#I just think this could be angsty and kind of cathartic

[the-witchhunter]

You know those video games where the character has to complete puzzles and work through their trauma to escape/wake up/something? Obstacles getting in their way and being tied to their past as they delve more into their trauma and have to learn/heal from it before they can progress?

Danny has been around a loooong time. He's old, he's powerful, and has a space in the ghost zone that he controls much like a god. The ghosts have long since started leaving him alone, the ones he's friends with have their own affaires to deal with, and in his ever shifting labyrinthian layer he's too powerful, and even outside of it he can still kick their asses.

and he's without a purpose

His friends had long since passed on after leading long and wonderful lives with him, not even leaving a ghost behind. His Family as well. Jazz had never had children, and try as he and Sam might have, half dead as he was he couldn't have children. He had no one left and nothing to do, and all of eternity to do it in.

Thinking of Jazz is what made him do it the first time

She loved helping people with her psychology, and Danny decided to do it in his own way. It hadn't been pretty, and it hadn't been easy, but he had found his method. Some took to it better than others, and many had different theories about his lair and his motives, but he helped people move past their trauma. Some believed his lair was some kind of purgatory, and... they weren't totally off

So, when Danny moved on to the timeline of the DC multiverse, he had some experience under his belt

He just underestimated how much trauma superheroes can have

#danny phantom #dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #dp x dc prompt #dpxdc #Danny pulling a silent hill and making superheroes work through their trauma #he even gives them puzzles! #Maybe he does this to villains/former villains too #like the harley quinn show and going into her mind #half kidnapping half cognitive behavioral therapy #I just think this could be angsty and kind of cathartic #Just jason having to address his rage #it was never the pits #and maybe not letting it go but at least redirecting it #I need my boy to be happy okay #and if that takes dragging him and his family through a psychological horror game that's fine #might be more interesting as alternating vignettes

[comradekatara]

for tbe atla people who has had in-universe fanfiction written about them (along the lines of tina belcher who came from bobs burger belcher)

your asks are always so strange (both in content and wording) that I end up having to read them like 5 times before I can begin to parse them. anyway I love that you cite tina belcher instead of just. rpf. like the literal terminology for this phenomenon that we do very much have at our disposals. so I even can’t tell if you’re asking “who would have rpf written about them” (which also presumably differs from historical fiction about past avatars or smth like that) and “who would write freaky friend fiction (like tina)?” i’m gonna go with the latter bc it’s way funnier.

i think that girl meng would definitely have written some….things…..about aang, iykwim. zombie apocalypse au, enemies to lovers, there was only one bed, etc etc.

i can also just kind of see jin doing this (abt lee from the tea shop or otherwise) i can’t explain it she just has fujoshi vibes. like, whenever ppl talk about how jin, zuko, and jet should have all been friends in ba sing se, i’m usually like “uhh… why tho….” but now i see why. it’s so that she could write jetko rpf about them.

for therapeutic purposes mai probably writes a lot of really cathartic short stories about her entire family, the entire royal family, and ty lee all falling into a sinkhole. but then mai saves ty lee from drowning at the last minute, which teaches ty lee to appreciate her instead of that stupid sinkhole bitch azula (this is all pre boiling rock, obviously).

at one point mai and sokka find a notebook of really angsty fanfiction about the blue spirit and they’re like, “oh my god this is amazing we gotta show this to zuko, he’ll get a kick out of this,” not realizing that zuko actually wrote it himself as a way to work through his identity crisis. he’s just like, “yeah….wow….so cringey, right? but also, kind of incredible how this writer articulates the struggle of the bisected self in extremis so beautifully……right? you guys think so too?” and sokka and mai just look at each other and silently go, “okay…. we may have made a mistake…..”

when katara was a child she would make up stories in her head about finding the avatar and befriending him and having him fall in love with her due to her courage and beauty and (hopefully, someday) waterbending talent and they would defeat the firelord together and live happily ever after. but thankfully she never wrote any of this down, because paper is a very scarce commodity in the southern water tribe and even she knows better than to invoke gran gran’s wrath on that. she never tells aang. although at some point (in sworn secrecy) she does end up telling zuko (assuming that he’d understand considering he also devised fantasies of finding the avatar to cope with his miserable existence), and he laughs for hours.

during their time together in the nwt, yue’s diary gets filled with all kinds of lurid fantasies of sokka killing hahn (in increasingly brutal ways) and sneaking her out of the palace so that she can join team avatar and they can be together forever. of course, whenever they talk about it, she’s just like “yes I love hahn he is great and I love my people and I would never leave my home” so sokka’s just like “okay girl you do you.” but then during the siege, yue actually sees sokka kill a man, and she’s suddenly so conflicted because all her self-indulgent fantasies were a bit too real (and in reality, he’s way more efficient about killing people than he was in her fantasies, almost like he’s done it before….) and she has no clue how to feel about it. anyway, thankfully, yue has learned how to hide her diary really well at this point, because if arnook ever found those particular pages he would’ve tracked down sokka and killed him without hesitation.

ok bonus follow up to the fujoshi jin writing jetko rpf au: eventually they find it (or maybe she’s bold enough to just straight up give it to them. you know what, she might be) and read it. jet’s like, “uhhh…. jin….. i’m not gay. you know that, right?” (he’s actually been hitting on her for… a while now…) and zuko’s like, “okay well i might be. BUT NOT FOR HIM!!!”

#bigpansy #asks #you always get me to write the darndest things #I don’t even know how to tag this #the gaang and #but not really? #meng #jin #jet #zuko #mai #ty lee #sokka #katara #yue #arnook #mai&sokka #maixtylee #sokkaxyue #katara&zuko #tis the thing itself! #(sorry jetko truthers) #(you know I had to do it to em)

[thelordofgifs]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you @sallysavestheday and @grey-gazania! I was eyeing this one and hoping for a tag, some great questions here.

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 51, although one's a podfic.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 250,683. More than half of which is from last year alone!

3. What fandoms do you write for? Currently exclusively the Silmarillion, with the occasional little LoTR ficlet.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? the fairest stars, Inflection, an ancient song, all those that follow, Ilimbë. I'm always surprised by an ancient song's popularity – it was a pretty low-effort ficlet – but a solid list nonetheless!

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes, always! (Glances nervously at the pile I've accumulated in the last couple of weeks of travelling). I love replying to comments, though. It's so nice to be able to engage with all my lovely thoughtful readers and their excellent thoughts!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? ever an anguish that pursued is pretty bleak. before the black gale is also a tragedy of sorts, though I'm not sure that makes it qualify as angsty as such.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Ilimbë ends quite joyfully, although while writing the final scene I did have the shadow of their unhappy future in mind! I think the cleaving's ending is also quite happy, or at the very least cathartic.

8. Do you get hate on fics? No, thankfully! All my readers have been very kind and appreciative <3

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Three fics so far! All of which were gifts for friends, and made me push my boundaries a little. I'm proud of all of them, though! Smut is less scary than I used to think :)

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? No, never! If I did, it would probably be more of a retelling/AU than straight-up having characters from different fandoms meet.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not to my knowledge!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No – I fear I am rather too much of a control freak for this, and would rather not inflict myself and my pedantry on an unsuspecting co-writer.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Russingon... it's the forbidden romance and the doomed nature of it all and the fact that love wasn't enough to save them :( also the murders, of course.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? boats against the current, the "Maedhros doesn't swear the Oath" AU I blithely started back in 2022, is simply not going anywhere at any sort of speed. Perhaps this is the year! Let's see.

16. What are your writing strengths? Dialogue and characterisation! I'm good at emotional beats, I think.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Description... I tend to write VERY minimally and then have to go back on edits and add in some descriptive language so that the entire story isn't just two talking heads in an empty room. Always very pleased when people compliment my descriptions for that reason – they take conscious effort!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Fine if it's footnoted, I think. I tend to avoid it on the basis that all the dialogue I write has been "translated" from one of Tolkien's languages anyway; and I don't know any real languages well enough to write fic in them.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Harry Potter, although I've soured on the fandom now for obvious reasons :/ For a while I used to think that I could still enjoy the books I loved so much growing up while separating them from the author, but she's so continually hateful and bigoted that I just... can't gain any enjoyment from the franchise anymore. Which is painful, but I'm glad I have the silm fandom to absorb all my creative energy now!

