#the upside of it being in wip for so long is that i wrote all the dialogue a year ago and its not so stale now

[gammija]

"Sorry, Elias. I can’t hear you. There’s – a door in the way."

some dp style tma just for funsies

#id in alt #tma #the magnus archives #tma s3 #tma season 3 #elias #mag 118 #mag118 #magnuspod #martin blackwood #elias bouchard #gammijart #martin #magnus archives #dp style tma #im sure i had a tag for these but im not sure its < that one #ah well #i was once again trying to get any further with a comic thats been lounging in my wips for a year now #its getting somewhere #the upside of it being in wip for so long is that i wrote all the dialogue a year ago and its not so stale now #not having seen it in months #ah got it #tma dp au

[ihni]

Fic rec tag game

(And yes, I'm making a new one because I feel like it)

Rules (more like "guidelines" ...): Rec some fics that fit the categories below (feel free to skip some if you want)! Maybe tag some people if you want. And if you see this and think this looks like fun, consider yourself tagged! :)

I'll start. And I have read a LOT so I'm gonna say right now that it's gonna be difficult to pick just ONE fic for each category ... (Also if I mention your fic in this, yes you're automatically tagged)

~~~

Fic that made you laugh: Play with me (Stranger Things) by @sanguine-tenshi In which Tommy, Billy, Steve and Eddie are trapped in the Upside Down for a while, and do what bored boys do when they're bored. No, not that XD "Boys being boys" at its best!

Fic that made you cry: panache (Stranger Things) by zoetropes In which ... I can't even explain it all. Just. Prom, guys. All you need to know is that I ugly-cried at chapter 17 and that I love it so much that I learned how to animate gifs simply so I could express my emotions over it. (When this fic is done I wanna print it and eat it)

Fic that made your heart melt: Prince Among Wolves (Teen Wolf) by Wrenegade (Wrenegadeone) The one where Derek has twins and work too much with his important work, and Stiles is the most awesome babysitter ever. I just ... melt over this one. And to think that once, I foolishly believed I didn't like kid fics ...

Fic that made you have to take a break while reading (perhaps you had to get up and walk the room for a bit): Third Person Singular (The Hobbit) by Wealhtheow21 Companion piece to another fic, "To Find Our Long-Forgotten Gold" which is also so good. Written from Kíli's POV, with language so CHOPPY and ... poignant? That it sometimes felt like a punch to the throat.

Old fic that for whatever reason stayed with you over the years: Responsibility (SeaQuest) by Jules In which everyone gets sick and Lucas has to take care of everyone and everything and whoopsie, some baddies are trying to take over the ship. I haven't read it in forever, I can't find it anywhere now, but I remember loving it. Lovely, lovely exhaustion fic.

Fic that inspired you to do something in real life: The Garrison Reserve (The Musketeers) by chapstickaddict and readwing In which they're all running a restaurant together. This fic combines my love for fic with the love for food, and made me buy wine for the first time in my life so I could make a proper risotto. (It was so good, too)

Fic that inspired you to do some kind of fanwork (+what that fanwork was): Words Left Unsaid (Stranger Things) by @lemonlovely In which the boys get to know each other and grow closer. I will forever subscribe to this fic <3 (And it inspired a rhyme: "Another boy's mother")

Fic that introduced you to a favorite trope: Persistence Hunting (Guardians of the Galaxy) by grocketinmypocket In which Peter proves that humans are indeed terrifying creatures. I read it for the first time ten years ago. Got me into the whole humans-are-space-orcs thing. Love it.

Fic that you'd consider a guilty pleasure (bad term for it though, no fics should make you feel guilty because fanworks are life!): Rich Man's World (The Flash) by @robininthelabyrinth Accountant!Len. Whenever I need a pick-me-up, I can always fall back on this random, but utterly lovely fic.

Fic with a ship you didn't really consider until this fic: Secrets Make This Town (Stranger Things) by @thingsalexwrites In which ... you know what? Read the summary. It's Billy/Steve/Hopper, and it's so soft and sweet (despite being basically porn).

A WIP you love: In Your Reflection (Stranger Things) by @stuffinggroves / Timetravelersunited In which Billy deals with hunger. Which I am so weak for in fics! Love this fic so far, it brings me joy.

An all-time favorite fic (AN, note that I wrote AN ... not THE): Grievance (Thor) by @peaceheather In which Loki is promptly and publicly adopted by a capable and caring Tyr. It's amazing. The whole "Odin's son, Tyr's son" series is amazing. I have it printed.

~~~

And, just 'cause, let me tag some people (feel free to ignore, of course): @dragonflylady77 @callieb @weird-an @desperate-not-serious @robthegoodfellow and uuuuh I'm too tired to add more - if you wanna do it, please do it :) I wanna see your recs.

#fic recs #rec list #tagging games

[aldryrththerainbowheart]

The fairiest of all 1/2

Note: Based on this ask, I basically wrote this...I don't even know what this is, but I like it. A lot. I'm currently jumping between this and four other wips. It's like my brain won't rest and just keeps on spitting out AUs. Anyway, my main source is Celtic mythology with some Fey Wanderer and Feylost from dnd. The reader is technically not a changeling, because they are actually the original human taken by the fairies. Also, this Dante is dmc anime Dante, because I think he does not get enough love. I'll be posting part two cause this is already too long and it expanded WAY above my expectations.

Enjoy this helter-skelter of magical worlds.

Rainbow Dragon

The existence of demons and the infernal lands they inhabit is widely accepted in Redgrave and the rest of the world. However, the other world almost mirrors ours. A place that is always changing, always shifting. A place up is down, light is dark and nothing is as it seems. Unlike the underworld, it's so deeply intertwined with ours that it's sometimes impossible to tell it apart. But if you look closer you just may catch fleeting sight of it.

You grew up in the World of the Fae after disappearing from your home plane as a child. Your parents made a pact with a Fairy that they'll get whatever they wish for in exchange for their firstborn. Only when they held a wailing infant in their arms they realized what they got themselves into. Faefolk is too whimsical and fleeting to take on the responsibility of raising a human child, but they did their best.

Living in this world shaped you, whether physically or psychologically. You're a bit too easy in your step, almost as if you were floating. When you're happy, you smell sweetly like nectar or honey. Your hair grows unnaturally fast. Flowers bloom in your presence. You have little to no concept of time and space. You can't keep still even when sitting down. You almost always space out, as if your consciousness was split between two worlds.

All good things come to an end. Your Fae parent realized that there's no place for a human in the Otherworld, and because they cared about you, they knew you have to go back. Being figuratively spat out of your only home after reaching what your Fae patron considered mature age was like a slap in the face. The beginnings were...rough. You quickly realized that the human world is completely different from the Fae world. To this day, there are still many things you don't understand, but you've grown to accept that.

As much as you wished to leave your old life behind, once you touch the veil, you cannot stay away from it. What about the family of Brownies that lives in your old apartment building? Or that Dryad whose tree did not get cut down because you almost turned the city upside down to get signatures for the petition? Do the locals feel safer after those disappearances caused by the Redcapes residing on one of the roads leading out of the city? And that Merfolk, about to be sold by the local mafia to be a pet of some rich asshole? Time and time again, you found yourself being pushed between two sides of the conflict of two worlds.

You realized the potential of a human acclimated into the world of the fae. And so, you became a mediator between the Otherworld and the human world. The fey warden guards the place where the veil unravels and takes care of unwanted visitors that step over it in one direction or another. Luckily, you have your fairy friends to help you with this task. Also the wide variety of skills and abilities at your disposal.

A fey mystique surrounds you. Now as a fey wanderer, you represent both the mortal and the fey realms. As you wander the multiverse, your joyful laughter brightens the hearts of the downtrodden, and your martial prowess strikes terror in your foes, for great is the mirth of the fey and dreadful is their fury. You are able to augment your weapons with mind-scarring magic, drawn from the gloomy hollows of the Unseelie fey. Your experience with the fey guarded your mind and sharpened your tongue. You are not easily charmed or frightened and your mouth can get you out of any sticky situation. The Seelie court has blessed you with the assistance of the fey. You can call forth fey spirits. You can slip in and out of Fey world to move in a blink of an eye.

With the life you have, you were sure that there's nothing in this world that could surprise you. You were about to be proven wrong.

You met at a fair. So inconspicuous, like you were just average people or people at all. Your senses were alerted of the otherworldy presence. You started scouting immediately, but after half an hour you gave up, hoping the perpetrator will reveal themselves eventually. To distract yourself, you headed to one of the stands to buy ice cream. Just as you were about to dig into your cone, you caught sight of a handsome man in the crowd. He was easy to spot, towering over everyone, tails of bright red coats fluttering dramatically around him, snow-white hair sticking out like a sore thumb. When his eyes met yours for a brief moment, you completely forgot your surroundings, causing you to walk into one of the striped poles that held the string lights. The ice cream ended on shoes. Drat.

The incident successfully got rid of any cravings for snacks, so you took your chance at the Ferris wheel instead. When it was finally your turn, you couldn't believe who they paired you up with. The ride was a little awkward at first. The man in red did not seem to want to strike up a conversation and you yourself were finding yourself at a loss for words. You noticed the big guitar case he was holding.

"Are you a musician? Will you be performing tonight?" You offered him your best charming smile.

The man looked at you in surprise. "Um, no...my performances are for...different crowd."

"Ooooh," you nodded in understanding. "So, you're some rock star who tries to go low profile, got it." You grinned. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." and you finished it with a cheeky wink.

He laughed. Finally, he laughed, and it was the sexiest sound ever. His blue eyes filled with mirth, few white strands fell to his face. "You seem to be more of a Funk person yourself." He looked you up and down and you felt yourself shiver like his gaze was a physical touch.

You lifted your arms in defeat, "Hey, everybody needs a little Groove in their life."

Dante opened his mouth, probably to say something charming, funny, or flirty, or that he's madly in love with you, hopefully. You never found out, because at that moment, right when you were at the top of the Ferris wheel, the machine jerked to a halt. If Dante hasn't caught you in his strong arms, you would've probably fallen off.

"Whew! That was close. Looks we're gonna be stuck here for a while-" You turned to him with a flirtatious grin, but Dante had the same serious glare with which he stepped into the booth.

Before he had any chance to react he jumped over the railing and down onto one support beam holding the wheel. That's when you noticed it. As vast as your knowledge of the various fey is, you've never seen a creature like this before. Something between a big lizard and a centipede, with a terrible grin filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth, was gnawing at the center of the Ferris wheel. That thing wants the entire thing to collapse, you realized.

As if it sensed your gaze, the monster had turned to you, a disgusting grin widening even more as if it knew about your realization. Your silent exchange was pierced by a gunshot and the lights of the attraction fizzled out, followed by several terrified screams.

What will you do? What can you do? You asked yourself as you watched the mysterious man in red discard his guitar case and pull out a huge claymore. You only gaped as he lifted it over his head like it weighed nothing and slashed at the monster.

The slippery bastard dodged, curling its slimy body away, and slinked away on one of the support beams towards another unsuspect person in the nearest booth, but not before disappearing out of sight with a few ripples over its scaly skin. Camouflage. It seems the hunter realized it too, because he stood frozen at the center point of the Ferris wheel, trying to locate the creature.

From the corner of your eye, you saw a ripple in the air. You wanted to yell at the man to warn him, but that would alert the creature as well. It seems a little bit of magic is needed here.

Dante was alerted by a bright colorful sheen right above him. When he lifted his head, instead of the demon he saw its silhouette outlined in the mysterious light. Without hesitating, he jumped up and slashed vertically. He was rewarded by a howling screech and one severed leg falling down. The monster decided to retreat into safety, now that its location was revealed. Unfortunately, it decided your booth is the best choice. When the beast noticed the tiny human hunched in the corner of the booth, it snarled menacingly. Fangs baring in the victory at the easy prey. Any normal human would shit themselves at this moment. If you were normal, that is.

