#also writing for this fandom is actually improving my writing so thanks hbo

[terrainofheartfelt]

You're really good at writing imo. Are their any fanfic authors or any books you recommend that helped you improve your writing?

Thank you so much! That’s very kind!

And oh boy DO I

For years before I actually wrote anything I was a fanfic lurker and I read a lot. My last church choir job in the Before Times was during the final seasons of GoT and I read a lot of fic during the sermon. Which is just to say, that I think there are a lot of fic writers — both within and without the GG fandom that have influenced me and inspired me. I wouldn’t say anything has directly improved in an instructional sense, like “this is how you should write, yadidiyadda…” but reading a lot has let me learn by osmosis: what I like to see, what I don’t like to see, and a lot of it has inspired me, particular tropes and story premises and things like that, so! Let’s have some lists…

First, in the non-Gossip Girl category, there are writers in different fandoms whose works I think about a lot and really enjoy and kind of…look up to, if that makes sense. In the Shadowhunter Chronicles, the media that has had as much as an obsessive hold on my heart as GG, one might argue, I really admire @themimsyborogove and revisit her work often. And—we’re not mutuals so I’ll refrain from tagging bc I’m shy— ashesandhoney writes some awesome fic (and, if I may be so crass, they write very good smut—is it weird to cite a smut influence? Oh well, too late). TSC is a fandom that’s been racked with both a poor movie and poor TV adaptation, so finding fic that satisfies a books-truther just as myself is a tall order, but these two both are lovely (and Mimsy writes showfic too that I just know is wonderful bc she wrote it). And tsc & these writers opened me up to the magic of trying to write the ot3. I’ve used ashesandhoney’s herongraystairs fic as a frame of reference for writing d/b/n (not that the characters are the same, or the relationship dynamics between the three are the same, it’s more a…vibe thing? Like, how do you illustrate this love and how these three connect to each other?) 

And in GoT I will never forget ashleyfanfic and justwanderingneverlost they made this amazing au where the Starks are prohibition bootleggers and it reads like an hbo miniseries hatfields and mccoys kind of epic and I think about it alllllll the time. And it is one fo the first aus that left an impact for being so out there when held up against the source material, but so inventive and grounded in the characters and I just think about it at least once a week. Also ashley’s pop star au fic is god tier and lived rent free in my mind for a loooooong time. Also a smutspiration. 

In the same vein of aus I never could have imagined but took over my heart, welpthisishappening’s hockey au of OUAT. before these works I was pretty much a canon-compliant/canon-divergence only kind of fic reader, and these works and these writers got me to see outside of that view and gave me permission to imagine characters in worlds outside of their own, and how exciting that can be, and without that I definitely wouldn’t have written all that I have. And lastly, I have to give a shoutout to a writer of the other GG, MrsMess and their Gilmore Girls fic. Harvest Moon healed the wounds of the revival to me and is canon in my heart, and it’s so beautifully and thoughtfully written and how could I not be inspired by it?

And as for the dair fandom itself….god I mean pretty much everyone I’ve read has made me a better writer and made me want to write and keep writing. In the beginning of the dairaissance in mid 2020 the tag on ao3 was much smaller (I think we’ve grown it by like 50%??? Just looking at it roughly??? Good work team!!!) and of course I was inspired by the great revered fic standards written by audrina (she’s retired from gg but secondaudrina is the pseud where most of her fic lives on), and bookglue aka @windowsandfeelings (I only got into her gilmore girls works through gossip girl but damn she’s a hero), and nevertothethird aka @scabopolis — like seriously I wouldn’t have written anything at all probably if not for the existence of Wrapped in Ribbons, and @pseudowoodo as well, who wrote thee seminal role-swap au. 

And then of course there’s my heavyhitters, my ride-or-dies. I’ve told them multiple times, but I’ll tell em again, Nads @mysteriesofloves and Ivy @mrs-nate-humphrey were writing and posting and creating pretty regularly when I started poking my head in to the fandom, and their stories were so brilliant and well thought out and compassionate to the characters that it turned on something in my brain and made me want to write too, so I did. Then not long after I found S @strideofpride, my most beloved enabler and peer pressurer and reading what they make and talking to them about it has unquestionably made me a better writer. I have grown a lot in the year and however many months it’s been since I started doing this and I owe it to all of the above <333

As for not-fic writing I read….just everything. Everything I read informs me as a writer, directly and indirectly. Though I don’t write it, I find poetry very inspirational. Devotions, No Matter the Wreckage, Open Me Carefully, Leaves of Grass, have all informed me. Some prose writers I—not necessarily aspire to, bc how could I ever be as brilliant? But maybe…revere and internalize are: Jane Austen, Emily Dickinson, Isabel Allende, Vladimir Nabokov, Kevin Kwan, Emily Henry...

