#no longer a wip!!! incredible success story

[helielune]

lost and found

#jjba #trish una #vento aureo #i love putting her under a spotlight i guess #< tags that make no sense unless you're me or you're here two months in the future bc i queued #another trish doodle and it's like. pretty far back lmfao #i Could post it now but it's like. idk it just has more winter vibes to me so i left it there #in many fics i've read people keep turning her into a pop star. good for her #my art #no longer a wip!!! incredible success story #mostly bc i just left it unpolished. lol don't look too closely maybe. or look super closely on purpose idk whatever you want

[themirokai]

Never say never on returning to wips you love.

In late 2020 and through 2021, I was writing a Mystrade series called His Professional Capacity in which Mycroft is a spymaster. I had the first chapter of a sixth (and probably final) story for the series written, but I never quite figured out where to take it and I moved on to other fandoms.

Now, three years later, I’ve written a five chapter story that nearly doubles the length of the series. It’s getting proofread and beta’d now, but I hope to start posting it soon. Because the vast majority of you followed me after 2021, and I want to entice as many people to read this as possible, I’m going to start posting the stories in the series here. First up:

What He Does

Greg encounters Mycroft's security detail and comes to understand the reasons for it.

~ 2,601 words. I've tweaked some minor things from the AO3 version, which was not Britpicked, but kept the rather American conception of when someone might be carrying a gun, since it's integral to the plot. Please enjoy despite inaccuracies.

Read it below or on AO3.

~*~

Greg pondered whether he should take Mycroft’s arm. Or his hand. Or offer Mycroft his arm. Or put his hand on Mycroft’s back. This whole “dating” thing was confusing. Greg hadn’t dated for decades, and back then it had been women. Not a mature, somewhat intimidating, incredibly posh, devastatingly gorgeous man. He wasn’t quite sure how to act.

Greg would admit that dinner had been a success. The conversation was comfortable, interesting, and somewhat flirty, just as it had been for their previous two dates. And the several meals and drinks they’d shared before that - before Greg had gotten up the nerve to ask Mycroft on a real date. They had chemistry. That was certain. And when the meal ended and Mycroft had suggested they go for a walk to enjoy the fresh fall air, Greg had jumped at the chance to keep the date from ending.

He pondered the possibility of a good night kiss, but wasn’t sure if that should come before or after holding hands or linking arms on a walk. What were the procedures for physical contact with a man who made your stomach do somersaults every time you thought about him? How were those procedures different when the man in question held a highly secretive and incredibly powerful government position? Were they different? Greg settled for moving a little closer to Mycroft as they walked along, allowing the sleeves of their coats to brush against each other.

Mycroft finished the anecdote he was telling about Sherlock as a child, and Greg turned to smile up at him. As he did, movement caught the corner of his eye and Greg glanced behind them. There was a man walking half a block behind them. Greg frowned.

“Shall we take this left?” he asked Mycroft.

“If you like,” Mycroft responded with a soft smile.

They turned and Greg waited about half a block before glancing back. The man behind them made the turn as well. Greg risked a slightly longer look this time and realized with alarm that he recognized the man from the restaurant. His mind immediately ran through possibilities. Mugger. Someone after Greg because of a case he’d worked or was currently working. Someone after Mycroft for whatever shadowy reason. Someone after either or both of them as a way of getting to Sherlock.

“Gregory? Is something wrong?”

No sense in worrying him. Greg could handle this. “No, uh, no. Let’s just - do you mind if we turn down this alley for a moment?”

Now Greg did take Mycroft’s elbow to guide him into the small alley, mentally kicking himself that the first time he touched the man was out of fear and necessity.

“Gregory, what-”

“Please, just stay here a moment and keep quiet, I’m sure it’s nothing, I’ll handle it.”

“Gregory!”

But Greg was not listening, he could hear the man’s footsteps speeding up and getting nearer, and drew his gun. From his peripheral vision, he thought he saw Mycroft reaching for him, but he was already committed to whirling around the corner and slamming the oncoming man against the wall, holding him with an arm across his chest and leveling the gun to his cheek. “That’s far enough, mate. Who are you and why are you following us?”

The man slowly raised his hands, but a female voice suddenly cut in. “Drop the gun! Now!”

