I kinda want one tbh. Ok, fine, I really want one. The only issue is that they live in tropical climates and I DON’T live in a tropical climate so it probably wouldn’t do too well if I were to plant one here. Oh well. At least the internet exists so I can admire them from afar.
Here’s the wikipedia article on them if you want to learn more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus_deglupta
7. First of all, can I just say that I LOVE THE IDEA OF SPACE MYTHOLOGY. That’s brilliant. And you’re absolutely correct. Why isn’t that a thing? THAT SHOULD BE A THING!!!! (Side question: do you mind if I use your space dragon idea in that Existential Crisis: The Musical that I’m sort of on a hiatus of writing? Like that,,,, is such a cool idea. The musical mostly takes place in outer space btw. Also if I do use it I’ll be sure to credit you! Even though I’m not actually planning on getting the musical published anywhere any time soon. Side-side question: should I credit you as “Mysterious Anonymous Tumblr User L” or something else? Side-side-side question: I actually forgot what I was going to type here but “side-side-side” is fun to say. OK I JUST REMEMBERED. Actually I just forgot again. Goshdarn adhd. OH I REMEMBERED AGAIN. Would you like to hear what my musical is about in a future letter? That is all.)
Dang i just went off on a tangent there (This is what it’s like when my adhd medication has worn off). What was question #7 even supposed to be?
*checks previous letter* Oh, to go on a rant of any sort. I think I just kind of did that on accident. Whoops. (Sorry you had to read my stream-of-consciousness ramblings about whatever the heck that was.)
ANYWAYS, I liked your space dragon idea so much that i drew this picture based on it, here you go:
sorry the camera quality is really bad lol. I tried (and failed) to make the dragon look galaxy-printed if that makes any sense.
But dude- space mythology is my new favorite thing now.
8. My current favorite pair of socks are a pair I have that are fluffy with unicorns on them.
9. I haven’t been in public lately either lol. But congratulations on your writing goal! That’s a lot of words! :D
Brookies are, in fact, amazing.
Now for some new questions!
1. Since you mentioned previously that you liked Unnus Annus, and since I basically missed out on most of it, what happened in some of your favorite episodes?
2. Do you think reality is a simulation?
3. Do you have any cool random facts about anything? (it can be about LITERALLY anything. I like any and all cool random facts.)
4. Do you know what your hogwarts house is?
5. Do you have a motto of any sort?
6. Am I allowed to guess who you are, or should I wait for you to tell me? (I’m fine waiting, it’s just that I have a few guesses already)
7. Would you like to read my horrible Star Trek crack fanfiction.
8. Semi-Philosophical Question Time: How would you define freedom?
That is all! Thank you for continuing to write/read these letters. I look forward to them every day! To quote another musical, “Now my life gets better every letter that you write me!” (Sorry if that was dumb lol, im bad at this)
Yours Truly,
Captain
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1 2 3 12 (and why!!!) 15 18 23 25 for the fic writing ask post
djdlgkjsaakj ELEGIES OMG ILU SO MUCH XDDD
also tho: no mercy fo me, huh? pffff
1. favorite fic you wrote this year
Oh that’s tough. Geez. They’re all such different genres??? Action, crack, romance, fluff??? AHHHH okay it’s probably A Pirate’s Life For Me (is that a shameless plug? why yes it is, ty for noticing pfff)
2. least favorite fic you wrote this year
ALSO TOUGH BECAUSE I LIKE ALL THE THINGS I WRITE??? DLKGSDJ Okay, I’m totally gonna loophole my way out of this and say my job application was my least fave thing i wrote this year pfffff (even if it landed me the job lmfao)
3. favorite line/scene you wrote this year
I feel like I’m being K.O.’d by each of these questions lmaooo. Okay, okay, okay. UM. Let’s see there are so many omf my favorite overall scene is probably the Dabi vs. Endeavor scene from Lines Crossed. Put a lot of hard work into that one and I think it paid off 💜
12. favorite character to write about this year
alsdkgajkah another toughie. It’s either Hawks or Dabi or Bakugou.... but I’m going with Dabi because I’ve written him the most.
As to why, it’s because I love characters with multiple facets and layered backgrounds. If the Dabi = Touya Todoroki theory is true, and he’s anything like fanon Touya, he will be one of the only characters I know of that went from being a prospective hero with a hard childhood to an outright villain who has the chance to go back. The complexity of that situation, the mystery of what happened to him, the potential for redemption... god, that’s all such good fodder for my anti-hero/villain loving brain
15. something you learned this year
So the CTABB server went through an entire racingverse phase (some of us are still in it - high five moka), and I learned quite a bit about cars. Also learned what a towing scheme was, about 2 days before I had to use that knowledge, lmao. Thank u, racingverse dabihawks au fanfiction research - you saved me about $600.
18. current number of wips
hah, mine isn’t nearly as bad as star’s. I have 18 current WIPS (like, one’s I’ve worked on in the past year)
23. fics you wanted to write but didn’t
One i haven’t gotten around to, but may still do, is one where Dabi rescues/adopts Eri (he’s the one she runs into while hauling ass away from Overhaul, instead of Deku and Mirio. Dabi sees her cowering in fear while wrapped around his knees, and snaps.) I just haven’t had the time RIP
25. a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read
HOW DO U CHOOSE OMG (gonna stick to bnha, because i’m frankly too scared to look at all the fics i have bookmarked and downloaded lmaO)
Ima recommend 5, because I’m contrary like that.
