#ask naralanis and maybe she will deign to respond

[naralanis]

16, 23, 49

16. Describe your favorite hoodie. How long have you had it? What makes it unique?

I've had it for almost a decade at this point -- it's a soft grey hoodie from my university's newspaper, with the paper's logo/mascot on the front. I got it when I became News Editor and spent many a night in a dingy computer lab with my fellow editors drinking an inadvisable amount of coffee and eating questionable greasy food to make print deadlines. Fun times!

23. Which songs do you like to sing in the shower?

My shower repertoire couldn't possibly be shared in its entirety because singing in the shower is like my favorite thing to do lol. Here are a recent few:

Rocket Man, Elton John

Seven Wonders, Fleetwood Mac

Just Leave Everything to Me, from Hello Dolly

Milagreiro, Djavan/Cássia Eller

Out There, from The Hunchback of Notre Dame

A Kiss to Build a Dream On, Louis Armstrong

49. What's your favorite thing to do when it's raining?

The same thing I love to do when it's snowing: take a walk. My brother-in-law and I love to put on our waterproof gear and take a nice long walk whenever it rains or snows. We call them our inclement weather quality time (and we actually just finished one lol)

#ask game #ask naralanis and maybe she will deign to respond #drummergirl72713

[naralanis]

[I say this with levity] "mint chocolate chip ice cream tastes like toothpaste" y'all must not be brushing your teeth bc no the fuck it doesn't

Mint belongs in mojitos, LEAVE IT OUT OF MY ICE CREAM

#I've lived all my years on this green-like-mint Earth without a single cavity #I TAKE GREAT OFFENSE #also #are you my wife #because you sound like her #nara rambles #anon #ask naralanis and maybe she will deign to respond

[naralanis]

20 Questions

Thanks @silv3reyedstranger for the tag! My meeting can wait, this is more fun lol

How many works do you have on AO3?

44 (my wife's saying it's bad luck, so I guess I better make it 45 soon)

2. What's you total AO3 count?

601,330 which is weirdly way more than I expected but also way less? How dare AO3 not count all the words I've never posted, this is homophobia

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I got my start in the Devil Wears Prada and Harry Potter fandoms, and then the supercorp gifs pulled a bag over my head, tossed me in a van, and made me hyperfixate on a really bad but really gay show, so. I've also written for Xena Warrior Princess and ATLA/ATLOK, but I've never posted for those. There is an errant OUAT SwanQueen one-shot out there, courtesy of some insane people I love.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

In order, they’re Perhaps, For the Better, Perfect, The Date and, surprisingly, The Wrong Way. I didn't expect that last one at all, to be honest.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do appreciate every single one (they’re a writer's main source of nourishment) but I am terrible at responding to each and every one. There will be times where I'll go on comment-replying marathon and then I forget about it for like, a year. My bad! I do love all the comments and I re-read them all the time when I'm feeling kind of shit. They bring so much joy to my heart and occasional (happy) tears to my eyes.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably Unshackled, but I'm not sure if that counts because the happy ending came in part two. But for the people who didn't know there was a part two… that was probably the angstiest I've managed! I love angst, but I have to have the happy ending, whether I'm reading or writing it.

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

Oof, I don't know. I try to have happy endings to most things. I think the one that jumps to mind is i don't know how to dance so slow (to keep up with you). I don't think it's necessarily the happiest ending, it's just this whole fic plays in my head so clearly, almost like it's a movie, and it just gives me the good feels. It's short and sweet, and it makes me happy.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I think if I wrote more I'd get some lol. I used to get some trolls here and there, especially flames back on FanFiction.net. A couple on Perhaps, but the Cissamione peeps were awesome helping me deal with them. Nowadays everything's pretty chill.

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

*points at The Adventures of Soft Butch Hermione*

Not to mention all the stuff I don't post. Smut has to be just right to make the cut. Nothing too crazy, but ya know I have to sprinkle some praise kink in there.

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

Nope, and I don't think I ever will. The most I've done is borrow other characters from within the same universe (see Luthor Motor Racing AU), usually as a joke/easter egg. I'm usually not a fan or crossovers (writing or reading), but there are a handful of exceptions here and there.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

HAHA yeah. A couple of times. Usually found on Wattpad, or translated into Portuguese and posted to some Brazilian site without my permission. Side note, why is it always Brazilians. I'M ONE OF YOU, PLS

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

Yeah! To Russian, French and Mandarin (with permission) and Portuguese (without), at least as far as I know. I'm totally cool with translations, just like. Ask me first, give me the credit for the original work, and send me a link! I love to see translations of my stuff, especially if it's in a language I can speak.