Greg did not drop the gun, but turned to look down the barrel of another weapon held by a well-dressed woman who Greg was also fairly sure he had seen at the restaurant. Before Greg had a chance to respond, Mycroft stepped out of the alley.

“Stand down, Ms. Bell.” Mycroft sounded tired.

“Sir, please stay back!” the woman responded.

“Ms. Bell, Inspector Lestrade is not a threat.”

“Respectfully, sir, then why is he hustling you into an alley and drawing a gun on your security?” Ms. Bell kept her own gun trained on Greg, who was frozen.

Mycroft pinched the bridge of his nose. “Because he did not know that I have security and thought Mr. Spooner was following us with malicious intentions.” Mycroft squared his shoulders, and put the tone of command into his voice. “Stand down, Ms. Bell. That is an order.” The woman grimaced and holstered her weapon. “Gregory, kindly unhand Mr. Spooner.”

Greg stepped back, but was not quite able to pick his jaw up off the floor. “They work for you?”

“Indeed,” Mycroft said, as Mr. Spooner, with a face like a thundercloud, started brushing off his clothing. “Mr. Spooner and Ms. Bell are … associates of mine and - for the time being at least - they have been charged with ensuring my safety.”

Greg holstered his gun. “Do you always have security?”

“Yes,” Mycroft said simply.

“So the other times we’ve been out together?”

“They were there and you did not notice them. Which is how it should be,” Mycroft lowered a meaningful look at Spooner, who squirmed.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Greg asked, still wrapping his mind around the fact that he was apparently trying to date someone who merited two armed guards at all times.

Mycroft sighed. “In retrospect, that was clearly a mistake. I-” he paused, looking at the three of them, then shook his head. “The bar in the hotel across the way is nice and quiet. May I buy you a drink, Gregory? I’m afraid the walk has been a bit ruined.”

“Sure… yeah, a drink sounds good.”

Fifteen minutes later they were ensconced in a booth at a swanky hotel bar. Greg had a single malt Scotch, and Mycroft was twisting the stem of a glass of red wine in his long fingers. Beautiful fingers, Greg thought. Spooner and Bell had taken a table on the other side of the bar where they were too far to hear the conversation, but had clear sight lines to Mycroft.

“So how long have those two been your bodyguards?” Greg asked, nodding at Spooner and Bell.

“They’ve only been on this rotation for about a week. They’ll spend a month with me, before moving on to another assignment and being replaced by another two. And I wouldn’t call them bodyguards. They are field agents.”

“Ms. Bell sure seems like a bodyguard.” Greg took a swig of his drink.

“Ms. Bell knows that she will be held partially accountable for Mr. Spooner’s carelessness. This assignment is meant to give a more experienced agent - in this case, Ms. Bell - an opportunity to train a less experienced agent - Mr. Spooner - in the field. It also allows me to observe agents in the field to get a feel for their strengths and weaknesses. I’m afraid tonight revealed some weaknesses.” Mycroft sipped his wine.

“It’s not their fault you decided to go out with a cop,” Greg grinned.

“Yes, but-” Mycroft stopped himself and smiled. “Yes, you’re right.”

Greg narrowed his eyes. “You expect them to be better than me. It’s alright, you can say it.”

Mycroft considered Greg for a moment before responding. “I expect them to be able to follow their mark unnoticed, even if their mark is accompanied by a particularly intelligent and observant detective.”

“Fair enough, and I’ll take the compliment,” Greg chuckled. “So is that the only reason you have security? For training and observation?”

Mycroft twirled his wine glass in his fingers again before responding. “Gregory… I have enjoyed our time together, and if you are willing I would like to continue to see you.”

Greg grinned. “More than willing.”

Mycroft smiled. “Thank you. There are many things I am unable to talk about with you, for your safety, and mine, and that of others. And even with this I must tread a bit lightly, but … I would like you to go into,” he gestured vaguely between the two of them, “this, with your eyes open.”

“I’m listening.” Greg sat a little straighter.

“The work I do, the work I have done in the past, has risks. I… have enemies. Enemies who would prefer that I were no longer operating. While I am generally able to take care of myself, I am not as young as I was and there have been … close calls, as it were. And so now my security detail is part of the field agents’ rotation.”

“How close were the close calls?”

“Too close.”

“How too close?”

“A few centimeters from a major artery, too close.”

“Ah.”

“Yes.”