Decision Height by @blueskiddoo (dabihawks, WIP slowburn, great characterization, fantastic pacing, epic action, beautifully written - a genuinely superb fic written by a genuinely superb human being who’s books i will 100% purchase as soon as the come available for pre-order)
Butterfly Effect by @bloodycarnations (dabihawks, WIP, slowburn - also freaking perfect characterization, amazing plot, lots of exploration into characters motivations and histories - truly would love to have it printed and sitting on my bookshelf tb, but not as much as much as i’d love to hug the shit out of thyandra)
Field Test by @kendrick-harlow (league-centric, dabi-centric - listen if i could have a fic turned into a movie, i’d want this to be it. fantastically written and somewhere between horror, found family, and absolute genius tie-in’s of the current bnha plot. lord have mercy i love this and all of kendrick’s fics)
Villain’s First Christmas by throwyourchaosinneutralanddrive (league-centric - found family league, extremely accurate characterization, hilarious, and literally the author i would vote to take over horikoshi’s job if anything ever happened to him - the amount of chaotic energy in these fics is thru the roof tbh, and i love the author like she’s my own flesh and blood (because she is, but that’s neither here nor there))
Hawks Needs to Stop Scaring the Shit Out of Shinsou, the Compilation by RadioMoth (Shinsou and Hawks-centric, hilariously written, criminally underrated, and with a friendship I’ve never seen before. Def go check it out if you want to laugh and love on hawks and shinsou!)
(in all honesty tho, I’ve read SO MANY good fics this year, holy shit)
#lskdjadghaj THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!!#akldsjaa elegies ur gonna spoil me lmfao 😂#asks#i#elegiesforshiva
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Hi! I’ve seen some posts of yours where you mentioned about “untangling the frozen knots” Could you tell what’s it? Or what’s it about? Because it’s sound interesting and I’m curious😊 (If you don’t mind of course)
Of course! :D
It’s my Frozen x Tangled fanfiction novel. It’s 140K words long (which is why I call it a novel, but also because it’s printed in hard copy!)
It’s available in English. You can get a copy here :)
I chose to translate it because of how successful it got on FF.net with French readers, and then to print it because books are super comfy to read and it’s better than burning your eyes out on a screen through 36 chapters loool (rip me)
If you like my writing style, you’ll love it!
The plot happens between F1 and F2. Here’s a summary:
and here’s what it looks like once you receive it:
Many people in the fandom have a copy and read it, so you can ask for their feedback about it! :D
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Who wants to read my FIRST EVER posted fanfiction? It’s from 2008, but was written even before that.
I won’t be posting it on ao3, so this is going to be where it sits for now.
It was one of those deliciously lazy days at the beginning of summer. It was warm enough in the house that Gojyo was feeling drowsy and cat like, but not hot enough that he was sweating buckets just sitting in the livingroom. He was laying on the couch, his feet up on the arm of it, his hand thrown over his eyes to keep the light out of them. Not asleep, but not totally awake, he had been there for about a half hour, dozing while Hakkai was at the market in town. His roommate had walked, so the little dragon was curled up in a potted plant near the front door. Every so often Gojyo heard a contented little sigh coming from that direction.
One of those days. He thought to himself, scratching at his stomach, and giving a great yawn. Even Hakkai hadn't been feeling overly industrious today, only wanting to go to town to pick up some mushrooms since they couldnt grow it in their little garden. Barbecue tonight. Four large steaks were marinating in the fridge right now. The two extra because Sanzo and his pet Monkey usually invited themselves over for dinner and Hakkai, ever the good host, wouldn't dream of feeding them less than he could give. Gojyo had cut a deal with a butcher nearby, in exchange for redoing his roof and bathroom, they would receive a cow and pig, pre-slaughtered of course. It hadn't been a very hard job- Gojyo finding himself enjoying working with his hands in something constructive- and now the two of them had enough meat to last nearly a year. More if Goku didn't come by so often during meal time. That, combined with the prosperous garden in the backyard, they were fairly comfortable.
Gojyo sipped on a glass of lemonade sitting on the floor beside him. The day was too nice to sully with beer. Shifting to put it back on the floor had given him a rather unpleasant wedgie. It took him a few moments to dislodge it, and when he finally readjusted himself, he now hard a swollen hard on from rubbing against the inside of his jeans. Ignoring it for a while did nothing, before he finally decided To hell with it. He was by himself anyway, and he had been a good boy lately. Taking a glance to the frontdoor to make sure that the dragon was asleep before quietly unzipping his pants. He hitched up his shirt, tucking the hem under his chin and began running his fingers through the silken dark crimson hair around the base of his cock. He was fully erect now, laying had against his stomach, the tip bumping into his belly button. He reached lower and massaged his balls and tugged on his scrotum. Moaning softly, he bit his lip and started to stroke himself, his thumb describing a slow circle around the head to spread his pre-come over it.
Brown hair brushing his thighs, smirking lips suckling on his flesh. Oh shit. Green eyes looking up at him through dark lashes. Not... Slender, sure hands stroking him in just the right way. "...Hakkai..." he moaned aloud, gritting his teeth wondering what fucked up being was putting these images in his head. Yes, he knew he was attracted to Hakkai in more ways than one, but this was the first time he had really thought about him while touching himself. He was pumping his hips into his hand while picturing his best friend kneeling between his thighs "Gods....Hakkai..."