You wasted no time in showering the beast in a cordon of incorporeal violet needles. With a hiss of pain, the monster leaped at you with renewed rage. At that point, the booth could not hold your combined weights any longer and collapsed. Dante watched helplessly as the booth dislocated from its position on the wheel’s rim. He tried to get to you with all the inhuman speed he possessed. Desperate to save you, a strange person with a bright sparkle in their eyes and a sweet scent tickling his nose. He can’t stand the thought of your eyes losing that bright sheen, to be just another voice to haunt him in his dreams. That’s when he saw it. Instead of erratic descent on the concrete, you were…floating down. As if you were riding on pixie dust, you were surrounded by golden sparkles, legs poised, ready for the descent, arms perched above you. He only extended his arms in silent shock as you gently settled into his arms.

You locked eyes for a moment and Dante desperately scrambled for the things to say. THE Dante Sparda was at a loss for words, and you didn’t seem to be doing much better.

“That was…uh…”

“Yeah…” You couldn’t help but laugh at the bizarreness of the situation. Your laugh sounded like the tinkling of the bells, and Dante felt a smile stretching his lips as if of their own volition. As if he couldn’t help but be happy around you. Who are you?

The small world you two were in was disturbed by a loud crash of the booth hitting the ground. “Let’s get out of here,” Dante exclaimed sternly as he carried you away from the situation. Your eyes were still trained on the broken booth, still wondering what kind of creature you just saw.

“It’s better if you forget what just transpired here,” Dante told you as you stood several feet away from the ruckus as the police and firemen secured the area around ferries wheel. He spoke to you while you were both looking at the scene, not once looking at you.

“What was that thing that attacked us?” You ignored his question and bite into a cookie you pulled out of the sack filled with baked goods. The monster attack seemed to reawaken your craving for snacks.

“You don’t wanna know.”

“You don’t know what I don’t want to know.” You parried between the munching. If there’s something that stayed with you since leaving the Otherworld it’s your love for wordplay.

All he did was shoot you an annoyed look. You realized that this is not the way to go and asked him instead, “All right, what type of creature are you then?”

He finally looked at you, and he was met with those bright, sharp eyes again. They made the knot in his stomach tighter, his throat a bit too dry. He’s attracted to you, and that really won’t do. Especially since you seem to see straight through him.

He turned away and started walking away. He was acting like a jackass, and you were so nice to him. Even offered him one of your cookies. Hopefully, it’ll be enough for you to be put off by him. But then he felt a small hand tug on his with surprising strength.

“I said wait! Where do you think you’re going? It’s rude to walk away when someone’s asking you a question, you know?” You put your hands on your hips and waddled a finger in front of his face.

You were putting his silent brooding tough guy persona under strain.

“Dante.”

“Huh?”

“Name’s Dante.” He blurted out. Damn, he wasn’t supposed to say that. You really making him lose his hard-earned control.

Well, at least you were getting somewhere. “Nice to meet you, Dante.” You extended your hand,and without a second thought, Dante grabbed it.

“So, ferris wheel may be closed, but other attractions are still open. What do say we tried shooting game?” “I…” “Awesome! Let’s go.” Without letting go of his hand, you pulled him after you. You knew you were pushy, but being carried by this guy princess-style gave you a new boost of serotonin and new hope to try again.

Dante watched the small palm resting in his hand and pondered how he got himself into this again. You’re just so…maddening, bubbly, and intoxicating, and the syrupy-sweet scent that clung to you was driving him mad. Just as he was about to excuse himself again you turned to him and gave him a dazzling smile that completely disarmed him.

“Oh, by the way, my name is…”

#dmc dante #devil may cry #dante sparda #dante devil may cry #dante x reader #devil may cry dante #devil may cry anime #dmc #dmc fairy au

[dont-offend-the-bees]

When He Comes Around (My Feet Don't Touch the Ground)

In which Nandor sleeps upside down like a bat and the author somehow uses this very silly premise as an excuse to be disgustingly sappy

(read on Ao3) (registered users only)

I'm digging through some drafts and WIPs atm and I found this silly lil thing nearly finished, so I added a few more words and gave it a quick spit polish and here it is! Hardly a masterpiece but now it's out of my WIP file xD

Anyway, this literally came about bc I thought it would be funny if Nandor slept upside down, and then I accidentally got a bit cute and feels-y with it. Each small section is a different timeskip, so section one is like season one -- the simple familiar!Guillermo days -- section two is like, season 4 where the Colin plot is happening but the Nandor's wives plot isn't, or something. Basically a s4 where they're actually *not* being total dummies about their feelings. (I know. Unrealistic.) And section three is in the futurrrreeee but not with any mind to being season 5 compliant bc I wrote most of it before then. They are far too emotionally intelligent in this fic but what do you expect from a 2k-ish bubble of fluff.

Anyway, hope you like!

*

“Master?” Guillermo knocks gingerly, voice soft and welcoming. If he doesn’t ease Nandor out of his slumber gently, he’ll be bitchy all night. “Master, it’s nightfall.”

No answer. Guillermo takes a deep breath, and carefully nudges the door open, slipping into the darkened crypt like a shadow.

He calls out a couple more times, keeping his voice soft as he flits around lighting candles. He’s done a full circuit of the room before he gets any response: a quiet creak creeps under the closet door, followed by a low groan. “Guillermo? It feels early…”

“Days are getting shorter,” says Guillermo, apologetic. As if the relative distance of the sun and the earth is his fault, somehow. He’ sure Nandor could find a way to blame him for it somehow. He walks over to the closet door. “If you want we could set a time for the rest of the winter, I mean, you don’t have to be up all night. Ready, Master?”

“Yes, I am ready.”

Guillermo tugs the closet door open, squinting into the dark beyond as his soft candlelight creeps into the shadowed nook. It always takes his eyes a second to adjust; to pick out the details of his Master beyond the vague outline of a large, gently swaying object dangling from the ceiling.

Nandor blinks in the light, eyes heavy-lidded and mouth in a grumpy frown. His long, dark hair hangs straight down from his head, nearly brushing the floor as he peers at Guillermo upside-down, arms crossed tightly over his chest. With his legs hooked over a metal bar near the ceiling, his face dangles a few feet above the floor– and Guillermo sinks easily down to one knee. His master hates it when he ‘looms’ in the morning. The full weight of Nandor’s sleepy gaze lands upon Guillermo’s face as he comes within eye level.

“Good morning, Master,” says Guillermo, smiling as he tugs the door open wider.

Nandor squints his eyes and yawns like a cat before he answers in kind. “Good morning, Guillermo.”

“Sleep well?”

“Yes, for a very short while,” Nandor grumbles, stretching his arms above his head and cracking his back. “Eeesh. Daylight savings. I do not understand it.”

“It’s to do with the sun, Master,” says Guillermo, shuffling back and bracing himself in position with one hand extended and the other planted on the doorframe. “And the way we revolve round it.”

Nandor snorts in amusement. “Ah, Guillermo, clearly you are not a man of science. The sun goes around us.”

Guillermo bites his lip. “Of course, Master. Ready to get up?”

Humming, Nandor reaches out to take Guillermo’s offered hand. Once safely anchored he drops, flips round and lands gracefully on his feet with that strange vampiric control over gravity he has, bare toes sinking into the plush carpets piled at the bottom of the closet. Now he’s the one looming, arcing high into the air over Guillermo on his bended knee, an imposing figure even in the soft white drapes of his sleeping clothes. Like he’s a flawless greek statue, carved worshipfully from marble; and Guillermo is praying at his feet.

But the hand in his own isn’t marble, pale and cold though it may be. And the way it clings to Guillermo’s a few breaths longer before releasing him feels too human to be godly.

*

Guillermo’s gaze wanders around the crypt, quiet and curious. He’s been in here, of course, many times. But it’s funny how being relieved of his familiar duties has drastically cut down on his time spent in Nandor’s space. Several candles have burnt down and not been replaced yet and there’s a pile of long-overdue laundry, but otherwise it’s surprising how not-messy it is. But then, Nandor’s always been a bit of a neat freak; he just got complacent for a while with someone else to do the cleaning for him.

“Ah, yes, I have been meaning to do those,” Nandor gestures to the pile, and it may be Guillermo’s imagination but he seems embarrassed. “With the help of the all-knowing Google I discovered a local washerwoman; she has the machines and the dry cleaning, and she stays open very late. I meant to go today but the nights, they are so short…”

“Daylight savings strikes again,” Guillermo jokes softly, crossing over to the pile. “I can do it.”

“You do not have to –”

“No, it’s– it’s fine. I mean, not all the time. But you’re right; nights are short right now, and the days are, uh, long. Real long. I don’t mind running to the dry cleaners for you.”

Nandor regards him with a flash of vulnerability softening his eyes; his hands stay clasped sweetly in front of his chest. “Thank you, Guillermo.” Clearing his throat, he reaches for the clasp on his cloak. “I suppose it is time to turn in.”

Guillermo politely turns his back while Nandor disrobes, running his fingers along the mantelpiece. It’s a little dusty; maybe he should get Nandor one of those handheld vacuums to help him keep on top of it. Another tentative throat-clear has him turning round shortly, finding Nandor in his soft sleep clothes, his clothes from the day held gingerly in front of him in a neat pile. Guillermo smiles and takes them, adding them to the rest.

“Thank you. I appreciate it.” Nandor hesitates, then adds after a minute’s deliberation: “And you.”

Guillermo’s heart does some kind of tap dance. “Yeah, you better,” he jokingly deflects.

“You should go and do something fun; while you are out,” says Nandor. “Take advantage of the long day.”

“I’ve gotta be around for Colin.”

“Perhaps you could take him with you? If he is awake. The boy is a daywalker, too; he should have the chance to play in the sun.”

There’s something so wistful in Nandor’s voice it almost brings a tear to Guillermo’s eye. He nods. “Yeah. Maybe I will.”

Nandor nods. “I hope the two of you will have fun. I would join you; if it would not burn me to little vampire crisps.”

“Maybe we’ll go to the dog park. I’ll take pictures for you.”

“That would be nice.” Backing up to his closet, Nandor turns and hooks his hands over the doorframe, swinging his legs up and casually defying gravity to hook his knees over the bar. Releasing the frame, he swings into position, long hair dangling, upside-down eyes regarding Guillermo warmly across the room.

A small laugh breaks free. It’s been so long since Guillermo’s been around to see Nandor’s ridiculous nightly routine. He’s actually missed it. He steps closer, brushing his hands over the expensive, ornate coffin that Nandor never uses because he prefers to be upside down, for some goddamn reason. Guillermo remembers fondly the day Nandor admitted to him that his finds being cooped up flat in the casket uncomfortable. Guillermo had gone all around the house, collecting up blankets and furs and rugs, treating everything moth-eaten and then drowning out the chemical smell in oils and scents he knew Nandor loved. He remembered installing the strongest chin-up bar he could find in that closet, as high as he could make it go without cutting off leg room, remembers lining the floor and walls with every soft and luxurious thing he’d found. But most of all he remembers Nandor’s face when he’d showed him; for all of Nandor’s little smiles and laughs he’d seen in his time serving, he thinks that’s the first time he’d ever had one directed at him. Stepping over, Guillermo leans on the doorframe and takes a peek inside, looking at the little nest he’d built with his own two hands.

A new addition to the soft wall hangings catches his eye. He raises his eyebrow. “That’s new.”

Nandor’s eyes flick to the very familiar green sweater. He looks back sheepishly. “Yes, well. You left it lying around. It is soft.”

“Looks good.”

Nandor relaxes minutely, hands clasped again. “Between you and me; I am thinking that this space is a little too small, these days. What if someone wants to sleep over?”

Biting back a smile, Guillermo feels the wall through the soft drapes, crouching to get a feel of the join where it meets the floor. “Hmm. guess you may be able to knock out one of these walls, extend the space a little. I can help.”

“Thank you, Guillermo.”