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? the fairest stars! My weird gremlin baby, I love it so. I never expected to care about this fic as much as I did, but I've poured so much thought and heart into it that it was perhaps inevitable. And it's taught me so much about writing cliffhangers :)

No-pressure tags for @eilinelsghost, @searchingforserendipity25, @welcomingdisaster, @that-angry-noldo, @swanmaids, @echo-bleu, @jouissants, @tanoraqui and anyone else who, like me, was eyeing this one hoping to be tagged – @ me and say I tagged you!

#tag game #my writing

[bvckandeddie]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

tagged by @devirnis ❤️

How many works do you have on ao3?

if we include both of my ao3 psuedonyms (which we are, otherwise this would be a very boring ask meme) i have 14 works!

What's your total ao3 word count?

561,661 😳

What fandoms do you write for?

i’ve most recently written for 9-1-1, but i’ve also written for Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Top five fics by kudos:

reality strikes, so bring back the night (ATLA)

That Midnight Sky (ATLA)

swords of fate, pride of heart (ATLA)

i could (never) give you peace (ATLA)

what a heart can do (9-1-1)

Do you respond to comments?

i try my best, yes!

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

no angsty endings, god bless 🫶

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

oh gosh, i don’t know. they’re all happy! i suppose That Midnight Sky because i really put sokka and zuko through it in that one, lmao.

Do you get hate on fics?

uh, yeah, lmao. just once! one of the very first comments on hurt locker was someone who was very unhappy with the decisions eddie made throughout that fic. i think maybe they just didn't understand the concept of POV storytelling ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Do you write smut?

i let much more talented writers than me fill that gap in the literature!

Craziest crossover:

not really a crossover in terms of ao3 categorization, but maybe the Mr. & Mrs. Smith AU i wrote for buddie?

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

i don’t think so, but i do know that i could (never) give you peace is on goodreads somewhere. wish it wasn’t!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes! someone recently translated i could (never) give you peace into russian! super, super cool.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

YES, i co-wrote the amazing fruity beverages with megan aka @engagedzukka aka @crosspin. brainstorming that entire universe and collaborating with such an incredible writer was so fun, and it was a huge highlight of 2021. (hi megan ily 🥰❤️ can you believe we wrote that over three years ago???)

All time favourite ship?

my evergreen relationships that i could go find a fic for at literally any time are stony, arthur/eames, and spirk. buddie though…there’s something really special with them 🥹❤️

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

i started a really angsty fic last summer when i was in a bad mood (lol) where eddie and buck kind of knew about the potential of what they could be together. after the lightning strike, eddie was ready to take that next step, but then buck got together with natalia. i kind of just wanted eddie and buck to yell at each other a little bit, y'know? exploring their relationship breakdown was really cathartic for me at the time. with the direction the show is taking now, i don’t know if it’s something that i’ll finish. it seems like the fandom has swiftly moved on from that era of the show, and fair enough. we’re all on the bucktommy train now, right? choo choo! 🚂

What are your writing strengths?

i love writing dialogue!!!! i love writing dialogue so much!!!! it's so snappy and boom boom boom, y'know? all of a sudden i have 1k written and life is amazing.

What are your writing weaknesses?

i really hate inner monologue. i’ll write it, because it’s integral to the story, but I’m never like, oh my god, i’m so thrilled to be writing this inner monologue stuff right now, lol. let’s get back to the meat and potatoes of the story, people! dialogue!

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

i do not know another language, so i tend to steer clear of it, because i know how google translate fails us all.

First fandom you wrote in?

ha. ha ha. the mortal instruments by cassandra clare. i still get occasional favourites on my clace and malec stories from fanfiction dot net. i didn't even FINISH the clace one! anyways.

Favourite fic you've written?

this is hard! i can't pick just one! TMS holds a really special place in my heart because it was the first idea for a story where i was like, wait, i think i could actually write this and finish it. and then i did! and the zukka fandom was so fucking sweet and kind about it.

i’m also really proud of what a heart can do because i was nervous about writing an original child character and i worried i wouldn’t be able to do the story justice. but the reception has been incredible! i genuinely cannot believe i wrote that fic in between doing research and writing my thesis. how did i do that?!?

one fic that i really, really love is swords of fate, pride of heart. i wrote that fic in like, a week. it was insane. the fic is so ridiculous, and it was so fucking fun to write. whenever i get a comment on it, i usually go back and reread a portion of it and i'm always a little in awe of my past self. like, yeah, i wrote that.

this was so fun to do!! tagging @captain-hen @wildlife4life @shitouttabuck @colonoscopys @eddiebabygirldiaz @traumabuddies @try-set-me-on-fire @hattalove and @kananjarus if you feel like it! my activity feed is super messed up rn thanks to that ‘first base is/second base is’ post lmao so i’m really sorry if i missed anyone or if you’ve been tagged already 😭❤️

#thank you ali for tagging me ❤️ #coming out as a zukka enjoyer but i think anyone who pays attention probably has already realized that LOL #tag games

[kageyamatobiyogurt]

haikyuu boys being emo

a/n: in honor of myself going to an emo concert soon ~ here are my thoughts.

includes: bokuto, kageyama, tsukiishima, kenma, tendou

bokuto:

okay despite probably not being full fledged emo, i feel like i had to mention him

bokuto would probably be in “life is only despair” mode after a loss

mans fully sits in the back of the bus and leans his head against the windows while blasting whatever comes up when he searches “sad emo music playlist”

no one is allowed to sit next to him except for akaashi - MAYBE

he blasts whatever spotify offers in it’s cumulative playlist with this big pout on his face

this leads to him mainly knowing medium to slow paced songs but those with clearly heart-wrenching lyrics

bokuto also probably just knows songs, compared to being an actual fan of the bands who wrote them

mans is on the verge of TEARS when iris by the goo goo dolls comes on and he remembers how he missed that one spike that probably could’ve turned the game around PLSS

kageyama:

so much of kags’ life revolves around angst man

and i mean, he does almost have an emo fringe going for him LOL

but at the same time, i don’t really think kageyama would be one to make his music taste too big of a part of his personality - that’s what volleyball is. so you probably could t tell he was a little emo from the way he dresses.

(outside of a school uniform, mans probably lives in athleisure).

ain’t no way he didn’t manage to cope with music

i think we’re not surprised that he gets kinda angry sometimes so i feel like he might turn to a lot of music with screaming

when he discovered it, something about it felt kind of cathartic, like ‘here’s some guy screaming and voicing out my frustrations for me’

he also found comfort in the isolation that this kind of music talked about

after a frustrating (but productive practice) he probably listens to pierce the veil to let off some steam

(hinata wanted to walk home with him once but mans just kept walking out the door bc the music was so damn loud in his ear)

tsukishima:

this guy lmao

another relatively aNgStY bOy are we surprised

i think he would delve a lot more into the music he listens to and he’d listen to the most bands out of anyone here

he’s also shown a lot with his headphones so it’s a bigger part of his life compared to others

he’s a man of culture- one of his favorite band being my chemical romance because of the band’s theatricality but also tremendously well-written lyrics

i feel like his music taste would lightly influence how he dresses too

tsukishima probably owns a wide variety of black band tees, somewhat fitted black jeans, one very worn in pair of converse

but i doubt he’d wear everything together, but it would be mixed with all of his other clothes

like if you paid attention, you’d probably be able to figure out his music taste

he thought about getting a piercing once but backed out after seeing a piercing video

kenma:

he’d probably have a pretty broad range of bands he listens to

i feel like kenma would enjoy paramore and it’d lowkey influence what color he’d dye his hair

he also found music as an escape that he needed sometimes

kenma probably doesn’t listen to so much screaming so maybe he’d gravitate towards fall out boy and secondhand serenade

