#I've never really written a second part to any of my oneshots

[romeulusroy]

72 Hours (Roman Roy Oneshot)

Character/s: Roman

Word Count: 1,409

Warning/s: hospital, hospital tw, mental health, mental health tw

Tag: @locke-writes

A/N: This is something different lol. December of 2020 I checked myself into a psychiatric hospital :) It was scary and new, but it was definitely necessary. I don't think it should be a taboo subject. It's definitely not something my immediate family will or likes to bring up, but it's also not something to be ashamed of, y'know? Idk. I've been feeling bad again. Not like in 2020, that was- it was very bad, but still not great. It happens. Meds stop working. The heaviness sets in. I use writing to get through it, those bad feelings, so that's what I'm doing. Just know you're not alone when you're feeling bad. My inbox is always open, I am always willing to talk 💜💜💜💜💜💜

They are terrible thoughts. Horrible, repulsive, aching thoughts that feed off everything you are. They see the worst in you. When you’re done, that’s all there is left. The most repulsive parts of you. The bare, naked, scarred bones. You used to fear you were a bad person. A truly sinister, evil person. Now you don’t have to worry. Now you know. You are. Selfish, and evil, and a burden. Unlovable, unkind, undesirable. He doesn’t love you, not really, and he wouldn’t miss you. No one would. You’re sure of it. You’re so sure of it your bones ache. They long for the soil, muddy and rich. Your whole body wishes to be put to rest. To finally find peace. Being alive hurts. It hurts so bad sometimes. It takes everything out of you to roll from one side to the other. Things have taken up space in your bed. Books sleep soundly next to you, begging to be read. Notes, loose paper, begging to be written. You hope, in nestling with them, loving them even in rest, that they will save you from yourself. They will drag you out of this abyss you’ve found yourself falling in for a long time now. If there is a bottom, you haven’t found it yet. Every second of every minute you flinch, expecting your head to crack open, expecting your neck to snap on that solid ground. It never comes though. How much darker can things get? How much longer do you have before the light, the shrinking light, clouds over? You fear, when this is over, that everything will be gone. You will be gone. Forever. Your own mortality hangs in the balance. You claw at the rocky walls, your fingernails bloody, ripping apart. You scream so loud, for hours, but no one is near enough to hear you.

Is it my fault? Those are the first words from his mouth, the first thought behind those puppy dog eyes. You hold his face, his stubble scratchy in your palms. Did I do something wrong? You make sure your words are stern, but not scary, not angry. He bruises too easily, your peach. No. None of this is your fault. I just, I have to go away for a few days and figure things out. That’s all. 72 hours. Then I’ll be home. You muster a smile, the edges of your mouth heavy in their upturned state. He looks so small, so worried, shaking hands at his side. He doesn’t know what to do, what to say. Neither do you. It’s always been something in your life. An endgame. An option when you run out of options. You talked it over with your therapist, loved and trusted, and they too believe this could be beneficial. Your bag is packed for three days. Three days apart. Basically a weekend. You can do that, right? You can manage, he can, too. You don’t think you have any other choice. Standing there, your bag at your feet, you feel the heaviness. The weight. You want to finally collapse inward like a star, bright and burning and suicidal. He looks you over, your expression, your body, everything you are. You will understand him to understand, to get it, but you don’t need to. He already does. It wasn’t an easy decision to come to. None of this has been. But if you want the hurt to stop, if you want to stop falling, then you need to leave and get help. 

He picks your shirt from the laundry, holding it against his chest. He wanders around the apartment, massive, lonely without you by his side. It smells like you, the fabric. You hadn’t changed out of it in a week, week and a half. Sweaty, you’d argue, but he likes it. It’s familiar. Roaming like a ghost, restless, trapped. Mostly you sunk into the mattress, the sheets melding into your skin until you were one singular being. The tears, silent, hidden, but not quite. Coming home from work, finding your cheeks freshly wet, your eyes red and glazed over. The thoughts unsaid, but screaming. Screaming and wailing and willing you to step over that edge. Nothing about it is easy. Nothing about it is gentle. Nothing about this you could stand for much longer. Dinner, so sweetly prepared, goes uneaten. Everything sits like rocks in the pit of your stomach. Threatening to come back up again. Mostly, you push the food around your plate, managing a smile, managing interest in the conversation. You spend all day in bed, but you are unable to sleep. The bags under your eyes look like they hurt, aching, pulsing. The hollows of your eyes seem deeper, darker, haunted. Your body is so heavy. You never knew flesh and bone could feel like concrete. Every step, every movement, it is unthinkable. You curl into yourself, hoping tomorrow will be better, hoping this will go away. It won’t. It never does. 

Roman didn’t know things were this bad. Even as he watched you wave from the check-in desk, even as he watched the doors close behind you and an escorting nurse, even as he waited for you to come back, a voice in his head told him things weren’t this bad. They were. You’ve been sick for a long time. He thought if he was home more, if he cooked dinner, real dinner, and cracked jokes and held you so tight at night, then it wouldn’t get this bad. Cyclical. Things got like this. But it always went away. It got bad, yes, but then it got better. Why wasn’t it going away? You didn’t have the words to describe it. He’d find you laying in the tub, the water cold, shivering, crying, unable to get out. It took too much energy, too much determination, none of which you had. Unchanged from the pajamas you wore for days at a time. He blamed himself. He wasn’t doing enough. He wasn’t there for you enough. If, if, if. You told him it was just your brain, your mind, getting a little lost. When it got lost, it was hard to find its way back. It wasn’t him, it wasn’t you, it wasn’t anyone or anything, just your brain. It would be like this for the rest of your life. You couldn’t bargain or bribe your way out of this. It had to be done. He saw the scars along your skin from the times before, when things were bad, very bad. He didn’t want anything like that from happening again. 

He called you as soon as he could. Roman’s voice was shaky, unsure. You were the one easing his fears, his worries. If you didn't, no one would. He didn’t ask how it was going, he wasn't sure if he should. You sensed the curiosity, telling him your new routine. You’ve been sleeping better, easier. The food is terrible. There are doctors and therapists who are going to help you, make your brain better. He breathes a sigh of relief. Not because of what you say, but how you sound. Your tone was so scary. Scared of your thoughts, scared of what you might do. You sounded lighter. You talked as long as you could. When you hung up he went to bed with your shirt, one arm reaching out to your side of the bed. Wanting you. Needing you. Knowing this is what had to happen. Everything his father had taught him, you had he retaught. This wasn’t taboo. It wasn’t evil or wrong or anything to be embarrassed of. It’s just something that is. He counts down the hours. 48. 47. 46. . .

Soon you will be home. You will have medications, different pills, pills that will work. You will be in your own bed again right next to him. You will get better. You will feel happiness again. You will laugh and smile and it will be so genuine it hurts. And when this comes back, when everything gets dark again, because it always does, he will be there like he is now, like he has been. He will be there. Because when he made a promise to you, he made it to all of you. The good parts, but the bad parts too. The scary, mean, lying parts. The parts that tell you you aren’t worth it, that you won’t be missed. He’ll spend every day proving them wrong.

#writing #roman roy #roman roy imagine #roman roy x reader #roman roy drabble #roman roy oneshot #succession #succession imagine #succession drabble #succession oneshot #succession x reader #tw mental hospital #tw mental illness #tw mental health #tw bipolar #tw bipolar disorder

[twotangledsisters]

You’re awesome for posting fic updates not only consistently, but daily! Any tips for keeping up with writing?

Thank you so much! I love updates and writing being a part of my routine and I'm glad other people enjoy it too!

And sure, I can think of some tips:

First, there's a mixture of inspiration and forcefulness. I remember when I was really little I read a post somewhere about how if you want to take something seriously, you have to take it seriously on the days when you're inspired and on the days you're not. That changed how I treat art forever!

But years and years later I learnt a more important lesson, to never overlook the power of inspiration.

It's through a mixture of both that I can really keep up with writing. If I only wrote when inspired, sooner or later I'd get a loooong writing block that would leave me simply paralysed. But I'll often do the 'just one chapter' method, and often writing just a few paragraphs will get me back into the flow. But if I'm still very blocked after a chapter, that's fine.

But if I am inspired, I will follow that. Even if it takes my story in weird directions that weren't planned! A good example is that Caine rescuing Cass in the final S1 fic wasn't planned, she wasn't planned to come along in S2 and certainly did not expect her to fall in love... A lot of their scenes came from me writing while inspired.

Now, stuff such as Eugene's near death in S1 finale, the way Koto framed him, the way Cass had to deal with accusations of witchcraft, those stuff were planned way ahead of time!

It's really important to keep that balance, to have plans and also leave room for inspiration to run wild!

An added bonus, if you feel an intense desire to go write a fic that's completely different to the one you're trying to work on, just let inspiration win. I was struggling a bit with the 'Day of Animals' arc in tangled sisters the other day, then I got the urge to do a little Cass oneshot, so I wrote the oneshot in one sitting and have had zero issues writing since.

