#garcy fan fic

[magnificentcowboypeanutpaper]

Chapters: 8/15

Not going to lie, it’s been a while but I hate not finishing things, so a tentative dip of the toe back into writing this.

Flynn welcomes an old friend to town but she’d doesn’t come quietly.

#Garcy fan fic #garcy ff #garcy fanfic #garcia flynn #lucy preston #jiya

[somekindofflowergirl]

Timeless, Hollywoodland, and The Philadelphia Story

I found this old meta I’ve had in my Google docs for years but I don’t believe I’ve ever posted anything about it, since I originally intended to use the idea in a fic. Since that isn’t happening, even though it’s been years and I doubt anyone is out here writing or reading Timeless meta anymore, here you go. Obviously spoilers for both.

Most Garcy fans will groan if I suggest we take a look at Hollywoodland, but considering a certain admittedly fantastic dress:

…and a certain cut scene involving a pool, it’s interesting to consider through the lens of The Philadelphia Story, of which the dress and pool scene are iconic elements. Here is a still from the movie:

Look familiar? This is also poolside.

The Philadelphia Story revolves around Tracy Lord (Katherine Hepburn), a wealthy socialite who is preparing to marry her fiance, George (who matters as little as Lucy’s quirk-of-the-timeline-fiancé Noah in Timeless but manages to be far less likable) in a matter of days. The head of Spy Magazine assigns Macaulay Connor (Jimmy Stewart, oddly nicknamed “Mike”) and his photographer, Liz, to go to the wedding and get the story posing as friends of her expatriate brother, with an actual friend of his as their in: C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant). Dexter also happens to be Tracy’s first husband. They divorced years prior due to his alcoholism—including a nasty incident of him shoving her down—and her criticism of him. Dexter originally seems to be doing this out of spite, but we quickly learn it’s actually to keep the magazine from releasing a bigger scoop about Tracy’s father’s affair and estrangement from her mother, which have devastated Tracy. The rest of the film is about Tracy’s entanglement with all these men.

(Sidenote: there are some very old-fashioned diatribes and comments about the nature of women and marriage and the shoving I found very hard to overlook, but that’s not the point of this post. Just heads up if you do ever watch it.)

On the eve of Tracy’s wedding to George, she dons The Dress to attend a ball in their honor. She gets drunk for only the second time in her life, and she and a similarly drunk Mike spend time together. They mainly talk drunk nonsense, drive drunk, and Mike sings Over the Rainbow. They have a grand time, end up kissing, and jump in the pool for a midnight swim.

Similarly, in Hollywoodland, Lucy and Wyatt share a sweet poolside conversation while she wears The Dress to a Hedy Lamarr party, they kiss, and they would have jumped in the pool if not for wildfire filming issues. They spend the night together, scar Rufus the next morning, then head back to the present. Wyatt soon receives a text from his supposedly dead wife. He takes off, without telling anyone why, and Wyatt spends the rest of the season trying to win back Jessica permanently while still having feelings for Lucy. In the “movie” (reminder: Christmas isn’t canon), Jessica is a pure evil Rittenhouse operative who lied about being pregnant, is killed, and Lucy and Wyatt are hastily shoved back together without fixing the issues between them on-screen. TPTB have claimed that their pairing was always endgame and the reunion would have happened anyway–albeit less swiftly and unrealistically–but they were Made For Each Other, loved each other all along, blah blah blah.

Which brings us back to The Philadelphia Story. The scene at the pool between Tracy and Mike is iconic for a reason. Mike is very “eat the rich” and she calls him out for being an intellectual snob, he tells her she’s wonderful and that the other men didn’t know what they were talking about, and their kiss is incredibly cinematic. It’s truly romantic…

In the moment.

For that moment, that one night, the audience can root for this couple. Mike is saying what Tracy needs to hear, and she’s enjoying letting herself fail by getting drunk and doing the unexpected. It’s sweet.

But it isn’t the endgame. No one means it to be.

After the multiple confrontations that arise out of the pool situation, Tracy breaks off with George just before the wedding. Mike asks Tracy to marry him and she turns him down. Liz loves him, and while he and Tracy like each other as friends, they would both be unhappy long-term. They live very different lives and have different values. And they’re not actually in love.

I don’t honestly believe this was intentional as foreshadowing that Lyatt may not be endgame so much as Abigail Spencer really wanting to wear The Dress. But even as a subconscious accidental parallel, it’s decent. Mike is nice and he and Tracy get along fairly well, but he’s better suited to Liz, who has stood by and loved him for years while waiting for him to mature enough for forever with her. Tracy, having realized that she doesn’t want the picture-perfect (on the outside) life she envisioned—and having seen that Dexter, now sober and much changed, is not the man he was when he hurt her—she forgives Dexter for the pain of their past. He lets go of it all as well and they remarry, this time making it down the aisle rather than eloping as they did before.

And as a book I adore (Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos) says: “Jimmy Stewart is always and indisputably the best man in the world, unless Cary Grant should happen to show up.”

#timeless #garcy #lucy preston #garcia flynn #wyatt logan #anti-lyatt #the philadelphia story #timeless meta #long post #boy is it #christmas isn’t canon

[qqueenofhades]

Fic prompts? How about Garcy + the AC died in the bunker while the two of them were left there alone + it's freaking hot and they have to deal with the heat until Denise gets back, and can figure out how to get a HVAC tech there to fix it? 😂🔥🥵

Hiding entirely off the grid in a super-remote government bunker, trying to stay alive long enough to defeat an evil secret society from destroying the world via time travel to an array of obscure historical events, has numerous and obvious disadvantages. The food, for one. The constant bathroom traffic jams, for another (Denise finally lost her patience and insisted on drawing up a color-coded schedule to sort the all-important question of who has the right to use the shower when, and the time block they are allocated to make sure they don't use all the hot water and negatively impact team morale). You can add to the list, Lucy thinks blackly, the fact that when the air conditioner suddenly goes kaput, you are stuck in a broiling underground tin can and you, the brains and not at all the brawn, have no idea how to fix it. The only other person here right now is Flynn, but Lucy feels awkward about interrupting him. Ever since the night she spent in his room, it has just felt different between them, and she is terrified of doing anything either to ruin it or, well. Not ruin it. That's what got her into so much trouble the last time. She isn't risking it again.

She paces back and forth across the thin industrial carpet in what passes for the living room, fanning herself and muttering imprecations under her breath. When Rufus, Wyatt, and Jiya get back from whatever century they are presently working in, maybe she'll ask Rufus, mechanical whiz extraordinaire, to get in there and see what's going on. Denise is absent on a clandestine supply run, and Mason has likewise excused himself on some errand he won't talk about. Lucy feels useless and irritated and hot and angry and generally left out; she's recovered from her wounds in Salem, she's fine, she doesn't need to be babied. Jessica Logan might also be around here somewhere, but Lucy isn't going to ask her.