He froze at the sound of paper crinkling and refused to open his eyes. If I can't see him, I can't see the the look on his face, he reasoned, cock still in hand. He heard Hakkai chuckle softly and walk to the counter. He must have come in through the door in the kitchen, which opened much quieter than the front door. "Sanzo and Goku will be hear in about a half hour. Would you mind finishing up, then helping me with supper?" He could hear the humour in his friend's voice. Clearly enjoying tormenting the halfbreed.
"Nngh, no, I'll uh, just wash my hands and then we'll get supper d-done." Cracking and eye open, he saw Hakkai had his back to him. He tucked himself back into his pants, carefully zipping up - his hands were still shaking.
"Well as long as you're not going to be too uncomfortable."
He wobbled into the bathroom, washed his hands and splashed water on his face. "You are so totally fucked." He told his reflection softly.
***
Back in the kitchen, as soon as Gojyo closed the bathroom door, Hakkai collapsed against the counter, his body quaking with silent laughter. Oh, he knew that Gojyo had been trying to be secretive about his feelings towards his roommate, but he never thought he would catch him jerking off while groaning Hakkai's name. It shouldn't have been so funny, but they were comforable enough in their relationship that Hakkai would be snickering about it for weeks, with no one really being hurt.
Gojyo came back from the bathroom, and Hakkai smiled his evil little smile. The redhead nearly lost it at the sight of his friend holding a pair of tomatos and a cucumber. "Salad?" He asked, slowly running the cucumber under the tap, stroking dirt off, watching Gojyo out of the corner of his eyes.
"You are an evil, evil man. You know this, right?" Gojyo snatched the tomatoes and washed them as well.
Hakkai reached out and took one from him, hefting it in his open palm. "Don't you just love sun ripened tomatoes? They are that perfect texture, and they still hold some of the risidual heat of the day." Oh, this is just too much fun. He brushed a fleck of dirt of with his thumb, Gojyo's right eye twitched.
"I hate you right now." His voice was getting low and husky. His erection came back with an aggressive demand. "I'm about to bust a seam here."
"Don't worry. I know how to sew remember." Hakkai tossed his head, his hair falling to one side of his face. His good eye twinkled with mirth and... something else. He very slowly licked his bottom lip, then caught it between his teeth.
With a low grunt, Gojyo tossed the vegetables onto the counter, grabbed Hakkai's hips and pushed him hard against the counter. His lips slammed into his friend's and he ground their crotches together. Hakkai grabbed handfuls of scarlet hair and twisted his head for a better angle to kiss.
"Heeeyyyy! We're heeerrrrre!" They heard feet pounding up the front porch.
"Kill me. Now." Gojyo groaned low and long before going to let the rest of their party into the house. I'm going to be humping trees before the day ends, I can see it now. He glanced back at Hakkai, who was slicing the vegetables. How the bastard could go back be to being so calm, he had no idea.
Goku tumbled into the house, practically buzzing with energy. "Hi guys! We brought a pie!" The boy held it up proudly. "I made it myself. From those apples we bought the other day."
"Why thank you Goku, that was very nice of you." Hakkai took the pie and put it on the counter. Taking the steaks from the fridge, he lead them out to the backyard. "Gojyo, if you would be so kind as to light the barbecue? Thanks." He jerked his chin to the barbecue that was just off the back patio.
The steaks were great, Hakkai knew how each of them liked theirs. Sanzo- medium well, Goku- medium, Gojyo- medium rare, just on the rarer side. All seasoned perfectly. Gojyo had made his baked potatoes, and the salad they had made together with the pie made a wonderful meal. The preist and his pet stayed late, until Goku was nearly nodding off. Hakkai wrapped up the rest of the pie to send home with them, and ushered them out the door.
"Sleep time." Hakkai said, as soon as the door was closed. "You would think that those two would want to spend less time with us now that we are back from India." He shook his head in wonderment, ignoring the pained look on Gojyo's face. He had already made up his mind that they would explore what had happened in the kitchen further tomorrow, but now, he was tired.
Hakkai turned down the bedcovers and fluffed the pillows. Gojyo followed him with his eyes before changing into a new pair of underwear to sleep in. Horrrny. Must bend him over bed. Must... He shook his head and climbed into his side of bed. Hakkai slid into the bed, and turned on his side for Gojyo to spoon. Their bodies fit together perfectly, but Gojyo had to pull his hips back to keep from poking his friend. "Sorry." he mumbled and reached down to tuck himself into the waistband of his boxers so he could snuggle against Hakkai's back.
"It's alright. Have sweet dreams."
Teeth grit together with force enough to pop his jaw.
****
Gojyo was surprised to find that he didn't wake up sticky. They made breakfast, Hakkai read the newspaper, and Gojyo fixed the showerhead. Neither brought up what happened the day before. It was early afternoon, and Hakkai was kneeling in his garden, weeding. Stripped to the waist, Gojyo watched him from the kitchen window, a cup of coffee in his hand. He looked ridiculously adorable in his straw hat with a big plastic daisy on the side. Even his gardening gloves had flowers printed on them. Gojyo finished his coffee, rinsed his cup and went out the back to kneel beside Hakkai. He stared stupidly at the plants, unsure what he was actually looking at.
"Those are weeds." The healer pointed at the dandilions then at the red peppers. "Those aren't." He chuckled quietly.
They stayed like that in companionable silence for several minutes before Hakkai dropped his trowel. "So, do you think about me often when you masturbate?" He asked softly, turning to his friend.
Gojyo couldn't read his expression. "I haven't jerked off that much since we came home. Like maybe once every few weeks. I don't think of much, I usually have a magazine or something like that."