13. have you ever cowritten a fic before?

@shadowdianne and I had some incredible back-and-forth a few years back, but it never really went anywhere (although I maintain our ideas were FIRE). It was a frankly amazing take on Narcissa as a character, with some sprinkle of a Narlily friendship and Cissamione endgame. We both had other stuff going on, so it never really developed further, but I still have the docs with all of our ideas and frankly hilarious commentary.

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

Don't make me pick just one, I can't.

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

At this point, all of them I think? Brain's just not braining that way.

16. What are your writing strengths?

It used to be world-building and environment descriptions, but to be honest I haven't flexed those writing muscles in ages. I think I can tell a lot with not much real-estate. I also think my readers/fellow writers would be better at answering this one lol

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

The writing part.

Jokes aside, it's actually stringing a plot together. I write by vibes.

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

I technically speak four languages, but I always worry whether whatever foreign language dialogue I insert sounds genuine enough to sound like a native speaker, so I always ask for a second (and a third and fourth) opinion anyway.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter, on a little known (to Americans) social media platform known as Orkut, and then on FFNet. Then I deleted all traces of that and had a fresh start with Devil Wears Prada.

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

It's like asking me about my favourite child. Right now it's while all of the lines are blurring, which is a WIP but I just have. SO MUCH. To add to it. AND  I DON'T HAVE THE TIME OR BRAIN CAPACITY but I. Love that plot in my brain. Maybe one day.

I won't tag anyone this time around, but writer peeps, feel free to take it and run with it!

#silv3reyedstranger #ask game #ask naralanis and maybe she will deign to respond #fic asks #this is a lot better than this DoS webinar #god I hate webinars

[naralanis]

hi!! I just read your Cissamione fic 'Perfect' and I loved it so much I can't even find words to describe it. that's such a rare occurrence to find soft butch or even just top!Hermione fanfic and the way you wrote it was absolutely perfect (pun intended). so yeah thank you so much for this!! I was wondering if I could get your permission to translate it and post it to a foreign fanfiction source? with credits and the link ofc. cause I feel like more people just must read and experience it too 🥹

Hi there! Glad you enjoyed it. I'm OK with translations of my work as long as you do what you just did -- ask first and link to the original. Please send me a link your translation once you post it, I'd love to see it (and read it, if it's in one of the languages I speak haha).

Thanks for reading and doing God's work in spreading the Soft Butch Hermione gospel.

#adelareys #ask naralanis and maybe she will deign to respond #everyone needs some soft butch Hermione in their lives #(especially Narcissa) #cissamione #sometimes all you need is a magical strap

[naralanis]

would you mind terribly answering the questions associated with 🥺 and 🤩 if you haven’t already? i’m a huge fan of your work—thank you for doing what you do!!

*blows dust off the inbox* Sorry for taking so damn long!

I have answered the first, but I'm happy to do it again!

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

My versions of the "Oh" moment. That moment when they realize all they've ever wanted is right in front of them and they make the decision to go for it. I love writing it, I love reading it.

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write?

Depends on the fandom, really. On one hand, I love writing characters like Lena Luthor because she has so much depth. On the other, I like characters like Narcissa Malfoy because canon has given us fuck all so I'm pretty free to write her however I want (and I want her to be a big ol' gay).

#ask naralanis and maybe she will deign to respond #silv3reyedstranger #fic ask game #ask game

[naralanis]

😅💞🥺💫(this was the closest i could get to the star one about complimenting you n your writing)

I AM SORRY I know I left this stewing in my inbox forever, but if it makes you feel any better I also had to go hunting for the ask post lolol

😅 What's a story or scene you've created that you're a smidge embarrassed exists?

Any fic I've written fueled by whisky, maybe? To be honest, I'm not sure. I'm past feeling embarrassed about what I write.

💞 Who's your comfort character?

Right now it's Emily Prentiss, because I've been on a Criminal Minds re-watch kick. Get back to me when I have more than .3 seconds of Katie McGrath in Continental.