At last, sweat rolling down her neck and sticking her camisole to her back in unpleasant damp patches, she gives up. She treks down the hallway and bangs on Flynn's door; it, like the rest of him, is imposingly large, and she almost loses her nerve. But she's been here before, after all. She is the only one with some kind of privilege to enter; the rest of the team is still too scared of him. Before she can entirely decide what she's going to say, the door cranks open and Flynn sticks his head out, with ruffled dark hair and a consummately bad-tempered expression. "What?" he barks, before seeing that it's her, and belatedly modifying his tone. "Oh. Lucy. Hello."

"Hello." Lucy clears her throat. "I'm sorry to bother you. It's just... the air conditioner... I don't know when Denise or the others will be back, and it's going to be hell to get anyone else out here to fix it..."

"What?" Flynn sounds deeply insulted. "You think we need to call some idiot teenage HVAC tech to come out to our classified military facility? Show me where the damn thing is. I can fix it."

Lucy blinks. "Are you -- ?"

Flynn arches an eyebrow at her, just daring her to question his competence one more time. "If I managed to steal a nuclear bomb and rig it up as a permanent power source for a stolen time machine," he points out, with a truly remarkable lack of contrition or regret of any kind, "I can fix a broken AC. Hold on."

With that, he disappears back into his room, there are several moments of rustling, banging, and muffled swearing, and he emerges with an improvised toolkit in hand. Lucy tries not to notice the heavy muscles of his arms and shoulders; he's only wearing a white undershirt and grimy cargo shorts, and the air of brutal, brusque, no-questions-asked masculine competence is, as ever, one of the most attractive things about Garcia Flynn, even despite his manifold personality and conversational deficiencies. He follows her directions to locate the broken unit, pulls out his tools, and starts to work. Lucy should go back and -- and review mission reports, or something -- but she finds herself oddly reluctant to leave, wanting to hold onto this, spend this quiet time together away from all the others. She perches on the arm of the old couch and watches him tinker, until at last he utters a sound of satisfaction, tightens a final bolt, and blessedly cool air begins flowing through the vents. "Huh?" he says, turning to her in clear expectation of her approval. "What did I say?"

"Very good job." Lucy laughs, despite herself, and automatically reaches out to offer him a hand down from the ladder. Flynn flicks a glance under his eyelashes at her as he accepts it, and all of a sudden, she is conscious of a heat that has nothing to do with the lingering effects of the broken AC. As soon as he's down, she quickly lets go, looks away, and coughs. "Thank you."

"Of course." Flynn's own voice is odd, restrained, and he isn't quite meeting her eyes. "Lucy."

(She doesn't -- she doesn't have feelings for him, does she? She's been determined that she doesn't, she won't, after the entire debacle with Wyatt and Jessica. She needs Flynn, they need Flynn, and Lucy Preston is never going to be so selfish as to mess it up.)

(So she doesn't. That has to be the final word. It has to be enough.)

(It has to.)

(It has to.)

#battleshipgarcy #ask #garcy #garcy ff #lucy x flynn #fic prompts

[ancsury92]

Delusion

„You are nothing like her, you know?”

She heard his voice from afar, like it came under the water. She looked again into his dark green eyes, now soft and caring. She felt connected to him, a strange, but very strong bond drawn her to him. Was it time? Or was it a feeling? A feeling that she knew him forever. A feeling that wherever she goes, he will be there too. Like a dark angel.

His words found her off guard, and the way he buckled her belts surprised her. The hands she once feared, now protected her.

The fever held her body strong and, in her dreams, she saw the pilgrim again. Fierce with a knife in his hand, waiting to strike. She heard the gunshot again, and saw the tall, dark figure in the woods. Him. He saved her life.

Oddly, she felt safe for a moment or two. She heard his voice again, softly talking to her. It made her calm.

She had a strong feeling, that she can trust him. That he will protect her.

And then, she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

#timeless #garcy #garcia flynn #lucy preston #I played with the idea what happend after the witch hunt #what did Lucy dreamt about? #Probably Flynn #and his eyes #just a short fic #fanfic #timeless fan fic

[burgundy-time-bandit]

Blood Sins - Meet the OCs!

Grgur: Alpha Wolf. Veterinarian

Kata: Witch and Healer. Café Owner.

Vladimir: Leader. Part Goblin. 

Lucien: Sheriff. Human. 

Mirko: Wizard. Village Carpenter. 

Ivica: Mayor and Record Keeper. Half Fae.

(shout out to @doctorliamsr​ for making the moodboards and these OCs! ^_^)

 Meet them all in the latest chapter of Blood Sins!

#FFI: blood sins #fan cast #flynn friday imagines #luciana vampire au fic #timeless ff #timeless fanfic #garcy ff #garcy fanfic #lorynn ff #lorynn fanfic #garcy #lorynn #luciana #garcia flynn #lucy preston #lorena flynn #riya #rufus carlin #jiya marri #wyatt logan #dave baumgardner

[clockblockersunite]

Ahhh you guys! Your stories & fan art submissions are giving us such feels. We cannot wait to share them with the cast! Keep them coming beauties!!

#timeless #clockblockers #clockblocker #clockblockersunite #timeless fandom #lyatt #garcy #jiya #rufus #lucy preston #wyatt logan #time team #timelessweek #timeless edit #timeless gif #timeless fan art #timeless fan fic

[katechaucer]

Hey Timeless fans! Check out the tweet below from the uber talented @sallyexactly, who, along with the brilliant @justalittleiphi, will be participating in this year’s Fandom Trumps Hate, a charity fundraiser where the high “bidder” on a particular entry donates their bid amount to charity, and gets a thank-you fic from that author!

Spoiler alert: they both write delightful Garcy ❤️

https://twitter.com/sallyexactly/status/1495948443906359300?s=21

#timeless #garcy #garcia flynn #lucy preston

[magnificentcowboypeanutpaper]

Chapter 6 Old friends, old woes, new worries.

#garcy #garcy ff #garcy fan fic #garcy fanfic #garcy fanfiction #garcia flynn #lucy preston

[savetimeless]

so. i have part of this fic written and i just don’t know what to do with it. if someone has any ideas let me know, or maybe you can even write something with it? tag me if you do! 

Garcia Flynn knows, subjectively, that he doesn’t actually know Lucy Preston.

Garcia Flynn knows, objectively, that the Lucy he’d met once was from 30 years in the future, and so this Lucy is not that Lucy.

What he hadn’t realized, was that the Lucy he met and the Lucy in the journal were two very different people from the Lucy in 2017, who knew nothing of Rittenhouse, of Mason Industries, of Wyatt Logan.

The journal spans years. Decades. While it doesn’t have any entries pertaining to her personal life, her personality leeches through, in the words, in the writing, in the pictures she occasionally adds.

He comes to know the people she writes about: her teammates, Jiya and Denise Christopher. Connor Mason, the sometimes Rittenhouse operative, the sometimes double agent. He learns about Amy, the sister she never sees again, Benjamin Cahill, the father she discovers practically runs Rittenhouse, Carol Preston, the mother that she inadvertently saved and by which she feels betrayed.