Guillermo feels the words tickle across his cheek, and that’s about how he realises his exploration has brought him in barely a few inches from Nandor’s upside down face. He has an up close view of Nandor’s dark, bright eyes, his furrowing brow, the pinch of his sharp canine as it bites his lip.

And then a hand alights on Guillermo’s cheek, right where the thanks did just seconds ago.

“Thank you,” says Nandor once more, soft. “For everything you do.”

He draws him close, and Guillermo goes; still on his knees, but now his beautiful god is praying back.

*

“Guillermo?”

“Nandor.”

“You are on my side of the closet.”

Guillermo opens one eye to peer at Nandor, incredulous. “...Seriously?”

Nandor tsks, wiggling his toes in the thick, plush pile of the rug. “I always sleep on the right side, Guillermo!”

“It only has sides because I helped you expand it.”

“Yes, and I like the right one!”

Guillermo clicks his tongue. He likes the right side, too – mainly because it was the side directly by the closet door, and years of protecting his former master from vampire assassins had him pretty geared towards placing himself in the vulnerable position. But then again, he and Nandor had a lot more of the same biological advantages and disadvantages than they used to these days. Rolling his eyes, Guillermo shuffle his knees, edging along the pole into the dark nook of the newly exposed left side of the closet. “Fine. But don’t come crying to me when you get murdered first.”

Nandor scoffs. “If anyone is foolish enough to intrude on our slumber, Guillermo, I think it will be them who is murdered first.” He smiles brightly when Guillermo finishes his shuffling. “Thank you. I’m coming innnnn!”

Guillermo laughs as Nandor swings himself onto the bar. Jeez, he’d married a dork. For fucking eternity. “Okay, okay. Get the door, mi vida?”

With a wave of Nandor’s hand, the door swings shut with a quiet click, another wave sliding the heavy precautionary deadbolt. Guillermo still needs him to teach him how to do that.

“Alone at last,” says Nandor in a low voice.

Guillermo bites his lip and shuffles a little closer to Nandor’s side, until he can press their hips together. “Uh oh. I know that tone.”

Nandor chuckles softly, and in the darkness Guillermo feels a soft, dry kiss press to his cheek. “Hmm. Maybe later; I am tired. It has been a long night.”

So is Guillermo, honestly. It has been a long night, and a cold one – where the hell are the sprawling days of summer when you need them? Fucking daylight savings. But he gives Nandor a teasing prod in the side anyway. “You’re getting old.”

“And don’t you be forgetting it,” says Nandor, haughty and self-important. But in their cosy, homey dark his arms wrap around Guillermo to tuck him in close, his voice ducking just low enough for Guillermo’s vampiric ears alone to catch. “But you keep me young.”

*

Thanks for reading <3 If you wanna chuck me a comment/reblog I'll love you forever

#what we do in the shadows #wwdits #nandermo #nandor the relentless #guillermo de la cruz #my fanfic #long post #i have sooooo many nearly finished of partially finished Things andd i just wanna. get some of them Out. #so they might not be Good. but they are Done. #and i thought this was cute if possibly teetering on the edge of OOC bc they're far too effective at communicating but hey #hope yall have fun with it

[buffintruder]

@allpurposepanda sent me this ask game and since I have writing to procrastinate, I figured I'd just go through and answer all the questions I felt like answering

1. What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year? How did it turn out and would you do it again?

I think the most interesting thing I did was write a fic where I tried not to use any figurative language at all in the narration or dialogue from other pov characters. It wasn't as hard as I was expecting (actually, it was harder to determine what counted as figurative and what counted as a word simply having multiple meanings, one more concrete than the other) and I think it turned out pretty okay. I'd do it again if I wrote from this pov again or someone similar, but I don't think I'd seek it out

2. How many fics did you work on this year? (They don’t have to be finished or published!)

About 18 if I counted correctly! 7 have been posted, 1 is in the process of posting, and 10 are unposted. 9 are brand new while 9 are continuations of wips from previous years

3. What’s something you learned about yourself as a writer?

I'm not sure. I guess I've been thinking about the relation between a writer and the audience and feedback and community support a lot (I went from a bigger fandom to a smaller fandom, and the decrease in comments and people to talk to about my fics hit my motivation harder than I was expecting)

4. What piece of media inspired you the most?

I'm not sure, but I think I wrote the most fic for Donbrothers or Kamen Rider

5. What fandom(s) did you write for this year?

8 fandoms: Kamen Rider Blade (6), Kamen Rider W (1), Kamen Rider Drive (1), Changerion (1), Donbrothers (3), Ace Attorney (4), the Watchmaker of Filigree Street (2), and Les Miserables (1)

6. What ship(s) captured your heart?

Nothing new from last year, but Hajime/Kenzaki from Blade and Sonoi/Momoi from Donbrothers

7. What character(s) captured your heart?

Also nothing new, but Haruka from Donbrothers and Wakana from Kamen Rider W

8. Did you write for a new fandom or ship this year?

Donbrothers is new because I was waiting for the show to finish airing before I started writing anything for it. Changerion I only watched this year, so that's also new

9. What fic meant the most to you to write?

I am obsessed with my Blade soul nemesis au and my Ace Attorney Trickster au, and I don't have any fics that like particularly hit close to home for me or anything. However, I do think the winner would have to be Truer than Truth because idk. It was difficult and it feels like one of the best things I've written (definitely the best shorter fic I've written) and just had a lot of thought go into it

10. What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

Definitely my soul nemesis au. Tbh I have enjoyed working on it so much I started posting it probably like a good 6 months later than I could have so I could work on it more, and it's also taking me forever to upload the chapters despite the fic being finished because I want to keep working on it (that and it has 0 comments, so I feel like no one is too invested other than the people I know personally, so I can take my time with it and get distracted from it)

11. What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing?

To Turn the World Upside Down is maybe the best long fic I've written, and finishing it felt like the end of the journey. However, I'm pretty sure I wrote the ending in 2022 (I just finished the editing in 2023), so I'll also put in Truer than Truth for the reasons answered in the next question

12. What fic was the most difficult to write? Did you finish it?

Definitely Truer than Truth. I mentioned I wrote a fic without figurative language, and this was the first fic in the series where I tried to write a fic with a ton of figurative language. Coming up with symbolism related to classic Japanese Buddhist literature that isn't too heavy handed is hard! Coming up prose with metaphors and pretty descriptions that doesn't sound unbearably flowery is hard! Also mapping out the character of progression of Sonoi, someone who both knows a lot about humans and also doesn't, in a way that makes sense and doesn't make him more ignorant than he is in canon is hard!

13. What fic was the easiest to write?

Trust Fall. I wrote probably about half of it in one day and finished writing+editing it in probably around 2 weeks which is insanely fast for me. It just sort of came out of me, idk man

14. What were your shortest and longest fics this year?

Technically Meetings is the longest fic (90k words), but that was originally meant to be a trilogy that I wrote most of years ago and just polished and posted this year, so I'm counting To Turn the World Upside Down (73k words) instead because it's finished and I like it more.

Shortest is Trust Fall (4k words)

15. Rec a fic you wrote or posted in 2023

This is hard because I do like a lot of the fics I wrote and posted in 2023. However, I've talked a lot (and will continue to talk) about my top 3 fics in this ask game, but one fic that will not be mentioned outside of this that I think is good is Across the River of Stars.

It's an outsider pov Cowherd and Weaver au where I think I did a good job with a sort of melancholic atmosphere

16. What were you go-to writing songs?

I don't listen to music a lot while writing, but when I do it's probably the How To Train Your Dragon soundtrack (movies 1-3), the Witcher 3 soundtrack, or the Black Sails soundtrack

17. What were your go-to writing snacks?

I don't think I have one. I don't particularly snack while writing, and if I do, I'll just eat whatever

18. What was the hardest fic to title?

Afterwards. I needed something short and simple and to the point to contrast the long and more poetic "truer than truth are those beautiful lies", but I still think it's a bit meh and doesn't really do much for the fic

19. Share your favorite opening line

Here is a truth: Momoi Tarou is like the sky, impossibly vast and unreachable; and Sonoi is like the sea, forever gazing up, reflecting that same blue.

This wasn't initially the beginning line (I switched around a lot of stuffin this fic), and the whole "here is a truth, here is a lie" bit was a totally unexpected unplanned bit that just happened when I started writing it. However, I'm pleased with how it turned out, and also the particular way in which I took a line from the show (Sonoi saying "we are like the sky and the sea") and expanding a bit on it and how the two of them individually relate to that

20. Share your favorite ending line

Okay technically it's 2 lines from Trust Fall, but it's still my favorite:

(All too soon, when the end does come, Kenzaki looks at Hajime and smiles like a blade to the heart and says, “See, I said that you could trust me to keep this hope of yours alive.” And Hajime does not have the time to tell him that no one has ever lied to him so cruelly before.)

It's good because of the misunderstanding. Kenzaki is sacrificing himself so Hajime can keep living, but of course that also really sucks on Hajime's end. I just think seeing something from the pov of the person/people left behind when someone sacrifices themselves is so juicy. Also Kenzaki's symbol is a blade while Hajime's is a heart, so the smile is from Blade to Heart but also metaphorically like being stabbed hahaha (i think i'm so clever when i do symbolism 101)

21. Share your favorite piece of dialogue

This is hard. Definitely, my favorite piece of dialogue comes from To Turn the World Upside Down because tbh I think that fic has some of the best written dialogue in anything I've ever written, but I'm not sure I could pick out something among it. I just went with the last scene because I am genuinely proud, like I don't normally like writing endings and it's especially hard in a long fic with a lot of build up, but I think I did well on this one. Also it's probably one of the parts I worked most on in 2023 (rather than 2022)

“I think you should do it, daddy,” Trucy says. Surprised, Phoenix looks up to see his daughter staring at him, her face set firmly. Of all the people who would encourage him to retake the exam, he hadn’t thought it would be her. She has never known him as a lawyer. “What? Why?” “You never stopped being a lawyer,” she says, as if it’s that simple. “Sure, officially, they took that away from you. But deep down, you’ve always been one.” “What?” Phoenix scoffs, something small and hopeful curling into a cold and defensive ball deep in his chest. “Prove it.” Trucy raises her eyebrows at him. “Prove it? Do I need physical evidence for it so that it may be accepted in the court of Phoenix Wright, or is pointing out your contradiction enough?” Phoenix flushes. “Okay, okay, point taken.” “She’s right,” Miles says quietly. “It’s your life to live, but please—at least consider it.” From the moment you asked, there was no question of the answer, Phoenix thinks. I became a lawyer for you once, I would do it a second time, as many times as you needed me to. “Are you sure about it?” Phoenix asks. “I mean, you know what it was like the first time I was a lawyer. You know the kind of shit that follows me. I was a lawyer for just two and a half years the first time, and look at the kind of mess I left behind me.” Miles smiles at him, so fond it hurts. “You say that as if that’s not exactly what I want. I want you back in the courthouse, Trickster and all. It all needs a good shaking up, don’t you think?” It was never meant to be about the suffering, the Trickster had said about their chaos. There already is suffering stuck in between each clean-cut brick of the legal system, trapped in the very foundation and everything that has grown on top of it. Maybe it’s time to knock things around and see what shakes loose, to see what can be built anew from the rubble. “Alright,” Phoenix says, and the way Miles and Trucy’s eyes light up already makes it all worth it. “I’ll do it. Let’s go turn turn the legal world upside down.”