"Ah. Would you be uncomfortable if I told you I've thought about you any time I have touched myself in the past three years?" He brushed hair away from his eyes. "That I've wanted you to kiss me like you did yesterday for so long, so badly."
"Uh... Um."
Hakkai grinned and tilted his head to one side. "Does it?"
"Not at all." His voice was deep and throaty, his adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed loudly. "Fucking, hell no." He reached out, grabbed the front of Hakkai's shirt and pulled him roughly to him. His tongue probed into the brunet's mouth, and he relished in the little sounds of pleasure coming from his partner. "I want you so damn bad, 'Kai." He kisses a line down his throat, nuzzling into the collar of his shirt to lick at his shoulder, then up to suck on his ear. Gojyo tugged Hakkai's shirt up and off, tossing it to the side before ducking down to suck on a nipple.
Soon Hakkai was panting, his hips moving gently. He pulled back and shoved Gojyo down onto the ground. Peeling off his gloves, he ran his hands over the muscled lines of Gojyo's stomach and chest. He dipped his head down to lick his bellybutton. Gojyo buried his fingers in chestnut hair to guide his face lower. Enjoying the look of hunger on his partner's face, Hakkai reached to the garden and snapped a bean vine off a pole, one of the ones that wasn't giving forth any pods. He wound it around Gojyo's wrists and dropped them to the ground.
"Well, you certainly aren't subtle." Hakkai smirked as he popped open the fly of Gojyo's snug jeans. He tugged them down his hips, pleased to see that he wasn't wearing any underwear beneath them. "Out of clean shorts?"
"Nnh, didn't feel like wearing any to- Ahh!" He cried out when Hakkai wrapped his tongue around the head of his cock. With one hand he undid his own pants, with the other he twirled a finger around the head of Gojyo's cock. "Im sorry Im not cut." the red head mumbled somewhat incoherently.
"That's perfectly alright, I'm not either. Catholic orphanage and all. Besides, the foreskin helps with this:" Hakkai wrapped his hand tightly around the shaft, and pumped up and down. Without loosening his grip, the foreskin made it easier to pump hard and fast. "I wouldnt be able to do this otherwise. Plus:" He bobbed his head down and nipped gently at the skin, sucking it into his mouth.
Gojyo began chanting obscenities, his hips bucking up. His head lolled from side to side, the rich earthy scent of the garden filling his nostrils. Right in the damn yard, he thought, trying to watch as Hakkai was stroking himself slowly while sucking Gojyo. "You've done this 'fore 'aven't you?"
There was a wet pop as Hakkai let go of his cock. "No actually, just thought about it a fair amount." He repositioned himself between Gojyo's thighs so his friend could see him touching himself. He leaned forward and rubbed their hard shafts alongside eachother. He was interested to see that they were nearly the same size, Gojyo being just the smallest bit longer and thicker. Holding himself up on one hand, he kissed him deeply while fondling them both with his free hand.
"Tell me you love me." Gojyo moaned, eyelids fluttering, face flushed. "Tell me, please."
A happy laugh, none of the cruelty the halfbreed was terrified to hear. "Of course I love you, you great dolt. The blood in my veins." He murmered against scarlet hair.
At the sound of his voice, Gojyo's hips bucked upwards. Taking the cue, Hakkai crawled down and began sucking again. He was so damn good, Gojyo didn't know how he did it. When a gentle hand reached up and began cupping his balls, he started to writhe. "Uhnn, 'Kai, I don't know how long Im gonna last." Those unbelievably sexy lips, his cock disappearing almost entirely into that gorgeous mouth, peeking out and slamming back in. Hakkai pressed two knuckles beneath the base, massaging. Gojyo suddenly felt a great pressure building almost as soon as he began pressing like that. "Fuck, gonna come babe. Its gonna happen, now!"
Hakkai pulled back, lifting himelf up, the sun behind him haloing his head, letting thick ribbons of semen strike him. Gojyo's eyes bugged, it was getting everywhere, splashing across his lover's stomach and chest, hitting his face, even getting in his hair. It was something that turned him on when he watched a video or looked at a magazine, but actually seeing his come covering his lover kept him hard. When he finally stopped shuddering, Gojyo snapped the vines that bound his wrists. Hakkai was still kneeling, his tongue poking out of his mouth to lick at the corner of his lip to taste Gojyo's come, with a look of interest on his face.
"Shower, now." He grabbed the waistband of his pants, and hobbled into the house, toeing his boots off just inside the door. Hakkai followed after him. Gojyo pushed him roughly against the bathroom door, licking his neck. "Ohh, I can taste myself on you."
They started the water, and Hakkai found himself slammed against the wall under the showerhead. Since Gojyo had fixed it that day, the pressure of the water was more powerful.
"I've never, uh, been with a dude before, Hakkai. You're gonna have to tell me if Im hurting you." He knelt in front of him, pressing Hakkai back so the water streamed off his chest, soon they were both soaked. Hakkai was guiding him by the hair, showing him where it felt best. The first man he had ever touched, and he was going down on him. Gojyo couldn't really believe it. He could taste pre-come building in his mouth, bitter at the back of his tongue. "I want you Hakkai." He kissed the tip of his cock almost tenderly before rising. "I want to make love to you, fuck you, gods, I just want you so fucking bad." He was trembling, his breath coming out shakily as he bent his head to kiss him. "Can I?"