Sometimes you can unblock writing block with MORE writing! As long as you're letting inspiration guide you.

Second is to take breaks! I update every day but I do not write every day. I write a few times a week and usually have at least one really long session!

One of my currently updating fics 'Always By Your Side' I wrote half of it in like a week, took a few months break, then wrote the rest and started publishing!

Sometimes long breaks can really help. I've taken several long breaks with Tangled Sisters.

Third is stay ahead. With 'Always By Your Side' I have it completely written so I just proof read on the day of upload. Tangled Sisters I keep track of in Notion:

Look how cute my fanfic section is!

I'm usually at least 30 chapters ahead but I did take a writing break recently. Soon as I get the next arc done I expect to be well ahead again.

Fourth, motivation! This one isn't entirely your control, but a huge factor for keeping up is just that I'm super motivated! I can thank the amazing people who comment every day, those who comment occasionally, those who leave kudos or send nice asks like this one!

It does sooo much to make me smile and excited for the stories I'm telling.

And if you look at my fanfic section of notion, I have that little box titled kind words, the content actually changed every time I reload the page, it's linked to a little table where I keep track of all the kind words regarding my fics that I've gotten on Ao3 and tumblr! (I also have several bits of fanart by the amazing @rebecagpfs in that page who I cannot thank enough!!!)

So, although you don't have full control over motivation, having a notebook to collect those kind words can help!

Fifth would be talk to people. Have at least one person who's cool with spoilers cause brainstorming is just easier with somebody else! For me @the-writer1988 has got me through sooo many writer's blocks! Often times I just ramble at her until the problem resolves itself, other times it'd be a more active back and forth. But writing friends supporting each other, always great!

And hey, to anybody who wants to ramble about their fics to me I'm always open! I love hearing about people's fics and am huge on the writer supporting writers sorta mentality!

Sixth is just have fun! If you enjoy what you're writing it's going to be sooo much easier than if you don't.

I do want to point out though, every writer's different! I can sit down and write 10k words in one sitting, but a lot of people can't, just like I need five hour to do a drawing many artists can do in an hour.

Writing is an art and you get faster with experience.

Also, I do daily updates because I adore consistency! Having that routine is amazing for me and I think it's lovely for some readers. But I also accomplish that via very short chapters! Sometimes as short as just 600-700 words. Many authors opt for longer chapters that upload weekly but there still writing the same amount!

So yeah, I do hope this helped!

Thank you so much for the ask :D And if anything didn't make sense, please tell me, it's almost 1am here I just noticed but I really wanted to answer this before bed!

#ask answered #writing tips #writing advice #writing tip #writing trick #write consistency #writing resource #writing resources

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

Well now you’ve got me started on the ikran racing au and now I’m curious so!

Nocorro fic recs for the noob please? 😂

BESTIE finally join the dark sideee.

As I said over dms; unfortunately for you, there are better locorro (and spiri, although I really only rec one hardcore) fics then there are Nocorro. Nocorro is like a desert spot, there really aren’t any aside from a few really short but cool one shots. It's a very small fandom, and it's pretty young right now so tbh most of the fics are not very good, so it'll be a short list anyway. So, as we discussed, here are the high quality, well written Spider ship fics:

For nocorro, there really isn't much. That's why I said I've come so fucking close to writing that ikran au; because I am deeply obsessed with the nocorro parts of it. I adore that au and the ghost neteyam one honestly best of all, but the ghost Neteyam one there is slightly more content for. BUT ANYWAYS;

Upon looking up my list for this I was furious to discover one of the three well written little nocorro one shots has been deleted, so beef begun with CherryApollo (jk queen I need more of them. Actually, a03 user CherryApollo; I know ur reading these posts, or else you wouldn't have tagged that fic nocorro, huh? You said "tumblr has it's claws in me so here's some nocorro" I SEE YOU, I KNOW UR HERE. THERE'S LIKE THREE OF US USING THAT TAG, AND IT'S MOSTLY JUST ME ALONE IN THE VOID. You listen to me. I liked that fucking fic, I had it bookmarked. Give it back to me. But seriously big fan of ur work).

The two remaining fruit themed CherryApollo nocorro oneshots better be your first stop just in case this sociopath decides to take more from me, Take a Bite of the Orange (p sure I was the commenter that took offense mentioned in the notes) and Follow Me Down to the Peach Tree, which did make me want to end it all. Both under 1000 words and worth a quick read.

There is also the ghost of Guilt by thatshowthemafiaworks @undercoverpan who has written us a ghost Spider au which has never failed to make me cry each chapter. The prose is not as flawless as the other recs here, but it packs some emotional weight the others don't. I also can't even fathom where it's going as it all seems entirely hopeless which is why it makes me cry.

The only other nocorro fic I even think is worth a mention is Crop Circles by our bestie @spicymiilk. It's not done and we haven't reached any nocorro yet, but know it's coming and it's good. I get my sticky little fingers in each good Avatar fic writer and I puppeteer the content I want, just look at whats happening here.

For locorro (still a small as hell ship), we can afford to be slightly more picky and I shall give you the best of the best.

Personally I would start with the locorro bible, Bitter by Icandigelvis @oppa86oppa . All of us locorro stans have said this, but this fic started our interest in the ship for most and it caused the cultural revolution of our Spider ship community. This fic still months later lives with me 24/7, and it really is one of THE fics I've ever read of all time. It went righttt into my collection of fics to show to my MFA prof who told me to stop reading fanfiction lol, like seconds after I finished it. Then I put it in the grad school jealousy collection because it's that well formatted.

The Restless Child series by @spicymiilk is a full length novel that will take you a bit lol. I am biased as I do beta it but it's real good. I keep not anticipating turns I should anticipate, but maybe we can convince Andrei to simply let us live for a sec because the fact that it's been like two weeks in universe hit me yesterday while editing and I wanted to fall off an ikran (👀).

There is also, NATURALLY, The Thunder Answered Back by @spicymiilk. This fic crawled up my butt what I can I say. You all got to read my massive post about it, hope u enjoyed that. I was walking back from work today, listening to Back to You by Louis Tomlinson ft Bebe Rexha, in 91 degree heat and it started to thunder and simply pour rain and I was like "I am lIVING The Thunder Answered Back vibes rn, holy fuck." You know it's good writing in general when it gives you a specific vibe. Tbh, that song is that fics vibes, perhaps locorro vibes in general.

I'm only gonna rec one spiri fic for a few reasons. One, because there is a criminal lack of content for them, and two, that fic is worlds above any other spiri fics. I think it's a great starter fic for getting into Spider ships and for getting into spiri in general, just because of how detailed and in depth the world is, my god. It's basically Spider and Kiri pov switches from their childhood up until wayyy past Way of Water and until the end of all conflict with humans. Like any good canon continuation, I disagree with and I agree with a ton of @milesocorro 's interpretation. I don't particularly enjoy the way the conflict concludes, but I really adore the way Quaritch is handled. I said this before to the author, but it's my favorite Quaritch confrontation I've read yet. I have a review up for it while it was still coming out, and I said there I was obsessed with Spider's tsurak and I still fucking am. That's my fav Spider iknimaya sequence too!! Anyways, that's my repeated pitch for Please be kind, please be gentle with me .

#you guys don't get it i have nocorro and locorro as favorited tags so i'll see if anyone posts content about them #every time i open my tags it's like just my posts sksksksk #tumblr be like okay narcissus look in the lake #idk why i remembered back to you existed last week but that must mean it's a locorro vibe #although tbh i've been listening to it thinking of accidentally mated nocorro lately #i'll just throw it in the spider vibes playlist and hope for the best #anyways hope we converted u babes #miles spider socorro #spider socorro #neteyam sully #nocorro #lo'ak sully #locorro #kiri sully #spiri #miles quaritch #fic recs #avatar #avatar the way of water #james cameron avatar #melissa's asks #melissa on avatar (cameron) #melissa is an english major #that tag feels like it fits rn #like this was way too many words for this simple a question poor lottie #the amount of times i've mentioned and recced bitter is also not funny at this point

[ssmtskw]

Hello and welcome!

Replacing my pinned with a list of the stuff I've written for anyone checking my account out. Heh. Everything is sorted by fandom, and then word count! (And if there's something I should add to the tagging, please feel free to send me a message about it so I can make the edits.) Enjoy... hopefully!

RWRB

some part of me came alive - 10,979 words [college-ish AU, 5+1]

"Bye David." David's head snaps back to Alex's direction, eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly you'd think it wasn't even there. Alex, having just removed his glasses again as he yawns once more, doesn't see it. David takes a couple seconds before slightly shaking his head, like he's just imagining something and is now actively wiping the thought away. He opens the door before he responds. "Bye Alex."

(Or: The five times Alex unintentionally calls Henry by his dog’s name, and the one time he does it on purpose.)