22. Share an excerpt from your favorite scene

Tbh I could probably also post a bit from the Trickster au, but just to switch it up here's a sneak peak from my soul nemesis au. I was so excited to write this scene that it's the only one I skipped ahead to write. This scene (earlier parts of it, not what's here) is also the reason why I chose the mechanics for soul nemeses that I did, like I've been hyping up this scene almost since I first had the idea for the fic, and it's still one of my favorites

“Did...” Gou started. “Did he love you too?” Kenzaki thought about the way Hajime kissed back, the way his whole face softened as he smiled at Kenzaki, the way he looked like his heart was shattering when Kenzaki had last seen him, the way he had written don't go in his letter. “I think—maybe. But it doesn’t matter. I had to leave, so he could live out his life.” For the whole time that Kenzaki had known him, Gou had been all bright smiles and wild hand gestures. Even as the conversation took a turn for the more serious, his face had been an open book, but now his face turned still and unreadable. “It’s not worth it.” “What?” demanded Kenzaki. “I’ve been there,” Gou said, and now he looked angry. “Someone sacrificed himself for me, so I could live my life. And I will never forgive him for that, because if I had the choice, I would choose him over me every time. I may not have met Masaki myself, but I'm sure that he would rather have you in his life no matter what hardships. You can still go back—” “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kenzaki snapped, anger curling defensively around him. He knew that. He knew he was hurting Hajime, that it had destroyed him to be left behind. It had destroyed Kenzaki to leave. But he had chosen to defy fate, and this was their punishment. “It’s impossible.” "What's impossible? You're both still alive, aren't you?" "He might as well be dead, for all the difference it makes to me,” Kenzaki snapped. Maybe if Hajime had been dead it would hurt less. “There is no other choice.” Gou stared back at him, his expression set stubbornly on his face. He was so young, Kenzaki thought all of a sudden. Kenzaki had been like that too over a decade ago when he was around Gou’s age, so stubbornly set on how things should be, as if he could bend the universe into shape through sheer force of will. Kenzaki sighed, and let the anger drain from him. He would have had those same thoughts, and it wasn’t like Gou had any idea of the impossible circumstances that kept him and Hajime apart. “It's too late now. I would go back, if I could. And he would track me down across the world, if he could." “Right,” Gou said, and Kenzaki wondered if he felt the same envy towards him. Gou hadn’t specified what sacrifice had been made for him, but the implication was clear. At least Hajime was still alive. At least he was out there somewhere that Kenzaki could return to, technically. Gou couldn't know that the potential only made the separation ache more, he couldn't know that the impossible situation that trapped them went far beyond ordinary human concerns. “I’m sorry for your loss,” Kenzaki said, as much of an acquiescence as he could make. “Thanks,” Gou said, his mouth twisting. “I... don’t know if he’s gone for good though. That’s actually why I’m here. Trying to do some research to bring him back.” “Are there good medical facilities here?” Kenzaki asked, confused. Maybe Gou's person was in a coma or something? Gou shrugged. “Not particularly. I’m here more for the tech stuff.” “I hope it succeeds,” Kenzaki said, not entirely sure what to say. “Thank you,” Gou said, sounding tired. “And I hope you find someway around whatever’s keeping you two apart.” It was impossible, but Kenzaki smiled and nodded anyway. “If I ever run into him, do you want me to pass on a message?” Gou asked. What could Kenzaki say that Hajime did not already know, and that would not hurt him more to hear? “Just that I am well,” Kenzaki said at last. “And that I like his book. And... I still miss him.” Gou nodded. “I’m going to get my friend back,” he said, with all the confidence and naivety of a twenty year old. “So you better not give up on yours, alright?” “I never will,” Kenzaki said. And Gou smiled because he did not yet know that it was the hope that destroyed you.

23. Share the final version of a sentence or paragraph you struggled with. What about it was challenging? Are you happy with how it turned out?

There are definitely many of these, but I'd have to go through my fics again to figure it out and that would take a while so I'm skipping this

24. What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

I mentioned earlier that there's a bit in Truer than Truth where between each scene it goes like "Here is a truth: [...] Here is a lie: [...]", or in the other order (lie first then truth) that is vaguely related to the themes of that scene, and I absolutely was not expecting.

It ended up changing the story quite a bit. I was originally going to have the story alternate povs, but something like this could only work from Sonoi's pov, and I wasn't sure how to juggle things around to make it work. Because I also wanted to have it alternate between whether it starts with a truth or a lie, I had to add two scenes in order to make the pattern work when I realized that some of the truths and lies would work better flipped around. And I think the story is better off with those added scenes to fill in something that would have been a jump otherwise

Also, it just generally affected the tone, since I had to think about the themes of the scene to write those bits, and they're very heavy in symbolism and metaphor that I could reuse throughout the fic

25. What did you use to write? (e.g. writing programs, paper & pen, etc.)

Mostly google docs and occasionally a notebook and pen. I have occasionally written a bit on my notes app of my phone if i couldn't get to google docs for whatever reason, but i don't think i did this year

26. If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year?

The writing spree during which I wrote the first half of Trust Fall. I was feeling a bit shitty and purposeless at the time, but I had an idea brewing in the back of my head for awhile, and the stars aligned so the idea solidified and I wrote like 2k words in one day. I remember feeling afterwards that I really love writing sometimes and maybe if I go too long without doing it, it makes me worse

27. Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic?

Not really? Maybe tell all my friends about it

28. How did you recharge between fics?

I don't think this question applies to my writing style tbh. I don't have "in between fics" (i am always working on a fic) and I switch between them a lot, so I don't really get worn out by them. I recharge between writing sessions I suppose?? I'm not actually sure how I'm supposed to answer this question

29. If this were an awards show, who would you thank?

I do try to thank the people involved in me writing a fic in any way at the beginning of each fic, but in a general sense, I would thank all the friends and acquaintances who encouraged me to write whenever I was like "maybe this is stupid" and all the people who listened to me go "wait I have the coolest idea for a fic, let me tell you about it" and all the people who helped answer my questions from everything between 'does this sound like semi-realistic attraction or is it just weird' to 'what are traffic-related superhero/supervillain names.' And particularly to @magpiedragon who bears the brunt of all of this

30. What’s something that you want to write in 2024?

I still have that one Kamen Rider Blade post canon idea that crosses over with Star Trek ds9. Also some Kamen Rider Agito ideas I want to get to at some point, but who knows if I ever will

#my writing

[kuwdora]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @deerna and @jawanaka !

How many works do you have on A03? 110 - but this would probably be +200 if I had been crossposting my fanvids there. I still remember when video embeds did not work on AO3 pages. But that was ages ago. And I’m terrible at crossposting. Especially when I have so many to crosspost at this point.

What's your total A03 word count? 280,783

What fandoms do you write for? In the past it was Stargate SG-1/Atlantis, Heroes and Sanctuary and a lovely romp with Being Human UK. Star Trek. These days I’m still on The Witcher, with the occasional fleeting non-witcher stuff I manage to finish.

What are your top five fics by kudos? I can see through you, The Witcher Netflix. My Geralt and Jaskier role reversal thing. More like a role inversion.

Surface Tension, The Witcher Netflix. soft very established relationship Geralt/Yen/Jaskier smut.

Papa’s Got a Brand New Suit, Star Trek: Deep Space 9. Julian/Garak PWP. From ye olde porn battle days. Learning Curve, The Witcher Netflix. Yen/Jaskier, post-season 2 soft feelings and sex with an emphasis on all of Yennefer's pain.

Heart Tap, The Witcher Netflix. Leshen Eskel(/Geralt). My first story about what it could be like for Eskel to live with his transformation into a monster. I'm actually surprised this is in my top 5 kudos considering how niche it is but man I love my tree boyfriend and have so many more thoughts about him that I haven't gotten out yet...

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes! I try to respond to comments when I can. Sometimes it takes forever and sometimes I do forget to respond to comments but man I love rolling around in them.

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? My angstiest endings are for fic that I haven’t finished or posted on AO3 yet for more of my witcher fixations. But for posted things?? Hmm. I do have an old Heroes fic called Code of Hammurabi that is Peter/Sylar time travel AU that’s particularly angsty and gave me the chance to rummage around in the way Peter would endure in a very very messy situation.

Oh, my Doctor Sleep ficlet is also pretty angsty. Danny reflecting on his time with Billy when Billy's ghost shows up. I'm smiling upside down is the name of that ficlet.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Oh that’s probably my smutty fluffy thing for Being Human. PWP. Moon Mambo, Hal/Tom.

Do you get hate on fics? No, but I sense that’s only a matter of time before someone directs their hate at me.

Do you write smut? Yup.

Do you write crossovers? Yes, but not for a very long time. I have a “Ciri collects all the young girl protagonists from sci-fi/fantasy books for a group project” crossover idea but my focus is too scattered to get that going. I did start it with a Nona-meets-Ciri Locked Tomb/witcher crossover here: Call to Adventure.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I’m aware of. I think my stuff is far too niche and self-indulgent for that kind of thing but who knows. The internet is a smaller place these days but people seem to find new ways to steal. Alternatively: I did learn that someone submitted one of my Stargate SG-1 vids to a Creation Con fanvid contest that had prize money in it. That was very upsetting to learn well after the fact.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, not co-written. But I do love rolling around with my beta and workshopping my fic into better shape and a lot of my stuff ends up way better as a result of my betas. And I also love doing the same with folks who ask me for beta. It’s a fun kind of collaboration.

What's your all-time favourite ship? Agh this one is so hard. Don’t make me pick just one. Aeryn/John from Farscape. Fraser/Ray(s) from due South. I don’t write a lot of book Yennefer/Geralt but they also are It for me.

What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Oh my god, definitely my TWN Leshkel canonical divergence AU thing. I have something like a whole season 2 (not a fix-it) outlined, with lots of stuff focusing on Ciri and Leshy Eskel, and Leshy Eskel with Triss. With more stuff about witcher-and-leshen biology and Wolf School disappearing, Kaer Morhen becoming a magical greenhouse where a mythical Swallow is rumored to visit every 6 years.

What are your writing strengths? Description, maybe characterizations. Theme and tone.

What are your writing weaknesses? Too much description, comma splices. Slow pacing.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I think it’s fun to do but it can be a lot to read and I definitely will overthink the writing and both the reading. If it suits the characterization and context clues within the text, I think that’s cool. But I think it’s fine to go without con-lang or other languages in fic. It’s just a matter of texture and color that adds to the scene, you know?

First fandom you wrote for? Stargate SG-1.

Favourite fic you've ever written? Ever??? It’s so hard to pick just one. Hang on, I got several of those ‘rec 5 of your favorite fics’ asks in my inbox. Lemme see if I can pick 5 for that.

#whewwww i have been ill this month but i finally have energy to pick up one of my tag games! yayayayay #i must have at least another 100k of fic i've written in the last 14 months that's not finished. i really ought to do a wip amnesty thing #but i don't wanna let go #hmmmm #tag game #writing meme #meme #fic meme #ao3 meme #textpost

[confused-bi-queer]

It’s Wednesday and I’m trying to not freak out because I’ll return to school on Monday and goodbye writing time:c

Thanks for the tag @palimpsessed @larkral​ @stitchyqueer and @cutestkilla​ 

I’m a bit bad with fic recs BUT I’ve been reading long fics lately since I had the time and the last one was Poison In His Blood by notcanoncompliant. I really enjoyed that fic. Stars werewolf!Simon. And I just loved it. Even bookmarked it.

Well, now to the good part.

Regarding my Ballet AU, I’m struggling to end Chapter 14 but here’s some words from Chapter 10, which is the next chapter to come out.

Do you think Baz has suffered enough? Well. It’s Simon’s turn now.

“Snow,” I call him as he drinks the last sip of his water. He looks my way, and raises his eyebrows, silently asking me to go on. “Doesn’t your mum have alcohol? Or something to drink?”

It is getting sort of late, and the drinks always come after a splendid dinner. If we were at the Manor and Father liked Snow, he would have pulled out a bottle of alcohol already to continue with the lovely night. Joking around by getting just a bit tipsy.

His expression darkens a bit. He shakes his head, putting down his glass.

“She…” He sighs, looking away. “She doesn’t like me drinking. It’s bad augury.”

“May I ask for what?”

He keeps looking away.

“Dad was an alcoholic bastard and—Well, I guess you can imagine the rest.”

I really like this chapter, because it led me to write other 4 more, but the words aren’t getting out at all, so I decided to leave that fic alone for now because I’m going to get sick of it if I try to write more. WHICH IS WHY I found myself writing the next chapter for Protecting you like a Pitch. 