OH and he learns some ukulele because he gets into twenty one pilots at some point

just imagine kenma strumming along in his room aw

tendou:

maybe it’s because he’s my fave but i really think he’d get into all of this - the vibe would suit him SO WELL

he already has the red hair that he either styles up, but also looks SO GOOD when he just lets it hang down

he’s eccentric so i think he’s just hits shuffle and let’s spotify pick what he listens to

he just has a really big playlist filled with music from so many bands (and he’s still adding to it)

tendou isn’t so angsty but he likes how fired up music can get and how such a sick guitar solo feels like his bones are coming alive

my oh my do black skinny jeans look good on him - he cut the holes on the knees himself lol

DEFINITELY HAS PIERCINGS

mans got one of those side lip piercings and it’s over for anyone when he smirks he’s so damn hot

i think he’d go to the most concerts out of all the boys, he’s tall enough to be able to see the band wherever he is in the pit and he’s not so easily pushed when things get rowdy

definitely loves the feeling of the speakers blasting music into his soul and moshing with a crowd

(fun side fact: he gets ushijima to come to a concert once and mans sticks out from the crowd so badly. he doesn’t understand why the lead singer is screaming, is this music? whY did someone just push him? he ends up going to the back of the pit bc he can see anyway and it’s less violent)

#haikyuu!! #haikyuu #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu hcs #hq #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu characters #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu boys #tendou satori #tsukishima kei #kenma kozume #kageyama tobio #bokuto koutaro #bokuto x reader #kageyama x reader #tsukishima x reader #tendou x reader #kenma x reader #bokuto hcs #kageyama hcs #tsukishima hcs #tendou hcs #kenma hcs

[mixsethaddams]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @mojowitchcraft

1. How many works do you have on AO3? Twenty as of right now

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 293,097. I know there's a lot of writers who'll get to that same level with one or two of their long fics but it's still a lot for me 😅

3. What fandoms do you write for? Just Stranger Things these days

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? The Bartender Was A Trap with 2135, Eddie/Hotdude Official Megathread! with 1887, Slither with 1360, Could you coo, could you care? with 1202, and good to me with 1004.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? As often as I can! It means a lot when people take the time to leave comments. I mostly don't reply when someone is trying to 'well actually...' me about something though

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don't tend to write a lot of sad endings or angst for actual fics. I have some posts on here that have sad endings though. Maybe this one probably that I'd written for febuwhump is the saddest/most angsty?

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I only write happy endings! But definitely either Slither or wasted crying . There were people cheering for those ones

8. Do you get hate on fics? Yeah I got a lot of hate from some people about crushcrushcrush because of the Eddie/Chrissy relationship tag. This version of the characters was in an unhappy and, as we later find out, mutually toxic relationship and I had maybe two or three chapters planned out to explore how it got to that point between them and have her as a much bigger character. I folded under a lot of really horrible things being said to me in anon asks here and guest comments on ao3, and cut it down to a single chapter with everything crammed in, reduced her character down to (as I refer to her) a cardboard cutout pantomime villain, and took the tag off. I wish I had have been able to just brush it off and plow through to give the story the chance it deserved, but I'm still glad I was able to do what I did with it.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I do indeed. I claim not to, but let's be honest with ourselves. Its entirely mlm right now but I do have some wlw written and hidden away. I haven't written straight boy/girl sex in a very long time but I have some that I want to do as part of a series of follow ups to The magic number

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I haven't! But I do think that Eddie Munson would spit in Gator Tillman's mouth the first chance he got.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? I have, yes. That's entirely why I created my whole online 'persona' and started trying to show some sort of presence. I had a few too many things taken and claimed as someone else's and I just got sick of it.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No! The opportunity would be a lot of fun though, with the right person

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Honestly Steddie. It's the only one that's held my attention for so long

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I have a really cute Farmer's Market AU for Steddie but I can't find a way to tell the story I want to with it

16. What are your writing strengths? I'm good at characterizations

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Sometimes I over describe things because I myself have trouble visualising it or making a link between point A and point B and assume the reader would too.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I've never tried it because I know I'd be relying so heavily on google translate and I don't want it to sound jarring or stilted.

19. First fandom you wrote for? ...Green Day RPF.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? Slither has a very special place in my heart obviously. When He Loved Me was a cathartic and freeing way to help myself work through various things while telling the story. I also need to give a shoutout to my first Stranger Things fic, which was an Eddie/OFC story called What happens next? based in canon after Vecna is beaten. I really love the story I told there and I really like the way I wrote Eddie especially. It's cute and fun and I'm proud of it.

zero pressure tags:

@henderdads @infinite-orangepeel @steddielations @thorniest-rose @eddywoww @steddierthings @lexirosewrites @3minsover

#seth writes #fanfiction #my writing #tag game

[softpromise]

20 questions

how many works do you have on ao3? 11 works!

what's your total ao3 word count? 385,785?! wow

what fandoms do you write for? i have primarily published for zelda and one fic for honkai star rail, i've been working on a number of genshin impact fics but we'll see if i ever finish any haha. i miss the days when i could get myself to just post chapters as i wrote them but now i feel like i have to have all or a significant amount done before publishing :')

what are your top 5 fics by kudos? to hold the sun (zelink, complete), pawn structure (zelink, complete), i could only have you in my dreams (danstelle, slowly whittling away at another chapter), thunderstruck (zelink, complete), all in a day's work (working on a re-write!)

do you respond to comments? always and i feel guilty if it takes me too long to respond!! writing fanfiction is fun and cathartic but the reason i publish it is to talk to people about it. please comment on fanfic and feel free to respond again when/if authors reply - it's one of my favorite things!

what's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? ummm i'd have to say i could only have you in my dreams but that's mostly because it's "unfinished" as it stands right now. i love reading and writing angst in a fic but i'm too baby to give something an actually angsty ending :x

what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? EVERYTHING ELSE but maybe to avoid a cliche (zelink, complete) because the entire thing was a cliche and predictable and i just wanted it to feel cozy

do you get hate on fics? umm i'm sure i have but i don't really dwell on it. if someone's hating on skill, go off, i'm not a writing major and i'm publishing fics for free. if they want to hate on content/themes, different strokes for different folks. if they think i've done something "wrong", then i'd much rather they bring it to my attention respectfully so i can do better and learn. but at the end of the day, fanfiction is for fun, and i publish things i love and am proud of, and i've been lucky to receive a warm reception!

do you write smut? if so, what kind? absolutely i do! i feel like what i've published is on the kinkier end of the spectrum for a more vanilla reader, but on the vanilla end for a more seasoned reader. i like playing with power dynamics and desperation and worship/infatuation/obsession.

do you write crossovers? if so, what's the craziest one you've written? i haven't, and i don't know that i would! i really like coming up with plots that rely heavily on canon (even if it's just in my own way lol), and struggle with writing concepts that don't. i'm not sure i could get myself to write a crossover, unless it somehow still felt possible within canon!

have you ever had a fic stolen? not to my knowledge!

have you ever had a fic translated? i haven't! i'm working on a specific fic that i'd love to have translated into ukrainian eventually, so if there's anyone reading this that might be able to help, hit me up!

have you ever co-written a fic before? yes! to hold the sun with @obsidiangst and @hyperphonic, and pawn structure with hyperphonic. i learned so much through both experiences (and, yes, i'm tagging you both to do this xo)

what's your all-time favorite ship? easily zelink, i've loved them ever since i was a kid. it's the pure love, the cyclical romances, the trauma and the angst and the slow burn... and the forever and ever and ever. i've been really into chilumi lately too - the dynamic of "more than meets the eye" childe and "aloof intergalactic goddess that cares, believe it or not" lumine. i just love pining hahaha

what's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? *looks at wips folder* all?!?!?!?! just kidding (?). i'm really not sure! i did start a midzel piece a long time ago, inspired by carmilla, and i don't know that i'll pick that one up again. maybe i'll try to polish up what i have and put out a one shot instead of the slowburn longfic i wanted to do :')

what are your writing strengths? the easiest thing for me to sit down and write through to completion (pun very much intended) is smut! that's very often the part i finish first, while doing everything else in bits and pieces. i'm generally going for sexy but artsy, with the right mix (for me!) of blunt words and prose. i also feel that i'm good at characterizations that align with/expand upon canon.