"I thought you'd never ask." Hakkai reached for the soap and began lathering them both up. He stroked Gojyo's length until the suds had built up to a thick froth. He handed the bar of soap to the redhead and turned around. He heard the slapping sound of Gojyo rubbing the bar between his hands. He gasped when those hands reached down between his thighs, using the soap as a lubricant. His spine arched as first one finger pressed against his enterance, then a second. Rubbing his cheek against the cool tile of the shower wall, Hakkai forced himself to relax. The wrong sound: a whimper, or a gasp of pain, and Gojyo would lose all confidence, and this wouldn't be finished. The fingers moved in and out, slowly at first, gainly speed gradually.
"Are you ready yet?" Gojyo's voice shook with need. He had never needed someone as much as he did at his moment.
"I am. I'm ready for you." He spread his legs slightly. Being so close in height was going to make this easier on them both, Gojyo didn't have to bend his knees so much to be able to press into him. He did so, agonizingly slowly. The soap helped to ease the resistance, but Hakkai was still virgin tight. It took several minutes before he was fully inside, and another long moment that seemed to last for an eternity before he was able to start thrusting. He had both hands gripping on Hakkais hips, partly to help them move, partly because he wanted to touch as much of the other man as he could. Gojyo pressed his chest against his lover's back, kissing his ear, tugging on the silver cuffs. "I love you, I love you, I love you." He pulled out long enough to turn Hakkai around. Hakkai braced a foot on the soap dish on the wall, one hand gripping the shower head, the other the curtainrod. He wrapped his free leg around Gojyo's waist, tipping his hips up invitingly. Gojyo flipped his wet hair back from his face and took him more roughly this time, passion starting to take him over. The water from the shower was pooling between them. The halfbreed laced his fingers with Hakkai's around the shower head, his other hand jerking his partner off, fondling his balls.
"Getting close? I'm gonna come again Hakkai." He dropped his head back as he felt the pressure building inside him. "Nngh, come with me Hakkai. Please babe!"
Hakkai's breath quickened. He began nodding, biting his lip, and grunting softly. "Yes Gojyo. I'm almost with you." He cried out when Gojyo pushed him hard against the wall, slamming into him as he came with a violent shudder. Hakkai's orgasm hit with an almost blinding force. Gojyo caught most of the semen in his fist, bringing his hand to his lips to lick it clean. "I love you Gojyo." They pressed their foreheads together, panting heavily. Gojyo drew himself out slowly.
"I love you 'Kai." He was slurring his words. "Orgasms...fun...whee...must do that again."
Hakkai turned the water off and wiped his hair back from his face, smiling with eyes half closed. "Of course. Later. Food now."
It was several weeks later when the preist and the monkey came back for another visit and couldn't find the roommates in the house. Venturing into the backyard turned out to be a horible idea for the preist.
"Sanzo, why are Hakkai and Gojyo fighting? ....Oh...oh.... um, they're not fighitng, are they? Um." He broke into a grin. "Hey, so thats where you got that position!"
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Careful transport - fic for Fereality-idy
This is a short fic for my buddy, @fereality-indy, who was today in a difficult situation due to his illness, and I though there would be nothing better than applying some Gravity Falls bandage on it.
(Ao3), G
Dipper Pines thought it was going to be a boring day: dark, ominous clouds on the horizon announced the storm that would interrupt an otherwise perfect, sunny Summer. As a result, he intended to spend this day in his room, on his bed, reading comics from dawn till dusk. With a can of Pitt cola by his side, he was about to relax and indulge in another overblown issue of a team of superheroes causing more damage than good, when a multicoloured bullet shot through the doors of the Mystery Shack, ran up the stairs and burst into the twins' room
- Dipper! - Mabel shouted, jumping onto him - You gotta help me! - Wha-wha-What happened? - It's Dave!
Dipper blinked.
- Uh, who's Dave? - Dave! The somber-tooth tiger! My buddy from the book club! - Oh... right...
Dipper spoke, slowly remembering that his sister has in fact befriended a huge beast; a fact he'd like to bury deep down in his memories.
- Er, so, what does he need help with...? - His cave is being de-loused and he has to go outside! - And...?
Mabel grabbed the hem of Dipper's shirt and brought him uncomfortably close.
- Dipper, you don't get it! He can't-He doesn't-We must escort him! - she stuttered, trying to formulate her thoughts. - Well, okay, geez - Dipper forcibly removed himself from his sister's lock - Don't know what the big deal...
A few minutes later, they arrived by the entrance of Dave's cave, obscured by several bushes. It was a good hiding spot; despite it being in a seeing range from the Mystery Shack, Dipper never thought there would be a cave there.
- Okay, follow me, Dipper. - Mabel spoke and began walking down the slanted corridor.
Dipper was about to take his phone to shine the light, but soon he was met with a faint, warm, cozy glow coming from Dave's den. And even when his eyes got used to the bright light, they were still opening wide at the sight Dipper was seeing.
Instead of bare, rocky walls, Dipper saw a fully decorated room, with several bookshelves, a microwave, TV, and a collection of plastic figurines sitting on it. The light was coming from a fancy chandelier, and the floor was decorated with large carpet.
And on it, was...
Dave the somber-tooth tiger was walking nervously from one side of the cave to the other, muttering something under his breath, and only when Mabel grunted, he jumped in place and his face brightened. He leapt towards Mabel, and only thanks to Mabel's equally spontaneous reaction Dipper did not freak out.
- Hi, Dave, sorry it took so long.
