#smilesguaranteed

[teaiskey-blog]

@harrypains

#IHOPistea #smilesguaranteed #teaiskey

[drowningbydegrees]

these are all so great so questions for dayyys: 8, 14, 28, 40 (I, The Paradox or We Never Had a Choice?) :)

\o/

Writer ask meme questions

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

I don’t really have favorites generally, so I just went back through margin notes on old fics. Here are a couple of paragraphs from a scene between Bucky and James in I, The Paradox: 

“I…” Bucky floundered. Nothing he could say would stop the inevitable. “Maybe we could…”

“Don’t. Jesus, Bucky, don’t. We went through this song and dance. Nothing good’s gonna come from trying to change things now,” James’s voice was an insistent whisper Bucky couldn’t have ignored if he wanted to. Bucky had started to pull his hand away, but James caught his wrist, keeping him close. “I got to be me for a little while, but I was always supposed to be you, you idiot.”

“If that was true, this couldn’t have happened,” Bucky insisted. They were only just figuring this out, and in a universe that had spent an awful lot of time and energy shitting on the occupants of that bed, this probably took the cake. 

“I. Was. An. Accident. You and I both know that. When you make a mess, you clean it up, and this is part of that.” It was a strange, heartbreaking thing to be talking about the end when he could still feel the heat of James’ skin.

It’s not really that I think it’s particularly clever or well written. It’s just that I’m always especially happy when I’m trying to convey something complex and it feels like it lands as intended. There is a somewhat common theme in fandom that Bucky is in some way broken for being what he is. I like that theme. I have been known to indulge in it. Putting him face to face with another version of himself with different life experiences was sort of a unique opportunity to look at that from a different angle though, and entertain the notion that coming out the other side of what he did and being different from how he was before the war isn’t broken at all. 

14. What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever come across?

This is kind of hard because worst for me is not necessarily bad advice for someone else. Mostly, I think the worst advice is this very specific genre where it’s labeled as “rules”. No matter how generally correct a piece of advice is, there will always be a situation where it’s not. The beauty of there being many writers out there is a diversity of voice, but that means not all advice gets equal mileage with everyone. 

28. Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

I hope you appreciate how difficult this is because I like so many, many writers and I want to celebrate all of them. Seriously, if you ever want recs, I have them coming out my ears. I went and looked through my AO3 history though. Here are the first three where I clearly liked one thing and then went and read a bunch more of their fics. 

@jinlinli

Jin has such an elegant, provocative way with words. It lends itself incredibly well to the stories she tells. There’s a complexity of character and motive that I just can’t get enough of. 

I like everything I’ve ever read of hers, but if I had to pick one to rec, it would be how cold steel is (and keen with hunger), especially if you like character study. It’s haunting and so, so well done. 

@yetanotherobsessivereader

Okay, first of all, everything she writes is delightful and really well rounded. Her dialogue and character dynamics are fun and feel very true to character. 

Before I make this rec, full disclosure. She has tons of works that are sweet and funny and fluffy. Go read them. Seriously. This one just happens to make my angst loving little heart happy. I’ve probably read there is a tavern in the town (and there my dear love sits him down) at least five times. 

@leveragehunters

So, before I got into Cap fandom, I’d always stuck to canon/canon divergent fics in the corners  of AO3 I hung out in. Not out of any particular bias against AUs. I just didn’t really understand the appeal.

Then, someone recced me this one really fantastic fic by this author and I was hooked. Leveragehunters writes a lot of my favorite forays into the supernatural. 

I think if I were going to rec one fic, it would be True North. It turns out I have a major weakness for the soulmate trope, but what I like about this is that it sort of flies in the face of what I tend to think of in terms of plot. It strikes a really lovely balance between fate and agency and is just all around great. 

40. Write an alternative ending to [insert fic title] (or just the summary of one).

I’m going to sidestep I, The Paradox because it would spoil the next piece of the story. Instead, here is how We Never Had a Choice was originally outlined to go. Under a cut because I’ve rambled on so long already. 

Originally, very little of the relationship development you see in the fic was intended to happen. Bucky going after Steve to save him was meant to really be the first hint that he’d moved past how their paths crossed in the first place. They were going to part ways, and Bucky would go home only to realize there was no place where he fit now, and the story was going to end with him tracking Steve down to where he was volunteering with some much more legitimate activist group out actually helping people. 

