#i want to write more fallout fanfic but i'm going to start small to get back into the swing of things

[willinglyghoulified]

I'm not dead.

I've been trying to get back into the swing of things. To my new followers, hello! I'm a fallout fanfic writer by day, overnight warehouse worker by night, and I'm studying to be an editor.

General life updates below the cut, but long story short, life's a little difficult at the moment and I'm thinking of writing something fun for you guys to read.

For those of you that give a hoot, my English grammar studies fell off a little bit after the holidays and a week-long vacation that I spent doing a lot of gardening. (Very happy with the gardening btw.)

However, on top of having to pay out $550 in taxes, my grandmother informing me that the exercise bike she gave me is going to cost me $250, attempting to pay off two credit cards, and buying gardening supplies and flowers, my parttime status is... getting questionable? Plus, the week-long vacation was nice and all, but we took a pay cut from that because we usually get more than 8 hours every night. Since we didn't work those days, we got 8 hour pay instead of our usual 9-11 hour pay. (We work 'til the job is done, however long that takes.)

As every day goes by, I am reminded again and again why I want to work for myself and why I am beginning to hate America. Rumors going around that the government is attempting to restrict or even ban at-home food gardening, I've just decided to stick to flowers in the flower bed and maybe two new trees and skip the tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, etc. that I planned to plant this year. Financially, it's probably for the best anyways.

SO. I'm thinking about writing a little somethin'-somethin' to entertain myself and you guys. It'll also help me get back into a good writing routine.

I'm practicing better self-care, too. Drinking iced lemon water, cutting back on the coffee and energy drinks, washing my face more regularly, moisturizing my hands, feet, and face, and going to bed and getting up at the same times every day. Anyone who knows how difficult self-care is with ADHD, I salute you. It's hard. I have to compromise with myself just to take a shower most days.

Good tips on staying motivational in order to get some studying done would be appreciated. I hope you're all doing well. Feel free to message me if anyone ever needs someone to talk to, shit's hard out here. Keep on keepin' on.

#blog talk #life update #general discussion #i started a garden this year and i'm very happy with it #i want to write more fallout fanfic but i'm going to start small to get back into the swing of things #a short story will probably be posted soon #hello new followers #this is a pretty chill fallout blog #i don't like posting anything controversial so i restrict my posts to fallout and general life updates

[macgyvertape]

I spent the weekend going through and backing up data to my server which included the long overdue task of downloading fanfic that I wanted to save that I had read over the past 3 years. I should have done it sooner because there was a fair amount that have been deleted or moved to a hidden collection. I intend to automate this process in the future, especially for fics that are in progress and then are deleted before they are ever completed.

Searching through this blog I recorded in April 2018 that "earliest fanfic I have goes back to 2008 ... w/ 2,045 Files, 93 Folders". Slight correction that I found a really old BTVS crossover dating to 2007.

As of Feb 2023 I have 3,370 files. About a hundred of the files aren't individual stories but chapters saved individually of now deleted fics before I started using FanFictionDownloader. Raid6 organized storage hates lots of small files so I've gone through and redownloaded all the stories I could from chapters into a compiled work, so the actual number of new stories added is probably larger.

My folder organization has changed a lot since so it's separated into 102 Fandom Folders, 15 Author folders (for those who write a lot across different fandoms), and a mostly unorganized Crossovers folder.

My top 5 fandoms by size were: DC, Transformers, Marvel, RvB, Warhammer 40k; top 10 by number of files: Warhammer 40k, DC, RvB, Destiny, Star Wars, Marvel, Transformers, Fallout, Naruto, Star Trek. 40k is definitely an outlier, because there's a lot of meta analysis posts included and pdf versions of tumblr pages where the css doesn't save well. That RvB, Destiny, and Fallout rank up there with other juggernaut fandoms really speaks to my small-to-medium fandom bias where I read a lot more shorter works by more authors that would normally get overshadowed in bigger fandoms.

Reading through the earlier stuff I saved, a lot of the fics haven't aged well; bad writing, super cliched plots, flat characters. Fics that I wouldn't finish reading now, let alone save; but aside from deleting a few, I'm glad to have this record of what I used to like. It's a lot easier with fanfic than the bad pulp novels I sold to the 2nd hand bookstore because physical books take up a lot more space.

#personal #fanfic #it me

[ashren]

hhhhng I want answers to all of them for everyone BUT, how about:

Why did you give them the name they have? What is the in-universe reason for their name?

What inspired you to create your oc?

Does your oc have any notable skills or good personality traits? Why did you give them those traits? Why do they exist in-universe?

Which canon characters (if any) do the oc have bad relationships with? Why those characters?

Share a random piece of trivia about the creation of your oc. Examples: scrapped ideas or changes you didn't expect to make.