Most of all, though, he learns about Rufus and Wyatt. Her early entries of them are interesting. She hadn’t started to write about anything until about a year after she first starts time travelling. Her first entry is pages long, almost a quarter of the journals pages. She detailed so many trips, so many things, so many people. The rest of the journal is more spread out, more paced, not so fact, fact, fact.

What changes the most is her writing on Wyatt.

The first time she writes about him, its on his obsession with his wife’s death. As the first entry continues, it becomes clear his priorities change, as do Rufus’ and her own.

It’s not as if she writes detailed paragraphs on the two, on her self, but the Rittenhouse story is so intertwined with their own development that he learns so much about them just by the choices they make.

There are several times when there are time jumps. Obviously, there is no movement on the Rittenhouse front or she stops going back in time (and, well, she knows what the journal will be used for eventually. She’s very particular about what she does and does not include). The first time, he’s surprised at the date changing from 2017 to 2020. Then it changed from 2022 to 2025. There is only one entry that year. Then it jumps to 2030, goes through until 2039, and then there aren’t any entries until 2048, the year from which Lucy travelled back to give him the journal.

There is so much pain, so much heartache that he doesn’t know how he will be able to not tell her everything the moment he see’s her again – no, meets her.

It gets harder and harder to keep the secrets from her the more she chases him through time.

It gets harder and harder to look at Rufus, who he knows will die before he even gets to marry Jiya. To see Wyatt standing behind Lucy in a professional manner, when he knows that the only happiness these two will ever find again will be in each other. Even their child, their daughter, will only bring them sadness, the daughter they send away at only four months old to never see again.

Flynn loves her, in his own way. If he’s honest with himself (which he rarely is), he’ll admit that that doesn’t mean much. There wasn’t, isn’t, enough left of him to truly love her. 

Still. He doesn’t want her in harms way, to get hurt. He wants to protect her.

anyway so thats it. suggestions? 

send me some fic prompts to fill! i’m keen to get writing again. 

#timeless #timeless nbc #timeless fic #fan fiction #lucy preston #wyatt logan #garcia flynn #lyatt #lyatt fic #garcy #save timeless

[tearsforthefallen]

Catch up tag game

Thanks for the tag @kissedbydragonfire I hoped you know me better now ;)

Rules: Tag 9 people you’d like to catch up with or get to know better. 

Favorite colors: Black, Gold, Purple & Green

Currently reading: A lot of fanfic plus a fic I’m a beta for,Tower of Dawn and The Library Of The Unwritten (great book btw)

Last song: Queen of the night by Hey Violet!

This song gives me major Garcy vibes and I love it so much:)

Last movie: Thor: the dark world. What do you mean I don’t watch it for Thor or the plot? **sweats nervously**

Last series: Loki. Watched the last episode this morning and damn. That whole series is a rollercoaster of emotion JC..... can’t wait for season 2

Sweet, spicy or savory: I’m gonna have to go with savoury. I haven’t eaten sweets in a while since I haven’t been feeling very well but even if I did, Nachos and cheesesteaks make me feel very happy :))))

Tea or coffee: tea. I’ve had coffee maybe twice in my life so far. Not a big fan. I think the years I lived in England have kinda rubbed of on me and tea also helps me sleep. Especially during Corona, when I’m stressed or just can’t any more.

Drinking tea makes me think of my Grandmother who always had a cup of tea by her side. It didn’t matter what she was doing and it’s something that makes me feel closer to her.

I tag: @even-in-winter @saltyfictionbookslibrarieshuman @loki-the-trikster-god @strawbewwyblossom @mathgirl24 @magnificentcowboypeanutpaper @ any one who wants to cause I don’t have 9 people to tag. 

#tag game #get to know me #why not #for fun

[qqueenofhades]

Soooo I was a huge fan of your Timeless fic, and I was beyond thrilled to see that you also write in the Grishaverse, which I have just gotten into!! Just finished binging a Phantom in Enchanting Light, and it is DIVINE. I am in awe of your incredible attention to detail, and the delightful references to the source material are flawlessly incorporated into the modern narrative. You are so talented and your fics are a gift. That's all!! xo

Aha, thank you very much. I still have Garcy feelings sometimes and will probably have them to the end of time, and since this is how my brain works, it's like mash up old hyperfixation with new hyperfixation!!!

... by which I mean yes, I do have vague headcanons about a Timeless Grishaverse AU where Flynn is a rogue Heartrender who discovered that Kirigan was the Black Heretic and illegally left the Little Palace trying to stop him/all of Ravka's endless wars, and has been demonised at court as a result. Lucy is a Healer and Grisha historian who has grown up in the Little Palace and believes in it all, but has to find out the truth about Kirigan, the Fold, etc. Flynn learns more Healing and Lucy learns more Heartrending as they get closer, because reasons. Flynn blows it with Lucy eighty-two separate times when trying to convince her to help him, because who would expect anything different. Ivan and Fedyor are obviously there and torn about which garbage man they should work for. There are shenanigans. Rufus is a Durast and equally done with this nonsense. Etc.

Anyway. I am delighted that you enjoyed PEL so much, as I am having a lot of fun with it, and thanks to you (and all else) who have stuck with me through my many, many different trash obsessions. Heh.

#anonymous #ask #pel asks

[t100ficrecsblog]

an interview with @elora-lane  (she/they) content warning: mentions of mental illness and past physical injury

what are you working on right now? what’s something you’d like to write one day? 

Right now, I am working on a Bellarke A/B/O period fic called Surely, You Must Know. I am also working on my Bellarke for BLM Prompts. The first one was posted a couple weeks ago, and I have a bit written for my Bellarke improv/roommates au, and the Josie/Bellamy Bellarke fic (where Bellamy goes through the wringer with an abusive Josie, and Clarke is there to help him heal). 

Something I’d like to write one day... I have a book idea about a genderfluid, bisexual individual based in the early 1820s. The main character (she/her, they/them) was born female and finds herself ostracized after she kisses her best friend (a female), when her friend says she is going to school elsewhere. It takes place over years, and involves the main character falling in love, her love being killed in front of her, having a child and ending up with the very same friend who couldn’t accept her own sexuality (the best friend is a lesbian). 

I’m not sure If I’ll get around to writing it, but I have it all planned out and the characters already live in my mind.  

what is the fanwork you’re most proud of?  Hmm... that’s honestly very difficult for me to answer because I’m rarely happy with my writing in the long term. But I’d say I’m proud of The Governor’s Daughter, which was written for Garcy (timeless, Garcia Flynn/Lucy Preston). I had a three-part story planned out for this fic, but I’ve since gotten so absorbed with Bellarke that I changed the ending so it wouldn’t torture fans. But in the original ending the main character is pregnant when she is kidnapped, and her husband is recovering from a gunshot wound himself, when shots are fired in her home. 

The main character leaves thinking everyone she loves is dead. 

I was rather proud of the fic because it’s the longest thing I’ve written- and I don’t write long works. Beyond that, it was about two individuals who should never have met. But did and fell in love despite all odds. In the story not everything is as it seems. I did a lot of research for it and wonder if I got it right (the language probably needs some work). I sorta get obsessed with research, although I know it’s not perfect. 