what are your writing weaknesses? i definitely struggle with getting all of my thoughts onto the page, and i often have to read and re-read and RE-re-read to see if what i wrote makes sense (i.e. i didn't forget to include anything critical because my brain assumes it's already there). lately i've been having trouble with really connecting to writing, too, which makes the text feel shallow to me. working on being patient and writing one good sentence at a time!

thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? i love the idea and have a lot of thoughts so let me try to summarize! logistically, i would do it either in brackets (a la to hold the sun) or italics (if it was like a particular phrase in an otherwise english line) or just mention it, depending on the context. creatively, though, to me it's important (and fun!) to start by researching the culture. i also would be more comfortable including specific phrases/pet names rather than entire bouts of dialogue, unless i found a native speaker to help me!

first fandom you wrote for? zelda HAHA if i ever wrote any fanfic before that i don't remember it!

favorite fic you've ever written? hylia's greatest gift. it was something i felt was missing in the fandom, for a lot of reasons, and i think it represents what i'm best at writing as well as what i want to read. it's funny, it's lovely, it's sexy, and i really put no pressure on myself while writing it. i have something upcoming that can hopefully feel similar to me :)

thank you so much to @1up-girl for tagging me, i had so much fun reading your answers and then thinking through them myself! to anyone else reading, if you want to fill this out, consider yourself tagged - share your brain and @ me so i can read!!

#tag games #zelink #danstelle

[marimbles]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks for the tag @jattendschaton<3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

29

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

283,369

3. What fandoms do you write for?

mostly miraculous ladybug and a bit of owl house! potentially a couple others in the future

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Why Are You Like This?

tell me something i don't know

lucky (we're in love in every way)

some truths are loyal (as the shadows we lead)

two idiots and a hamster

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

i try to! it means a lot to me that people would go out of their way to leave their thoughts. sometimes it's a bit hard to keep up on multichaps though if the updates are frequent enough so i really fell off the bandwagon and currently live in shame with an overflowing inbox;; trying to do better from now on!

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

tbh i don't really do angsty endings bc i want the ending to be happy lol

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

like i said, all my fics have a happy ending but i think lucky is probably the most like extra-fluffy happy ending. and then tell me something i don't know is probably the most cathartic happy ending purely for the dramatic 100k+ buildup lol.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not really, no! maybe a sort of disappointed comment here and there

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

nope and i don't read it either haha

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

nah

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

haha i hope not!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

a few in russian and one in spanish (the beginning of it, at least)

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

yep! @botherkupo was my collab partner for two idiots and a hamster and i had a blast writing with her!! kim is such a good writer and sooo clever and funny so it was really fun to try to match her energy and bounce ideas off each other to make it as silly as possible

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

love square and in particular marichat is my weakness<3 also big shoutout to huntlow. and also zelink. and also recently tamaharu. aklsjf

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

at this point im not sure i will ever come back to i wanna tell you (but i don't know how) … it's an owl house fic that i started during season 3 but the direction i had planned doesn't feel very relevant anymore now that the show is over

16. What are your writing strengths?

i think dialogue bc i really enjoy writing it and it typically comes most easily to me! i would consider humor a strength too bc i have a very good time being silly

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

big one is speed. I'm just very slow 😔 the writing process is fairly painstaking for me, and it takes a lot of time and effort even to write things that are pretty short and simple! agonies

for the writing itself, i consider myself a pretty simple writer with a pretty simple writing style—which works well for me most of the time, especially since I tend to lean toward humor. but sometimes it feels like a weakness when i read a story with really rich, beautiful prose and i wish i could emulate that a bit more! when i'm trying for something with a more serious tone it takes a lot more effort for me to convey the appropriate level of depth I'm going for and i worry about going overboard and coming off as overwrought or cheesy sounding lol. along the same vein i feel sometimes that my characterization is a bit two-dimensional and i find myself wishing i could add more levels and depth to the characters. there's just a lot i try to balance in my writing and i don't feel like im quite striking that balance every time. which is fine because no one's perfect ofc! i hope this is all stuff i can learn to be better at.

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

i generally prefer keeping everything in english since im writing in english. it just feels a bit smoother for the POV if there would be no distinction for the character, and i don't want people to be pulled out of the story if they need to google something

19. First fandom you wrote for?

hunger games, i think

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

tell me something i don't know C:

tagging (if you want to!): @fairytales-and-folklore @lollytea @bahbahhh @sha-nwa @botherkupo @taliaxlatia (or whatever blog u wanna do it on lol)

#tag game #mine

[alightbuthappypen]

twenty questions for fic writers

As a treat entirely for me I get to do a meme. I wasn't tagged and I won't tag anyone but invite anyone who wants to do it to treat yourself too!

How many works do you have on AO3?

33, though 3 of those are posted anonymously (2 RPF that I'm not wholly comfortable having attached to my name anymore, 1 based around a Problematic Trope that I'm too chicken to own up to)

That's like an average of just under 2 fics per year I've been posting to Ao3, ha.

But I probably have about 20 wips for CQL alone, you know how it is

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

92,993 apparently.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Pretty monogamous at any given time - obviously CQL right now, though I did slip out that cathartic Good Omens thing earlier this year.

Previous big hitters (by my standards) were Dragon Age and The Musketeers (BBC version, yes I know)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

From Now On (陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) (1,013)

The Look You Give (陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) (995)

Retrospect (陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) (552)

In the Quiet It Will Grow (陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) (507)

A natural liking (Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, Good Omens (TV) (487)

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

I go through phases...I think it's polite to, and I do try, but also when I comment on a fic I don't actually expect a response from the author (though it's always nice!) so I don't angst about it. I obviously LOVE comments, it's not for lack of caring.

When I don't respond it's always because I end up overthinking what I should say, like does "thank you! <3" ten times in row look insincere.

Sometimes I go on a reply binge and start responding to really old comments, and that probably looks weirder.

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

I think I gravitate towards bittersweet or melancholy endings generally, though not usually real downers. Stories that take place within an angsty point of canon are good for this, like

A Promise (X-Men: First Class)

A Kind of Cruel (BBC Musketeers)

Probably angstiest of all is the very short For the wounded (Dragon Age: Inquisition) which is set in a Bad End post-canon.

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

I feel like "happy endings" suggest some kind of narrative arc and most of my finished fics are too oneshotty to really have that. But I'd say my fluffiest, most angst-free are probably:

Safe Keeping (Dragon Age: Inquisition) 

Nights Bright Days (Good Omens)

A natural liking (Good Omens)

In the Quiet It Will Grow (The Untamed)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I don't think I've ever got a hateful comment? If I have I've repressed it. I've had a couple that I wasn't sure what to make of, or which I felt misinterpreted what the story was about, but nothing mean.

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

DO I. Smutty oneshots my beloved.

In terms of like, sex acts, pretty vanilla, though I think some of my favoured tropes could be considered Problematic (a bit of dubcon, Cloud Recesses arc smut). Whatever it is, it has to be extremely emotional. If the participants aren't experiencing heightened emotions of some kind and having them described in long introspective paragraphs it's not me.

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

No, my tastes are deeply boring and I have zero interest in crossovers or most AUs.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

In the Quiet It Will Grow was translated into Brazilian Portuguese with permission, though I didn't realise it was going on wattpad and didn't think to ask (it's fine, but I do prefer the Ao3 "inspired by" function). A bit random, but still, flattering.

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

No, I kind of like the idea but I think I'm too precious about the process and have too specific an idea of what the final piece should be.

I do love the collaborative storytelling of D&D, but prose is a whole different matter.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Surely it's whichever one you're into at the time of asking? So obviously right now it's wangxian taking up most of my brainspace, but really most of the serious ships I've had I still have affection for. But wangxian is the only ship I've done both art and fic for, and overall feels like the deepest cut.

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

SO many unpublished wips, but Against your will is one of my two published wips and for that reason I would like to see it finished, but unless I get back in and refamiliarise myself with the canon again I don't think it'll happen.

Also I have all these other wangxian wips that are like...look at them, they're everywhere, spilling out of my pockets, strewn across the floor of every room

16. What are your writing strengths?

My method is usually to overwrite then trim back to the bare bones so I think my finished prose usually feels quite..."clean", and to the point. That might not count as a strength to everyone though!