Francesca - 10,189 words [graphic depictions and references of violence/abuse/injuries]

Once, in a much worse place before all of this; Alex had worked for someone with one side of his office overflowing with books. He'd read all sorts of things there: Anatomy, selected works in philosophy, Oliver Twist, war hero accounts, law. Anything he could get a hold of in the dark, really. Among those books were a bible. There's a passage there that stuck— something he'd only read past but had barraged into the walls of Alex's mind three years ago, Book of Jeremiah, chapter 17, verse 9: The heart is more deceitful than anything else and is desperate. Who can know it?

Love Songs in the Key of Liam - 8,152 words [Liam POV/centric, 5+1]

It's fucked. He's fucked — Liam, that is. There was no way this was going to work. Ever. What's the next worst thing to growing up closeted in a typically close-minded neighbourhood? Probably developing a crush on your best friend who lives in said neighbourhood. (Or: The five times love songs reminded Liam of his now estranged best friend, and the one time it reminded him of someone else.)

Terrible Things - 4,038 words [Hanahaki AU, hurt/no comfort]

"How long?" That, he can answer. "A year or so." He croaks out, not really wanting to strain himself any further.

water in my hands - 3,521 words [sickfic(?), has references to illness, hurt/no comfort]

It takes Alex a good amount of time to realise; sometimes love just isn't enough to keep the world going, even if he desperately wanted it to.

no question (he'll hold your heart if you let him) - 2,837 words [June POV/outsider POV, post-canon]

June doesn't think much about it at first, putting the box along the pile, but she belatedly realises what it is and gets an idea. A satisfied grin makes its way onto her lips when she finally finds it, an edition of Astrotalk that detailed star sign compatibilities. June doesn't open the magazine all the way to the Libra section, stopping short at someone else's instead. (Or: June finds a box that contained one of her teenage fixations and goes through it for old time's sake.)

Smoke Slow - 2,026 words [shotgun kissing oneshot basically]

“Hey.” Alex says, just for the sake of saying something, the silence between them wasn’t stifling but he didn’t want to risk their interaction coming to an end just because he’s not engaging enough. Henry gives him a sideways glance. “Teach me how to do that.”

“Do what?”

“That. The shotgun.” For a moment, Alex briefly considers how idiotic that probably sounded to Henry. It wasn’t a hard task to mimic, but Alex had long thrown out his composure out the fences of Pez’s house when Henry put the goddamn stick into his mouth. 

i'll be happy (just to have known you) - 1,855 words [hurt/no comfort]

Henry resigns himself to the reality that Alex—albeit distant and unattainable—still managed to break through his dismal world and grant him a light he never imagined was still possible to exist. This was enough. This was more than he'd ever expected for himself. It was the universe's way of extending an olive branch in response to the cards he'd been dealt with. He'd be stupid not to take it.

dreamy little you - 1,666 words [crack-ish AU, post-canon]

"Of course, love, but would you love yourself if you were a worm?" This visibly stumps Alex. If the way his mouth just opened for a rebuttal and coming up empty is anything to go by.

only got a hundred - currently at 4,008 words

An ongoing collection of 100-word drabbles written according to the Brownstone server's prompts.

Haikyuu

Ceilings (he thinks it's not real, it is) - 6,009 words [light angst and pining with a happy? ending]

“Yo, you sleepy?” Takahiro meant to say that no, he isn't. That Issei looks stupid with his hair messed up like that. That he should be asking Issei that, with the bags under his eyes speaking for themselves. Instead, what comes out is, “I miss you.” It would be so easy to take the opportunity now. But still, Takahiro is terrified of ruining things. Or: Takahiro has graduation blues, and Issei makes him feel better, but things don't just end there.

Bloom - 1,444 words [two-dialogue challenge oneshot, retrospective? angst/no comfort]

Matsukawa Issei is not much of a sentimental person, save for special occasions where he has no choice but to reminisce.

Cruel (what your mind can do for no reason) - 1,012 words [light angst/comfort, implications of dissociation]

Issei struggles through a bad mental health night, Takahiro breezes him through the tail end of it.

Shameless (US)

big guns out, shoot now - 3,257 words [first kiss oneshot]

It's kind of out of character for Ian, really, he's always careful about not blurting out or doing shit that tapped into his feelings on the brunette, around the very subject of his affections. Has been, in fact, for the last two years and counting. Not that it got any easier to maintain, there are always slip ups (Exhibit A: right here, right now), but that's solely his problem.

On the Off Chance - 5,780 words [soulmate AU, ongoing]

To say Ian was relieved when he hears Mickey confirm how he did not, in fact, get his soulmate mark just a couple days after coming of age would be a huge understatement. (Or: Soulmate marks only show up when the younger of the pair turns nineteen– which isn’t uncommon, to say the least.)

#fics #ao3 #rwrb #rwrb fanfic #firstprince #haikyuu #haikyuu fanfic #shameless (us) #shameless (us) fanfic #matsuhana #gallavich

[rockyroadkylers]

Weekend WIP game

Rules: List your WIPs below (if you only write one fic at a time, feel free to include future WIPs/ideas!) then answer the following questions. Then, tag as many people as you have WIPs (or more).

Thank you @happiness-of-the-pursuit for tagging me! (technically you tagged my main, @mainstreamelectricalparade, but this is my RWRB blog, so I'm responding here, LOL)

1. WIP List:

(bolding stuff I'm actively working on, since now that I've finished my current project, most of these are still in the very early stages 😂)

It's Nice to Have a Friend sequel (canon-divergent childhood friends-to-lovers AU)

INTHAF tabloid/social media companion fic

Actor AU enemies-to-friends-to-lovers (child actor Alex, non-actor Henry, technically)

the Bond AU (actually also an actor AU where Henry has the opportunity to follow in his father's footsteps and be the next generation's James Bond... but so does Alex 👀)

Tangled AU (Henry is Rapunzel, Alex is Flynn, you can guess where that's going)

I technically have other WIPs, but they're from a different fandom and thinking about them doesn't really spark joy right now, so I'm not going to include them here 😅

2. Which of your WIPs is currently the longest?

Um... I think the child actor Alex outline is currently longer than any of the others, and I have the opening scene written for it, so I'll say that one 😂

3. Which WIP do you expect will end up the longest?

Ooh... at this stage, it's so hard to tell! It could honestly be any of them, I haven't even started working on some of them properly, yet, so I have no idea if they'll be oneshots or fully-fledged longfics. Currently, my best guess would be the sequel for the childhood friends AU, but... that could change.

4. Which WIP is your favourite to write/the most enjoyable to write? Why?

I wouldn't say I have a favorite, yet... I've done the most outlining for the child actor Alex AU, just because we had a full-on conversation about it in the server, so a lot of the hard work was done for me 😂 I'm joking, obviously, I still have a lot of work to do, but the server gave me some great ideas, so I'm very excited about that fic. A close second is the childhood friends sequel, though, because that AU is my baby <3

5. Which WIP do you find the most intimidating to write? Why?

Hmm... A little nervous about the Tangled AU, maybe? I'm not sure why, I just find fics based on movies to be difficult, because I want to stay true to the story, but also make put my own spin on it and make it just different enough that it's not, like, an exact replica. I also have to find ways to work around the scenes with singing and dancing in them 😂 but that will be the easy part, tbh.

6. Which WIP do you experience the most self-doubt about. Why?

Maybe the childhood friends AU tabloid/social media fic? I've never really done anything like it before. I have to come up with a whole bunch of headlines, write excerpts of news articles, make social media posts, and tie them all together neatly in a cohesive timeline that ties into the original fic. I've maybe bitten off more than I can chew, but there's no pressure to get anything posted before I'm ready! I think people are more excited for the sequel, anyway 🤭

7. Which of your WIPs will you seek out a beta/sensitivity reader for? Why?

Umm... I might not get a full-on beta, but the sequel for the childhood friends AU isn't just going to be about Alex and Henry's budding romantic relationship, it's also going to be continuing to deal with topics such as the aftermath of Arthur's death, Bea's experience with rehab, Henry starting therapy, and so on, so I'll probably ask some friends from the server to check some stuff over if there's anything I'm not sure about.

8. Have any of your WIPs been struck by the curse of writer's block?

Technically, no, because I've barely gotten started on any of them 😂

9. Which WIP has your favourite OC? Tell us about them?

None of my WIPs have OCs, yet (though I imagine that will change once I really get into the actual writing), but my fully-posted fic, It's Nice to Have a Friend, has two: Robert, Catherine's equerry, and Judy, the head cook at Kensington Palace. I love them both, tbh, a mother could never choose a favorite child 😊

10. Which WIP is the sexiest?

lmao, I don't write sexy stuff 😂 The sexiest thing I've ever written is a brief moment in the epilogue of It's Nice to Have a Friend, where I blink-and-you-miss-it implied that Alex and Henry had sex after getting engaged 😂

11. Which WIP is the angstiest?

That's probably gonna be the sequel 😅 I'm gonna make it as fluffy as I can, but it's gonna be an immediate continuation following chapter 10 of It's Nice to Have a Friend, which means long distance. Plus, like I said in question 7, Henry's still got his grief and Bea's recovery to work through, so it's not going to be the smoothest ride.