That, however, requires so much context to make sense. Instead, I’m going to give you the ending I wrote before the current one. All you need to know is that nothing after the police station happened in this version. They got in the car and got back on the road, eager to put as much space between them and what happened as they could. 

“What do you want to do?” Steve asked around the lump in his throat. He had no right to hope for anything, but the fragile feeling stretched its wings anyway. 

“You know? No one has ever asked me that.” From the corner of Steve’s eye, he could see Bucky fidget, his hands clasped in his lap. “It was always whatever was best for the family. I was just an accessory.” 

“Was, being the operative word there, I think.” Steve’s stomach felt like rot, but he made himself offer up the very last thing he wanted. Bucky deserved at least that. “I can take you home if you want.”

“It’s not home. It’s just a big, fancy house with some people in it I’m not sure I know anymore.” Bucky turned his head away to look out the window into the night, or maybe to hide his expression. “I’d rather just forget the whole thing ever happened.”

There was no doing that, of course. Steve ignored the traitorous voice at the back of his mind reminding him that he was part of what had happened. “All of it?”

Bucky didn’t answer for so long that Steve could only assume the worst. He kept driving, even though his heart was in a vice grip. If Bucky wanted to go somewhere, Steve would get him there, and if Bucky wanted him to leave… he would go. 

“Well, not all of it. Just everything after the elevator.” Bucky was looking at Steve again, the impish twist of his lips defying their circumstances. “In fact, I think I know what I want.”

Steve wasn’t sure how Bucky could joke about that given the awful thing he’d done. Come to think of it, maybe that was exactly why. If they could joke about it now, it was less of a smudge on who they became. It wasn’t a trick and Steve knew that, but he couldn’t help the nervous thumping of his heart as he asked. “What’s that?”

The smirk Bucky had offered up before bloomed into a warmer smile that eased the tension in Steve’s spine. “A do over.”

#writer meme #smilesguaranteed #jinlinli #yetanotherobsessivereader #leveragehunters #fic rec #editing because i realized i forgot to actually tag the people i was reccing xd #i am not always a derp #but frequently :f

[eremji]

On the Ropes is a thing of absolute beauty, an instant classic, truly an unparalleled pre-war stucky fic that's gonna stick with me for a long, long time

Thank you so very much! I’m glad it struck a chord. It’s always incredibly encouraging to sign in and find comments like this, so I really, really appreciate it.

#asks #smilesguaranteed

[notlucy]

Would You Ever write more Winter Soldier Bucky-narrator? your WS!Bucky voice is my PRECISE jam

Oooh gosh, thank you so much @smilesguaranteed !

Short answer is yes, I would love to get back into the WS!Bucky head I explored in Hooked Into Machine and Vague Fancies & Carnal Appetites. Or, rather, the Bucky that I envision appearing after he’s back with Steve but still figuring things out, plums or no plums. Goats or no goats.

However, I don’t have any immediate plans to do so, as I have a fairly full plate over the next couple months in terms of bangs and pre-planned stuff. Upcoming is:

Continuing Family Placement

Posting the next PI one-shot

Posting The Voyager for RBB from May 20-June 10

Finishing Where the Summer Goes

Writing my RBB fic in time for claims

Fulfilling the stories promised to people who won my 200 follower contest (I haven’t forgotten about y'all!)

Finishing/posting the Sekrit Project fic

Writing the Proprietary Information mini-sequel

Writing the World War Threesome thing that is eating my brain

So, like, YES there is space for WS!Bucky in my head and I fucking love playing with his voice. I may end up noodling something when I’m bored and/or can’t get into the proper headspace for anything else, so who knows! Kink Bingo is probably going to kick off again at some point, which might inspire me to one-shots!

This is a really long way of saying “yes!” I’m sorry I am wordy!

#notlucy answers #if you ask meme #smilesguaranteed

[superhumandisasters]

soul-crushingly good ao3 angst *and* birthday bouquet cuddles?? get you a renaissance woman who can do both 🙌🏼

Aw, thanks! I wanted to do something nice and cozy for Buck instead of putting him through the wringer again.