In terms of things I most commonly get good comments about: characterisation, emotion, and clear description of action (people can easily picture what's happening)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Dialogue, maybe? I hope it doesn't feel weak in the finished story but it's definitely the thing I find hardest - I'm very conscious of dialogue feeling right for a character and it's usually the part I rewrite the most.

Also actually sitting down and drafting stories in the first place. Obviously.

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

I mean, I don't speak any other languages and dialogue is hard enough so god, no, unless it's a word or expression that is used by the characters canonically.

I don't mind it in fic as a reader but if I'm having to copy-paste paragraphs into google translate just to figure out what's going on I'm probably not going to persevere.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Oh, you mean the Buffy self insert fics I hand wrote in a notebook 14-year-old me kept under their pillow.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

This is hard because...I'm pretty happy with most fic I've published. I can definitely see flaws but overall if I've finished something and stuck it online I like it, and I've reread every one at least once (I am my own target audience).

Secondly, I think my favourite fic is usually the one or ones I'm in the process of writing. I'm always trying to improve and like to think the next one I finish will be the best I've done (unrealistic I know).

That said,

Keep Burning (Dragon Age: Inquisition) is a fic I'm still really proud of. It's far from perfect and I remember it being a tough experience to write but it came out mostly how I wanted in the end. It still feels like one of the most emotionally...honest things I finished. Also I know it made people cry, and I don't know if anything else I've written has done that.

Also There Grew Between is probably the CQL fic I'm most satisfied with, I just think the pacing and structure work really well and it's the one fic I wish got more love because I like so much how it came out.

#meme #writing

[coolestwriterartistthatsucks]

How the Batboys View Food (HCs)

(A/N: BIG OL TRIGGER WARNING. I’ve been writing other stuff on other blogs but I wanted you to dump this here cause writer is struggling with food :3 and I see a lot of ways that the batboys could have the same mindsets. So this is a lot of me projecting but also just drabbling. Pretty angsty I guess in some parts, enjoy. If you’re struggling with eating or self-image, feel free to reach out to me bb, my dms are open <3)

TRIGGER WARNINGS: eating disorders, unhealthy views of food, anxiety, food insecurity, angst, writer lowkey projecting, this shit is probably VERY decently triggering so be warned please please please, my feelings will not be hurt if you skip

Let me reiterate that THESE ARE NOT HEALTHY VIEWS OF FOOD. Many of the thoughts portrayed are HOW THEY THINK of food, not ways you SHOULD or COULD think of food. It’s cathartic to see them through the light of my own issues, I wanted to share. Love you all.

————————

Bruce Wayne

Probably one of the healthiest views of food

He grew up without ever having food insecurity AT ALL bc he’s so so rich

But he has been starving before when he worked with the League of Shadows, which means he knows the feeling.

All it is is unpleasant to him, though

He’s trained to be able to deal with it, so I think Alfred definitely has to make sure he’s eating

But he’s not doing it on purpose.

He understands EDs, and he takes them super seriously, but he’s never struggled with that, really.

He might go through phases of body dysmorphia because of wanting to be as physically adept as he can be, but I don’t think that would have to do with restricting food very much.

Again, Alfred lets him know when he’s doing too much

I think he likes good food, but he’s been so spoiled in that sense that it’s not really a big priority to him

Dick Grayson

Writer projecting on Dick Grayson pt 1/many

Ok so Dick was raised in the circus, being a child athlete (acrobat)

Obviously his parents were super wholesome, they weren’t much of a root of any problem

But having comments on your physical performance, being stuck in a tight ass leotard, thinking so much about your body at a young age, all of these lead to some type of problems.

Writer is 100% not projecting their ballet childhood

Poor little Dick watched the Strongman talk about his food intake and protein and calories and he thought “wow, I should do that to be strong too”

Cue guilt around food

Dick sees food, at least for the first part of his life, as an obstacle

The less he can get of it, the more strong he can be

He kind of sees it as something to be counted, measured (Dick is wrong, reader, eat your burger and enjoy it >:()

He doesn’t actually starve himself to a point that he starts to get skinny, but he restricts himself to have peak performance

It’s just that his mindset about it is so bad

One time Alfred cooks dinner and Dick is having a bad day (Robin or young Nightwing days). He steps in and just-

“… I had a burger for lunch” said Dick, looking frozen in place.

Bruce just chuckles, not noticing his discomfort. “Hey, that’s fine. You can jog it off tomorrow. Plus, you could do to put some weight on, yknow?”

“No, I… I can’t. I’m at my limit. I wasn’t gonna eat dinner,” Dick tries to explain, picking at his thumb nervously.

“… What do you mean your limit?”

“I uh… diet” Dick says, though his heart is quickening.

…

“Are you counting calories, Dick?”

Long conversation ensues

That might be super ooc, you get the idea

Bruce does not STAND for it

Dick recovers while Jason’s a kid.

He might have a relapse when Jason dies, just out of grief

But he gets over it

He can’t ever get rid of that voice that tells him that what he’s consuming is numbers

But he’s started fostering one that tells him how delicious that goddamn hotdog is, which is pretty cool

Jason Todd

Poor baby :((((

He grew up poor, so food insecurity was probably definitely present

Plus his mom wasn’t super into taking care of his needs

So he grew to subconsciously see food as fuel, but in a less healthy way.

He learned to measure how much he was able to run on, what gave him the most energy rather than what was good for him or tasty

All of this was for survival until he showed up at the manor

At first he was ecstatic about having more food security

And he was never one to turn down food

But out of habit he kind of never got food for himself on purpose unless he REALLY needed it

The type of kid to say “but I don’t need lunch, I had breakfast.”

Which is valid in some cases depending on whatever, but the subconscious thing that was nagging him was the small fear that still lived in him of someday not being able to live in that same security he’s grown to know

Bruce has to make sure he eats, because he’ll always eat what he’s offered without a second thought. He just won’t feed himself

Jason is 100% convinced he’s fine, he just doesn’t need it.

He does, in fact, need three meals a day with his highly active twelve year old boy self smh

When he comes back as Red Hood, he still kind of carries that with him, but he’s more willing to eat now.

I think dying kind of made him realize that he doesn’t want to miss out on anything or hold himself back

Plus he has a lot more muscle to feed now

If it makes sense, he just kind of doesn’t think of food much at all now

Much like Bruce

Tim Drake

Ugly sobbing :3

Writer projecting pt 2

Tim, Tim, Tim, neglected Tim :(

He views food very much as something earned

He enjoys his junk food or whatever, but he feels like if he’s not doing good enough he doesn’t deserve to eat at all

Nervous wreck he is, this happens often

Doesn’t do well on a mission? No dinner.

Not doing well in a class? Not eating till he fixes that grade.

Bruce finds out and almost passes out cause WHY ARE ALL THESE KIDS HAVING THESE ISSUES

It’s because writer is projecting, sorry Bruce

Bruce helps him through it a lot

Cheat code: if you go through a significant amount of effort to make him food he can’t turn it down

Or if you buy it for him

It’s an anxiety and bargaining thing for him, but he’s a tough boy he gets thru it 💪💪💪

Damian Wayne

Hot take but the league actually has pretty healthy standards on eating

They need to be efficient, yeah, but they recognize that to do that they need FOOD

He might be a little skittish around like processed food or new foods though

Has a thing for texture

Overall one of the healthier views on it though, and everyone else is watching him like a hawk to make sure it fucking stays that way

#tw ed diet #tw ed but not sheeran #tw ana trigger #tw food #dick grayson #bruce wayne #jason todd #tim drake #damian wayne #batfam #batboys #angst #dc

[emanation-aura]

Weird questions for writers, 19 and 38!

This is a response to this post about questions for writers!

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

Wow, so uh. Maybe this is a common origin story for writers my age, but I started out on Wattpad? It must have been about 2014-15 or so when I began; I have vivid memories of hopping off a flight and impatiently waiting to be driven home after vacation so that I could use my iPad to type the next chapter to my fic there, haha.