12. Which WIP has the best characterisation (in your humble opinion)?

There's no way not to make this sound like a humble brag but I've gotten a lot of comments on It's Nice to Have a Friend that have told me my characterizations are really good, so assuming I'm consistent in the sequel, that will probably remain true there, as well. Although, the two enemies to lovers AUs I have... I don't have any interactions between the boys written down for either of those fics, yet, but that's pretty on-brand for them 😂

13. Which WIP has the best scene setting (in your humble opinion)?

Uhhh... not entirely sure what this means 😅 Like, overall universe setting, or like a specific scene? I think either way I'm gonna have to go with the childhood friends AU, because I'm just completely in love with it. I can't help it, that AU is my baby 😂 Although I am getting super into the child actor Alex AU, as well!!!

14. Which WIP have you worked the hardest on?

DEFINITELY the childhood friends AU! I spent five weeks writing the original fic, and I've been thinking about a sequel for at least two. I only started actually outlining it after I finished writing the first one, but there's no way I can say I've worked harder on anything else, even though the original fic and the sequel are technically two separate fics.

15. Which WIP do you have the highest expectations for? Why?

The sequel 😂 I can't help it, It's Nice to Have a Friend is the fic that made me fall back in love with writing, and I'm positive that the sequel will continue that legacy. Although I'm feeling really good about the way the child actor Alex AU is turning out, as well!

16. Do you dream about any of your WIPs?

Uh... maybe? Except, I couldn't really tell if it was just a vague, generic Alex and Henry dream, or if I was actually dreaming about them in the childhood friends 'verse.....

17. Do any of your WIPs have particular complexities that your other fics don't?

Well, yeah, I mean, before I started writing for RWRB, I was almost exclusively a platonic fluff writer in the Iron Dad fandom (just check my Ao3 page 😂), so almost everything more complex than a toddler with an ear infection adds a new challenge for me, but I'm loving it, so far.

18. Which WIP is the funniest or has the most humour?

Uh... I'll get back to you on that when I actually have stuff written for any of them 😂 the Tangled AU will probably be pretty funny, though.

19. Do any of your WIPs contain outside POVs or a deep dive on a character other than the main ship? How are you finding that process?

Yeah! The child actor Alex AU will actually have a lot of Arthur's POV, because in that fic he kind of takes Alex under his wing, both as an acting mentor and as a sort of father figure when Alex needs someone to turn to in the wake of his parents' divorce, so you'll get to see a lot of Arthur's thoughts and feelings as Alex and Henry get to know each other.

20. Tell us one thing we don't know about one or more of your WIPs.

Um... one of the boys is gonna be a Bond Girl, and I'm not telling you which one.

A tag per WIP - I'm still relatively new to this fandom, so I don't know a ton of people's URLs yet, but I'll do my best!

@affectionatelyrs, @inexplicablymine, @read-and-write-, and um... I genuinely don't know anyone's URLs, so I'll just leave it open 😂 if you see this somehow and you're like, "hey, Ky, why didn't you tag ME?" I tagged you in my heart, I just don't know where to find you 😭

#weekend wip game #tag game #my writing #my wips #rwrb #firstprince

[spicysix]

ok so inspired by @roykentt i decided to make a poll so i can focus on one of my WIPs because i really need to get my shit together lskdsakd. this is acey's original poll btw

i should've done this earlier but i had so much work i couldn't. but here's the deal:

i'll start working on whatever fic is winning tomorrow whenever i wake up

i think when that happens the winner will be well set, but if by any chance by the end of the poll the winner has changed, i'll also try to write for the new winner

i want to try to focus on the wip until it's finished. if it's one of the multichapters, i'll write until i finish the chapter i'm currently working on

so bc of the previous rule, there's no actual word goal to reach, it's whenever i finish the wip! if i don't, well, fuck me ig

i'll probably do this poll weekly bc i liked the idea of it sdkkdçkskd

if i finish the wip or chapter before the next poll, i'll then focus on the second place. if i also finish the second place (very unlikely), i'll focus on the third place and so on and so forth

you can reblog and help me get more votes!

more about each WIP under the cut

it feels like i'm going home

eddie X reader • roadtrip!AU • fluff • multi-chaptered longfic this is already being posted and you can check the first two chapters here i have around half of the 7th chapter written, so if this one wins i'll finish that!

your sweater (up over your head)

steve X jonathan • alternative meeting!AU • angst • multi-chaptered longfic this is already being posted and you can check the first two chapters here i have around 1/3 of the 3rd chapter written, so if this one wins i'll finish that!

jargyle summer challenge

argyle X jonathan • probably something akin to a roadtrip!AU • fluff • oneshot written for lex's spicy six summer challenge, for the dialogue prompt "I'm really glad we did this" and based on Tove Lo's song "anywhere u go" post-canon, after the world ends and goes back to normal, where will jonathan and argyle head to? not very outlined yet, so if it wins i'll also do the whole planning for it!

edancy summer challenge

eddie X nancy • modern!AU, with a pinch of social media • fluff • oneshot also written for lex's challenge, for the word prompt "rooftops" and based on The Aces' song "girls make me wanna die". i wanna honor and stick with the fact that this is a sapphic band and this is a song about sapphic love, so eddie will either be genderbended or trans (mtf). if i go with the trans route, i wanna do it well and so it'll require research of my part since i've never written a trans character and have no real life experience to rely on it's also not very outlined yet, so if it wins i'll do the whole outline, research if it requires it and try to start writing it

soulmate!AU

eddie X reader • college!AU • fluff • oneshot classic "first words tattooed on your wrist" soulmate trope, reader and eddie are both studying music, both dislike their soulmarks around half of it already written

5 + 1 nicknames

robin X reader • college!AU • fluff • oneshot '5 times you gave Robin a nickname she hated, and 1 time you gave her a nickname she loved' - the ones she hates will all be bird names and she thinks reader is teasing her! i'm not sure what will be the one she loves the fic had a name but i'm hating it and will change it lskdlaskd i have exactly one sentence of this written LMAO

#lui rambles #lui writes #my polls

[queers-gambit]

necessary housekeeping about "tagging":

i guess i've never needed to make this establishment, but holy fucking shit, do i need to now!

in EVERY oneshot, imagine, etc., i have a pretty pink banner. some of you might recognize it!

i know it says a lot, but let's go through this pretty pink banner together! so that there's NO further confusion!

in EVERY post, this pretty pink banner reminds you all that this blog, queers-gambit, is generally NSFW and is NOT suitable for minors. if you're under 18, do not interact.

it revokes permission for my work to be posted, copied, translated, or uploaded to any other platforms or sites or blogs.

and lastly, which evidently some of you ignore, the pretty pink banner reminds you that i have discontinued all taglists.

i cannot put words into how annoyed i become when you lot message me about tagging you or comment on my posts about "tag me for part two!"

just pause for a second, and think about it. i take my time to write these silly little stories, you really think i'm going to take MORE TIME to tag y'all? when it's as easy as following this blog and waiting like everyone else? waiting for it to pop up on whatever tag you follow? or you can just like the post and revisit it every so often to see if i've written a part two!

i get i provide a free service, but i'm not going out of my way to tag anyone. that's so fucking extra, it's so silly, it's not happening.

for the love of all that is holy, read the pretty pink banner and understand that if taglists are discontinued, it means i'm NOT tagging you all individually, either. and when you all so blatantly IGNORE what i've already established, it makes me think you're a minor and shouldn't be reading my work in the first place. i hate that feeling: when all i want to do is post my silly stories and go, but i get overwhelmed with notifications and messages about "tag me for part two!" now i feel like i have to weed out the minors.

c'mon, y'all used to take your time to actually talk to me, now it's just "part two!" "part two!" "tag me for part two!"

you know how Joey doesn't share food? well, Cherry doesn't do tagging. please, refrain from messaging me about being tagged, and please please please refrain from commenting that you want me to go out of my way to tag you in whatever i publish next.

all my love 🖤

[siriusly-sapphic]

5 Favourite Self Recs

Thank you so much for tagging me @lumosatnight!

So these are my five favourite fics I've written, but I wanna preface it by saying I did not reread any of these since posting them and am basing the 'favourite' part EXCLUSIVELY on how much fun I remember having writing them. It's based on vibes and enjoyment, not necessarily quality or reception.

Could be Heaven // Pansy/Narcissa, Explicit, 1.5K // Shower sex pwp

This is mainly one of my favourites because it's what got me genuinely comfortable writing smut. It was written for @hpkinkfest and was finished a little bit last minute, which means I was hurrying through the discomfort I usually felt writing smut? After this, I really got the hang of it and started really enjoying the process of smut writing and I appreciate it for that. Plus, Narcissa in a shower with a younger woman? Please, sign me up.