The tiger let out a deep, pleasant-sounding growl. Only now Dipper noticed he was wearing a pair of reading glasses.
- This is Dipper, my brother, told you about him.
Dave growled and walked towards Dipper.
- Er, hi. - Dipper squeaked. His primal instincts were kicking in, after all. - Nice, uh, to meet you. So... we're supposed to, uh, help you? - That's right, can you believe, Dipper? They only told him about the delousing yesterday! - Mabel scoffed - And look at this! This house is pristine! No fleas, no bugs... The nerve those gnomes have.
As if by command, Dipper was pushed aside when several foot-high gnomes walked in, carrying what would look like a chemical equipment if drawn by someone who had no idea how one looks like.
Dave let put a deep, somber growl.
- There, there... - Mabel patted his head - We're gonna come to the Shack and have a nice day inside, okay? - The Shack?! - Dipper protested - You sure about this? - Oh yeah, he'll love it.
Foot by foot, the twins walked the tiger up the slanted corridor. What took them alone maybe a minute, needed at least five, and when the light from the outside shone upon Dave's face, he yelped, and backed down.
- Come on, Dave, I know it's hard, but it's just few hours... - What's the problem? - Dipper asked, watching the cowardly tiger in his sister's arms - Isn't he a, you know, tiger? - Oh, Dipper...
Mabel shook his head and once again, gently stroked the fur on Dave's back.
After another five minutes, Dipper walked out of the cave and was glad to see that the storm clouds were passing.
- Well, Dave, what do you usually do? - he asked, knowing fully well he'll receive only grunts and roars - Like, do you have any tiger sport you play? Or maybe we can go fishing, instead of, you know, taking a tiger inside the house? - Nah, Dave likes reading books, and playing some board games. Oh! And he's a writer!
Mabel showed him her phone, with a fanfiction site profile on the screen.
- He has... five followers. - That's five more than you! - Mabel barked back - And he's really talented! Love your works, man.
Dave let out a growl and hid his face between his paws.
- Yes, yes you are, buddy! That last chapter was fantastic! - she cheered - Come on, let's go into the Shack. - But, Mabel! - Dipper insisted - It's sunny now, can't we go literally anywhere else?! We can go to the forest, check up on other animals, climb a mountain!
He looked at Dave, grabbed his fuzzy face and moved it away from the ground he was constantly staring at.
- Look, man!... Er, Tiger, look! We're in Gravity Falls, there's so much to do the-
But then, Dave growled. And it wasn't the meek, shy voice, but a blood-freezing one that made Dipper aware where in the food chain he was at.
From his now-horizontal position on the ground, Dipper looked at the squinted eyes of the predator and his sharp teeth, wondering if he was going to survive this.
And then, as quickly as Dave jumped onto him, his face frowned, his eyes watered, and he jumped away, howling and crying as he ran away.
- D-Dave! - Mabel shouted after him - Dave! Oh, Dipper, you idiot! - Wha-what did I do?! - Dipper asked, slowly getting up, confused at Mabel's anger. - You don't do that to him! - But why?! Mabel, that's the least tiger-like tiger I've seen my life, what is wrong with him?
For a split of a second, Dipper though that Dave came back and sank his teeth into his cheek. But as pain spread through it, he realised it was Mabel, who slapped him, tears pouring from her eyes.
- Dipper, Dave's... Dave's agoraphobic. He doesn't like going outside... - Then why didn't you say it sooner? - I... I promised him I won't tell anyone. Bec- she sniffed - Because he knew some folks would laugh at him. Mean folks like you! - she snapped.
As if tackled by another tiger, Dipper fell to the ground again.
- Oh, man... I was a total jerk, wasn't I?
He only received Mabel's concerned grimace as an answer.
- We-We gotta find him.
Dipper looked around, and spotted a customer walking towards Mystery Shack with an umbrella in his hand.
- And I think I know what to do!
Fortunately, finding a tiger in a city is much, much easier, thanks to the paw prints in the mud, visible damage, as well as people shouting "It's a tiger!". It took the twins just under ten minutes to find the sewage entrance Dave was hiding in, his paws still over his eyes.
- Dave? Are you there, Dave?
Mabel's sweet voice made the tiger move out of the shadows and look at his friend.
- There you are... Listen, there's someone who'd like to apologise to you.
At the sight of her brother, Dave scooted away, but came back when he noticed Dipper was no longer forcing him to do anything.
- Hey, there. - Dipper spoke calmly - Listen, I shouldn't have done that. I... assumed you'd like what other people... or tigers would, and...
He reached behind is back.
- I think I found a way to make you a bit more comfortable.
Dave peeked out from the canal, and as soon as he did that, the harsh sunlight, as well as most of the surrounding world was cut off from him, when Dipper and Mabel opened several umbrellas, forming a barrier around him.
Dave cautiously walked out, marvelling at the patterns on the cloth around him. It was once again, Mabel's voice that gathered his attention.
- Can we go now?
Dave growled, smiled and leaned his head to be petted, this time by both twins.
And hour later, Dave was sitting comfortably between Dipper and Mabel on the sofa in the Mystery Shack, drinking cocoa and reading comic books.
- See, Dipper? Not so bad, right? - Yeah, this is cozy. - he replied - Should've listened to you, Mabel.
Mabel reached for her phone.
- And, oh, look! - she addressed Dave in a would-be-surprised voice - Someone has liked your new fic!
Dave once again hid his face between paws.
- It is sooo good - Mabel giggled - Take a look, Dipper.
She handed him her phone.