I have to admit that I feel like that fic is really meh for people who read my stuff for no reason. And it doesn’t make any sense because it’s literally my most popular fic, most kudoed, most bookmarked, most everything, and it still feels smol to me.

But well. Ignored the fic for five months and wrote Chapter 18 last night. I just published it, actually. So here’s a few words because I can’t never leave the boys be happy:

I always dreamed of the Mage loving me; he was my savour, after all, so I thought expecting those feelings from him was only logical. He must have had his reasons to show Watford to me, right? Other than wanting a soldier? A puppet?

I look at Baz, and I can’t help feeling that he was right all these years.

I was the Mage’s little dog, following after its owner without a question.

Of course Baz has apologised for having offended me so many times—I have as well—, but his words were always true. And I always knew, but I tried to fool myself. I tried to accept the Mage’s screams, his reprimands, and disappointed looks, because I genuinely thought I was the problem. And I was. Wasn’t as well.

Watching Baz defend me in such a feral way because it was unfair and wrong for the Mage to treat me the way he had always treated me was a shocker. My world turned upside down.

The chapter isn’t about exclusively that, but I thought of the Mage being an asshole and thought of making these two wips have that in common.

Welp, now tagging! @aroace-genderfluid-sheep @martsonmars @tea-brigade @jasonfunderberkerthefrogexists @facewithoutheart @fatalfangirl @forabeatofadrum @bazzybelle @bookish-bogwitch @moodandmist @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @erzbethluna @johnwgrey @captain-aralias @basiltonbutliketheherb @ileadacharmedlife @kherub @artsyunderstudy @dragoneggos @sillyunicorn @ionlydrinkhotwater @foolofabookwyrm-activated @raenestee @whatevertheweather @ic3-que3n @angelsfalling16 @hushed-chorus @whogaveyoupermission @yeonjunenby @kohatenz @ineffable-grimm-pitch @ninemagicks @nightimedreamersworld @chen-chen-chen-again-chen @onepintobean @shrekgogurt

#simon snow #snowbaz #carry-on #carry on #baz x simon #my writing #wip tag #wipsday #wip wednesday #pylap #trafou

[jazzmckay]

tagged by @broodsys for this writer questionnaire uvu ty, i got really into this one. the deep jazz lore incoming <3

tagging @lyriumlullaby-ao3, @inscrutable-shadow, and @skadizzleross

copy and paste-able question list at the bottom of the post!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

says 88, but one is anonymous lol 89 babey

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

824,682

3. What fandoms do you write for?

dragon age currently, prior to that, detroit: become human. some witcher and RWBY mixed in. teen wolf, dishonored, red vs blue, homestuck back in the day, a couple other things.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Truth in Melody (witcher, geraskier)

The World Upside Down (dbh gen)

left an impression on my heart (teen wolf, scott/stiles. its over a decade old i am not linking this lol)

Variable Outcome (dbh, connor & gavin gen)

Winter Chill and Summer Bloom (dbh, connor/gavin)

5. Do you respond to comments?

absolutely! if i don't, it's only because the person is being a jerk or just uncomfortable. give me a heart emoji, you're getting a heart emoji right back. boop

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

i generally write happy endings, no matter how hellish the road to that happy endings is. i do, however, have a Bad End dbh oneshot. Fair Compensation. it's straight up non-con, and from aggressor pov, so viewer discretion is advised

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

gosh idk how i could pick. as i said in the previous answer, i try to leave off on a high note. Truth in Melody or perhaps Promises to Keep. wouldn't say they're happier than others, but they're among my longest fics, which means the characters had to go through some bullshit to get those happy endings lmfao

8. Do you get hate on fics?

a couple times. more often, i get weird / uncomfortable comments that i just ignore

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

i do! well, i'd say "kinky" tends to be a general theme ahahaha and feelsy! smut in my chaptered fics are more basic, the oneshots can be wild though. and then there's from the depths, an ancient song, where i wrote a foursome involving a LOT of tentacles. like a lot. so take that how you will.

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

ive dabbled in ideas, but rarely get around to actually writing them. i do like the concept of smashing my favourite universes together, though. my dbh vampire series is basically just the lore of vampire: the masquerade, but i wouldn't consider it a full crossover

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

i have! and a couple additional requests, one that i denied, and another that i agreed to but no result yet! still hoping <3

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

yes, for events. shout out to any of my buddies from the homestuck shipping olympics who see this :p can you BELIEVE how long it has been

roleplaying is also kinda like co-writing fics sometimes honestly. i've got some threads that have been ongoing for years and took a lot of plotting and planning together uvu

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

how dare u ask me this. this is nearly impossible aughh but i'm going to say corvo/daud from dishonored

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

basically anything from my favourite games and such that are nonetheless overshadowed by current hyperfixation. i'm forever sad that most of my many, many dishonored fic ideas were from a time when i chronically could not finish anything

16. What are your writing strengths?

i don't know, i'm bad at acknowledging good things about myself lol characterization, i suppose, that tends to be what i get the most lovely comments about <3

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

fluff, unless it's the resolution to angst lmfao i need to build up to it. drop me straight into a nothing scenario of fluff and i don't know what to DO. technical-wise, idk, descriptions i think

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

it certainly has its place and can be done well! but it's easy to mess it up, too. you need to make sure it's accurate and fitting for the scene, you need to avoid racist stereotyping, you need the story to still make sense and flow well. if the message isn't clear because most readers don't know the language, or have to keep looking it up / reading author notes, that's immersion-breaking imo. with fictional languages where much of the fanbase is familiar with the common words, though, no big deal i'd say

19. First fandom you wrote for?

honestly i think it was the cartoon, angry beavers lol i didn't know what's what i was doing, at the time. as far as serious, intentional stories, maybe firefly? or xmen?

20. Favorite fic you've written?

i cannot pick just one lol 4 is as low as ill go

previously linked Winter Chill and Summer Bloom: this is very hurt/comfort, my favourite thing, with a bunch of my other favourite things tossed in. touch-starvation, non-verbal character, characters getting away from the location of their suffering to heal in a better place, both physically and mentally, sweet slice of life stuff etc.

take these broken wings and learn to fly: more h/c! this one starts off heavy as hell and involves a lot of Process of Healing (to no ones surprise, at this point). healing has gotta be one of my favourite genders. also it's femslash.

Sight & Shadows: it's both plot- and character-driven, i'm happy with how i balanced both simultaneously. it's my vampire au, and other than the v:tm lore borrowing, it feels almost original to me. it's a rarepair, in an au--as niche as it gets, shaped a lot by the universe and story i put together for the whole series. it was a joy to create, because i truly did write this for ME. i wouldn't say any of my fics were written for others, per se, but i guess this one just felt different from the start. i wasn't anticipating an audience, i was just telling the story these characters needed, the way i like to do it. i had great friends supporting me through it, so i wasn't alone in the process or anything, it just felt the most like writing an original story than any of my other fics have

into the light of the dark black night: first of all, yes, 2/4 fics listed here are titled with lyrics from blackbird by the beatles. blackbird lyrics means intense feelings, that's just how it is. i've done it twice, and ill DO IT AGAIN. anyway, this one takes place in one of dbh's grimmest possible endings--the nuclear blast ending. i did a lot of research for this one, and also put a lot of thought into handling it with as much care as i think a concept like this requires. it's weighty, but hopeful. it has apocalypse elements, which i love. i got to do cyberpunky stuff as well. i added some of the elements i think dbh would have included if d@vid cage weren't a coward. i projected multiplicity onto some of the characters. i got to write north as the steadfast and successful leader of the revolution, as she deserves. blackbird fly <3

if you made it through all of that... thank you :>

and the template:

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

3. What fandoms do you write for?

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

5. Do you respond to comments?

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

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

8. Do you get hate on fics?

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

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

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

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

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

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

16. What are your writing strengths?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

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

19. First fandom you wrote for?

20. Favorite fic you've written?

#about #my fic #tag meme

[authorangelita]

2023 FanFic WrapUp

Thanks for the tag @loves-2-read ! I'm so glad you're here to be a part of the Mac community!

1.How many stories did you post?

I posted 17 stories, some chapters of the Rewatch Missing Scenes series, and 1 meta post about Mac's Army uniform.  There was a total of 32,563 words!

2. Which ones were your favorites?

That's tough because I liked all of them for different reasons, and it's hard to choose favorites.  Observations was a really interesting and difficult one to write, and I'm so proud of how it turned out.  It's the one from James' POV where Mac is shot and turns to Jack for comfort.  Fubar is one that I really like how it turned out.  I had the idea of Jack watching Mac bleeding out but not being able to get to him, and it took a little while to figure out what that situation would look like.

No Better Company than Family is also a favorite.  I don't write Bozer that much, but I felt like I really got into his head for this one.  Plus it was about the team rallying around Bozer in one of his most vulnerable moments (the anniversary of his brother's death), and I cannot get enough of that. 

3. Which one was the most satisfying to write?

I wrote a lot of outsider POV fics in 2023, and I think the most satisfying was Charlie Foxtrot.  I introduced a new OC (Viv) to be the main character, which can go a number of bad ways, but I felt like she really worked and had a great POV of Mac and Jack's relationship, especially when Mac was badly injured.

4. The most difficult?

Aside from Observations, Hangin' Tough was hard because Mac was hanging upside down in a parachute tangle.  I wanted it to be realistic, so I spent a lot of time picturing how Mac was hanging and then figuring out how best to describe it.  It was a mess in my brain, but I finally got it written out. 

5. Rec something that you're proud of.

Caretaker + Ginger Ale + Sleep was another difficult one to write because it's from Diane's POV, and we just didn't get enough time with her on-screen to build a full character in my head.  However, I love the Foster Mac verse, and I thought this story worked well with Diane struggling to take care of a sick Mac.

6. Wow us with whatever big thing you might want to work on next!

Oooh! I have so many WIPs - Let's see.  I have the sequel to Out is Through that must be completed this year; it's been a long time coming.  There's also another story in that verse that will take place before Out is Through, but I don't want to give anything away about it except that it will be about grief.

In the Foster Mac verse, I have a fic where Mac moves in with Jack, Diane, and Riley.  And, of course, gets up to shenanigans with Bozer and Riley.

The next fic that will be posted will probably be the one where Jack is in the war room listening over comms when Mac takes a bad fall.  I really wanted to explore the idea of Jack hearing something happening but not being there to actually stop it or help. 

I've lost track of who has played, so if you want to play, please consider this your tag to do so!

#2023 FanFic WrapUp #MacGyver 2016 fic #i wrote a lot of outsider POV 🤷🏻‍♀️

[vo-kopen]

So Pikmin Four comes out to today, and I wrote a quick little fanfic to celebrate

I wrote it months ago and only did minor editing since, heck, the title is a wip but whatever. The premise behind it was the only Pikmin game I can play is Pikmin bloom. (I can’t lead these critters to battle or quests, I would be devastated when my incompetence got them killed) and I finally got the third kind of decor Pikmin based off the weather. With that wide brimmed hat of a flower, I began to design a Pikmin OC, then I incorporated some speculation about Pikmin extinction, and pretty soon I had a story with some themes. So yeah, it’s pretty short, and I hope y’all enjoy. Tagging @wildmin and @thefingerfuckingfemalefury, I hope y’all enjoy this little story about a tiny community. Also here’s art of the OC, ignore that one pixel that haunts me.

…

Observations of a Colony

It has been theorized by Hocotatian and Koppaite researchers alike that Pikmin are missing a key part of the lifecycle. When Pikmin are sprouted by their Onions, they are unable to pluck themselves from the earth. No amount of Pikmin seem capable of pulling a seedling from the soil, and without being able to pluck themselves, they lack and ability to reproduce. They can feed an Onion to produce more Pikmin, but those Pikmin will remain buried, unable to effectively be born.