This is Home // Hermione/Narcissa, Teen, 2.7K // Relationship overview/character study

This is basically an overview of all people and places that Narcissa in this fic considered home at one point in her life and how she feels about them. It was written for an exchange when discord had some sort of outage. I don't hold all the headcanons in this fic anymore, but I loved the chance to put all of it together and explore all those different places and relationships with a healthy cissamione endgame.

Death of Me // Sirius/Narcissa, Teen, 2.2K // Flashbacks and her involvement in his death

So ever since starting to write this ship, I wanted to write something exploring the fact that canonically she had a hand in his death. (Without knowing it'd lead to his death, but still). I love angst, I love flashbacks, I love guilt, I love lovers to enemies, this is all of that. It includes a few flashbacks of moments in their childhood where he accused her of wanting him dead/being the reason he'd die, and ends in her finding out how he died.

Memories That We Made Will Never Change // Rabastan/Narcissa, Explicit, 7.7K // Emotional smut during the second war.

There's few things I love as much as writing deeply emotional smut, and this ship does lend itself perfectly for that. She's married, he's just returned from Azkaban, they're sad and regretful and remembering the much sweeter relationship they had as children/young adults. Cue to some cheating with tears and angsty I love you's. It's also one of the longer oneshots I've written, so I remember feeling very accomplished when I finished it and I love that.

He Wants Us Both // Remus/Sirius/Narcissa, Explicit, 5.7K // Getting together of Remus/Narcissa and then a threesome

First threesome I ever wrote deserves a place here. This was just fun to write. I got to kinda explore what Remus/Narcissa might look like, it was fun to see her being a bit more of a decent person, and I just had a great time figuring out the dynamics of these three people in bed together. It was fun and I really wanna write a sequel. Plus this was the first fic I sent any of irl friends to read, which is an odd choice I am aware of that, but it's still a detail that makes me more fond of this fic.

I'm tagging @jennandblitz, @midnightelite, @nymphadoratonqs, @stonecoldhedwig, @magic-girl-in-a-muggle-world, @greenmegsnoham, and @veelawings to do this as well!

#harry potter #narcissa malfoy #sirius black #hermione granger #cissamione #sirius x narcissa #hp fic #hp femslash #ao3 #my fic #fic rec #self rec

[fonulyn]

Hi, do you have any advice for a 'first time' writer? I've been writing little things for myself for over a decade but never actually wanted to post anything online until now. my issue has been that although I have a general idea of I what I want to write, I only have loose paraghaps and little snippets that I want to include in my story. I don't have the experience of writing full chapters or even doing a sketch to guide myself, y'know? Any advice will do!

it depends on what you want to do with the story, really! a story consisting of little snippets is a perfectly valid type of story, too. i've written multiple fics where it's just short moments that are loosely connected into a bigger narrative.

also, you can start small. a fic doesn't have to have a set length, and you don't need to start out with multichaptered fics, you can start with short oneshots! i definitely did! i wrote short slice-of-life things for a good while before i started doing plottier things. i did a LOT of oneshots before I did any multichaptered works. work your way up to it! no one is born ready, and practice is never a bad thing :)

there's no rule that says you need to write every single thing that happens, either. you can just do enough filling stuff to connect the things you want to write in a way that makes sense. I've often cut out things I first thought were needed but then upon consideration decided I could just skip over. don't weigh yourself down with stuff you feel obligated to do and focus on the things you enjoy.

as for a sketch/outline/whatever, it also depends on a person, what works for one might not work for another. personally i use bullet point lists. and i add thoughts and snippets and dialogue options in there too whenever i think of something i'd like to use! like... here's the outline for one of the fics in the self-indulgent series of mine:

then here's a couple other examples (spoilers for not-posted fic :'D first is in the mutant-babies series the second is my nivannedy re2 childhood friends au which i should maybe post the first chapter for shhhh):

so even for me it varies a bit depending on what kind of fic i'm working on and how much thoughts i already have when i start. but sometimes my outline also looks like this:

and then i'll fill in those ????s either when I get a genius (ha!) idea, when I get to that part, or at the very very end when I've written everything else. OR then i figure out a way to just cut it out :'D

for me the main thing is to write down the things i DO know will happen, write down the specific sentences or dialogue bits that i think of and like, so i won't forget everything. and then I add the "something???" bits when I feel like there needs to be something between two things and i can't just go from one to another. pacing is important, for the fic to read well, but it's also something one shouldn't worry about at first, you'll get the hang of it in time.

if you have someone you can talk to about the story it also helps tremendously. it's one reason i've been struggling to write lately bc i lost my go-to person. but any amount of brainstorming, or maybe just explaining it to someone, will make figuring things out easier. sometimes i talk about the story to my dog lol. saying it out loud or writing it as an explanation to someone else often helps!

i don't really know if any of this is helpful at all? if you've got further questions or anything, feel free to poke me! but i hope something here helps a little :) and the most important advice? HAVE FUN!! :D

#anonymous #ask and i shall answer #writing stuff #long post

[echoofawind]

@charlotterhea and @asphodelandabsinthe, thank you for asking me! Both of y'all asked for 6 and 11 so I thought I'd put them together.

6. Which yet-to-be-started fic is first on your list for this year?

Ahhh, yeah. I was talking to @renee561 (I don't know why I can't tag them??? ) and figured out some of my issues. I have invisible rules for myself.

A. I need to finish 🎭 Fic. I need to finish 🦕 fic. I need to finish 🐺 fic. All are 'late'. From 2 weeks to over a year. I feel guilty for not finishing them, and won't let me work on other things until I finish those first. Those feelings aren't fun. The guilt, the shame for not finishing the thing, I am really mean to myself (which I don't realize until I start to write about it on Tumblr 😅) I need to give myself grace and tell myself it's okay to purposely put them aside for a while.

I want to work on a Fairytale. Probably my Twelve Dancing Princesses AU. That's my favorite fairytale. I haven't worked on it since August 2022. I was looking up the caduceus (The medical symbol with the snakes twining around a rod) and having that be the "Dark Mark" in this AU because it's a symbol of Hermes and the dark followers are going to be Voldies messengers in this fic. I'm quite proud of that detail.

8. Is there a story idea in your mental vault that you've never been brave enough to try writing? Is this the year? Can you tell us about it?

My secret fic! It's less of a secret the more I talk about it, 😅 It's an Alice in Wonderland AU for Harry Potter. The idea came to me last year (spring ish 2022?). There's no real writing work on it yet. I have a playlist for it. I have snippets of it. I've done lots of thinking on roses and decks of cards and the different suites and which HP characters fit which Wonderland characters. I know that I want to make a flowing paint art to make the map of wonderland. I know the Forrest and mushrooms will be important.

I know I'm not as strong enough writer right now to write it the way I want to. I feel so strongly about this idea and I'm worried about doing it justice. Yet I also relate to the advice that says don't hold anything in reserve. Write all the ideas now. More ideas will come. I need to start writing it and not worry about whether I am "good enough" to write it (because I will never judge myself "good enough".) The requirements should be

1. Do I know English enough to write? ✅ Yes I do

2. Do I have a story to tell? ✅ Yes I have a story.

The end of requirements.

I think this will be the year to get on paper the parts that I do know. I'm still missing chunks of plot, so it will be a while before it's released. I'm still excited about it.

11. Would you like to try any new fanfic tropes or genres or tropes this year?

I dunno. I like the soulmates trope and read pretty much everything I can get my hands on for it. I've never written any (I think?) So maybe I'll get around to writing some myself. Maybe even for my second favorite pairing, Charlie Weasley x Draco Malfoy.

13. Aside from fanfic, are there any other fan works you'd like to try creating? Fanart, or fan vids? Giftsets or podfic?

Yes! I loved one of my oneshot last year and I did actually record my rendition of it. And I immediately appreciated audiobooks and folks who do podfics more. The audio isn't the best, and I need more practice. (And to figure out some mitigation plans for background noise)

My goal for this year is to do at least one fan bookbinding. I love that idea and would enjoy a physical copy of some of my favorite comfort fics.

Thank you so much for the asks! It makes me so warm and happy inside to get the requests. You gave me a gift and I am grateful ❤️❤️❤️

#echo loves asphodel #echo loves charlotte #thank you friends!! #e is for echo #ask game

[hexonthepeach]

hi! i just read thru your answers to asks relating to the d&s universe(?) and i hope youre ok w/ my questions:

1. Since sungtaro & the 3rookies are now out of nct ((tbh i still cant forgive sm for this but at least sungtaro are about to have proper idol activities now & hopefully shohei can debut soon too!)), will they still be included under ncta?