SPEAKING OF, I’ve gotten some really sweet anon asks about the final UCA installment, which will def be out before Infinity War. Instead of posting the asks, I’ve sort of been sitting on them like a brooding hen, except they warm me up instead of vice-versa ◡‿◡✿

#smilesguaranteed #asks #replies

[praximeter]

question time~ I'm making my way slowly through TNW, savoring every word, when I become privy to the fact that The Work of Carnage spawned TNW, not the other way around! Should I put TNW on hold and read it after the sequel, or maybe simultaneously with The Work of Carnage? TLDR; which order do you recommend binging the prax extended universe? Also, what spurred you to write TNW first?

Aw, friend, I’m so glad you’re reading TNW and I hope you’re enjoying it!

As to your question -- the story is published in the order in which I intended folks to read it (as well as chronologically), so feel free to continue on with TNW. There is a lot that has evolved over time when it comes to my plans for The Work of Carnage, most especially because how how TNW ended up turning out. 😊 So in many ways, TNW will give context to The Work of Carnage (when it’s finally written and completed...!), and not as much the other way around. If that makes sense?

The reason I wrote TNW first is because I felt that I needed to have that rich and layered foundation to Bucky’s past and history before I could write about him recovering his past and history. I wanted readers to care, for example, about his younger brother Jack and his other brother Ted, about his sister, about his mom, about his Able Company friends who never made it home... and of course, the ones who did. It felt important to me that if I was going to claim that people used Bucky’s words on Vietnam War protest signs, that a) I knew what those words were and b) I knew their context. I also thought writing TNW would be a great way to really get inside Bucky’s head, even if that head changes pretty dramatically over the years. 

Plus, I’m an orderly person and I liked the idea of writing this story chronologically. 😏

#the night war meta #the work of carnage #smilesguaranteed #asks

[iamonlydancing]

i only just finished chapter 2 atm but I had to drop a line to tell you how enthralled i am in jury duty, it's so beautifully written (and illustrated!). Just a really wonderful, real take on the slow process of recovery, and I *LOVE* your winter soldier POV. mentally bracing myself for what's about to go down in chapter 3!

Thank you!!  This message made my day!  I’m happy you’re liking it, it’s really different from what I usually write (and draw), and it’s my first Stucky fic, but it’s so much fun writing from the Winter Soldier’s perspective when he’s not all ~murdery~

I’ve actually just finished editing chapter four, and it’ll be up soon.  I hope you like it, it’s personally my favourite chapter

#thank you!! #asks #smilesguaranteed

[bride-ofquiet]

smilesguaranteed replied to your photo “my mom apparently bought me this because she has a sixth sense for...”

this is BEYOND cute, I love the little snowmen propping it up. unless they're supposed to symbolize the winter soldier? ❄️

oh my god they ARE propping it up aren’t they. amazing. i highly doubt my mom even knows who the winter soldier is, but the coincidence is deeply hilarious

#i have to remind her of chris evans' name bc she refers to him as my husband #which is deeply awful and must end #smilesguaranteed #replies for hannah

[mattybmodels]

“Model Agency Photoshoot experience”. First experience package of its kind to be available in Bahrain. You can now purchase a “Photoshoot experience” through @bahraingreetingsdotcom 👉🏻 https://bahraingreetings.com/product/model-agency-photoshoot-experience/ . A gift it to anyone in Bahrain who deserves it. . No modeling experience required. Hints and tips provided during the photoshoot and should you wish, the experience can be at the comfort of your home. Whats more... he age category starts from 6 yrs and above... A big shout out to the young and talented with heavy potential to light up before the camera!!! 🔥🔥🔥 . . Hungry to know more??? 👉🏻 https://bahraingreetings.com/2019/08/29/dreams-to-come-true/ . . Experience today and make memories that last a life time ❤ . . #bahrain #bh #bahraini #yallabahrain #cute #smilesguaranteed #happy #onlineflowershop #florist #onlineflorists #gorgeous #vintageflowers #madewithlove #floral #xoxo #fragrant #beautiful #modelexperience #lovemodeling #beautiful #model #modellife #modeling #modelshoot . @mattybmodels1 @bahraingreetingsdotcom (at Bahrain) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1-c8ERJSgJ/?igshid=1e2fwuyr6tjss