The Bellarke work I’m most proud of is probably How Not to Quarantine. I went into it wanting to write something smutty. But it became a bit deeper than that and dealt with issues of battling societal norms, sexism toward both women and men, and miscommunication. 

why did you first start writing fic?  I got inspired by Garcia Flynn and Lucy Preston from Timeless. I got inspired by the idea of time travel, and how the future is never as it seems. I’ve always written poetry, and very short stories. But fan fic has been my first time really writing stories with somewhat significant plotlines. I wanted to fill a plot hole, and well... I haven’t stopped writing since. 

Another aspect of it was that I was new mom and unemployed. I have twins who are toddlers now. But when I first started writing I had horrible post-partum depression and anxiety that lasted two years. Writing helped me funnel all of that and be the new mom I needed to be. The lovely comments and encouragement I got from fandom friends played a part in keeping me on the road to recovering from my worst depressive episode. 

what frustrates you most about fic writing?  Honestly, not to sound mellow-dramatic, but me. I frustrate myself. 

I’ve mentioned it a little bit, but I had a few head injuries and I have bad ADHD. It’s a lot better than it was when I first started writing about two and half years ago. I would revisit my works and there were so many errors and things that just didn’t make sense. After my last head injury (I fell 8ft on concrete right onto the back of my head about eight years ago), I would write papers that made sense to me in the moment, and then my instructor would show me what I wrote, and it was just totally jumbled up nonsense- some of it wasn’t even words. Needless to say, I had to drop out of college. 

So, as frustrating as it is, I’m proud of myself for continuing to write enough to retrain my brain (of course, it also healed, and anti depressants helped my brain chemistry realign). I still make errors and my brain gets tired quickly on some days, but I’ve come a long way. Grammarly is a huge help, too! 

what are your top five songs right now?  Oh boy. I totally blame @star-sky-earth for the first three... here is a list. 

Body by SYML

Touch by Sleeping at Last

Let Me by ZAYN

Bulletproof Weeks by Matt Nathanson

Nashville by Noah Gundersen

That was so hard to decide, thank you for the challenge!

what are your inspirations (books, songs, other fic, really good cake?)?  Music is huge for me. I’m very sensitive to the mood that music puts me in. A good tune can help me think of an entire plotline. Usually, it’s the music in a movie and the visuals that inspire me, and rarely the dialogue. 

Anything by Jane Austen is inspiring for my Bellarke ABO period fic. My fav JA book is Northanger Abbey, but I rewatched the film version of Mansfield Park, Emma, and Sense and Sensibility (the BBC three-parter) all in one night! 

Bonus note: the new Emma has a really good kiss scene that is just 100%... Muy Bueno. Loved it. ed’s note: the new Emma film is very good

what first attracted you to Bellarke? what attracts you now? Well, frankly I was attracted to Bellarke fic before I liked them in the show. But some of the Modern AUs and some of the Canon Divergent AUs have power dynamics that really get me. I love fics where one of them is a king/queen or boss, and it takes time for them to fall in love, but the one with the power is gracious and caring and uses that to help the other. Even if it takes a while to get there, I guess kindness and compassion attract me. As does conflict resolution. To me, conflict is worth it if it gets a good resolution. 

I also like other themes like loyalty, perseverance, transformation, epiphany and absolution. 

In the show, season six hooked me. 

BESIDES Bellarke, what character or pairing do you like best on t100?  I’m gonna answer this from a fic writer perspective. Honestly, I’d love to see season six Echo continue the road to absolution and end up with Gabriel (I mean, it’s a pipe dream, but Gecho, c’mon...). I’m okay with where she is in season seven, because I can’t control it. But it’s not what I would have done. 

Roan/Echo is fav of mine. 

I also would have loved to see Gina and Raven. Or more Gina/Bellamy. I really liked Gina. 

As far as 100% actual ships, I liked Linctavia. I do like season seven, too. Although it feels like a totally different show. 

why did you decide to start writing for bellarkefic-for-blm?  I decided to because it allows me to use something unique for the good of others. I try for the most part to help others.

what’s your writing process like?  Chaos. 

Writing for me is like cracking open a coconut. It’s tough to get there, but once you do it doesn’t stop. And if you hit it too hard, the stuff just goes all over the place. 

what are some things you’d like to recommend?  In general? Umm... Calm Magnesium drink, it’s super relaxing. Like last night I started having all this anxiety and drank some. It calmed me down enough to sleep (also listened to the sound of a snowstorm and crackling fire). 

I also recommend introspection and reflection. If you do that a lot, I recommend art or writing. Life is all about balance.

You can find @elora-lane here on Tumblr, or at their ao3 here. Request a fic written by her over at @bellarkefic-for-blm.

#bellarkefic4blm #bellamy blake #clarke griffin #bellarke fanfiction #the 100 fanfiction #bellarkefic for blm interviews

[timelesshonesttrailer]

The bane of many writers is that once you have birthed a story, taken the time to write, erase, rewrite, edit, scream at, and finally accept the words that you have written… you have to name it. 

Like people, or businesses, the name is everything. It’s one of the first things people see. It’s what they will use to communicate the story to others. So picking a good title is vital, which makes it all the more daunting. But like most things in life, once you break it down and examine its parts, see how it works, it becomes a lot less scary and a lot more manageable.

This is how I got pretty good at making titles, not only for my own works, but for others. And I want to share with you what I learned, and hopefully make the task of titling your stories a lot less terrifying.

To create a good title, you have to focus on two things: Structure and Meaning.

Structure

Quick, think of all your favorite books, shows, and movies. Now think of popular franchises that are household names. What do they have in common, title wise? They are short and to the point.

On average, these titles are one to two words long. This does not include articles or connecting words like “the,” “of,” “or,” etc, because they pretty much disappear.

The titles also average few syllables, about two or three. You don’t really want to go above four. English is a very lazy language and we like to keep things short. This is why a lot of titles get shortened anyway.

Examples of Titles (remember, articles/connectors don’t count):

Friends – One word, one syllable.

Cheers – One word, one syllable.

Lost – One word, one syllable.

Dune – One word, one syllable.

Timeless – One word, two syllables.

ER – One word, two syllables.

Twilight – One word, two syllables. Can refer to the entire series.

The Mummy (1999) – One word, three syllables.

The Simpsons – One word, three syllables.

Parasite – One word, three syllables.

Titanic – One word, three syllables.

Hamilton – One word, three syllables.

The X-Files – One word, three syllables. Though it’s debatable if X-Files is one word or two.

CSI – One word (standing in for three), three syllables (standing in for seven).

Star Wars – Two words, two syllables.

Good Omens – Two words, three syllables.

Game of Thrones – Two words, three syllables. Often verbally shortened to Thrones.

Lord of the Rings – Two words, four syllables.

I can keep going, but you see the trend.

But what about titles like the Harry Potter books? The answer is in the question. Each book/movie title starts with Harry Potter and then has a modifier. Harry Potter itself is only two words and four syllables. Then if someone talks about a specific novel, they typically would not say the whole title, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, they would simply say Azkaban. The same is done in other series. Percy Jackson for example.