#i firmly believe any reading makes you a better writer #like i'm just reading timothy zahn's silly star wars fanfic #but the act of doing the thing is it yk? #i hope everyone is okay with the tags #there are much more of you that have been so lovely and encouraging and I am grateful for you all <333 #asks #anon

[ludling]

Please enjoy my 12k long continued descent into insanity ❤️

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hacks (TV 2021) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Ava Daniels/Deborah Vance

Ava turns up in a tux to her birthday party. Deborah’s not weird about it at all.

#hacks hbo #ava x deborah #this has an intense bibliography #also writing for this fandom is actually improving my writing so thanks hbo #enjoy :) #deborah vance #ava daniels #hbo hacks

[coraxaviary]

✯ 2020 in Review ✯

So I saw some other people doing these Year in Review things??? I already did one for my art blog but why not for my fic blog? I’m going to make one too because it’s December 31 and I’ve got nothing to do except drink too much sikhye.

Technically it’s kinda a half-year-of-review because I started writing actual things in June after I got off my college waitlists, and I actually started publishing in August.

I also have these memories of having to log off the Minecraft server I shared with my friends in the early summer, being like “sorry guys gotta do my wordcount today” wow I was so dedicated ?????? I’m not like that now fortunately (or unfortunately).

This review is also unwarranted, but it’s my blog anyway, ha~

2020 word count grand total: 239,662

This is amazing considering all other years of my existence together probably total less than this. I guess I finally just started writing this year. I also feel like there’s maybe a 50% increase in the grand total if you take into account the words in my various planning documents and summary sheets. 

Of these words, I published 88,636 (all on AO3).

I don’t think anyone is super interested in my wordcount breakdowns, but I felt like doing a little more analysis since this is technically the first year I wrote anything of substance with a clear goal. I’m kind of shocked at how much I published.

Of my grand total, 165,029 words go to HBO War.

I’m thankful to this fandom for drawing me out of my shell. This was the first time I actually put out material online. It was a fortunate decision. I’ve made good friends and met amazing people. I’ve also developed my writing voice beyond where it had stagnated for years.

I wrote 74,633 words of non-HBO War material. 66,275 of these are from a MGiME LotR draft that I hope to sometime start posting in the future. 

At the beginning of the pandemic, I dedicated my waking hours to that fic. It hasn’t been modified for a while, but the process of writing it really taught me the dedication (and joy) of making multichapter stories. And there were many late nights where I was combing Parf Edhellen, if that gives you a sense of the level of immersion I was attempting with this story.

7,838 words this year went to my non-fanfic total.

I’ve been dedicated to a certain science fantasy novel concept since my Freshman year of high school, and I’m slowly working on it, even though most of the material still exists in sketches, maps, character sheets, and checklists. Surprise, surprise, I’m a huge sci-fi/fantasy nerd. Most of the work I did for it isn’t on the wordcount total, but it was still substantial. It’s something I hope to publish someday, but for now my focus is on fic :)

My AO3 stats tell me that I gained:

Kudos: 91

Comment threads: 38

Bookmarks: 22

Hits: 1420 (nice)

And I am so grateful for a great year, y’all. Hoping for an equally awesome and productive 2021. And thank you for reading my amateurish writing. I hope I improve a lot :)

#I SPEAK #not writing #year in review

[georgeluz]

hi can you do the face tag thing for me!!!!! also i love your blog i just joined the hbo war fandom on here and i love everything and all of you guys!!!! also my face tag on my blog is tagged/me the picture on there are all over a year old but i look p much the same just a little bit longer hair, slimmer face lmao

“i just realized i didn’t say anything about me ack i’m a pisces, 5'3" i love music and writing and nature and i’d prefer to be shipped from someone in BoB since it’s my favorite and i know the men better.“

YOU GOT IT! I know this is super late… annoyingly late buT WELCOME TO THE FANDOM I AM SO GLAD YOU ARE HERE.

(no more ask game requests pls)

The Character I See You As: David Webster! Sweet sunshine child, loves to write, loves music, loves nature (so much he DIED BECAUSE OF IT I WILL NEVER NOt be SALTY OVER ThiS @ the ocean give me back webster ok) I mean I just can’t get over how he wrote so much about the war. He saw it from an outside perspective despite being right in the middle of it. He was always observant like that. Loyal and overly trusting to a fault, like a puppy dog, sweet and gentle with THE KIDDOS (even tho he probably swears he doesn’t want kids). ALSO PSA I DIDNT KNOW WEB WAS UR BLOG SIDEBAR THING I SWEAR I DIDNT PiCK It bECAUSE OF THAT I JUST SAW…………….. I picked because I swear you seem like him!