- Wow, you are a prolific writer... But wow, that's a lot of shipping stuff for that one pair, don't you think you've written eno-
The sight of Dave's sharp teeth once again put an end to Dipper's thoughts.
- I'm-I'm gonna shut up now...
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Contributor Spotlights: Rebekah D. Cook and Nina Waters
Welcome to She Wears the Midnight Crown and He Bears the Cape of Stars, two brand-new anthologies that share a common theme – masquerades – but tell different types of stories – wlw in She Wears the Midnight Crown and mlm in He Bears the Cape of Stars. These collections are the latest titles from Duck Prints Press, the indie publisher founded by fans to publish original works by fan creators, and they’re crowdfunding NOW, only on Seed & Spark!
Curious about the collections? Well, here’s a sneak peek of the works of two of our creators!
She Wears the Midnight Crown Contributor Spotlight: Rebekah D. Cook
Biography: Rebekah D. Cook is an author of queer romance and speculative fiction living in the Pacific Northwest with her spouse and two dogs. She is sad to report that she has not yet mysteriously disappeared nor encountered any cryptids. Her hobbies include spoiling the aforementioned dogs, drinking inadvisable amounts of coffee, and running unreasonably long distances very slowly. She’s secretly just a collection of loosely-related stories dressed up in a meat suit.
Links: Personal Website | Tumblr | Twitter
Story Title: Nice Girls Don’t Get the Superweapon
Teaser:
Ever since it became clear Mia’s negligible fire starting power wasn’t enough for her to make a go of it as a supervillain, Mia’s dream has been to become a top-tier henchwoman. It’s practically the family business, and anyway, sometimes a girl just wants to be the one setting off the explosions instead of watching them happen.
“Morning, Miller.” The greeting is punctuated by a sharp and wholly unnecessary knock on Mia’s desk.
Mia gives Brandon Pratt her most withering look. The man is epitome of corporate nonsense: all flash and smarm with no substance underneath. He’s also barely competent at his job and somehow manages to come in egregiously late any morning Doctor Bombardier isn’t in the office. Mia doesn’t understand why he hasn’t been fired yet.
“Barely,” Mia says with a pointed look at the clock.
“Lighten up,” Brandon says with a laugh straight out of a Hollywood satire of corporate corruption. “It’s Friday. Working hard or hardly working, eh?”
He shoots her a pair of finger guns before heading toward his office, and Mia valiantly refrains from setting his tie on fire.
He Bears the Cape of Stars Contributor Spotlight: Nina Waters
Biography: Claire Houck (she/they/he), pen name Nina Waters, fandom name unforth, is the founder and sole proprietor of Duck Prints Press LLC. She is queer, 39 years old, married to the lovely Lisa, and a mother of two. Claire has been writing fanfiction since the young age of seven, when she penned (well, two-finger typed and printed dot matrix) the timeless classic “the story of my littl ponies and the glob.” Since then, her spelling, grammar, and prose have improved immensely. She has written over three hundred short stories, a number of novellas, and 16 novels—some original, some fanfiction—including A Glimmer of Hope, which was successfully Kickstarted and self-published in fall, 2016. Before she became a full-time writer, Claire had a career as a professional grant writer and program evaluator, providing consultation services for the New York City Department of Education and other non-profit education organizations.
Links: Archive of Our Own | Tumblr | Twitter
Story Title: To Sing a Song of Many
Teaser:
The agora bustled with the usual business of the day. A hawker offered what they claimed were freshly gathered mushrooms. A Priest promised that the penis charms they’d blessed were especially effective at warding off evil. A Hero struck a noble pose, as if she were cast from marble instead of merely flesh clothed in bronze and linen, while beside her the two members of her Chorus sang her story. Perhaps, if she adventured long enough and successfully enough, she’d be captured in marble in truth, as the once-King Azan was in the marketplace’s center; an artist sprawled at the sculpture’s feet to refresh the bright, gilded paint of his sandals. A melee of colors, sounds, smells, and movements could have captivated, begged to captivate, but Himeros couldn’t spare them the attention he longed to, because he had bigger concerns.
How on Gaia was he going to pass through the crowd to reach the other side of the town’s center without being accosted?
Behind Himeros, his Chorus shifted impatiently. All right, no, in their defense, the four men were actually calm, patient, along for Himeros’s quest as observers and recorders and criers. It was Himeros’s jitteriness that made their normal weight-shifting, robe-swaying, and mask-adjusting seem loaded and imminent.
Truly, what was Himeros going to do?
*
Intrigued? You should be! But, if you want to read the rest of these stories you’ll need to back our campaign, running now through July 14th, 2022!
Only Days Left to Back – Read Our Campaign Now!
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30, 31, 39, 40, 45, 46 (sorry i’m curious)
Fanfiction Questions
30. What inspires you to write?
I don’t know. That’s a dumb answer. But like, if I’m really honest, I don’t really know.