There are, of course, exceptions.

Elementary is a one word, but five syllables. It’s also a very common phrase in both the genre and in everyday life. Use of common phrases is a way to get around the above formula because we’re already used to saying them, thinking them, etc. One Day at a Time is another good example. Three words, five syllables, but doesn’t feel any longer than Lord of the Rings. 

But the longer the title, the more likely it will somehow get shortened. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep was changed to three syllable Blade Runner. My favorite book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, has a very long title. Technically it’s three words when you remove articles/connectors, but the syllable count is a whopping ten. It gets away with it because for one, it’s a rift on an already common phrase, and two, fans can call it Hitchhiker’s Guide which is only four syllables. 

Now, once you know the structure of a title, you can work on choosing one.

Meaning

The title of your story has to give the reader an idea about what they’re getting into. It does this by focusing on one of the following:

A literal Person/Place/Thing –  Percy Jackson, Cheers, The X-Files

The Subject Matter – Friends, Law & Order, The Sixth Sense, CSI

The Genre – Twilight, Star Wars, Friday the 13th, Altered Carbon

The Overall Metaphor/Concept – Game of Thrones, Parasite, Pride and Prejudice

Many of these cross over. The Sixth Sense and CSI could also be considered a literal thing as well as a genre marker. If your title fulfills more than one slot, that is neat, but not a necessity. You might feel like you have to come up with some complex title, but sometimes it’s really just as simple as it’s a show about friends and their relationships with each other.

Take the title Catch-22. The term Catch-22 is a major metaphor and concept that is universally known today. But when Joseph Heller wrote Catch-22, no one called that concept a Catch-22. The title was simply naming the military rule (a thing), which created the situation and therefore drove the narrative. People later co-opted the title to quickly express the concept that the book so masterfully discusses.

Whatever you chose, the title should match the feel of the story you’re trying to tell. It’s part of your promise to the reader, and must make sense by the time they get to the end of the story.  

But how to pick a title when you have persons, places, things, subject matter, genre, and metaphors in your story? You simply work backwards. Ask yourself what your story is really about.

What is the driving force of the narrative?

What do you want your readers to get out of the story?

Is it a story about a person?

Or about the people of a specific group?

Is the story a one-shot or the beginning of a trilogy/series?

Is there a specific name or line of text that sums up your story neatly?

Somewhere in the answers to those questions is your title.

Now, I can make guesses on how some of the above mentioned titles came to be. Cheers takes place in the bar of the same name, and it’s about the patrons of said bar, so it’s the story about a place named Cheers. But I can’t speak for the creators and what thought processes they might have went through in order to choose their titles. So, instead, I am going to give you some of the titles I have come up with and explain how I got there.

Copper and Gold Two words, four syllables. Genre: Urban Fantasy This is the first book of a series based around a singular character, Minni Masterson, whose motif is copper, which plays a large role in the story. Since it’s a series, I need a title that could be formulaic across each one. In the first novel, the “guest character” is a gold dragon (Aiden Drake). So when I say Copper and Gold, I’m really saying Minni and Drake. And in the second book, when I say Copper and Cobalt, I am saying Minni and the Kobolds. Copper and Mercury is Minni and the Werewolves. Etc.

Emperor’s Shadow Two words, five syllables. Genre: Star Wars fan fiction/Mystery/Character Study The story is about Mara Jade who was an Emperor’s Hand. It’s about her coming to terms with the shadow that looms over her from her past and what Palpatine did to her. Instead of going with something much bulkier like In the Shadow of the Empire, I merged her past (Emperor’s Hand) with her current conflict.

The Serpent and the Liar Two words, seven syllables. (This format of “The X and the X” is one that is an exception to the rule, so long as the syllables belonging to X remain low) Genre: Marvel!Loki fan fiction/Pre-Movies Canon Compliant The story is about Loki and the events leading up to the first Thor movie. It also brings in Sigyn to explore that ship, along with some Norse myths, and to explain why she isn’t in the movie. Loki, of course, is known for his serpent motif and as the god of lies. I play on this, giving Sigyn a serpent motif, something to match her with Loki. But on several occasions, I raise the question of who is actually the serpent, and who is the liar? Because the best way to lie, is to tell the truth. So, like Copper and Gold, I’m really just calling the story Loki and Sigyn, I mean, Sigyn and Loki?

Amehrana One word, four syllables. Genre: Timeless Food Truck AU/Garcy Slow Burn The story is about Flynn and Lucy, and the rest of the team, in an AU setting. I named Flynn’s food truck Amehrana because it’s a mix of the word American and Hrana, which is Croatian for food. So the title is both a thing (the food truck) but also another word for Flynn and Lucy because he’s Croat and she’s American. But unlike Copper and Gold and The Serpent and the Liar, there is the added symbolism here of Flynn and Lucy coming together.

Frankenstein’s Monster Two words, five syllables Genre: Timeless Mission Fic for Proposed Season 3 (non-movie compliant) The mission is Mary Shelley, but that doesn’t mean there *has* to be a Frankenstein reference. But you have Flynn who thinks he’s a monster, one created by Rittenhouse. I also go deeper and hint at Lucy herself being a Frankenstein Monster, i.e. created by Rittenhouse for a purpose she doesn’t want any part of. Once again, my title is basically just another name for my main characters.

I want to interject for a moment and point out that we all have our preferences in our writing styles, and titles are no different. If you realized you tend to do most of your titles a specific way, then own it. It’s part of what makes you unique as an artist. And if you occasionally decide you want to go a completely opposite direction for one story, then go for it.

Case in point.

No Accounting for Heroes Three words, seven syllables Genre: Canon Compliant account of the Fall of SHIELD and its aftermath This fic really takes a hard look at what happens to those living in a world with superheroes. The main character, an accountant named Rani, is giving an account of events. My cowriter suggested putting “accounting” in the title which made me think of the common phrase, “no accounting for taste,” which is a concept about how different people like/need different things, and applied it to the story. No Accounting for Heroes means that we all need a hero, but maybe not the heroes we think we do, and we can all be heroes in some way, to someone in need. But also, there is that underlying current that heroes are not held accountable for the destruction that follows in their wake. 

Never be afraid to ask for help with titles. And don’t be afraid to reject titles if they don’t fit. And definitely don’t be afraid to take the suggestion, turn it over, season it, put it in a waffle iron, and see if what comes out is edible.

I have helped others name their stories, and here are three examples:

Remember, Remember Two words, six syllables. Genre: Timeless Garcy Canon Divergent/Angst/Mission Fic The story is about Lucy trying to save Flynn after he goes back to 2012. Emma saves him instead. Eventually Lucy runs into him and she discovers he doesn’t remember her and only knows what Emma has told him. At the end of the story, they have a final confrontation during the Gunpowder Plot. When the author asked my thoughts on a title, well, the Gunpowder Plot has the very famous saying “Remember, Remember, the 5th of November” and the whole story is Lucy trying to get Flynn to remember…

Disavowed One word, three syllables. Genre: Timeless Luciana Canon Divergent/Angst In this Twitter story, Flynn is blocked from returning to the US from Canada because they still think he’s a terrorist. Basically, his own country, whom he helped save, rejected him. When asked for a title, I focused on the idea that this story is about Flynn being rejected/denied entry/etc. I basically flipped through synonyms for rejected until I came across disavowed which is a term often used in spy craft. It’s a heavy word which paired well with the angst of the story.