For Peter and Ren? No pressure to do 'em all, I'll be excited for any combination :)

AHHH thank you!!! I will absolutely Ramble on about my ocs so don't u worry heheh 💞

Why did you give them the name they have? What is the in-universe reason for their name?

Ren: I think I've actually answered this some time, a LONG time ago, but dont @ me i answer differently now LOL. In universe, he picked the name Ren because it's a shortening of Loren, the name of his Uncle who had the farm. The IRL reason for the name is because I see a lot of cool names at work and I write down my favs hahaaaa ((side note, i forgot until way after i created him, but the first guy i kissed at college was named Wren. I did not go anywhere.))

Peter: SOOO you get some bonus Calvin facts here too! Oringally Peter and Calvin were kind of the same character that I turned into two different guys. I had called them Peter kind of as a place holder bc I was reading a lot of Spideypool at the time, and well. You know what happens with placeholder names. Then I redesigned them both, and the demon felt more like a Calvin to me, so vampire boy got to keep the Peter name! In universe, Peter's original last name was something generic like Brown or Smith idk but once he was bit and Maggie started calling him Peter V. Pyre as a joke, it kinda stuck. (Later on, Florence ends up taking the name Pyre as well. Makes things a lot easier for everyone, and she says it feels more 'her')

Ok this is already long so I'm gonna put the rest under a cut!

What inspired you to create your oc?

Ren: My baby boy was my Outer World's Captain! That's how he started, my first play through was as "Ash" but only in name really. Then I finished the game and was like must consume fanfic, which then lead to me developing Ren as his own Boy. I had been working on a lot of lore for Ash and my Fallout 4 OCs! Then I was like "Ohhhhhh no,,,,, sorry my children Ren's my fav right now"

Peter: Cowboy Vampire. Needed one. Also a lot my ocs starts as loosely veiled self inserts so they tend to all be a little similar in like,,, body shape and size so I was like... Beefy cowboy vampire???

Does your oc have any notable skills or good personality traits? Why did you give them those traits? Why do they exist in-universe?

Ren: He's really good at like, being stealthy, because that's how I TRIED to play TOW the first time. I am impatient, so Ren get all the patience I don't have LOL. In Universe I ended incorporating it into his backstory- he's got a bit of a criminal background and learned how to get around unseen and unheard during that time. It helps that he's a small boy :3

Peter: He's got some fun Vampire ~abilities~ that probs vary from story to story bc im too lazy to stick a set of rules. Stuff like being able to see in the dark, and like, idk he's got some good reflexes. Also a heightened sense of smell. Bc of reasons. All of those are just cuz its fun tbh! I also have him being a really good shot with a pistol BEFORE his transformation, so with his reflexes as a vamp he's near unmatched.

Which canon characters (if any) do the oc have bad relationships with? Why those characters?

Ren: In TOW Canon, aside from the obvious, he's got a rough relationship with Max for... most of the story lol. For a while he'd ONLY travel with Max if Parvati was with them as well. She's the only one he wasn't constantly arguing with. Max's "violence is the immediate answer to everything" attitude reminds Ren of some not so great ppl in his past, and after Fallbrook, Max is on Ren's shit list. Max becomes more tolerable to him after Scylla, but Ren still never gets as close to Max as he does the other crew.

Also Lilya Hagen specifically bc she tried to "poison" him once.

Peter: I haven't really figured out a lot of details, but at least in the beginning, he and Calvin have a... tense relationship. Peter wouldn't consider them friends for a while, a work partner maybe. Calvin likes to push Peter's buttons and Peter doesn't really understand at first that Calvin is just having fun. Calvin IS a demon, though, so they know exactly what they're doing. ((Bonus fun fact: Peter is actually legitimately older than Calvin. Peter was born in uhh some time in the 1790s? and Calvin was born in 1933))

Share a random piece of trivia about the creation of your oc. Examples: scrapped ideas or changes you didn't expect to make.

Ren: Ren was supposed to be a lot younger at first! Originally I had him ~25 during the games events, but then as I developed him more i was like.... what if.... older??? A lot of that was inspired by my need to give Felix someone older than him that WOULDN'T fucking betray him in some way. So, you have my love for Felix to thank for Ren's age In turn, because I made him older, I ended up having a lot more time to play with in Ren's pre Halcyon life, which created Johnny.

Peter: Peter's still pretty new so there's not too much I haven't already talked about BUTTT a little peek into the future of Peter's story, I did end up expanding on the Maggie/Peter relationship, and it's part of Peter's eh origin story now~

#heheh thank you!!! feel free to ask for more if u want i genuinely love these #i might double dip for u too haha #ask game #orignial character #the outer worlds

[haven-of-ravens]

hey there! i'm a big fan of your fics and was going to write my first one on AO3. it's such a daunting task and i was wondering if you have any tips for writers doing their first fanfictions ever? sorry if this is a question you don't usually get asked lol!