#bahrain #bh #bahraini #yallabahrain #cute #smilesguaranteed #happy #onlineflowershop #florist #onlineflorists #gorgeous #vintageflowers #madewithlove #floral #xoxo #fragrant #beautiful #modelexperience #lovemodeling #model #modellife #modeling #modelshoot

[funsweetscottoncandy]

A company really couldn’t ask for cuter brand ambassadors! So we feel very lucky to have these two🤩 Does our cotton candy make you smile? Tag us in your photos of you cheesing😁 Stay Sweet🦩 Photographs created by: @adalizdesantisphotography Puppet created by: @ewoolacraft Models created by: @christinacummins & @mcummins25 #funsweetscottoncandy #funsweetsflamingo #cottoncandy #flamingopuppet #puppetsofinstagram #puppets #funsweetsambassadors #photoshoot #staysweet #cottoncandylove #outdoors #perfectanytime #smilesguaranteed https://www.instagram.com/p/CUGfxRvMumk/?utm_medium=tumblr

#funsweetscottoncandy #funsweetsflamingo #cottoncandy #flamingopuppet #puppetsofinstagram #puppets #funsweetsambassadors #photoshoot #staysweet #cottoncandylove #outdoors #perfectanytime #smilesguaranteed

[ospreyarcher]

Tagged by @luninosity

Rules: Tag 9 people you would like to know better / catch up with

Last Song: Bing Crosby’s “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” I’ve been going hard on the Christmas music this year.

Last movie: Miss Americana, which I’ve been meaning to see since it came out... God, it only came out last January, it feels like so much longer. This year has lasted five years. Anyway, it was great to watch Taylor Swift’s transformation to a person who Gives No Fucks (although actually she clearly still gives quite a lot of fucks, they’re just carefully selected hand-crafted fucks that she has chosen herself).

Currently watching: I just finished season 4 of The Crown (the Queen has a more nurturing relationship with her prime ministers than with her children, which is especially saying something when that prime minister is Margaret Thatcher!), and I’ve been interspersing it with the first season of the 1960s Adam West Batman, which is a gift that you should give yourself this year if you haven’t watched it already. The antidote to 2020, which somehow manages to be completely earnest and yet totally tongue-in-cheek and hilarious simultaneously.

Currently reading: Honey, Olives, Octopus: Adventures at the Greek Table, by Christopher Bakken. We may not be able to travel this year, but by God our reading can.

Currently craving: Feeling the wanderlust tbh, which is inconvenient because of the aforementioned difficulty of traveling. I intended to visit New York City for the first time last spring and as you can imagine that did not work out, and I have been quietly pining ever since. 

Tagging: @zepysgirl, @lauralot89, @bookelfe, @littlerhymes, @perplexedhedgehog, @smilesguaranteed, @lucymonster, @ladyherenya, @troisoiseaux

#memes

[drowningbydegrees]

*walks in 15 minutes late with starbucks* 5, 9 and 17 for the fanfic meme? c:

5. Most popular fic this year

That would be I, The Paradox by a lot.

9. Longest wip of the year

Oh shoot. I’m not sure how to answer that. The thing is, I’ve instituted a “no posting anything until the whole fic is complete” rule going forward, so the only WIP I’ve started posting is Shackles and Lifelines, which is the fic that made me institute that rule. XD

17. Fics you’ll continue next year

I’m hoping I’ll get around to finishing Shackles and Lifelines. I posted this somewhere, and most of them are new to everyone else, but have been rattling around in my head a while. This is the stuff I’m absolutely planning on doing this year:

Where All Roads Lead - My fic for the @shrunkyclunksbigbang I’m holding off on details until it’s a little bit closer to being done and posted

Unnamed Ficlet for @mariknickerbocker - This is a Fandom Loves Puerto Rico auction for this prompt.

Unnamed Fic for @snottygirl - This is a Fandom Loves Puerto Rico auction fic. It’s a sort of angsty soulmate story with a very happy ending

Super Secret Captain America Big Bang Fic - That’s actually all I can tell you about this one.

The Things That Bloom In Empty Spaces - The sequel I’ve been promising to I, The Paradox. It’s all outlined and I’m super excited about it.