Only Our Stories Three words, five syllables. Genre: Timeless Movie Canon Compliant-adjacent/Angst/Mission Fic The phrase “only our stories” is said in the fic itself. Future-Lucy writes it down towards the beginning, once she’s returned from dropping off the journal post-Chinatown. All that she has left of Flynn is only their stories, which she writes in the journal. She is eventually able to change things to get Flynn back, but he doesn’t remember her. There is still a connection though… their stories.

Never be afraid to take a line from your story to use as your title, so long as you follow the structure guidelines from the first section. 

At the end of the day, coming up with titles is just as much a skill as any other part of writing. We suck at first, then we figure out what's good, what's bad, and look at the world around us to figure out how to make it better. And don’t be afraid to edit it as much as you edit your novel. Until you publish, no title is set in stone, so it doesn’t have be right the first time.

And now here is where I close out this reference guide by saying something inspirational. Instead, I’m going to name this piece. While I wrote it, the temp file name was “Creating a Title” which is technically accurate but has no umph or style. This guide is meant to be helpful so the title should inspire confidence that I know what I’m talking about. But I don’t want it to sound too clinical either. 

A synonym for “name” is designation which I like but too many syllables because I’ll have to add to it. Synonym’s for “title” don’t give me much either. Instead, I should focus on the concept of the guide rather than its direct contents. Using something like “What’s in a Name?” would be too cliché. “I Suck at Titles” is funny, at first, with it being the exact opposite, but my genre is more educational than satire.

Wait, if I’m not going to reveal the title until the end, as a way to show you the thought process in creating a title, then to the reader, the title both does and doesn’t exist at the same time. It’s what you might call a…

Schrodinger’s Title: A Guide to Naming

#Reference #How to title a story #Naming #I also used this to name the starring section of #Timeless Honest Trailer

[mrslackles]

Writer Asks

Honoured to have been tagged by @bourbon-ontherocks, thank you! 

ao3 name: linzackles (bellamywinchester on FF.net)

fandoms: Klaroline from The Vampire Diaries and Brio from Good Girls. I’ve also written one or two Bellarke (The 100) and Garcy (Timeless) fics.

number of fics: 32 Karoline fics (um... what?? I don’t know how that’s possible) and 20 Brio (also wtf??).

fic i spent the most time on: I’m very embarrassed about this but my Klaroline multi-chapter, Our Dark Soul, was written over four years. I don’t know how. I found this out two months ago and my mind is still blown. 

Do Not Collect $200 for Brio I wrote over eight months (by the way, it’s 250k words vs ODS’s 450k words, so truly wtf).

fic i spent the least amount of time on: I have no idea in terms of writing because I spend an inordinate amount of time on all my works, but in terms of dreaming it up, I think that would be Don’t Say Panties. It came to me basically fully formed from beginning to end, which is fairly rare.

most hits: Winners Know When, which makes me really happy considering it was the last installment of a very long series. I’m so touched so many people stuck around for so long!

most kudos: Do Not Pass Go, which I’m very surprised by! Not sure how to explain it, lol.

most comment threads: Winners Know When -- 🤣🤣 I know exactly how this happened. I will never forget the day I woke up to 47 comments on that ~one chapter. (Three times the average amount per chapter.) I nearly went into cardiac arrest (it never really registered for me that that many people even read my story!), but it turned out the anger was mainly directed at Rio, not me 🤣

most bookmarks: All of the Salmonella, my very first Brio fic, haha. Which I guess explains why it’s the one I’m most well-known for (that has always puzzled me, lol).

highest total word count: Winners Know When, with 95k words!

favorite fic i wrote: The Do Not Collect $200 series is really special to me. It takes a lot to plot a story that will take place over eight months and 60+ chapters right from the start. It’s really rewarding to get to the end and pay off every single thing you’ve been building since the beginning and when readers notice it too? 👌👌 There’s nothing like that. 

You and I were made of glass, we’d never last is one of the more perfect things I’ve written in terms of how contained it was -- I love how it tells one complete story in five chapters with not too much fat on it and I adored writing those characters in that world, which is odd because I’m not a fan of AUs usually. I also almost never cry and I remember sobbing the entire day I wrote the one chapter in it. That’s a singular experience I’ll never forget. 

But ultimately I think one of my favourite things I’ve ever written is the final chapter of Dark necessities are a part of my design. (Which, weirdly, had not been planned in advance.) To this day I think the musical chairs analogy describes Brio so well -- both how they must feel and how it feels to ship them. Also the double meaning of the very last line feels magical because I didn’t intend for it when I wrote it, but then I realised and it took my breath away how well it worked. Usually anything good in my writing is accidental/coincidence 🤣

fic i want to rewrite/expand on: That’s a secret 🤭

share a bit of a wip or story idea you’re working on: I’m going to do something slightly different and share some of an idea I ended up scrapping after writing over 4k of it. (Me = the worst.) It’s a Brio FBI AU called The Right to Remain Silent.

#my writing #my fanfiction #quarantine tag games #linzackles #I was away forever #so idk who did this and who didn't #but if you haven't and you're a writer #please consider yourself tagged by me!

[mia-cooper]

Fanfiction Questions

from here

Fandom Questions

1. What was the first fandom you got involved in?

Involved as in ‘frantically read every book I could get my hands on, daydreamed about being part of that universe and wrote stories/made art inspired by the books, if not actual fanfiction’? Mm, probably The Chronicles of Narnia when I was six or seven. The next great obsession was The Silver Brumby when I went through my horse stage around age 12, and then Sweet Valley High when I was 15. Hahaha.

2. What is your latest fandom?

Marvel! I’m not into comics and I’m definitely not interested in consuming every last bit of canon material or memorising the variations of every universe, but I love (most of) the movies and Agents of SHIELD is pretty cool.

3. What is the best fandom you’ve ever been involved in?

Star Trek Voyager. No contest. I venture to suggest that the older fandoms, the ones that are all about defunct shows, are a hell of a lot more chilled. Maybe because we’ve come to terms with our shitty canon endings and learned that liking the ship you hate doesn’t make someone problematic, unlike some newer fandoms I could name (Yes I’m talking about you, Game of Thrones fans. What the fuck.)

4. Do you regret getting involved in any fandoms?

I’ve dipped a toe into one or two fandoms for shows or books I’ve really enjoyed and backed the fuck out when the vibe gets weird (oh hey, it’s GoT again), but nope. No regrets.

5. Which fandoms have you written fanfiction for?

All the Star Treks except TOS, and a Trek/MCU crossover. I’d like to write more for MCU someday. Plus I’ve written longhand entire notebooks full of teen romance shit that bore an uncanny similarity to SVH, and my first short story was a fantasy fic that featured a girl whose guardian was a wise talking lion who led her into mystical secret worlds, which is kind of familiar.