2. I saw that youre planning on/in the middle of writing separate fics for the other ncta members, will the y/n be different from the one in d&s & vitamin? im sorry if this sounds dumb, i just got into reading yn!pov fics & sometimes i get kinda confused when reading it as a series :’))

Hope youre doing well, & i absolutely enjoy reading your current omegaverse series!

hey thank you so much for your ask i am so happy you're interested in more d&s! i have it on the back burner at the moment but i do have a few wips already written: dotae/y/n, and a jungwoo/gn oneshot i actually have shelved for the moment if only because i may end up repurposing a bit of it for the f4 au 😅 long story, but when i get deep into the weeds i try to make sure my au streams don't cross and they're distinct

in answer to your questions

1. the NCTA au will always have room for Shotaro and Sungchan even if they are now part of RIIZE. They will always be NCT members in my heart if for the fact that they made the last NCT U releases so special for me (Sungchan on Round & Round!? Shotaro on Make A Wish and Universe?! they're my boys). Also I know I only hinted at it but the AU is very SM in general with there being other agencies involved who built it, support it, and trouble it still (Diamante, Exile, and Artemis, respectively)

To your point about their loss being felt though I watched NCT Universe when it came out and really felt my heart break over and over at how delayed their debut was due to SM incompetence, COVID, et al. I really liked Eunseok (my RIIZE bias no lie) and Seunghan and wanted Shohei to be a part of NCT so badly after him taking on a second career as an SM trainee. he could have been an essential part of NCT Tokyo but they pivoted towards the competition model and didn't include him and it feels like a slap in the face to everyone who wanted this unit and how much work went in to preparing them for it. But I have hope for RIIZE in that their journey is starting and they deserve it after all they went through. On a side note I've been watching LASTART because I have a Viki sub for dramas but have little interest in the outcome because it's clear they've already handpicked who they want to debut but wanted the false reality show lead-up. Sion and Yushi will make good additions to NCT, at least. Yushi is an exceptional dancer although very shy, and Sion has a quiet confidence and natural skill as a leader that I look forward to seeing. My apologies to them both if they end up in a surveillance van (lol)

2. Great question and yes, any y/n outside of D&S will be a different character and that was always the plan (although I did have a lot of headcanons about an agency key party that I hopefully neatly folded into the reverse harem dynamics of agtbtb). The Doyoung/Taeyong series has them fighting over their secretary who's maybe a little into BDSM and my unwritten and unspoken outside of DMs Mark/Haechan oneshot introduces a con artist out of Hawaii who ends up with at least one of them. I have no idea when I'll have time to write both but they're on my mind, along with the third part of D&S

thanks again so much for the inquiry and welcome to y/n self-insert fics! I never wrote for this medium before this outside of old-school OC self-insert writing (which shows in my eternal need for characterization but isn't foreign to the genre). i'm so glad you are enjoying the omegaverse and hope you don't mind living here for a while as we get towards the inevitable build, climax, and finish 😉

#hex peach answers #hex peach updates #dark&stormy scenario

[wander-wren]

Ok, here goes! I wanna preface this by saying that I've been in a serious writing rut for like the past six months, to the point where I've pretty much given up on my WIPs. It's not that I don't want to write, or that I don't have ideas, but the actual work of sitting down and getting words on the page feels like pulling my own teeth out. So I'm conducting research on writers I admire to see if I can learn anything from their processes. And so, without further ado:

How long have you been writing?

Do you start out knowing what's gonna happen in the story, like with a plot chart and everything, or does the story take shape as you go along?

Do you write in big chunks or a little bit at a time?

How many drafts do you typically do? Is your first draft usually like word vomit or something a little more polished?

Do you have a beta reader?

What's your editing process like?

Is there a certain time or place where you prefer to write?

What do you consider the hardest part of writing?

Have you ever struggled with perfectionism in your writing? Do you have any tricks for bypassing that "EVERYTHING MUST BE PERFECT" wall in your brain and just get words on the page?

That was a lot lol. Of course you don't have to answer all of them, but any insight you're willing to give will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you very much <3

woo okay let’s tackle this!! under the cut bc Long. strap in folks

How Long Have You Been Writing?

in any shape or form: since maybe 6 years old? but i started writing fanfiction at 12, started getting serious about writing in general at 15, and threw myself full tilt into fanfic at 17, so currently i haven’t written original fiction Really since june. which is a complicated answer. you didn’t specify if this is about original stuff or fic, but i’ll try to answer from both perspectives bc my process for each is wildly different.

Plotter or Pantser?

for both original fiction and longfics, i’m solidly in the middle; i usually start with a list of things i want to happen, and i always need some idea of where i’m going to end, even if it changes later. from there, i start writing the first few chapters. when i feel like i have a more solid grasp of where i’m going, i outline chapter-by-chapter through one “section” of the story, however i define that. once im done that section, i outline again. this gives me a lot more freedom to change things as i go and adapt to new decisions i make. i also add random ideas to my masterlist of stuff that i might want to include further down the line as i go.

with oneshots i never, or almost never, have a plan beyond the premise/summary, so they frequently get away from me and do all kinds of random things.

Big Chunks or Little At a Time?

i’m gonna say big chunks? i have adhd so i frequently hyperfixate on my projects and can work on them for hours and hours on end, which i don’t exactly recommend, but it happens. at any given time i have a “main” wip or two that i work on pretty much daily, and then others scattered around that i might pick up for a few hours if i get bored. but i try to finish fics as fast as possible bc if i move on there’s a 50% chance i won’t come back, at least not for months.

How Many Drafts?

for fanfic? one. every once in a while if something is REALLY not working i’ll rewrite sections, so that’s like 1.5 drafts, but it’s free labor i do for fun so while i take pride in it and want it to be good, i’m not going to expend THAT much energy, yknow?

for original stuff, like if we’re talking novels…at least three drafts? i haven’t gotten that far with most of my projects so i’m still learning about myself, but my general process seems to be that the first draft is about getting the main story beats and the emotions down. my first draft is always very heavy on the angst and catharsis, sometimes overdramatically so, bc there’s less plot to hold it up. then my second draft is more about plot and realism and structure, but i tend to lose some emotions in trying to do that. my third draft is about combining the two and continuing to polish stories/characters. i haven’t written any fourth drafts, so i’m not sure whats beyond that.

and my first drafts tend to be very polished. i wrote a little rant explaining the history of that aspect of my writing not long ago, so i won’t get into it again. part of that is just how i’ve always been, part of it is practice. i do feel sometimes that i write pretty enough to cover up structural/realism/continuity issues, which can be frustrating when looking for critique from people who can’t see past it.

Beta Reader?

yes! i have a small group of writer friends that i share things with, but that is pretty much always for cheer-betaing and minor critiques unless i ask for actual criticism, which i only do with my original stuff when i get to the second/third draft, partly bc it’s not ready before then, and partly because it’s a lot of mental work for the other people. shoutout to my main bnha betas, @rangerlexi and @spacetime-enthusiast, who are, as i said, mainly cheer betas, tho mav is also my resident bakugo expert bc he’s very hard for me to write sometimes. getting better tho!

can’t recommend finding betas enough, even if just to cheer you on. hell, i can’t make promises about super long works or original fic, but i’m always down to read fanfiction. i don’t even bite, i swear. obligatory note that you do gotta trust ppl tho yada yada thieves exist and mean people exist etc etc

Editing Process?

for fanfic: typically i reread one or two times right away while all my thought processes are fresh in my head. i’ll make spot edits and add or delete things here and there. then depending on how impatient i am, i wait a day or a few to send it to my betas and/or reread and edit again myself. then i post and i’m done!

for original works: i don’t bother to edit first drafts, or even second drafts sometimes. when it’s time to prep for a second draft, i reread and make notes on what i want to keep and what i want to change, then use those notes to make my next skeletal outline. usually my stories change drastically from one draft to the next, but the last time i did a third draft, i wanted it to be pretty close to the structure of the second, so instead of outlining at all i just did splitscreen and wrote the whole third draft while looking at the second, sometimes basically retyping a page word for word, sometimes going “well, that chapter is pointless” and skipping it entirely. when it came to line editing, i used hemingway bc i don’t trust computers to do my editing, BUT the different colored highlights were helpful to break up the monotony. hemingway is a lot more focused on concise/readable sentences and cutting adverbs than anything else, which was good for me as an overwriter. i cut 22k words the last time i used it, from a 130k draft.

Best Time or Place?

not really? i write everywhere and constantly. the advice about finding your niche of productive time never seemed to work for me because, as long as i’m not blocked/stuck, i pretty much always kind of want to write.

Hardest Part?

DEVELOPING RELATIONSHIPS OH MY GOD IT’S THE WORST. sorry. i hate. doing that. becoming friends? becoming family? falling in love? god. kill me. i love all [thing] to lovers in reading but in writing i tend to drift toward best friends to lovers bc then it’s kind of close. i love writing about people in relationships, tension and banter and softness and fights, but getting there is so awful.