Some researchers believe the Mamuta once would pluck Pikmin, given that they will plant Pikmin in the soil if they catch them. But if they once possessed this behavior, they no longer practice it. And without a way for a Pikmin colony to replenish their numbers, their population dwindles. It is possible that within our generation, most breeds of Pikmin will go extinct.

But some Pikmin may survive, as one population of Blue Pikmin has developed an unusual strategy for reproducing.

…

It is morning on PNF-404. A blue Onion descends from the clouds, the bulbous plant extending its four stems to dock with the soil. Blue Pikmin begin to descend from their living nest, each are roughly 33 mm long, with two arms, two legs, a head and torso, and a stem ending in either a leaf, a bud, or a flower. These are the characteristics of all Blue Pikmin, though these are still unusual. Atop their heads are upside-down flowers, worn almost like wide-brimmed hats, while ponchos made of two large petals hang over their torsos.

As they filed out from the Onion, one Pikmin hung back, staring up at the towering trees surrounding their home. The forest was humid, thick mist filled the atmosphere and puddles covered the forest floor. Dew lingered on the many leaves of the massive trees, the forest almost glistened.

This Pikmin we will refer to as “Brim,” given their large hat. Though, unlike the other Blue Pikmin in this group, they wore mittens and boots made of petal scraps. The reason for this unique behavior became evident as they stepped forward, and a glob of mud splattered their thigh. Brim immediately shuddered and began to frantically wipe off the gunk, cringing at the texture.

Brim suffered from overstimulation, certain sensations like mud and other textures stressed them greatly, so they wore makeshift mittens and boots to try to avoid touching the gunk. It mostly worked, as long as they were careful where they stepped.

Another Blue Pikmin hummed at them, and Brim startled before wadding through the forest towards their fellow. The two of them hurried to the base of a dead tree, one that had been jabbed with chunks of crystals. The Pikmin began to climb up the crystal handholds, heading towards the lowest branch of the tree.

The two of them began to crawl down the branch, coming down to a curved twig. The two of them hummed out a tune as they pushed and shoved at the twig, straining the brittle wood until it snapped off, falling to the forest floor.

Brim and the other Pikmin began to climb back down, as five other Blue Pikmin heaved up the twig and began carrying it over to the Onion. They too hummed out. Melody as they hauled the thing over their heads.

At the base of the Onion’s landing site was a single seedling, they had been planted a few days ago, and now were blooming. The five Pikmin carried the twig over to the seedling, before digging the wood into the ground. As it stood there two other Pikmin ran up, carrying a long blade of grass over their head.

Brim and their fellow had joined up with the group, and the nine Blue Pikmin got to work. The blade of grass was draped over the twig before one end was tied to the seedling’s stem. Then the group hurried to the other end of the blade of grass and began to heave, turning the twig and grass into a rudimentary pulley.

The simple machine strained as the nine of them hummed out a “work song.” The troupe yanked on the grass as the seedling it was tied to wiggled in the soil, before at last the new Pikmin was plucked from the earth. The new Blue Pikmin fell on their backside from the force of the tug. Three of the older Blue Pikmin wadded over to them and began humming a tune at them, and the newly plucked seedling began to match the trio’s tone.

Their pulleys were primitive tools, but despite their simplistic nature those tools had enabled the Blue Pikmin to pluck themselves, giving them the chance to survive. We do not know for certain where this behavior began, but there is a suspicion based on earlier research.

Brim wandered away as five other Blue Pikmin began to head off into the muddy forest, searching for prey. Brim instead bent over and scooped up an acorn cap, and began to carry it through the swampy terrain.

They crept around the puddles, taking long winding paths to avoid wadding in deep mud. Brim hummed to themself, though their song was less musical than the “work songs,” more frantic and uneven. As they walked their large eyes searched around, both to keep themself clean and to search for food. The Onion must be fed to create new Blue Pikmin, and the Pikmin needed nectar to bloom.

As Brim walked there winced as a splash sounded behind them. They turned to see a pink shriveled creature charging them, and they let out a whimper before scrambling away.

This was a female Himeagea mandibulos, or more commonly a Sheargrub. As a member of the Mandiblard family her legs and wings had atrophied completely, giving her a larval appearance. Female Sheargrubs were harmless to Pikmin, but they did enjoy pursuing them. And Brim for their part sprinted away.

Their feet splashed against the mud as they ran, splattering their thighs. Brim whimpered once more, and the acorn cap was dropped from their mittens as they began to try to wipe off the much even as they still ran.

The Sheargrub was undeterred and continued the chase, squirming across the ground. She drew closer and closer, whatever Brim feared about her drove them to wail. Finally, Brim relented and dived for a puddle, leaping into the water.

Brim shivered at the cold temperature, but they were a Blue Pikmin. And as a Blue Pikmin, they were the only type of Pikmin capable of swimming. And indeed they kicked their feet and began to stroke across the puddle, even as the Sheargrub cautiously follows.

The Blue Pikmin resurfaced on the other side, dripping wet. They shook themselves off, flicking water from their leaf, before resuming wading through the mud. They moved slowly and cautiously, trying to have only their booties get soaked by the muck. As they squirmed they looked back, the Sheargrub was not adapted for the water, only recently had a mutation begun to spread letting them survive in the water at all. But even with her limited speed, she was keeping pace with them navigating the mud.

Finally, the mud drew shallow, and Brim began to trot. Their purser still was trudging through the water, so the gap was now widening between them. As Brim looked ahead their eyes widened, they had not realized where they were.

A stump lay before them, one with a hole dug under one side of it. In front of it was a ramp made of sticks and rocks, allowing a Pikmin to climb on top of it.

Brim climbed up the ramp cautiously, their mittens flapping at their side. They had been here before, most of their colony had. Underneath the stump was a chamber containing a Violet Candypop Bud. A strange plant, the Candypops had unusual effects on Pikmin, though the effect varied based on color.

They reached the top of the ramp, coming to a small false Onion made of stacked twigs. As they drew near there was a heaving grunt, and a Purple Pikmin walked out of the crude nest.

Purple Pikmin were among the biggest type of Pikmin yet observed, able to carry much more than any other known Pikmin and do far more damage. They were bulbous with large heads and bodies and had tendrils growing out of the sides of their heads. This one had once been a Blue Pikmin but had chosen to dive into the Violet Candypop and change their type. This barred them from their former Onion and cut them off from the puddles of the forest, so they depended on supplies from the Blue Pikmin.

The Pikmin not only was big but was dressed in armor. Unlike the petal clothes of Brim, the Purple Pikmin wore the shell of a large Acorn for armor, and its cap as their helmet. They were a protector of this stump and they were dressed to drive away the weaker beasts of the forest. For the sake of clarity, they will hence be referred to as “Sentry.”

Brim whimpered and hummed at the Purple Pikmin, but Sentry only shook their head and pointed behind them. The Sheargrub was wandering around now, waiting at the base of the ramp.

The Blue Pikmin flinched and began rubbing their skin, pointing back at the Sheargrub. Sentry shook their head in disagreement and rubbed their chest armor. Brim winced, looking back at her.

Sentry tapped the stump with their foot and pointed down at The remnant of the tree. Carved into the stump was a crude picture of a Red Pikmin. Red Pikmin were the same height as Blue Pikmin but lacked the gills and mouth of the latter, instead, Red Pikmin had long thin noses. This particular Red Pikmin had a large spiky nut stuck hanging on their stem, giving them almost a shell. Their torso was slanted and it looked like their arms extended into long legs.

Seasons ago, researchers observed a Red Pikmin in a meadow that had sprouted through a chestnut, the seed weighing them down and barring them from their Onion. They relied on twigs as makeshift crutches to support the weight of the nut and mostly were ignored by their fellow Red Pikmin, left to fend for themself.

Whether or not this carving referred to the subject dubbed "Spiky," was difficult to say. Onions could land almost anywhere on the planet, these Blue Pikmin might have encountered Spiky and the Red Pikmin could have left an impression on them. Some speculated Spiky’s use of crutches as leverage to support their chestnut’s weight was what inspired this colony to develop their pulleys. Of course, they were very different tools, but the possibility was worth considering.

Others also suggested it might be the basis behind this colony wearing something akin to clothes, given Spiky’s shell was capable of shielding them from blows from predators. Sentry’s acorn armor certainly born a resemblance to Spiky’s chestnut.

Whatever was said, Brim relented, Sentry reached over to them and heaved them into their arms. With a step the Purple Pikmin chucked them, hurling Brim at the top of the Sheargrub. The Sheargrub immediately whimpered and fell limp, even as Brim scrambled off her and begins wiping nothing tangible off their skin.

The Sheargrub was killed by the impact, as identified early they are utterly harmless to Pikmin. Brim seemed to shudder as they reached their mittens over to the Sheargrub’s stubby mandibles and began to tug, dragging her across the forest floor.

She would not offer the Onion much food, she could only fuel one or two seedlings. Still, it was better than nothing and she was light enough that Brim was able to carry her carcass back to the Onion by themself. It would be a long trek, but they would make it before nightfall.

As Brim dragged the corpse around a puddle, Sentry stared after them, before turning back at the carving. Pikmin had long been known to sing when idle in groups, but this carving was a new form of artwork. And this site seemed to be significant to the colony, given Sentry’s permanent home here guarding it.

Sentry shook their head and lumbered back into their hut, sitting on a pebble as a crude seat. As they settled in, Brim continued to drag the carcass, making sure only their gloves touched the corpse.

The Pikmin of this colony had made several strides, and whether or not it was inspired or invented by Spiky it was clear they had developed a culture of revering a quadruped and shelled Pikmin. Perhaps that is why Brim was free to wear gloves and keep to themself, a neurodivergent Pikmin might be more accepted if an effectively disabled Pikmin was a cultural hero.

Either way, this colony was one of the few Pikmin colonies that were able to pluck seedlings, and because of that, they had a better chance of passing on their lineage than most Pikmin. Perhaps in time, most Pikmin would engage in these behaviors. But for now, this Onion and its Pikmin were an oddity among their species and one that we hope to continue to study in the future.

#pikmin #brim the blue pikmin #my art

[qprstobin]

Trying to get back on the horse with wip wednesday! (The irony being that I actually wrote more the previous week and didnt do this but then this week I was camping lol.) Tagged by the lovely @kedreeva as always!!

Rules:

Post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to post.

After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file.

That’s it! You can invite others to join in or just post.

If you see this post, feel free to send an ask about one of the WIPs or the snippet!

WIPs:

Fruity Four Upside Down Monsters

punks not dead but it is kinda gay

Hopper They're Lesbians

tommy carol steve shit (aka home back to you)

scenic route sequel (Eddie sequel or Byclairfield sequel) - (these are written so no fun document names lol)

Snippet: (FFUDM)

Steve didn't want to think about what it meant that the world was splitting apart beneath them. That the air was rippling around them as they ran as fast as they could through the Creel house, avoiding the cracks that were forming underneath their feet. 

They stumbled as they exited the house, seeing the charred ground where Vecna's burnt body previously laid.

Shit, that was really bad.

He didn't get to dwell on it long, as a crack ripped through the blackened and pushed the three of them onward again. 

"The trailer?" He asked the girls, getting a breathless nod from Robin.

"Yeah, stick to the plan, hopefully Dustin and Eddie managed to stay nearby enough to hear our knock despite the fissures," Nancy responded, a bit of a wheeze in her voice.

Steve's neck throbbed at the reminder that they all were nearly strangled to death mere minutes ago.

#my writing #writing tag #wip wednesday #fruity four stuck in the upside down

[sparrow-orion-writes]

Also, do you have any First Dance-s? :0

~ M <3

M, u know I do!

Here's some AriEdward, and one of the first scenes I ever wrote for Neon Glow myself! Re-written, for better flow with the rest of the books. Very, very loosely edited, mostly for fun.

It won't kill him, he knows; he also knows he'll never live it down, and honestly they're both so content to stand on the sidelines and watch everyone else have their fun. Why ruin it?