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

Wow. I’m going to define ‘involved in’ as ‘cared enough about to have an OTP’, but I’m guaranteed to forget a ton. In no particular order:

Voyager: Janeway x anyone who can get her off

Discovery: Lorca x Cornwell or Pike x Tyler x Burnham (or any combination of)

DS9: Kira x Jadzia Dax

TNG: Picard x Vash, I guess? I don’t really have any TNG ships

ENT: T’Pol x Trip x Hoshi (or any variation therein)

MCU: Cap x Widow

AoS: Coulson x Skye... no May... no Skye... I don’t know

CAOS: Madam Satan x Zelda

Timeless: Garcy

The Good Place: Eleanor x Tahani

The 100 (shut up): toss up between Clarke x Bellamy and Kane x Abby

Veronica Mars: Veronica x Leo (first run), Veronica x Logan (s4)

Orphan Black: Cosima x Delphine

BSG: Apollo x Starbuck

SG1: Sam x Jack

Arrow: Olicity (so over the show now though)

This Life: Milly x Egg

Yeah you know what... I’m drawing a blank. I can’t think of any other shows where I’ve been invested in The Romance that much.

7. List your NoTPs from each fandom you’ve been in.

I’m too tired to do every fandom, and besides, I can come around to almost any ship if the headcanons (or fics) are convincing enough. I do have a few hard no-gos, but they might be someone else’s OTP so I’ll shut up about them.

8. How did you get involved in your latest fandom?

Reluctantly. The MCU movies are not something I ever thought I’d enjoy beyond a dull evening’s entertainment. I never expected to get attached to the characters. And yet.

9. What are the best things about your current fandom?

Voyager is my forever fandom and the only one where I’ve really interacted with other fans. The best things about it? In general, everyone is just cool, accepting, open and basically awesome. And talented. I love my Party Bus people.

10.  Is there a fandom you read fic from but don’t write in?

Sure. The 100, Veronica Mars and Agents of SHIELD are the ones I’d dip into more frequently. I really enjoy crossovers between Trek and BSG or the Stargate variants, too.

Ship Questions for your Current Fandom

11. Who is your current OTP?

Janeway x Chakotay.

12. Who is your current OT3?

Janeway x Chakotay x Paris.

13. Any NoTPs?

A few.

14. Go on, who are your BroTPs?

Janeway & Tuvok! Also Torres & Chakotay, and I’d have killed for more Janeway & Torres in canon. (If they kissed sometimes that would be okay too)

15. Is there an obscure ship which you love?

Yeah. Paris x Seven. There are like two fics in existence, and yet ... the potential! (Sorry, B’Elanna)

16. Are there any popular ships in your fandom which you dislike?

Nope.

17. Who was your first OTP and are they still your favourite?

Janeway x Paris. And they’re still way up there, but not quite at the top.

18. What ship have you written the most about?

84% of my fics feature Janeway x Chakotay as either the primary or secondary pairing... holy shit.

19. Is there a ship which you wished you could get behind, but you just don’t feel them?

Paris x Torres. I mean, I feel them. I just don’t generally feel the need to write about them.

20. Any ships which you surprised yourself by liking?

Chakotay x Seven. In another universe, it could’ve been beautiful.

Author Questions

21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote?

Actual story that was clearly fanfic? A farcical drunken romp told in the 24th century equivalent of email format called PADDemonium (see what I did there?)

22. Is there anything you regret writing?

Lol, a few things that should probably have never seen the light of day for various reasons, some of them leola related. But I’ve only deleted two fics that I can recall.

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

Relieved. It’s a 30k AU Chakotay moral dilemma backstory that brings in DS9 characters, Section 31 and his longstanding history with AU Janeway. I did so much research for it (way back in the days before memory alpha and chakoteya.net) and I’m really proud of how I wound in canon stuff across series but changed a few key bits and pieces. Only problem is, it’s a sequel to ...

24. What fic do you desperately need to rewrite or edit?

... Pressure, which I can’t even read without cringing. My characterisation of Janeway, even Angry Maquis AU Janeway, is way over the top and there are moments that verge on Mills and Boon and give me first, second and third hand embarrassment. God, I’d love to rewrite it. Actually, that’s a lie. I want someone else to rewrite it so I can read it without covering my eyes and moaning.

25. What’s your most popular fanfic?

Desperate Measures, by about 70,000 light years, lol. Although Fragile Things beats it on bookmarks.

26. How do you come up with your fanfic titles?

You know what? A fair percentage of the time, I think of the title first and come up with a plot second. Aside from that, I prefer shorter, punchier titles that clearly tie into the story (Flight Risk, Speechless), though sometimes it’s song lyrics (Burn Our Horizons, your body like a searchlight) or a literary quote (Required to Bear, All the Devils are Here) or a turn of phrase from the story itself (The Prisons You Inhabit). Hey that was fun. Thanks for letting me pimp the shit out of my stories.

27. What do you hate more: Coming up with titles or writing summaries?

Ugh, it depends on the day. Summaries are harder, I think. I never want to give away too much of the plot, but there has to be enough there for people to know whether they’ll bother clicking. Funny story: I actually ran the stats on this a few months back. Here they are for your edification:

Fics with a one line plot summary = 54%

With two or three line plot summary = 18%

With a short snippet directly from the fic = 16%

With a snippet + a one line explanation = 3%

With a one line plot summary plus a line to date the fic (eg "set in season 3", “episode tag to Worst Case Scenario") or the fic prompt = 7%

And finally, a quote from something other than the fic = 2% (that's only 3 fics).

28. If someone were to draw a piece of fanart for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of?

Ooh. I’ll say the final scene in Explosive.

29. Do you have a beta reader? Why/Why not?

I used to regularly ask @jhelenoftrek​ and @littleobsessions90 to beta for me, and both of them are brilliant at it. Lately I’ve been posting without sending my stuff off for editing. This is partly because I’m impatient to get stuff out there, partly because I don’t have as much time to write/edit, and partly because I’m a little less focused on improving my writing and more on enjoying it for its own sake.

30. What inspires you to write?

Little bits of episode dialogue I haven’t noticed before, other people’s fanfiction, stray conversations, fic prompts, song lyrics, random headcanons, fever dreams, dares ...

31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?

I’ve been really lucky with comments on my fic. The least helpful comment I’ve ever received was on one of my early 30k fics and all it said was “Did you have to take the name of the lord in vain?” Which is kind of funny. The nicest thing anyone’s ever said? I’m very partial to the feedback that starts “I don’t even like this pairing/genre/trope/show but you made me love it”, and particularly “I’ll read anything you write, I don’t care what it’s about.” But all comments are gold. The little heart button is cool too.

32. Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band or genre of music does it for you?