Hey there, Nonnie! 

First, I wanted to say thank you for being a fan! :D It makes my day!

Also, beware the wall of text to come! Gonna toss this under a cut. :)

I’m actually pretty new to posting myself as I started my Fallout series back in…June or July of last year? I understand how daunting it can be. Will people like your work? Will they hate it? Will they just never notice? Believe me, I worried about all of this.

My advice is just to go for it. You’ll never know if you don’t try. I originally posted my first fallout fic just because I wanted to and was proud of it. It was an utter whim. It’s also easier if you start small. Litost is less than 800 words! Don’t be afraid of doing small things. They’re easier to wrangle starting out. Plots can be hard, wild things that go wherever they want, pulling you along behind. 

Some authors only do one shots, and that’s fine! It’s totally up to you!

If you’re worried about your actual writing skills, my advice for that is to write. Write, even if you think it’s terrible. Write, even if you think no one will ever want to read it. Don’t be afraid of being bad. Everyone is at some point! I’ve got some horribad Inuyasha fanfic from like 15 years ago I’d never show anyone (It’s seriously baaaad).

Along those same lines, writing the characters you’re going to use is the easiest way to figure them out. The first few times I wrote Deacon, he was so terrible. Also, looking back through the source material, running with that companion, talking to them, etc really helps.

A side note here, sometimes the characters will do things you don’t expect or even mean for them to do! That’s okay. Writing can often feel like you’re chasing after a character merely trying to write down what they’re doing instead of telling them what to do. 

Also, if you’re having trouble with dialogue, read it out loud. See if it sounds weird saying it. I do it all the time! Speech can be stilted or fluid and any number of things in between. People use the wrong words, or garble them. Reading other works can help with this, but experiment and explore. 

If you’re having trouble with a scene, try writing it from someone else’s point of view. It can help a lot. Oh, and a point I’ll put here because I’ll forget if I don’t: Show, don’t tell. If your character is angry, don’t just say they are. Describe their scowl, their balled up fists, the venom in their words. It’s much more impactful. 

Deacon snarled, hissing the words out like a curse. sounds much better than 

Deacon was angry, shouting out the words. 

That isn’t to say you can’t say they feel a certain way. There’s a place for everything in writing, and sometimes being too flowery can be bad. 

Along the same lines, make sure you stay in the same tense. Sentences can sound strange if you switch tenses (I say this because I have to be careful not to do it myself lol). If you do shift tenses, make sure it’s for purpose. If you’re writing in present tense, shifting a sentence to past tense can denote this happened before. I use this a lot in my own writing.

OH! And please, use paragraphs. No one wants to read an unbroken wall of text. It can drive off readers. Keep in mind a lot of people read fic on their phones. 

Also, read! Read books and fanfic! It will help you find your voice and give you a starting vocabulary. Finding the right word is tricky, and I find myself often using the same word over and over as I write.

On that note, editing is your friend! Heaven knows my writing would be so silly if I didn’t edit afterwards. Like I mentioned, I use the same words a LOT, so I have to edit and tweak so it doesn’t sound wrong. Every writer edits, and it can take up a lot of time. Don’t skip this step! 

Also experiment! Writing advice is a good thing, but don’t take it as gospel. It’s advice. Worrying too much about doing it the “right” way can really hamper creative ability. 

As for actually posting, I feel the need to talk about the community. AO3, in my limited experience, is a nice community. I’ve never really had anyone be overly negative with me. However, the communities differ between different fandoms. If you do get a mean comment, try not to sweat it too much. Oh, and don’t be mean back. Just ignore it and move on. Don’t feel the trolls. 

Also, in terms of comments and kudos, you’ll get more attention to your fic if you promote it. I’m assuming you have a tumblr, so cross-post a link to it. Talk about it! (I admit I’m not great about this myself >.>) Also, comment on the fanfic you read. It’ll help you become part of the community, and people will be more likely to check you out if you leave a nice comment! Everyone likes to hear nice things about their writing. 

It’s also a nice way to make friends who share an interest! I’ve met many lovely people this way, and the best part is I can talk about my wild ideas with them. If you’re like me, you don’t have anyone IRL to really babble to, so it’s nice to meet someone who wants to hear your randomness.

I think I’ve written most everything I want to say, so in closing, I just wanted to say have fun! Fanfic shouldn’t be torture. It can be difficult sometimes, but if you start to hate it, take a break. 

Also! I’d love a link if/when you do end up posting! :D

Have fun, Nonnie, and happy ficcing!

Oh, and feel free to message me again if you need/want more help. I don’t bite, promise. :3

Hope this helps! 

OH! And I forgot. I have a lot of neat little writing posts on my tumblr under the writing tag, if you want to look through them. 

#ariejul answers #anonymous #advice #writing #fanfic #fiction