Are You a Perfectionist? Tips?

hm. gonna try to answer this honestly and in the least asshole-ish sounding way possible lmao.

i’m not really a perfectionist? not in writing, anyway, idk about other stuff. but also it’s just like…i know i’m good at what i do. not perfect—i can see flaws in things i wrote even a few months ago—but good. More Than Satisfactory. sometimes fics just don’t work and i abandon them, sometimes it takes me a while to figure out what i’m doing, but i’m not generally paralyzed by the need for anything to be perfect because i’m happy where i am?

that’s a hard mindset to get to, though. and you will for sure feel good about something and then dislike it in a few months or years. that’s just the nature of improving your craft. i think if i had any tips, though, i would say a few things.

watch this video essay, the whole thing but specifically 5:39-9:20. i love cj the x and i agree with many of his takes on art, so. some of his other essays might be helpful as well but that one i know talks specifically about perfectionism.

or if you don’t want to, just have this quote that melted my brain a little when i heard it. “perfectionism is not an inherently bad impulse. but you have to earn that. you don’t get to be a perfectionist if it is unproven up to this point if you can even make a thing.”

read bad stories. like genuinely i’m such a petty spiteful person oops so. i don’t really seek them out much but reading like, really really badly written work is like “well, if that’s the bar, at least i’ve cleared it.” obviously don’t go attacking creators or posting the work to make fun of it, but read it. maybe make notes of exactly why it’s bad for yourself, even, it might help you get better at identifying problems in your own work if you can figure out why things are bad beyond just “i don’t like it.” there, that sounds less mean, right?

just post your shit, tbh. put it out there. most people on the internet, in fandoms, they’re nice, if you curate your space properly. it’s a confidence boost! put something out there that’s less-than-perfect, get a couple of kudos and realize the world didn’t implode, and maybe, maybe it’ll be easier to start/finish next time.

you kinda just gotta accept that you need practice, my dude. like. you can’t closer to perfect without work!! we know this!! just do it. i know i just said to post things but also if you hate what you made no one!! else!! has!! to!! know!! it can be a secret. it’s okay. this coming from a chronic oversharer lol i have the worst time trying not to shove my stuff at people….which, actually, kinda worked better as motivation for me, bc i couldn’t share something unfinished, so i had to Do The Thing in order to get validation/feedback/critique like i wanted. so either way, whatever works better for you.

The End

so yeah, those are my answers, i guess? i hope that makes sense and helps and everything!! i’m really sorry you’re in a rut, that’s the worst. if you have any more questions or just wanna chat about what you’re writing feel free to come say hi again!

#a little birdie asked me #wooo this was fun #i love talking about writing and as such ive already infodumped to most of my friends :(( #i love how my approach to og stuff is like so much more meticulous and then fanfic is like #it exists? cool my work here is done #not that i dont care a shitton about my fic. i absolutely do #but i got better things in life (read: more fanfiction) to be working on #i cant be agonizing over here #esp for 0 american dollars lol #wren wrambles #always forget the longpost tag

[fragmentsofsorrow]

F G and S for the fanfic ask

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

"…what happened, exactly?" Riku asked. Xion flinched as they recalled the memory. "Xemnas only wanted one keyblade wielder. He made me fight Roxas. Took control of me, somehow." Riku seemed to recoil at those last few words, though it was slight enough that Xion wasn't sure if they really saw it or not. "I tried to lose, but…" "But there’s only so much you could do against his control," Riku finished, lowering Soul Eater and relaxing his stance.

this snippet from Chapter 1 of Not Your Sacrifice is one of my favorite things I've written, ever, dialogue or otherwise. (okay yes, most of Not Your Sacrifice is up there for favorite things I've written. that's not the point.)

what I love about this bit in particular is the way it causes the second of this fic's two main divergences from canon; namely, that the confrontation between Xion and Riku never gets to the point it does with Roxas and Riku. in canon, Roxas and Riku escalate matters and eventually end up fighting each other in what ultimately leads to both the end of Roxas's independent existence and to Riku going all tall, dark, and hAnsem. yet here, Xion and Riku manage to deescalate the same conflict and ultimately come to an arrangement of sorts, and this exchange is why that's possible

Riku knows very well what it's like to be in Xion's position. he understands the loss of control, of being forced to watch as his own body is made to fight and try to kill his best friend, of doing everything he can to try to stop that from happening and not knowing if it'll be enough. he's able to empathize with Xion in a way he never could with Roxas, and that makes all the difference

well, almost all the difference, because there is one major discrepancy between Riku's experience and Xion's, and it's that Riku wasn't forced to watch himself kill Sora. so when Xion says this? it doesn't just bring to mind what happened, it also forces him to recognize that his nightmare scenario is Xion's lived experience, and it's hard to see all of this the same way after a revelation like that

G: Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

I write scenes out of order. I write chapters out of order, and fics in a series out of order. I write paragraphs out of order sometimes. yesterday I was writing a scene that won't show up until five fics into a series that only has the first chapter of the first fic completed, and that's about normal for me. but even when I'm working on one specific chapter or oneshot, I skip over parts and fill them in later or leave outline notes in brackets (or both)

S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?

I don't think so. I have my tropes I love, but if a story doesn't call for them I'm not going to try to force them in, nor do I feel the need to

that said, although I wouldn't call it a fandom trope, I do love my narrative and thematic parallels, and those I'll try to use whenever I can

#q&a #alphascorpiixx #sacrifice verse #god I love analyzing my own fic

[stormxpadme]

🤡 🎢 📈 ✅ for the fic asks!

Fanfic Writer Emoji Ask

🤡 What’s a line, scene, or exchange you’ve written that made you laugh?

From this oneshot of my X-Men main verse

This time when he turned to Hank, he finally seemed to really see him. "Out?" "Yes. You’re out." Hank squeezed his good shoulder encouragingly, then went about opening the softly padded straps on Scott’s wrists and ankles. "We’re all home. No casualties." With that, he injected those remaining 100 ml into the most recent IV line, to counter at least the worst of what was so brutal on Scott's body right now. Much to his patient's confusion. "Didn’t you say …?" "Just trying not to stuff your veins to the brim when it's not absolutely necessary," Hank gave back with an apologetic shrug. "Told you, I need your system up and running, not you hallucinating from drugs." Scott's eyebrow went up high, slowly. "Why can’t I shoot you right now?" "Complaining already. Welcome home." Logan briefly knocked that stretcher's mattress as an amicable salute and left for somewhere then where he could smoke his nerves back into place in peace. Which made it Alison's job, quickly raising that reversal weapon Scott's way, muzzle turned downwards this time. "The effects will wear off soon. You probably got another five minutes without your blasts. We just needed to be sure you’re orientated enough not to send them the wrong way." Scott acknowledged that with a stiff nod and by at least briefly pushing up his glasses but didn’t waste any time examining Alison’s expressive features with the thick blond curls, those ocean blue sparkling eyes, her fine freckles, in detail, unwilling as usual to dwell for long on the both so loved and so dreaded, so tempting effects of that weapon originating from Lehnsherr's hands. He was scowling at the sight of Alison's wrecked wrists instead. "Hank, patch her the fuck up."

"Yeah, you definitely are feeling better." Hank took only another second to roll his eyes in mock exasperation before starting to hook Bastian to the lines necessary for a long-term treatment as well, as Alison was signaling him she still was in a state of aftershock that didn’t demand immediate attention.

This whole exchange amused me a lot because Scott is literally just out from days of straight up torture and all he can think about, the second he's no longer in pain delirium is having Hank patch up Dazzler aka his team being safe and taken care of. Also Hank withholding too much painkillers on him because Scott already basically lived off that the last few years because of his migraines, will never fail to crack me up.

🎢 Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

Funnily enough, in the sense of wild, probably a part of the American Idol season (German version) I've written. Not to mention the whole research work (including going to TV casting show castings personally) that went into the series, describing the whole casting and recall progress, the live shows themselves, with all the songs the contestants sing, show acts, costumes etc., the whole series is something I enjoy reading a lot still. But part 3 is probably the wildest ride. While it's describing the last few shows and the finale, of course, along with the love story of the two protagonists, it also deals with the fact that one of the other contestants and the best friend of the protagonists just fell off a roof drunk and died in a freak accident with the two protagonists watching and holding his hand. There's obviously a lot of feels in this fictional TV reality show season, and I certainly didn't expect it to move me as much when I started that thing back then.

📈 How many fics do you have?

That's always a loaded question. Written? Published? On my PC? Written, I can't tell because I started writing at the age of 9 and my earliest stories on school notebooks sadly were trashed at some point. On AO3, I have 202 works mostly in English published as of now. In our German fanfiction archive fanfiktion.de, I have 131 German stories which are mostly not the same as on AO3 though. On my PC, I have dozen of other finished and unfinished additional stories that are only for my enjoyment.

✅ What’s something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don’t mean to?