I’m not someone who can tune out music I love, or leave it in the background to inspire me. If it’s on, I’m fully invested in it. I’m that annoying person in the car who flips radio stations every three seconds until I find something I like and then it’s on 11 and I’m singing along to it. I’m also really picky but extremely eclectic, although there are genres I can’t stand (anything with autotune makes me stabby). That said, sometimes I find a song that I can’t stop listening to for weeks and often that perfect combination of music and lyrics will inspire me to write a fic. For example, I just plotted out an entire J/C story because of this song.

33. Do you write oneshots, multi-chapter fics or huuuuuge epics?

All of the above. Although I’m not sure if my longest epic is huuuuuge or just huuuge.

34. What’s the word count on your longest fic?

101,467.

35. Do you write drabbles? If so, what do you normally write them about?

I have two drabble collections. One is all J/C, full of responses to random prompts and I add to it sporadically. The other is episode additions set on Kathryn Janeway’s birthday (May 20) and added to annually.

36. What’s your favourite genre to write?

Angst, definitely. Sometimes it’s smutty angst or fluffy angst or hurt/comfort angst, but often it’s just fucking unrelenting angst. And I’m okay with that.

37. First person or third person - what do you write in and why?

I did the stats on this once, too, haha. Pretty sure I came out fairly even on first and third person with a smattering of second person in there. I’m probably even-ish on present vs past tense, too. I make it a point to mix it up to avoid my writing getting stale or same-y. And sometimes a fic doesn’t really click for me until I try it in a different POV or tense or from a different character’s perspective.

38. Do you use established canon characters or do you create OCs?

I mostly write for canon characters - the fun is in all the different ways you can interpret and imagine them - but I’ve been known to throw in the odd OC, or focus on a character who only got a brief cameo appearance, or write about someone who only appears in beta canon, or who only rates a mention on screen.

39. What is your greatest strength as a writer?

Oh, wow. I’m not sure. I guess the thing I value most about my own writing is my willingness to try different styles, characters, pairings and so on. The thing I strive for most is characterisation that feels true, and I really love it when I get comments on that. Exploring a character in a way that rings true with a reader is the best thing ever.

40. What do you struggle the most with in your writing?

Overly long sentences and adverb abuse, haha. No, truthfully, there comes a point in most of my fics, particularly the longer ones, when I really just want to scrap it because in my heart I know it’s dreadful. Usually that passes once I slog through the ‘I don’t wanna’ stage because I’m a bloody-minded bitch, but sometimes fics do get left in the dust half-written. Honestly, though, they’re the ones that probably should stay there.

Fanfiction Questions

41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading:

This is hilarious because I was just talking on discord about my problematic ‘to read’ pile. My unread AO3 subscription emails currently number 29 and my phone browser has 71 tabs open. So here are 5 random picks from that list of exactly 100 fics I should be reading:

Sex on the Beach (E, Janeway/Chakotay) by @traccigaryn​

The Ruby Ring (T, Janeway/Chakotay, Janeway/Tighe) by @trinfinity2001​

Earth is But an Idea (T, Janeway/Chakotay, Carter/O’Neill) by @caladeniablue​

Home (E, Janeway/Chakotay) by Cassatt

Wise Up (E, Janeway/Chakotay) by KimJ

42. List and link to 5 fanfiction authors who are amazing:

Only five? Shit. Okay. In no particular order, these are five of the writers I keep coming back to:

quantumsilver (also here)

northernexposure

LittleObsessions

Helen8462

Cheshire

But there are so many others. My chosen fandom is chock full of amazing talent.

43. Is there anyone in your fandom who really inspires you?

All of the authors above for various reasons, but also august because her writing is so spare and delicate and devastating, and runawaymetaphor because she writes the most delicious Janeway/Paris, and @seperis​ because I read In the Space of Seven Days literally 20 years ago and I still haven’t recovered, and I could be here all night raving on this topic but there are still many questions to get through.

44. What ship do you feel needs more attention?

Janeway x Paris. I’m so happy there’s been a little bit of a resurgence in J/P fics lately. Thanks, @curator-on-ao3​, you’re doing the lord’s work.

I’ll also take Janeway x Johnson content any day of the week.

45. What is your all time favourite fanfic?

What the hell? I can’t pick just one! Ugh!

... but okay, here’s the first one that came to mind when I tried to think about this: if you came this way by tree. I’m not sure I’d call it my favourite, but it’s one I revisit often. Ugh, there are so many other fics I’m thinking of now that I really want to list.

46. If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why?

Oh, that’s hard. I should probably pick an angsty smutty J/C because that’s a fair proportion of what I write and it’s good to let a new reader know what they can expect. But honestly, I think the best fic I’ve written is The Uncharted Sea. (It’s safe for work. Maybe not for makeup.)

47. Archive Of Our Own, Fanfiction.net or Tumblr - where do you prefer to post and why?

The Archive, of course. Where else can I find ad-free hosting on a stunningly user-friendly interface with absolutely no moralising content restrictions and the world’s best tagging system? That Hugo award is well deserved.

Tumblr is good for headcanons and meta and gifsets and a few other formats that I’m less likely to post on AO3 because I’d feel like I was pissing off people who subscribe to me by giving them some random garbage.

I also have my own website, but I’m not really sure why. Sometimes I post fic there that doesn’t make it to tumblr or AO3.

48. Do you leave reviews when you read fanfiction? Why/Why not?

I try to. Honestly I do. I love it when I get reviews, so I figure paying it forward is the least I can do. I’m less scrupulous about leaving comments when I’m busy or reading on my phone.

49. Do you care if people comment/reblog your writing? Why/why not?

I mean, I love it when people reblog, but I certainly don’t expect it. @arcadia1995​ is amazing for reblogging stuff *blows kisses*

Nobody owes fanfic writers shit, but I feel like there’s a tacit agreement that if you like what you just read for free and you’re on a platform that makes it easy to do so, you leave a review or at least a kudos, because I’m not gonna lie, posting a fic you’ve worked super hard on and seeing it get very few kudos or comments is a bit deflating. I’m sure a lot of us have been there.

50. How did you get into reading and/or writing fanfiction?

During Voyager’s original run I was trawling the internet for Endgame spoilers (I don’t know why; I usually love surprises) and I guess I googled (or whatever the 2001 equivalent of googling was) something like “how does voyager get home” and somehow I stumbled across Revisionist History. At first I had no idea what I was reading - was this a lost story pitch that somehow got leaked? A professional novella commissioned by the showrunners?

Then I started following links and discovered yahoo groups and webrings and Trekiverse and fanfiction.net and all sorts of incredible things I’d never guessed at, including the now defunct ‘archipelago of angst’, a collection of Voyager writers who focused mainly on a darker Janeway than most of the other fic writers I was encountering, and I was hooked. So I wrote a few of my own pieces, and then I lost interest for 15 years. I’m still not sure how I got dragged back in.

51. Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!

Honestly, in what other way can I indulge my obsessions, hone my skills and talk about it endlessly with like-minded people? Where else can I instantly find a plethora of fiction about the exact topic I feel like reading about on my mobile device and for free? Fanfiction is fucking amazing and I’m so glad it exists in my life.

#miamemes #fanfiction #fanfic asks