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

My versions of the "Oh" moment. That moment when they realize all they've ever wanted is right in front of them and they make the decision to go for it. I love writing it, I love reading it.

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

*pats self on back* Good job working the word "clink" into every single one of your fics (probably). You go, me.

#ask naralanis and maybe she will deign to respond #drummergirl72713 #fic writer ask #ask game #dusting off the ol' ask box

[naralanis]

DND is team storytelling, which you’re already very good at, clearly.

I will accept none of this “I’m bad at this” business from the likes of you, bestie.

Bwhaha let me rephrase: I'm really bad at remembering all the little details/attributes/rules (also why I'm not great with complicated board games lol).

Luckily my group is mostly noobs like myself and our DM has a high threshold for our bullshittery. It'll be great!

#nara rambles #anonymous #ask naralanis and maybe she will deign to respond

[naralanis]

yes!!! welcome to the table Nara!!! I hope dnd brings you all the enjoyment it has for me! What’s your character’s class??

The fact that I had to go look it up even though we JUST created it gives me little hope for my future 🤣🤣 But I'm having fun!

Changed a few things around, atm I'm a Half-Elf Fighter with a criminal background?? I think?

#I AM STILL LEARNING AND I AM VERY BAD AT THIS #it's too many things for me to remember #but thankfully I'm with a good group 🥰 #anonymous #ask naralanis and maybe she will deign to respond #nara rambles #and my wife wanted me to DM PUH-LEASEEE

[naralanis]

Do you still plan on finishing For the Better?

At this point I'm not sure if if I "plan" on finishing anything ever. I'd like to finish it (and all my other WIPs). But that magical combination of time + will + energy has been rather scarce for quite some time, and frankly my job barely gives me time to think lately.

So, I guess no, I don't plan on finishing it. It'll happen if it happens.

#i know you mean well but these kind of asks make me exhausted #I'm always wondering whether i should just mark it as abandoned and get on with my life #but i keep clinging onto the smallest hope that maybe #just maybe #I'll pick up the pen and the story will flow again #we'll see #anon #ask naralanis and maybe she will deign to respond #fic #DWP #mirandy

[naralanis]

Hi! From the fic writer asks ⛔ 🙋‍♀️ 🤩 😬

Thanks for asking! Sorry this has been languishing in my inbox for approximately 4587634 years.

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

HAHA. So, so many. Maybe one day I'll share the full spreadsheet tracking all my fic projects, and you can marvel at the sheer number of stories I've just given up on.

🙋‍♀️ Do any irl people know you write fanfic?

A lot, though many don't know which fandoms. Also, absolutely no on in real life knows my pen name (I think/hope lol).

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write?

Depends on the fandom, really. On one hand, I love writing characters like Lena Luthor because she has so much depth. On the other, I like characters like Narcissa Malfoy because canon has given us fuck all so I'm pretty free to write her however I want (and I want her to be a big ol' gay).

😬 Which of your fics would you be most horrified for friends, family, or coworkers to stumble upon?

HAHA probably the really smutty ones. "Perfect" and "A Valentine's Evening" jump to mind. I don't think they could handle Butch Hermione in her full glory.

#ask naralanis and maybe she will deign to respond #anon #fic ask game

[naralanis]

I just found your ao3 and read thru all your sg fics, where u been since the beginning????????? love love love love!! pls update soon!

I have a history of being "late" to fandom. It's nice, usually calmer. Supergirl was actually the first fandom I interacted with while the show was ongoing (and ooh, boy).

Updates happen when I can make them happen. Appreciate you reading my stuff, though.

#anon #ask naralanis and maybe she will deign to respond #supergirl #i know you mean well anon #but 'pls update' messages are just #draining #i know it's been 84 years #they're coming

[naralanis]

OMG I just finished Perfect and A Valentine's Evening and how dare you make me crave for more Praise Kink!Narcissa and Soft Butch!Hermione... by which I mean please write more when you can... 🙏🙏🙏

There's more of the Soft Butch Hermione series in the works. Just. Very, very slowly. Thanks for reading!