The Horizon Leans Forward - Shrinkyclinks on an accidental road trip, which is… not as comedic as the premise sounds.

You’ll Never Dream Again (but you can pray) - A Stucky horror premise that started as an Outlast AU and then turned into something else.

Shackles and Lifelines ???????? - Assuming I have time, I am going to try to finish my WIP that’s been sitting on AO3 forever.

#ask meme #happy tag #smilesguaranteed

[spacestationtrustfund]

playlist shuffle

I was tagged by @pilferingapples (twice) and I think @ifrija and... someone else? @kcrabb88 maybe? (It’s been... a while.)

Rules: put your favourite playlist on shuffle and list the first 10 songs, then tag 10 people/shuffle your entire music library and list the first 10 songs/something else I don’t remember.

Anyway, I will shuffle this playlist which I made for Alex that’s entirely women or female-fronted musical acts who have been instrumental (ha) to my taste in music.

Hurry on Home by Sleater-Kinney (a good percentage of this playlist is Sleater-Kinney)

All Kinds Of Guns by Tilly And The Wall

Zero by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Future Crimes by Wild Flag

DA DA DANCE by BABYMETAL

I Wanna Be Your Dog by Joan Jett

Wa Habibi by Fairouz

Alphabet Pony by The Kills

We Will Vacation, You Can Be My Parasol by be your own PET

Bitch by Allie X

I don’t technically have a “music library,” because I don’t have a lot of songs saved on my laptop/phone, but I do have an enormous playlist called “NUT” that has basically every song I like.

Habibi by Orange Blossom

Три белых коня by Larisa Dolina

Galbi by Soap Kills

Bad Apples by Pussy Riot

Ça Plane Pour Moi by Plastic Bertrand

FÜHRE MICH by Rammstein

The Trolley Song by Judy Garland

Let’s Get Friendly by Robots In Disguise

I Don’t Like To Get Dirty by The Ropes

Criminal Image by Screaming Females

And that’s it! Definitely a mixed bag.

I’ll tag: @lexiconallie, @eternalgirlscout, @sonatine, @enemyofrome, @itsrottenvibes, @feuilletoniste, @smilesguaranteed, @midautumnnightdream, @charmingpplincardigans, and @ifrija (again, because you have the best taste in music of anyone I’ve ever known, and I want recs :D)

#meme me #music

[notlucy]

(for the meme) 'sketch' ^_^

Thanks @smilesguaranteed ! This one is from my RBB fic, titled The Voyager. 

He liked the people - the teenagers desperately wanting to escape, rebelling against the parents and grandparents who had made their lives there. The scenery inspired him to draw and he made a game attempt to sketch the coastline while perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the sea.

#fanfic #wips #the voyager #stucky #if you ask meme #smilesguaranteed #answered asks

[praximeter]

@smilesguaranteed replied to your post “Prax, my response to your fic replies for maskfic is so pavlovian at...”

A little insight into what the rewrite entailed, now that the (HEART-WRENCHING, NAIL BITING) chapter dropped?

Oh, boy. Well, I had about 2,500 words written (chapter ended up being around 5,300) and I was seriously stalling out -- I knew where I was going with it, of course -- that last scene has been planned since my initial outline of the fic, it’s literally the second line of my first page of handwritten notes -- but the narrative exposition of the...

[spoilers under cut]

... brain scans, and the NG tube, and the random devices, and the blah blah blah, was totally dragging me down. And so I ended up flipping the sequence of events a bit in order to amp up the tension, which required not just moving scenes around but major rewrites. And then I just had to... y’know, stop being a complete baby and just write the last scene. 😉

Glad you... liked it? :D Hahaha. Sorry about the manicure.

#smilesguaranteed #maskfic #despite the threatening sky and shuddering earth #writing #writing process #behind the scenes

[superhumandisasters]

Stuck in airport hell by a delayed flight, but thankful for the company of @quiescentire , @shinelikethunder, @smilesguaranteed, @jukebox-head, and @aimeefleck in NYC this week.

It was fantastic catching up with you (or meeting you in meatspace the first time), and my time in the city was immeasurably better for sharing it with y'all.

Thanks for the companionship, as well as the discussion re: fandom, frustrations in storytelling focus and structure, film as product versus art, theories and potential, plus everything else <3