Why, indeed.

Perhaps because for the first time in his life, Ari is uttrly content to ruin the peace and quiet. When he sees everyone else dancing, clutching onto someone they never want to let go of, he finds himself oddly jealous.

What on earth had transpired with his life as of late, he could never articulate. But his eyes meet Edward's and he is immediately offered a raised eyebrow.

He will regret it, no it won't kill him, but he'll regret it nonetheless. The game will be over for anyone who had previously been none the wiser (how on earth April had kept his mouth shut this long, though, he'll never know, maybe there is an upside to that short attention span).

Ari ignores that. He ignores the lingering anxiety of being watched, or percieved, and focuses on Edward's hand in his own.

"Can you even dance?" He asks him, amused.

Ari exhales a laugh through his nose, pulling Edward closer to him. "Let's find out, shall we?"

He doesn't miss the short hitch in his lover's breath, the look in his eyes drenched in something Ari didn't recognise. The feelng is new, intimate, Edward's gaze lost in awe and desire. His body against his own. He can feel him breathe.

Ari's hand curls up his back, Edward's head falls against his chest. In one movement the two of them breathe in together, exhaling in the music.

All Ari knows for a moment, is that he is holding a man in his arms, who fits against him so perfectly, that he couldn't care less about anything else.

--

Taglist (Neon Glow)

@careful-pyromancer

@livvywrites (Sorry you asked to be on my taglist when i first posted the wip intro and I forgot!)

If anyone wants to be added to any of my taglists, I promise this time I am actually keeping track from now on.

#AriEdward #ask game answers

[devondespresso]

WIP Wednesday!

Tagged by @stobinesque 💕💃🪩🕺💕

THE RULES

In a reblog (or new post w/ rules attached), post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to post!

After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file. If the filename is one you can’t share from (for example, an event fic), write 3 sentences on it anyway, and then 3 more on another to share.

That’s it! You can invite others to join in, or just post. If you tag me in your post, I will send you an ask request!

WIPS

~the usual~

Steve Henderson AU

Claudia Henderson Canon Character Masterlist

s3 Dustin funko (physical wip)

Chrissy Cunningham funko (physical wip)

tagging @blushweddinggowns @flowercrowngods @csinnamon-fox @withacapitalp and @wynnyfryd (and anyone else that wants to!! also absolutely no pressure of course! also also just let me know if you don't like being tagged in these💖)

SNIPPET

is it really a WIP Wednesday if i don't share Steve Henderson Au? I don't think so. anyway

(i have no idea how to do the 'more under the cut' thing hopefully i did this right.)

in todays episode the gang is taking a pitstop to drop of Dustin before going to ✨the hospital✨

They pulled up to Dustin's house in no time. It was small but very warm, especially with all the big windows and golden lights. Just as Hopper parked beside a bright yellow Volvo the front door swung open and a very frantic woman made her way to their car. Dustin launched out of the car, forgetting his bag on the floorboards, and ran over to her. Just the sight of him made her visibly relax with a frantic smile, pace slowing and shoulders slumping back to a natural state. It was like every emotion was exaggerated. On display like there was nothing to hide, like the whole world needed to know how worried or relieved she was. 

Or upset, because after a long hug she immediately began scolding him. Steve could barely hear what they were saying, a few words flicking in here and there.

“Worried …  so late ..  Mews..”

Mews. Dustin's cat. Dead cat. Did he tell her? Does she know about the upside down, too?

He opened his door and shouted for Dustin to come over, quickly grabbing his bag as an excuse for wanting to talk to him.

“Left your bag, dude.”

“Thanks,” he grabbed it quickly, clearly in a rush to get back, Steve reached out to keep him just a second longer.

“Did you tell her about Mews?” 

“Of course not! She doesn’t know about this stuff, I can’t just tell her about D’art!” he whispered

“Dusty, is everything okay?” she said, starting towards Steve’s door. Dustin gave him a look that screamed shit shit shit shit shit

“I got it,” he mouthed before she reached them.

“Yeah, everythings fine Mrs Henderson. I was telling Dustin that he should probably explain what happened today.” he lied easily. Her eyebrows raised, looking between them. Dustin still looked really nervous but trying to hide it under a weak smile and agreeing nod.

“Yeah, I asked Steve to help me look for Mews and-’

That got her attention.

“Did you find her?” she asked, voice wavering. Shit.

“No-” 

“Yeah”

Dustin froze.

“Well, we did, technically, just…” he hesitated for effect, then continued softly, “She didn’t make it.” 

She gasped, covered her mouth with her hands, and let out a strangled “oh”. Dustin looked almost as distraught, moreso at seeing his mother so upset. Fuck, this shouldn’t be so hard.

He continued, to complete the lie and to keep Dustin from having to say anything more.

“There was a rabid dog loose, we took care of it before it could hurt anything else, but... we were too late to help Mews. I’m- I’m so sorry.” He said. The story was fake, but the stutter and remorse wasn’t. Not necessarily feeling for Mews, he liked cats but he never actually saw Mews, but more for Mrs. Henderson. He had no idea how important this cat was to her and it was starting to make sense why Dustin kept lying to her about it.

She sighed wetly and Dustin gave her another hug.

“Can we bury her?” she asked

“Already did,” Dustin said into her shirt. He pulled back and looked more sure. Like a calmness swept over him, but too quickly. It had to be an armor, “We buried her in the backyard while you were at work, I can show you in a minute.”

Then he dropped his bag and pulled Steve in for a hug like he did with his mother. It was a surprise, but after a moment to think again he returned it, letting Dustin bury his head in his shirt and holding his onto him gently.

“I’m sorry, dude.” Steve whispered.

“It’s okay.” He said, pulling back and giving a little smile, “I’m going to come visit you, okay? At the hospital tomorrow."

“I’ll hold you to it,” he said, ruffling Dustin’s hat. He scooted back into the car, hearing Mrs. Henderson faintly question 'hospital' before the door shut. Hopper backed out of the driveway and Steve looked out the window, smiling as Mrs. Henderson waved at them before she and Dustin went inside.

#steve harrington #dustin Henderson #steve and dustin #claudia henderson #stranger things #dustin and steve #steve stranger things #dustin stranger things #Hop and El are in the car too its just not clear in the snippet #I've been going crazy writing this. crazy in a good way. hogwild really. #devon's steve henderson au #steve henderson au rambles #wip wednesday

[procrastinatorproject]

Fic writer review, thank you to @thelaithlyworm  for the tag <3

how many works do you have on AO3?

Ten? Oh no, it’s actualy 12 now!

what’s your total AO3 word count?

86,468

how many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Grand total of 1: Star Trek: Picard - although my latest offering might branch a bit into other Trek as well.

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

“Passengers”

“And a Barrel of Gagh”

“CMO’s Log”

“Preparations”

“Game Night”

Which is actually kinda interesting. I wrote Passengers, Preparations, and Game Night while the fandom was still a lot more active (especially in the Aramis in Space corner), so that makes sense. The CMO’s log has had chapters added every few months, giving it probably the most exposure of any of my fics. Barrel of Gagh, though? I think I’m gonna attribute that to Thimblerig turning it into a truly, TRULY brilliant piece of podfic. Also the fact that it’s whump involving a character played by Santiago Cabrera. ‘tis A Thing..... :D

do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I really try to! I love talking with people in the comments and just... thanking the people who found the time and energy to leave comments. But especially in the last few months I have gotten very bad at keeping up with the comments and now there’s about two dozen that I have neglected to reply to for a painfully long time 🙈

But I will get there! Because I love that kind of interaction!

what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

So far, none of them have had angsty endings. Angsty middles, yes, but not endings. I’m just a sucker for everyone being happy in the end. Or at least on the way to being better, and supported and cared for on that way.

do you write crossovers? if so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I haven’t yet, but I’m definitely not opposed. One of the threads of my 200k unpublishable whump scenes takes place in a continuity that has existed in my daydreams for... I wanna say six years at the very least, probably longer. It’s mostly straight-up Star Trek, but with the twist that it involves the Wraith, the telepathic, hive-minded alien race from Stargate: Atlantis that suck the life force out of you with their hands? Or, well, at least a variation thereof.

I once typed up the world building for that particular setting and it took me three hours to try and make it all make sense. So it’s... involved. But not necessarily “crazy”. And I’m not sure I’m ever actually going to publish any of the stories I have set in it (not least because that would envolve finishing any of them and bringing them into a form that is interesting to read for anyone but me...)

have you ever received hate on a fic?

Nope.

do you write smut? if so what kind?

Hm, not yet. I do enjoy reading smut, but only under very specific circumstances. I think I may eventually try my hand at smut, but the inner prude is still very strong. Writing about Rios and Xyr making out (which, honestly, was really tame, all things considered) made me melt in a puddle of blushing embarrassment, so full-on smut is probably beyond me at the moment. One day!

have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. Though litigating that in a fandom like ours would be... tricky. ST:Pic is way too small to steal stories outright. But similar or the same ideas pop up all the time. And it’s a complete coincidence. Reading the book that recently came out and that has a kinda similar setting to a lot of my stories (pre-season 1, early in Rios’s history as captain of Sirena, dealing with original characters, holo shenanigans, friendship with Raffi, etc.), I was struck by just how many elements, both scenes or story beats and little details, were similar to things that have cropped up in my writing. And it is entirely coincidental, because I am beyond certain that the author doesn’t read fanfic. Just... for legal reasons. Not to mention I wrote a bunch of the things I saw parallels to while the book was already in production, and some of them are only in my drafts.

So there is a ton of convergent evolution going on in this particular section of the fandom, and trying to litigate who came up with certain plot ideas or character beats when would be a sysiphean disaster. Some things are clear and whenever I use any of them I give credit where I can, but people will have very similar ideas. It just happens. So no, I haven’t had either a full-on story or “an idea” stolen, and I might change my tune if it ever does happen, but so far, I’m trying to practice equanimity, so I’ll be better at it should I ever need it.

have you ever had a fic translated?

Sadly no. My dad keeps complaining that all my fic is in English so he can’t read any of it, but honestly? I’m kinda glad for this very convenient excuse. Maybe if I ever feel like I want to practice my interpreting skills, I will give translating the stories into German a shot. We’ll see. Otherwise, if anyone feels inspired: Have at it! Just let me know, okay?

have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not quite. I have a draft of off-the-cuff worldbuilding that I wrote on Discord with @curator-on-ao3 and that I would love to turn into an actual short fic (letters from a conference on holo-ethics), but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

what’s your all time favorite ship?

I don’t really do shipping.

what’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I WILL NEVER ACCEPT DEFEAT!!!! One day, I will write the next installment of Star Trek: La Sirena! I have so many ideas for that continuity and those characters. I’m not going to abandon them!

what are your writing strengths?

Hmmmmm. Probably detailed worldbuilding? Ask me something about, say, a technological or cultural aspect of Star Trek and chances are, I have thought about it in the past or will come up with three different sets of intricate lore within half an hour. (Things like... the architecture of San Francisco, or Will there still be taxi drivers? or the treaty between IKEA Intergalactic and the Borg Collective, or the Universal Translator, or Emergency Services or Why There Are Very Few Ambulances On Earth Anymore etceterah etceterah...)

I’m also good at slapping together off-the-cuff plot ideas (if, say, you need an explanation for how Seven and Agnes ended up stranded on a desert island, I could probably give you three different scenarios pretty quickly. Just don’t ask me to make them poignant or actually write them.

I’m also very, very good at beginnings.

what are your writing weaknesses?

Everything that isn’t a beginning. Especially endings, or rather: finishing something, but also just... keeping momentum.

I think my dialogue is somewhat samey and not distinct enough between characters. (Also my witty banter is... let’s just say it doesn’t come to me naturally...)

And I also struggle with keeping things brief and to the point. I can write you 30k of whump covering a span of three hours, but fitting a whole story in the same space? Much more difficult!

I have also avoided writing full-on action so far, but where it has crept in it has always been a struggle and been workshopped a lot with the indefatigable beta.