Your Three Best Friends: George Luz, Dick Winters, Babe Heffron

The One You Don’t Get Along With: Frank Perconte. Okay actually you do like Perconte okay, it’s not anything hard against him, it’s just that he’s so damn salty sometimes. He’s rough around the edges, blunt, and somehow naive despite doing his best to seem super prickly. Half the time you have no idea what to expect from him or what to do around him to avoid his bad side, but Luz SWEARS he likes you, Frank’s just like that.

Who I Ship You With: Eugene Roe. THE CAJUN PRINCE. MYSTERIOUS MEDIC. The love of everyone’s life tbh. I feel like everyone swears he’s this shy and gentle soul (and at times I kinda believe it), but people sometimes forget that he’s STRONG, strong enough to deal with watching his friends get injured one by one, strong enough to sit there while they scream in pain as he patches them up. He can deal with whatever shit you throw at him tbh. He’s funny, he can be outgoing when it’s just you and him, and he’s just a BRAVE GOOD SOUL UGH.

Wildcard: Private First Class. Mortars. 1st Platoon. Easy Company. 

You were trying not to cuss, biting down hard on your lip. You had twisted your ankle up nice and good in Bastogne, and you had ignored it, walked on it, limped on it, and eventually you had to be carried by George Luz and Babe Heffron all the way to Roe’s foxhole. Meanwhile you swore it was fine, you swore you would let it rest, prop it up, do whatever you could to avoid the scathing gaze of the medic you admired so much. You swore he was going to kill you for letting it get this bad. You just didn’t want to be taken off the line.

George and Babe were both cussing and laughing, yelling and mothering you at the same time. “Goddamn it, Y/N, you didn’t have to go lookin’ with me for supplies. If I’d’a known your damn leg was like this–” Babe spewed, huffing and muttering obscenities under his breath as Roe popped his head out from under the tarp spread above the foxhole. You rolled your head to the side, over George’s arm to guiltily stare at the medic. “Sorry, doc, I’m so sorry, I’m an idiot, it’s not that bad I swear–”

Roe furrowed his brow, looked at the two men who shook their heads at him, and motioned for you to be slid down into the foxhole. You groaned in annoyance. “I feel betrayed, guys,” you bark, grappling to smack George’s leg on your way down.

“You’ll thank us later, alright? We need you healthy,” George said through a wide grin, dancing away from your smack.

Down in the foxhole, Roe had already begun untying your boot. Your foot had swollen in the boot, and every jarring movement made you suck in air sharply. “Sorry, Gene, really, I should’ve known better.”

“Toye ain’t much better than you, I s’pose,” he said through gritted teeth, easing off your boot while you bit into your knuckle. Your ankle was black and blue. Your socks were soaked with sweat. You were getting trenchfoot along with the swollen ankle. “I oughtta send you off the line right now, private,” Roe scolded gently, taking your uninjured foot in his hands and rubbing it gently between his palms. You tilted your head back against the freezing snow and bit back a moan of both relief and pain. Pain blossomed across the foot as feeling began to return, but it was coupled with sweet, sweet heat.

“So am I stuck in here with you until I’m back on my feet?” You panted, stuffing your gloved hands into your front pockets as Roe went back and forth, massaging one foot and delicately massaging the injured one. 

“That’s the way it’s gonna be, but I very well may send you off the line if this won’t improve.” Roe was quiet when he was at work, gaze occasionally lifting to meet your’s as he worked on drawing circulation back into your feet. It was painful, but you didn’t mind so long as Roe was keeping you company. You felt guilty he was going to the trouble. Embarrassed, but also grateful that Spina wasn’t here to intrude.

“Put your socks on your neck ‘til they dry,” Roe instructed, running his thumb over your toes. You wiggled them at him before doing as he said, screwing up your nose at the smell.

“Aye, aye, Doc. Maybe I’ll massage your feet next?” Cheeky, you grinned at him despite yourself, trying to lighten the mood, trying to make him forget that he should have been mad at you for making such a foolish mistake.

“I got Spina for that,” he replied smoothly before grabbing one of the sheets in the foxhole and wrapping both your feet in them. Once he finished, he set them in his lap and continued to hold them in his hands. “You’ll repay me in company, Y/N, I think that’ll do just fine.”

You ducked your head against your chest, avoiding his gaze. “Thanks, Gene. Really.”

He cracked a little smile and gingerly squeezed your feet in his hands. “You’re alright, you’re alright. Why don’t you tell me about home?”

“Home?” You repeat, trembling as a chilly breeze penetrated the foxhole.

“Yeah. I need somethin’ to cheer me up,” was the gentle reply, Gene scooting over until his shoulder brushed your’s, trying to share whatever body heat the both of you had.

“Well, I don’t know where to begin.”

“How about Christmas?”

“Alright, Christmas it is.”

#ask #ask game #yourdirtysadness