I started writing Pokemon fic, specifically of the X&Y Pokemon anime. I dunno if people here know this, but there used to be a fic genre there called "Ash gets betrayed by his friends" that was super popular, and I wrote a version of that too— it was my first fic (I named it "Heartbroken") and I made so many poor and melodramatic choices with it, but also i look back on it fondly. Some of the stylistic choices there survive in my writing there. Apart from that fic, I also wrote stuff for Star Wars Rebels, Percy Jackson, and Ranger's Apprentice (so typical YA stuff).

Why I started... well that's kind of difficult to answer, because I honestly I don't know. But it may have to do with that spidey-writing sense I get sometimes when reading or engaging with fiction, the desire for a story out of what I know.

There were a couple of major "incidents" that spurred me on the path of the fic writer: one was reading this AoT fic (tw graphic self-harm) and this Maze Runner fic (tw grief, suicide, psychological torture). Ok maybe this sounds bad on the surface but I am legitimately convinced that reading these at a young age made my writing style what it is today: a bit purple-prose-ish, slow and contemplative, chock-full of emotion and introspection, always, somehow, sad or angsty. (and they end up touching on the topics mentioned above, although most of the ones that do I don't publish.)

As for closer to the present... well, I really hit the ground running when I started writing Genshin fic. It's pretty much the beginning of my "modern style" (or stuff that I can read back through without cringing), and I want to keep developing that: writing sadness and grief and pain is deeply cathartic to me, and outside of lore studies, those are what I will be focusing on in the future. (...currently staring at the inordinate number of angst WIPs I have.)

38. What is something about your writing process YOU think is Really Weird? If you are comfortable, please share. If you’re not comfortable, what do you think cats say about us?

In all honesty, most of my fic is kind-of vent fic, just more verbose and coherent that what the name 'vent-fic' tends to evoke. I need to be in a really specific kind of mood to write angst/hurt/comfort (my staple), and for a long period of time, I was perpetually in that state, which made creating... not easier, maybe, but something else that spurred it on. I'm not like that now, but the emotional intensity needed to create and convey hasn't left me, either.

Putting it this way: i need to find or set myself into a Mood(tm) to find my creative juices. It's weird because I can and do write when I'm mentally fine, but sometimes the low mood makes things sharper and easier to convey. These days, I usually put on music to do this: not just any generic songs I like but specifically stuff I've curated from listening non-stop 1000s of times before I keep it on the "dopamine injection" playlist. Stuff like that speaks to me in ways that makes me feel probably far too much, and it puts me in the right (or wrong, I guess?) state of mind to pour emotion onto the page. Cause thats what it is for me: if I don't feel emotionally destroyed by what I'm writing then what even is the point?

In lighter terms: anybody is free to ask stuff in general, not just from the question list, in my askbox whenever. Please. I love talking about writing (why write when I can talk about writing)

#fanfic meta

[multifandom-damnation]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💗

Thanks so much! Every time I get one of these I feel like I could cry, I hardly ever get anons or asks so games like these are a novelty

Deliver Us; Probably the fic I'm proudest of out of my whole 553 fics and 7 years. An EXU; Calamity fic about the Ring of Brass dealing with the months of Evandrin's illness leading up to his death. It's very sad, very angsty, and I think it's my best work

Twin Thing; A Superman and Lois (CW) fic about the twins being twins. I've never actually watched the show but I was hooked by clips on YouTube, and anybody who has been reading my fics for any length of time knows how I feel about siblings.

No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight; Scenes from their friend's perspective of Alex and Micahel getting caught being affectionate and publically in a relationship before their wedding day, and their friends are secretly proud

Cathartic Tears; I'm proud of all my Legends of Avantris fics (if you don't know them then you need to check them out because they're fantastic) but this one is pretty high up there. Just Felix and Toa decompressing after a terrible time with a little bit of crying.

You only break when you take the bend too far; It took me a while for me to decide my final fic. I like my DC fics too much. Heavily inspired by artwork by @ky-landfill about Dick getting hurt while on patrol and the whole batfam banding together to care for him.

If anybody was curious or wanted a reminder, my Ao3 is Multifandom_damnation and I am very active on there and post a whole bunch from lots of fandoms, as you can probably tell by this list. Anyway, thank you so very much for this kind ask, and if this inspires anybody to read my works (particularly the ones I've mentioned here) I'd love it if you let me know ❤️

#critical role #roswell new mexico #dc #batfam #legends of avantris #beneath dark wings #exu: calamity #superman and lois

[prettylightsbigcity]

Author Self Fic Recs!

Post your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers.

Thank you to @tea-brigade @mostlymaudlin and @palimpsessed for tagging me! I know y'all tagged me ages ago, oops, I appreciate it sm!! I'm doing this super late so I feel like most folks have already done it, but just in case, tagging: @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @facewithoutheart @stillmadaboutpetra @krisrix and @captain-aralias If you've already done this, then this tag is just to say hi, I love your writing and I'm sending you a virtual hug <3

Make It Up To Me, 8k, rated E This was my main Erotic Gropefest collab with @stardustasincocaine and it's also probably the fic I wrote over the longest period of time? My schedule is really crazy so I'm usually a "sit down and bang it out" kind of writer (pun intended... this fic is VERY smutty lmao). I'm extremely proud of how it turned out, and Tessa's art for this fic is next level. TLDR: Dom/sub dynamic, lots of sex, lots of feelings.

The Edge of Memory, 8k, rated T The only non-explicit fic that made my top 5! Lol. In contrast to the previous fic, this one I wrote in one crazy sprint in less than 12 hours as a pinch hit for @captain-aralias. I'm honestly kind of obsessed with how it turned out? Who knew I could write an interesting plot without sex? Not me. I also never did it again lmao. TLDR: Canon divergent amnesia fic where Simon loses his memory right after he defeats the Humdrum and the Mage and forgets all of 8th year.

Angst, COC 2021, 2k, rated E This is probably my favorite thing I wrote for COC 2021, and I wrote... a lot. Like 50,000 words, more than I've ever written in that short a time before. It's honestly a pretty fucked up ficlet, but it was extremely cathartic to write. Plus, what was I supposed to do with the angst prompt? NOT torture Baz? TLDR: Coffin fic, coffin fic, COFFIN FIC!

A Room with a View, 7.5k, rated E I feel like this was the first truly filthy thing I ever wrote for the CO fandom, and I simply have not looked back since. This fic was a gift for @mostlymaudlin, who gave the most delicious and inspiring prompts (and also just makes delicious and inspiring content on the reg), and I reeeally wanted to do it justice for them. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. TLDR: Baz and Simon go on a ski vacation and fuck a lot. Bonus Brobelove!

Every Part of You, 8k, rated E This was the first fic I wrote after really connecting with other people in the fandom, and it was a gift for @caitybug :) It's sweet, a lil smutty, a little angsty. Honestly, I don't think it's as good as some of my more recent stuff, but it has a special place in my heart because it helped me connect to some of my fave fandom humans <3 TLDR: Simon works through his feelings both with sex and with words and a lot of help from Baz.

That's all, folks! If you haven't done this yet and you wanna, say I tagged you and GO FOR IT :)

#my fic #fic rec #my writing #snowbaz #tag games #spicy links

[quibliography]

The Scholomance Series by Naomi Novik

Synopsis:  This novel is about a girl, struggling to graduate from a school that is trying to kill her. Although to be fair, it’s not just the school but also the other students and the maleficaria. The Scholomance is a place for the children of the magically gifted to be both sheltered from the dangers of the world and toughened up to survive it. El has managed well enough on her own so far, but by your third year, one is expected to have gained allies. And no one wants to ally with a prickly loner like El. No one except the school’s golden boy, Orion. El can’t stand him but she might need to tolerate him if she’s to keep her ill-fated destiny a secret. I mean, just because she could wipe out a nation with a single breath doesn’t mean she should.