#anon #ask naralanis and maybe she will deign to respond #cissamione #soft butch hermione #now there's something worth revisiting

[naralanis]

So I've heard somewhere that Helen McCrory was originally casted to play Bellatrix, but her pregnancy with her daughter prevented her from doing that and Helena stepped us as the Bellatrix that we know and love, and then Helen was eventually cast as Cissa. But, what if, Helen had gotten to play Bellatrix, who is your fancast for who would've played Narcissa? That's just a what if scenario because I can't picture anyone but Helen playing Narcissa now I love her too much

Nicole Kidman springs to mind (have you seen her in The Golden Compass? That's such a Narcissa vibe to be)

#anon #ask naralanis and maybe she will deign to respond #cissamione

[naralanis]

I'm generally new to Cissamione and I just wanted to say, thank you so much for writing Perhaps. It's over 200k words of amazing, quality writing for a pairing that's so rare and the fact that it's been written nearly 4 years ago just blows my mind. I'm just in awe of writers like yourself, your talent, dedication, and drive to write especially for this rare pair. (Also... I would like to send like an additional 1k kudos if I can to you and everybody else who discovered much earlier on that Narcissa and Hermione make such a power couple. I mean, who knew?! But. They. Just. Work. I'm flabbergasted, sure, but they just WORK. Something so precious about them finding their way in each others' lives after the whole mess that was the war between Light and Dark. Not only that but, their dynamic together? It's just Perfect.)

LASDHASBDdaskld I am cryyyy stop itttt

Thank you so, so much, it really means a lot! I am very grateful to have found people who also love this really unlikely but ultimately wonderful dynamic -- both readers and writers!

They might be a rarepair with comparatively little material out there, but BOY, there's some amazing stuff out there, and I am both proud and a little baffled I've been able to contribute a little to it.

THEY DO WORK! WELCOME!

#anon #ask naralanis and maybe she will deign to respond #Cissamione #seeing all this new love for Perhaps and for Cissamione in general has given me all sorts of feels #I'm loving it #and it's a pair that deserves all the love! #DYNAMITE DUO I'M TELLING YOU #also #the lack of canon material about Narcissa #and the Black sisters in general #SO MUCH OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE IT OUR OWN #SO MUCH GOOD SHIT OUT THERE #I will be happy to sing the praises of ALL my favourites #THANKS FOR THE LOVE #I'M GONNA GO UGLY CRY

[naralanis]

They're RIGHT, Perhaps IS a masterpiece the potency of the FIRST chapter alone, the anticipation behind that last line from Hermione in that first chapter, "You’re the Headmistress, Minerva. If you think Narcissa Black would be a good addition to the teaching staff, then by all means, hire her.”

(So many incredible lines and moments, I don't even know where to begin.)

And... Soft Butch Hermione Supremacy 100%. I can’t explain it but they’re just impossibly cuter that way, like it was even possible for them to get even cuter??? IT’S YOUR FAULT

dasjkdasljdh

I am CRY, this really means a lot. Perhaps is my baby, and it really warms my heart to see people reading and enjoying it despite the stupidly inconsistent updates.

And DAMN RIGHT they're cuter that way! I WLL YELL SOFT BUTCH HERMIONE FROM THE ROOFTOPS, FEEL FREE TO JOIN

#anon #ask naralanis and maybe she will deign to respond #cissamione #soft butch hermione #listen #if i had thought about it back when I first wrote it #Hermione in Perhaps would ABSOLUTELY already be Soft Butch Hermione #she's badass either way #but fuck #I wish I had incorporated her undercut and tattoos in the story #and like #SO WHAT if I want my Hermione to have brains AND brawn #I just think she's neat #(and so does Narcissa) #just #think about a slightly gruffier Hermione #spoiling her prissy slytherin princess #and like I already know #Narcissa is already spoiled #don't get me wrong #she powerful #but she can be baby #especially for Soft Butch Hermione #THOUGHTS #I AM ALLOWED TO HAVE THEM

[naralanis]

very interesting you complain abtou reposter when you go reposting content from whatsinmypen pen account on instagram all time wwwinstagramcom/p/CQP7y3VDdew/

Darling, I AM whatsinmypen

#this legit made me lol #do I not talk about fountain pens enough in this blog #sorry to disappoint #but I am whatsinmypen #on instagram as well as reddit #i wanted to use a kara davers/supergirl pic but honestly #too hot #anyway #it is i #ask naralanis and maybe she will deign to respond #anon #fountain pen #do i need a dedicated whatsinmypen tag for my pen posts #is this necessary #truly #nice try anon #nice try