Otherwise, I don’t know. My self-perception is always a little warped, so I’m not sure what other people would say my weaknesses are.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Oof. Well. I have used Spanish sentences in my fic and done the thing where they’re translated in the end note, but I’ve mostly done it sparingly. I’ve also done the ‘“What do you want?” he said in Spanish.’ It’s tricky. But I will likely keep doing it in some instances, even if it’s a bit annoying.

(It also really helps to have a native speaker of Spanish as a beta, even if it’s Spanish from a different region than you’re character.)

Speaking of regional: I’m also torn about the whole “phonetically writing out accents” issue. Some people love it, some people hate it, I’m really unsure because I’m not a native speaker of English, so I’m not even sure I’m consistent in my narrative voice’s regional quirks. So far, I’ve mostly gone with describing that an accent is happening, and only writing out when phrasing actually differs from standard English. Like Ian (Scottish) saying “dinnae” but not writing “I” as “ah” as you’d see on, say, Scottish twitter.

Though it can be a very useful tool if, for instance, you want to indicate a characters accent getting stronger as they get tired or upset. 🧐

Anyway, I don’t think there is one right or wrong answer here and everyones milage will vary.

what was the first fandom you wrote for?

Published? ST:PIC

Actually first? Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Pretty much simultaneously, though I did write more for LotR. On graph paper, mind, with my fountain pen turned upside down so I could write smaller. I still have folders worth of those stories that I urgently need to digitize before they fade and I lose them forever...

what’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I’m going to quote @thelaithlyworm here: I Love All My Children Equally! I honestly couldn’t say. They are different and I love them for different reasons but I love them all.

Thank you for the tag! ❤ I’ve kinda lost track of who all has done this already or has already been tagged, so feel free to ignore me! But I tink I’m tagging @curator-on-ao3, @aini-nufire, @29-pieces, @flowers-creativity, @highfunctioningflailgirl, @cristobalrios and @the-goofball. And anyone else whom I forgot or who feels inspired to do this!

#ask meme #writing #lili's writing adventures #this was fun!

[disregardandfelicity]

fanfic ask game

Tagged by the incomparable, untaggable @bewires

Tagging @maddielle @catholicnicky @pinkninjapj if they wanna!

How many works do you have on AO3?

13

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Just TOG, although one is comics compliant so technically 2

Are there any new fandoms you want to write for?

Nothing new has caught my eye, so nope

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Window of Opportunity

Three Men Walk Into a Bar

The Upside of a Bad Night

The Light Side

could never love somebody else and My Baby Beside Me at the Wheel are tied

Which of your fics do you want more attention for?

I'm quite fond of my infidelity verse, disregard and fidelity (look how punny i am) and will selfishly take all the people willing to talk to me about it.

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Yes, always. Isn't that the whole point!

What sorts of things do you normally write?

AUs, explicit fics, light angst

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Well the whole premise of the infidelity verse is Nicky is married, not to Joe, and that continues to be the case in all 3 installments of the series.

What's a fic that pushed you out of your comfort zone?

can i go where you go was my first foray into kinkier sex and i was def nervous about getting that right

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

i haven't

Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

nope

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

UGH my cats fic. 😭 I started writing it in May and have ~4300 words. It's canon compliant, and the premise is Nicky is an animal hoarder when left to his own devices, but Joe is not an animal person. He leaves for like a week, and Nicky and Nile amass a bunch of stray cats by feeding them. The fic is Nicky teasing Joe/ignoring his complaints as long as he can manage about the cats, and various scenes of Joe being harassed by living in proximity to so many cats. It culminates in Joe researching why its bad to feed stray cats, and Nicky being like ok if you're doing research to craft better arguments we've gotten to a point where i will stop. but then they hold on to a couple.

tragically i think i just....don't actually spend enough time with cats, especially outdoor/feral-ish ones, to feel confident in the cat scenes. this all started cause i had cat as a bingo square if you're wondering why a person with limited cat exposure began writing cat based fic at all.

What are you currently working on?

I just posted a fic today so nothing yet! We'll see what gets my attention.

What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, I think. It's the easiest part, at least, for me to write. Some commenters have also said I'm funny which, maybe!

What are your writing weaknesses?

I find smut ridiculously hard for someone who insists on putting it in my fics. But be the fics you want to read and all that?

What was the first fandom you wrote for? Most recent?

Only ever wrote for TOG. I'm a gold star TOG writer

What's your favorite fic you've written?

Ohhh i dont know! Maybe Window of Opportunity, it's my longest (which isn't that long compared to other writers) so it has the opportunity to build out the best arc in one go. I'm also, as I mentioned, very fond of the infidelity one, but it's 3 fics and i'm not sure which i'd pick individually.

What fic are you most proud of?

Maybe my first one, Mother Clap's Molly House, just because I'm proud I worked up the guts to post it, and under the ao3 name people know me as (i created a secret second one i nearly posted under instead). It's cross-dressing, which isn't actually a thing for me so it's kind of funny I wrote that first, but it's comics compliant cross-dressing, and I am semi familiar with that period in history (although I did some extra research for the fic), and I remember feeling like that would be my in into successful fanfic-ing lol having historical knowledge.

[jlf23tumble]

Hey Jen. I think you’re superb like in a (not to quote anyone but) you can sit and kind of admire what you’re like kind of way. So thanks for being awesome and enjoyable to this internet stranger. In unrelated matter, do you have any angst filled fics? I mostly read HL but I’ll dive into whatever as long as the pain is there. (If I can give a preference, I’m not so much into magic, fantasy, wolves, and sorts.) In these unprecedented times, I think I’d still need a happy ending though after the characters suffer terribly lol. If you find time to put something together for little old moi, I’d appreciate it very much. Thanks! Keep on keeping on! You’re wonderful!

<bryan_cranston_me_question_mark.gif> !!!!!!!!!! This is so incredibly kind, I think you’re pretty wonderful, too! I feel like I’m probably going to let you down here, though, because I generally don’t go too hard for angst (for one, it usually translates into longer fics, for two, some areas of true angst are just things I don’t really want to read for pleasure, like messy cheating aftermaths, abuse, character death, etc., and for three, I get lost in the sauce if I try too hard to dissect if something actually IS major angst versus, say, intense pining), but I’ll do my best! I’m going to give my dirty dozen here--my top 12 for hl--then I’ll dive deeper under the cut, with authors I love who write so much angst it’s tough to pick just one, plus other fandoms, too, in case you want to dive deeper.

Fertile Ground, Blake, 4.4k. Okay, in truth, so much of what Blake writes has gorgeous lashings of angst, so definitely read all of their fic (every fandom), but this one?? HOLY MOLY, it deserves to be separated and celebrated, Harry’s angst about fertility, howwwwww is this 4.4k, I ask, constantly?

sensitive to pressure, momentofclarity/ @gaycousinlarry, 4.4k. Hockey players and pubes and scent kinks, and yet there’s still this current of angst that thrums underneath, man oh man, would I read everything in this universe.

Everything You Do, jishler/ @jishlerfics, 6.6k. The third part of a stunning series, this one focusing on Harry’s gender identity and the Dunkirk haircut, and if you saw those recent gifsets with him wearing the beanie during training, yeah, this fic is alllll about it

i’m a captain on a jealous sea, devilinmybrain/ @thedevilinmybrain, 15k. A lot of jealousy on Louis’s part about all things Gryles, both real and imagined, I’m loving the vibes this author brings to it all.

taking tips and getting stoned, alison, 24k. I don’t think I can sum this one up quickly, but taxi driver Louis comes across singer Harry, and a lot of things change after that? God, that’s bad, but this fic is not!

hard to confess, @hereforlou, 24k. I adore Maggie’s writing so much, and she’s another one where I could rec at least three more here, but the one where Harry hides that he’s pregnant until the very last second? It’ll forever be the scorpio of mpreg fics, and I say that with the highest praise.

Maybe I Miss You series, 13ways, 28k. THIS SERIES, ooooooooffffff, the angstometer is off the chart, and then the last installment? Harry in makeup? This after all the sexting and boxing and hate sex and finally they figure their shit out? All of it is so good, and I’m eternally sad the author moved on (but jesus, I get it).

hush., Wankerville, 41k. Easily in my top five fics of any fandom, the softness and the cruelty, the growth and the real-life feels, an American high school AU that is still stunning and must have blown doors off back in that particular day (I’d also rec this author’s other work, esp. for angst).

every universe but ours, 28finelines, 49k. Okay, so this one has a little bit of magic that might annoy you, but it’s mostly in a multiverse way, like you’re reading a ton of AUs, but the theme itself has an angsty core, fwiw!

Truly, Madly, Deeply (10 Things I Hate about You), sunsetmog, 54k. I know I talk a LOT about this author’s ongoing wip, Harry Styles Cooks... (which is phenomenal, please do yourself a favor if you haven’t already), but this one? Angst ahoy, Harry auditions for XFUK without telling his boyfriend/friends, becomes a success, then comes home.

Time Passed, coffinofachimera/ @belialsmiracles, 66k. For every fic rec list I make, I always have at least one fic where I say, if you read nothing else, read this one, AND THIS IS IT, all categories, it’s simply astounding, life-changing, world-ending, and it kills me that more people haven’t left comments, but if it keeps shitty comments away, I’m all for it, I’ll protect this author/fic with my life. I can’t even begin to describe it, but if you want to know what the songs Fine Line or She are about, here you go! AIMH, Tokyo Harry!

The World Turned Upside Down, dogslpdi/ @dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram, 71k. I’m really iffy on historical fics, but this fic! This fic nails it! The detail and the emotion, the way you can feel the effects of the strike in so many ways, but also how HIV/AIDS is not that far off on the horizon, it’s just so well done. Plus, I adore Ralph’s humor and the way she tagged this both “minor angst” and “miner angst,” and if I can’t end an angst rec on a light note, what more can I do?

Let’s start with things beyond hl...lately, I’ve been reading a LOT of Untamed fic, and I feel like I should just point you to Liv’s masterlists because they are angst city (and fun city, too), plus she’s done a really good job of labeling them accordingly (right now, my fave angst is from chunk no. 2, Fire in the Blood, which is a case fic, but oof, I can’t wait to read even more in these parts).

I’m also just now getting into Merlin and reading a lot in that fandom, but it’s a bit scattershot at this stage (I haven’t finished the show yet, and I’m still working my way through one author who wrote 100+ fics, all of which are incredible; if you’re curious for something recent from over there, Phoenix wrote a short, angsty one that’s good and ouchy, this tangled thicket).

Speaking of Phoenix, EVERYTHING she has written for Cars (Lightning/Doc) is incredibly angsty, usually with that happy ending finale--I’d rec my current fave, but it’s a wip, so no happy ending yet, wahhh. Check out this link to the rest of them, though, I rec ‘em all!

I still have to watch the source material, but everything anyone’s sent me from Cobra Kai is INCREDIBLY angsty and so, so good, so I’m gonna bet there’s a fair bit of fix-it fic in my future, but we shall see! 

Now onto the hl angst, ideally things you haven’t already read a million times before. Like I said earlier, this one’s kind of tough because I’m not into intense angst (major character/close family member death, messy cheating aftermath--though @kingsofeverything’s Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is fantastic, if you’re into that [messy cheating aftermath, not death]; actually, a lot of Lauren’s longer fics have a dose of angst, so dive away!)

Speaking of authors who regularly deliver angst, I have quite a few that I would say just go check out their works because almost every single thing they’ve done has it in varying degrees, you won’t be disappointed! These authors primarily write the hl pairing, and I definitely rec ‘em all: HappyPrincess, got2ghost, mediaville, and sedfierisentio. Authors I love who write Harry/other characters and do it in a hella angsty way include vondrostes, sulkingroom, radiodurans, and wishforwishes (I swear, I still think about call me anything you like at least once a month).

#fic rec #one direction #angst #for someone who hates it i sure have a lot of it