I’ve been writing since...almost as long as I can remember, and I don’t know why I started. For a while, I wanted to do adaptations? I don’t know. I just. write.When it comes to specifically what I’ve been writing recently, it’s like...there are these stories and ideas that I want to develop and find out? Like ideas that come together and just I want to write that and then go and write it and don’t always finish it.With RP, it’s been I want to develop and get to know this character better and I want to have this character interact with these other characters but also a very clear I think I can write this character - because there are a lot of characters I like but don’t have strong enough muse to think I can write them well.Fanfic - with Roisa, it was just...I was intrigued by the dynamic. And then it’s just - I have these ideas and I want to write them down and I want to get them out and to share them with other people. It’s just having this ideas that sit and sit and don’t go away and want to be written and I keep thinking about them and want to write them out. (Which has gotten me into trouble. Not in the fanfic world so much as in the rp sphere, but that’s an entire other story.)Once I’ve started something, I will be honest, interaction from readers is what inspires me to actually finish the thing because I will be honest, I’m typically horrible at finishing longer projects. It’s so easy to get distracted with new projects and forget to go back to other ones, even if I want to finish them, and that’s probably why I do the polls and everything because it’s just-- That’s a way for me to take and go and do and write in a way that keeps me inspired to keep writing.
31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?
Well, I don’t really like to think of things in terms of nicest just because that...sounds like there’s a sliding scale and it’s really more like...with the exception of angry mob people, I typically love the comments and reactions I get to my writing? Even when it’s people being mean because it means they’re at least paying attention?But I think - typically - when people tell me that I should write original fic, that’s something that sticks with me, and then - and this is a carryover from the rp sphere - but when people tell me that something I’ve written (typically headcanon but character portrayal is a thing) has changed how they interact with the canon material, that means a lot to me, too.
39. What is you greatest strength as a writer?
Worldbuilding. Hands down, I think worldbuilding is my greatest strength. (Consistency is a second but that’s just me being a stickler for consistency, and I can’t even use that because Carla’s eyes used to be blue and now they’re canonically brown for me and I don’t plan on going back and editing them so oops.)But, no, worldbuilding - taking small changes and seeing the effects those have further down the line. Um - I keep going back to rp examples, but when I wrote Jessica Rabbit (and this is a good example I think), it was taking okay, cartoons are actually Toon actors, so what does this mean in terms of the world? Where did they come from? Are there other Toon cities? How does religion interact with this? etc. Just - that’s a small thing and then building around and extrapolating from that.Or - soulmate aus. I love soulmate aus. Like - the soulmate timer au that came up in One Screwed Up Family - that’s one that I’ve had for a while - but like. If you live in a world with soulmates where they are actually a documented thing, how does that affect society? What happens to people who no longer have soulmates? What happens to shallow hookups and bars because is that cheating on your soulmate? What if your soulmate is abusive? But they’re still your soulmate? So do you divorce them? Would you ever feel like you could be happy with anyone else since they aren’t your soulmate? What does soulmate even mean? (And soulmate definition, for me, does change depending on what the soulmate prompt is.)So - yeah. I think that’s my strength. I’m...really thorough when it comes to worldbuilding.
40. What do you struggle the most with in your writing?
Dialogue. I have a hard time making my characters distinguishable through their dialogue. They tend to sound the same. And I’ve found I tend to reuse descriptions and small things over and over - and going through edits does help with that a little bit, but not as much as I want. I think Rose and Luisa have a lot of the same actions over and over because my mind grabs something and it...I think it gets repetitive. :/But I think I’m worse at dialogue. My characters can often sound ooc - at least to me - especially in comparison with other writers who I think capture their voice a lot better. (This, for me, is particularly telling in IYLHYBHN - I think I got Luisa and Rose’s voices down pretty well in the first chapter, but I don’t think I maintain that very well.)
45. What is your all time favourite fanfic?
I...have a lot of favorite fanfics, and I don’t know if I can pick one overall favorite, but.
To The Stars by hieronym is probably the first one I’ll bring up because I love it and it’s intricate and the characterization is amazing and the worldbuilding is phenomenal and also it’s really, really long and has been going for over seven years and I love this fic a lot. This is for Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and it was started before Rebellion Story came out (and if you haven’t seen PMMM, I highly recommend it because the story is really good).I also really love the fatal plunge series by maleficently, which is swanqueen fanfic and unfinished and the second book had such amazing Regina characterization and that’s why I loved it. I loved how she captured Regina. It was just. Ugh. Love!...and then there are too many favorite Roisa fics to try and just pick one so I’m not going to. ;D
46. If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why?
Depends on fandom.
I would probably suggest either.... Well, one of the following:
1) Luisa and the Fox (because it is my personal favorite of my fics and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read it or how excited to finally start on the sequel in a more specific format like, I love this fic it is my favorite of mine and I want a printed copy of it so I can share it with people this one probably has my highest recommendation if you only read one of my fics, read this one)
2) like lightning (because i love my baby!lint fic and this is the other one i want to print out and share with people)
3) grind (because this is probably my favorite of my roisa one-shots)
4) hollows (because this is my other favorite roisa one-shot)
5) body, body (because i really loved this frozen one-shot don’t judge me and also anna was a freaking cannibal and i actually have an entire world built around this that i wanted to expand on but oh well - and also my second most read fic)
6) on aquariums and besties (which is a really bad title but i love the scully/jess fluff and also hey remember how luisa hallucinates i’ve played around with people who don’t have concrete holds on what’s real before and this does come up here)
7) lost causes (to this day, this is my most read fic)
8) make life worthwhile (my third most read fic - my wfrr stand alone stuff does really well)
#meetthebeatofmyheart#meme response#bandit answers questions#bandit#fanfic recommendations#and i've actually thought about sharing fic with people irl#and luisa and the fox and like lightning are the ones i've seriously considered printing to share with people#the only other one i think i've shared is one i don't have up on ao3#this sinking boat#which was a good fic#but not necessarily easy to understand outside of the rp sphere that prompted it#anyway#thanks for asking!#sorry i took so long to answer!
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