My Quibs: I know I’ve said this a thousand times too many, but I really need to stop reading books with teenage protagonists. I really just can’t with her. She’s bitter and angsty and resentful and rude and the worst of all, hypocritical. She thinks she’s better than most other students who are elitist or aggressively competitive or judgmental, but then she believes them when they tell her she’s the most worthless person. She resents people for not befriending her but then she resents Orion for spending so much time with her. And to top if off, she is so morally high-grounded it infuriates me. All of this I could somehow manage, if we didn’t get so much internal dialogue. It’s like a one-sided endless stream of consciousness about the terrible conditions of the school, the social behaviors of her classmates, the fears of her deep secret and accidentally fulfilling her prophecy. The closest I get to another perspective is when Aadhya and Liu snap her out of it and El takes a long enough breath to recognize other people’s struggles. And this isn’t even balanced out by my love of world building. Novik created an interesting premise, not so unique as to need an encyclopedia to understand but still different enough to be engaging. Unfortunately, we don’t get to hear it from Novik. We hear it described through El in either textbook-like paragraphs detailing the functional mechanics of how rooms are organized and the hallways get cleaned or bitter rants about how students behave socially to protect themselves in the lunchroom. I’m not one to fall on old standards and rules because rules are made to be broken. But Novik needs to do more showing and less telling. Though I don’t want to crush everything about this series. For instance, it may be cathartic for a reader to see characters express their emotions and Novik knows how to thoroughly work them with her characters. I mean, if there’s one thing El can do, it’s express everything.

Should you read it? Considering my review, I can’t personally recommend it.

Similar reads? It has similar elements to so many other YA series: strong female protagonist and world-altering destiny/prophecy.

(Spoiler Alert!) Novik is not one for the twist. I mean, she titled her second novel “Last Graduate” so even though I kinda know where it’s headed, I was excited by the how and the why. But it wasn’t hard-hitting enough for me. Orion’s self-sacrificing self-destructive push is very Hollywood. You can almost see El’s slow-motion outstretched hand as she scream echoes ‘nooooo’. And setting the school adrift into the void didn’t sound like the ultimate no-return kind of demise El kept insisting it was. And surprise surprise, in book three, it wasn’t. And that’s what was infuriating to me. El’s massive attitude swings of “he must be dead” depression to “I can go back to him” stubbornness and even when he’s alive and more-or-less well, she still chose to be angry because he’s not mentally healthy and grateful. I’ve also realized I’m not a “destined hero saves the world” kind of plot seeker anymore so I’m not really invested in the core of this series. I’ve finished the series though so despite my frustrations and rantings (uncomfortably similar to El’s) Novik’s writing must still be decent. Even if I disagree with all her choices.

What did you think of The Scholomance series?

#naomi novik #a deadly education #the last graduate #the golden enclaves

[whoisbriansella]

Reflecting on the Ann EP

Continuing with reviewing TFB songs/EPs/Albums you all requested, I’m going to be talking about the Ann EP (2018) today! If you’d like me to talk about any particular song, album, or EP, let me know; asks and comments are always open.

Note: I ended up comparing Ann to a few things; namely, the Rose EP, their original versions only on YouTube, and a lot of Car Seat Headrest deep cuts for some reason. So uh, if you haven’t listened to CSH, they have a lot of deep cuts that have been re-recorded. And I also have opinions on them.

To no one’s surprise, I lived and breathed the unreleased albums/EPs back when I was ~really~ in the TFB hole. Eh, what can you do haha...listening to TFB while living in the Philly/NJ tristate area in your teens can do that to you. I Hate My Friends is my favorite TFB album for many reasons (”You Wouldn’t Be Laughing” and “Taking My Uzi to the Gym” I’m looking at you, specifically...) and My Grandma vs Pneumonia also has some standout pieces that none of the officially recorded songs can ever really capture (”The Bass is Too Loud,” “The Distance That I Fell,” and “The Wrong Way”...oh my God). 

The reason why I like them so much is that they have such a charm to them in all their raw, not produced, garbage quality of sound. They’re like Car Seat Headrest’s discography pre-Teens of Style: while everything kind of sounds like it was recorded on a Hannah Montana-themed toy microphone you get in a happy meal, it’s still so real to you as the listener. It’s like they didn’t even have time to edit the song—the band jut recorded it in one take, as loud as they could, and delivered the CD to your house the next day. The deep cuts are charming in their rawness, and no amount of production could capture the intense, surprisingly beautiful feeling conveyed in each song.

So, when Ann re-recorded some of the deep cuts in 2018, I had conflicting feelings. First, I remember being ecstatic that they chose some of my personal favorites to officially release (except for “Today Is Not Real; I liked having that one as a hard-to-find deep cut). “I Think Your Nose Is Bleeding,” “Pale Beneath the Tan (Squeeze),” and “Lonely Eyes” are signature TFB songs. The original ones were, to me, everything that TFB stood for: the aggressive band blasting, Brian trying to sing over them in that weird yodelly voice, and the semi-literal semi-metaphorical lyrics about whatever angsty feeling TFB gets so right. Another thing about these songs is their attention to violence: one aspect of Brian’s writing I really, really like is the idea of drastic measures to find peace. Obviously the “I’m gonna get on my knees would you punch me in the face please?” from “Lipstick Covered Magnet” is one of the most famous examples, but the whole of “Pale Beneath the Tan” also carries this idea of intensity of emotion linked to violence that has become a really interesting theme.

“Lonely Eyes” is the “Peach” before “Peach.” It’s the cute love song with anxious and ultimately sad undertones about someone you love, and that’s pretty much any TFB song about love. “I Think Your Nose Is Bleeding” is the mandatory anthem TFB puts in most of their albums that has the one chorus that feels really good to scream out loud—again, “JUST WANNA FEEL IT WITH SOMEONE ELSE” is undeniably cathartic, even when there is no “someone else.” “Somebody Else” is the same way: the “‘CAUSE I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE GOING THROUGH” is the signature miscommunication scenario in a TFB song about a relationship that Just Isn’t WorkingTM, and there’s nothing to do to fix it.

HOWEVER, on the other hand, I realized that I had grown really attached to the sounds of their original counterparts. More specifically, the emotion that was carried through their versions on the unreleased albums fit the way the instruments played, how they were recorded, and more. They were perfect how I listened to them first, and it’s going to be really hard getting used to the new vision and direction they’re going in. 

Review:

Comparison to Rose EP: 

I think the main difference between Ann and Rose is that the former wanted to add onto the old songs, not just re-record them with a bit more production. Rose is simpler in many ways: from minimalist artwork keeping the watercolor and scratch-ink portrait art, to heavy use of the acoustic guitar and single voice, the first EP brought the band back to their roots in a smart way. Rose is kind of like the re-release of Twin Fantasy by Car Seat Headrest: the content is the same (although bestie Will Toledo changed some parts here and there, and you can actually compare both versions on Spotify) but the sound is a lot cleaner and easier to listen to. It’s not changing the original songs but updating them—they still keep the emotions and the overall tone intact. It helps that TFB selected the quieter, more intimate songs for this album; songs like “Awkward Conversations,” “12 Feet Deep,” and “Jim Bogart” really only needed the guitar, Brian, and a better microphone to give the original sound a small makeover. Even “Flying Model Rockets” keeps the original feeling and emotion, even if it does have a better microphone system.

Ann, however, decided to add to the songs, not just update. On one hand, you can tell by the artwork alone: the portrait is more of a photograph, and she’s adorned by bright flowers, birds, and colors. This EP picks louder, more intense songs to “update,” and...well it sounds weird. I can’t say I hate the EP because the lyrics haven’t changed, and they’re still the same songs, but I can’t tell if these songs are better with the nice, refined productions. Rose also picks upbeat unreleased songs to re-record (”Be Nice to Me” and “Lipstick Covered Magnet”), but they manage to keep them pretty close to the original with the mismatched harmonies and uncontrolled voice. They actually speed “Be Nice to Me” up a little, but I actually liked that correction; it adds to the drama of the lyrics.

Like I said, I liked the wildness of the original songs: they were garbage, sounded all-over-the-place, and just devolved into Brian Sella going crazy over a microphone. The new songs are fine, but they’re not the same. And maybe expecting them to be the same isn’t the proper way to go about the EP, but the feeling I got with the unreleased albums was just kind of lost with the new version. That didn’t happen with Rose.