I think most of my OCs at least start out as somewhat shy or having self-confidence issues. 8 years of mobbing at school left their mark, it's really as simple as that. There's always a lot of growth though, and most of these girls had no fucking idea in the beginning how much ass they'd be kicking in one way or another someday.

#sometimes stormy gets asked things #johnandrasjaqobis #thank youu #x men #everything after x2 didn't happen sue me #x men original timeline movies #x men movies #fanfiction

[chornayadrakoshig]

saw this fic writter tag on @oh-hush-its-perfect page and decided to join too :) I'm not tagging anyone directly but feel free to participate!

My Ao3 if anyone is interested: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChornayaDrakoshig

1. How many fics do you have published on Ao3? 

70 currently posted; I'm moving to Ao3 from another website and there is one collection of oneshot translations that I haven't reposted yet + a few essays/character analysis works that are kinda in question, as well as some old things and original works (I'm still not 100% if I want to repost them or not, maybe I'll do some editing first)

2. What's your total word count on Ao3?

235,711 at the time of posting (9 feb 2024) - not a total word count ever published, but the other website I've used doesn't have stats like that (it's in pages and this stat is disabled since I've hidden everything into drafts there)

3. For which fandoms do you write?

mostly Code Lyoko; second largest is Harry Potter, but I doubt I'll write any more HP after finishing the current WIP crossover. I'm not going to say "never" but well...

besides that, I have a few one shots written for Miraculous Ladybug, Humans, Parked, Testament of Youth (yes, I was hardcore Colin Morgan fan okay? I watched most of the films/shows with him pre 2016 and even one theatre play recording)

and I have a lot of fandoms on my "want to write" list including one large fic activelly in planning/plotting stage 👀

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

tbh I barelly have any kudos on my Ao3 account because I'm reposting my works under original publication date so they are deep, deep in the tags. Also at the moment I'm writting/translating in russian only, and Ao3 isn't even in top 3 of popular fanfic websites for this language. But I picked it for reasons

so, originally posted top 5 were (unsurprisingly all HP):

Сломанный маховик (time-travel fix-it, marauders era, Sirius/OC - and that's the largest multichapter I've ever did)

Шесть шагов (Jily one shot)

Чем пахнет свобода? (Sirius-related one shot, OC mentioned but unspecified, related to 1st fic but can be read separately)

Крёстная (7ish years post main canon [not epilogue], Teddy Lupin and his OC godmother - again related to 1st fic but can be read separately)

Осеннее обострение (Jily oneshot)

and on Ao3 currently:

Сломанный маховик (yep again)

Снежный Ангел (Code Lyoko, that's a translation actually! William/Aelita)

Остаточное погружение (Miraculous Ladybug, one shot, darker take on the results of akumatization, focuses on Alya)

Маршмеллоу и овсяное печенье (Miraculous Ladybug, one shot, fluff, Alya/Nino)

Lyokober (Code Lyoko, one shot collection made for challenge, each fic is a different pairing - has both popular ships and rarepairs)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to respond to everyone (especially now when I don't get a lot of them on the new platform)

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

ooooh I love angsty open endings :) I think one of my favourite is "Ритуал" (Code Lyoko, aftermath of main character(s) death, kinda apocalyptic AU)

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

that's the hardest question so far xD As I mentioned I like to breathe in the angst, so, eh, I think "Сломанный маховик"as it was time-travel fix-it?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really? I got a few "this is a dumb idea" type of comments, but it was few and far between idk if it counts as hate comments.

But I got banned from one discord server and part of the reason was mentioning one ship I've written for. So...

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

Not my thing really - tbh I rarelly read smut too (maybe like, 25% or less of things I read?). If we don't include translations, I have one original work that's kinda Prelude/PWP without Porn thing. And one one shot with rape/non-con. Most of the time, if the fic even touches that, I'm more "fading into darkness, no detailed description of body parts of poses, feelings-focused, T rating at most" type of smut writer.

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

I love crossovers but I've ever written (or, rather, I'm currently writting) only one. It's Code Lyoko & Harry Potter, where Harry's world is a virtual reality that Lyoko Warriors explore.

However, I like to go into inspired-by-fandom AUs that aren't really full crossovers, as they don't include characters or detailed worldbuilding from another fandom, but they are heavily inspired - I think I have multiple fics like that.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I had one fic stolen (I think one of my HP ones? honestly I don't remember at this point). Also had a few shorter original works reposted with minor edits and no links/credit on social media.

And, unrelated to writting - there was an art of my fan character (not made by me, I think I got it as art trade or gift?) that was recolored & reposted on instagram once.

12. Have you ever had a work translated?

No, but I translate a lot myself - currently out of 70 posted works 16 are translations! I mostly translate from english but there are 2 french-russian translations too.

13. Have you co-written a fic before?

Nope, but I helped to beta-read/edit a handfull of works before. Also worked on ideas/worldbuilding for original work together but I haven't wrote for it. Also co-translated a fic once!

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

Odd/Aelita (Code Lyoko)

Sirius/Hermione (Harry Potter, a specific subset of time-travel fix-it fanfic but I occasionally read other stuff)

Raine/Eda (The owl house)

Crowley/Aziraphale (Good Omens)

Eddie/Chrissy (Stranger Things)

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but probably never will? 

I had one WIP (not reposted currently and probably never will) that is canon retelling in format of poetry, kinda witty and satirical. I'm bad at poetry. And at satire. The original show is over 100 episodes long. I wrote 3 poems on this wave of inspiration and abandoned it. But I still think the idea is funny and it would be cool to finish it but I have all those other WIPs I'm a) more interested in now b) more likelly to finish

16. What are your writing strengths?

God I like descriptions. Maybe even too much. Also with book-based fandoms, I've often got comments that my writting gives the same vibe as the book writting, so I guess I tend to imitate the tone & writting style relativelly well?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm so bad in plotting long-form content it's not even funny. I tend to get one-liner ideas, about a setting, AU type, or a scene, but I struggle to come up with conflict, character development, events. I literally completed only 2 multichapter fics.

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

I'm not a big fan of including whole dialogs in one language into a fic written in another. My go-to is 3 or less phrases per chapter, with translation in the notes. If I need to include larger dialogue, and the scene include character(s) that don't know the language, I write it in translation, maybe highlight it in italic or bold font, and sprinkle in mentions of what language are they speaking and that other character(s) don't understand what's going on.

Maybe I'm traumatised by reading "War and Peace" back in school but 1st tome has pages after pages that are almost all in french. The footnotes with translation take half of the page. It's not fun to read when you don't know the other language!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Merlin (this fic is an abandoned wip and currently isn't on my Ao3 but I plan to repost it for sentimantal reasons :) - written in 2011)

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I can't pick one they all are my babies 😭 but some of the favourites:

Гордое фарфоровое божество (Humans, poem, Astrid/Niska)

Вырви мне сердце (Parked, poem - and it has stunning podfic that makes me emotional every time I listen to it)

Крёстная (HP, Teddy Lupin and his OC godmother)

Снаружи (current WIP! Code Lyoko & Harry Potter crossover)

#fanfic #ao3 writer #fanfic writing #ao3 fanfic #ao3

[toournextadventure]

Hi Charlie, time to get emo for a sec.

First of all, I want to say that you’re my favorite writer on here. Not only because your writing itself is FANTASTIC, but I love how inclusive you are. You’ve written fem r AND gn r and are planning on a male r fic. You’re just very talented. Also, you’re SUPER nice to all of your anons and are so easygoing with us. You’re just very sociable and kind and super funny. You’re just an incredible person!

Second of all, I’ve always written a LOT. Like for stories in school (not essays), I would write more than needed. And the fics I write always have a lot of chapters. I’ve never posted any of my writing because 1) I didn’t think it was good and 2) they were too long and no one would want to read them. But the your chapters always range from 2k to 10k AND ebh is over thirty (I think) chapters. So you’ve just really inspired me to publish some of my work.

Sorry for the long message and if any of it seems weird! I sometimes think I come off a little too strong and it can be creepy. But yeah! Have a good day or night Charlie!

My dude, hello! Hi! The first part of this message made me Feel Things™️! I am always worried that I'm not approachable because irl, I look like an absolute dick, so I work very very hard to make sure y'all know you can always message! I look like a dick but I promise I'm not, and I genuinely love talking with y'all! I know I've said it before but I legit consider y'all part of my community, so I really do hope y'all feel comfortable in messaging if you ever want to! 🫶

But also, my dude? Write your fics however you wanna write them! If they're long, short, a million chapters, oneshots. If you enjoy it and have fun with it? Then write it! Share it! Make sure you write it for you first and foremost, because they're your fics and they should be for your joy. But don't be afraid to share them! I guarantee you there's AT LEAST a handful of people out there that will love it and will reread them over and over. And if you're willing, share it with me too! I love reading y'all's stuff no matter the genre or fandom, y'all are all so talented and I'm so proud of each and every one of you 🫶

You have a wonderful day or night too! Always come shoot me a message if you're in the mood! I'm always here

#answered