There was also a brand new song being introduced to the mix (”Tye Dye Dragon”), and since it was the only single released from the EP, it was going to set the tone for how the rest of it was going to sound. I’m not sure if I liked that introduction personally; I liked the song a lot, but trying to think of the purpose of including it instead of just releasing it as a standalone always stumps me. After all, Rose was all re-recordings of unreleased songs, so it’s weird to not commit to that pattern.

Song Choices

I’ll keep it simple with a list!

- “Today Is Not Real”: I didn’t like the new version. There’s something quite special about the unreleased original version: whether it’s the nonexistent production, emphasis on the acoustic guitar, or the overall quietness Brian adopts in his voice, the first version just keeps the seriousness of the subject matter in line with its tone. The new version is louder and more involved, and the presence of the band keeping in time with the singer just gets rid of the individual experience of that specific visualization of depression.

- “Somebody Else”: I like the new version, but it is different from the original (obviously). I think the guitar part in the new version sounds a lot like the Self-Titled work, so it’s nice to see them revisiting more than just the vault. I don’t have an opinion as to which version is better.

- “I Think Your Nose Is Bleeding”: They kept pretty close to the original, but they added the stupid telephone dial sound effect...For that reason, the original is better.

- “Pale Beneath the Tan (Squeeze)”: I just love this song no matter what version I’m listening to; both versions are very good in their own ways! The sound effects added in the new version show a sillier side of the song, adding a different kind of charm to it that somehow emphasizes the drama of the lyrics. The addition of humor was a choice, but I actually liked it! This song’s just timeless. There is cleansing in the flame!!!!!!!

- Lonely Eyes: Actually does a good job in updating the original! I like this one a lot, and I think it’s refreshing! If I really wanted to go rogue on the re-recording and change it completely, I would have gone full “Awkward Conversations” and just have the single guitar as the instrumental part.

Summary: 

If I didn’t know about the unreleased songs, I would have loved the Ann EP. I think, in the official discography, it was a good recall to the past sound of TFB before Going Grey, while also keeping the mellow moodiness and new lyrical style with “Tye Dye Dragon.”

I’m happy these songs got more attention from both the band and listeners, and I do like that they have more than one version. As someone who likes to see how the same song feels under different style choices and levels of production (insert more CSH opinions), I appreciated what TFB was trying to do. However, I just think Rose did it better...

That being said, I am excited for Theresa!! From the re-released version of “More Than It Hurts You,” a song that gave me a raging case of brain worms back in the day, I’m hopeful that it’s going to do a great job with recapturing those feelings we got back when we listened to it for the first time while also keeping the new identity and sound of the band.

If you want to read more TFB reviews, just request something, and I’ll write about it! Or if you want to know about my thoughts on any specific thing about TFB, that works too. 

Oh, and the best example of two songs that sound great in both the original and re-recorded versions of it, listen to “Maude Gone” by CSH in both the Monomania and the Teens of Style versions. Brain worms.

#she thinks and reflects #tfb #the ultimate nothing will ever be X is simply nothing will ever be Twin Fantasy

[theartistknownaslymond]

A playlist for the equivalent of the sequence where Francis thinks Richard and Sibylla have drowned (through to the revelations at Calais if you want) please.

My god you're evil Katherine <3

Nothing but the Cathartic

A band AU playlist for a six hour hungover drive through the night to confirm whether the relatives you keep trying to estrange yourself from, who you actually love beyond words, have drowned*

1) Kate Bush - Watching You Without Me 2) Joan Baez - House Carpenter 3) Jean-Roger Caussimon - La Manche 4) The Watersons - Idumea 5) John Lennon - Mother 6) Lady Maisery - The Changeling's Lullaby 7) Sily Sisters - Burning of Auchindoon 8) Anne Briggs - Lowlands 9) Justin Hayward & John Lodge - My Brother 10) Maddy Prior & Tim Hart - I Live Not Where I Love 11) Joni Mitchell [Morgan James, because Spotify] - The Last Time I Saw Richard 12) Pentangle - Lyke-Wake Dirge 13) Nic Jones - Isle of France 14) Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem - Crossing the Bar 15) Charles Trenet - La Mer

'Then all the more credit to you,' said Erskine, seating himself, 'for entertaining such strong family feelings. We heard of your ride. I trust you are now quite rested after it.' The young man's mouth opened. 'The ride!' He sat down. 'My dear sir, the ride was nothing but the cathartic. It was the banquet at the Hôtel de Ville that did for me.'

*n.b. for a real hungover night drive you should a) let Archie drive and b) choose louder songs to keep you awake

I know I should be posting the celebrating-Thatcher’s-demise playlist today, but that one isn’t ready, so you get a miserable mourning one instead whoops

1) This is from The Ninth Wave, the B-side of Hounds of Love about a woman lost at sea. It's her pov on her relatives waiting for her to return - so the reverse of Francis imagining Sibylla and Richard are dead, but Sibylla wants to see what he's like imaging Richard's dead, and in terms of the misunderstandings and not-hearing-each-others it seems fitting for the fmaily at this point. 2) A folk song about a woman who had an affair with some devil (also known as The Demon Lover), is later persuaded by him to leave her husband and child and then drowns at sea when he deliberately sinks their ship. Not that I think any of this applies to Sibylla, but atmospherically I think Francis, who is not currently certain of his past, would find it fittingly painful. 3) Don't @ me I couldn't find a transcript of the lyrics and my French isn't good enough to know that it fits exactly, but it sounds good for the kind of crooner FRC was, for the soundtrack to Sibylla's past in France, and obviously La Manche is the French name for the English Channel. 4) A sacred harp song re-introduced to the UK by the Watersons, it's just a great mourning song. 5) If the lyrics to this seem unfair to Francis, Sibylla and FRC, or even overly kind on Gavin, then just think about how much misunderstanding there is between everyone, how much distrust there is and how much isn't being said that needs to be said at this point of the story. 6) Ok, this is one modern folk song I allowed myself because I thought it fitted Francis' fears of what he is to Sibylla so well. Plus imagine the way this could be interpreted from Sibylla's pov, knowing who the words are actually referring to: 'Your father says you're not his own nor any child of man's, / But I think you have your father's smile, your father's gentle hands, / And I pray that you will love me like your father used to do, / So hush awhile, my darling, so I might know it's you.' 7) It's really more of a GoK song, but that's emblemetic enough of the tangled Crawford relationships anyway: 'As I came in by Fiddich side on a May morning / Auchindoon was in a blaze an hour before the dawning / Crawing, crawing, for all your crowse crawing / You've burnt your crops and tint your wings / An hour before the dawning.' 8) Drowned lover appears to woman in a dream. Another great angsty ballad. 9) Perhaps on the surface more of a 'Richard about Francis' song, but given the reference to the hand at the bridle when Francis suddenly realises his brother's not dead, it might also be a bit about Francis' idea of Richard when he was young. Plus 'So far / aross a wild and windy sea / So far / That our voices are / Divided by an ocean / An ocean.' 10) Again, technically written as a song for a lover, but I think it still fits Francis' feelings about home and family and his difficult relationship with Scotland and Midculter. 11) Bit on the nose? Mm. 'Richard got married to a figure skater And he bought her a dishwasher and a coffee percolator And he drinks at home now most nights with the TV on And all the house lights left up bright. I'm gonna blow this damn candle out I don't want nobody comin' over to my table I got nothing to talk to anybody about All good dreamers pass this way someday Hidin' behind bottles in dark cafés Dark cafés, only a dark cocoon Before I get my gorgeous wings and fly away Only a phase, these dark café days.' 12) It's another banging mourning song from the canon of twentieth century folk revival! 13) The story is of a convict washing up from a shipwreck and being pardoned - you'd imagine Francis would see himself in it to an extent, while also thinking he deserves neither life nor pardon. 14) Another slight anachronism, because Katherine mentioned another recent version (by False Lights), and this is the arrangement that inspired that one. The song, however, is a Tennyson poem, and it had been set to choral music before, so it would sort of be known to Francis. 15) Again, big French crooner from Sibylla's glamour days, imagine her recuperating with this playing in the background as Francis steps into the room to see she's alive, while thinking Richard isn't...

#band au: checkmate #character: francis crawford #character: richard crawford #character: sybilla semple #playlists: period appropriate #playlists: anachronistic #it's both ok