They both sipped their drinks. “Well then I’m glad Ms. Bell pulled her gun on me. She was probably right to,” Greg said after a minute. “Don’t be too hard on her tomorrow.”

Mycroft smiled and hesitantly reached across the table to touch Greg’s hand. Greg immediately took the opportunity to grab hold of the long, slender fingers. “You don’t… mind? That I live a life that requires that I am under surveillance?”

“I mean you have some privacy, don’t you?”

“Yes!” A blush was climbing up Mycroft’s cheeks. “Yes, of course! I - um - they - well, I mean-“

The sight of Mycroft Holmes stuttering like a schoolboy melted the last of Greg’s discomfort and he grinned, then squeezed Mycroft’s hand. “Can I safely assume that if I go to kiss you when we leave here that I won’t end up looking down the barrel of Ms. Bell’s gun again?”

Mycroft gaped at him momentarily before recovering. “No - um - no, that would be fine.”

“Just fine?” Greg cocked an eyebrow, leaning in to the newfound confidence.

A slow smile played over Mycroft’s features. “More than fine. Welcome.”

Greg settled back into his seat with a grin. There was one thing sorted.

Greg squinted across the restaurant. “Is Bell wearing a wig?”

Mycroft took a sip of his drink. “Gregory, kindly do not peer at her. She is more effective if it is not clear that there’s a connection between her and I.”

Greg turned his eyes front, but not before he saw Bell glower at him. “Sorry,” he grinned at Mycroft. “Is it a wig though? It’s awful. Don’t you all train in costuming or something?”

Mycroft coughed and wiped his mouth carefully with his napkin, avoiding Greg’s eyes. “I believe she dyed her hair.”

Greg’s jaw dropped. “No. Mycroft, no. Not that colour.” Mycroft cut another bite of his meal without looking up. “Did she do it because of me?” Greg asked, astonished. When Mycroft neither confirmed nor denied, Greg clapped his hand over his mouth to stifle a laugh.

“You’ve been… a little too good at spotting her,” Mycroft said after a minute. “But her new assignment starts in a few days. I believe the change in hair colour is more related to that.”

“There is no way that shade is good for any kind of undercover work, darling, you’ve got to get her to change it. It looks like it doesn’t know whether it’s red or purple.”

Mycroft started a bit at the pet name, and watched carefully as Greg applied himself to his meal. After a moment, he relaxed with a smile. “I’ll speak to her.”

“Mycroft.”

“Mm?”

“The chap on the bicycle.”

“What about him?”

“Is he your new security?”

A heavy sigh, then, “Kindly leave your gun holstered, Gregory.”

About a month, a number of dates, and many quite pleasant kisses after their first, Greg and Mycroft lay naked in Mycroft’s bed following their first time having sex. Greg was gently tracing his fingers over one of the several scars that broke the plane of Mycroft’s pale skin. He had seen the scars when he had undressed Mycroft - a lengthier affair than he was used to, with far more buttons - but had been preoccupied at the time. Now he took his time to study them.

“More of these than I was expecting,” Greg said, tracing what he suspected was the remnant of a knife wound to Mycroft’s side.

Mycroft started moving away from him. “I’m sorry. If it bothers you I can-” He was stopped as Greg wrapped an arm around his waist.

Greg pulled Mycroft close. “Don’t be daft. You’re beautiful and I want to see all of you. It’s not like I like the idea of you being stabbed,” he touched the knife scar, “or shot,” his fingers found the scar from a bullet wound on Mycroft’s shoulder, “or shot again,” the scar on Mycroft’s left thigh, “or burned,” the matching marks on the forearms, “or … what is this?” Greg fingered the vaguely triangular scar just above Mycroft’s right hip.

“Stabbed, I suppose you could say,” Mycroft replied quietly. “It was an ice pick.”

“An… ice pick.”

“Indeed. The result of an error in judgment of a much younger man.”

“Just to be clear, you were the younger man with poor judgment, right? There’s not some young tosser running about who caused you to get ice picked?”

“That’s correct. I read a situation erroneously and suffered the consequences.”

“With an ice pick.”

“Just so.”

“Any chance I could get more of the story behind that?”

Mycroft considered for a moment. “If two governments were to permanently fall… no, even then it wouldn’t be unclassified in either of our lifetimes.”

Greg leaned up to kiss Mycroft’s chin. “You’re fascinating. Does anyone actually believe you work for the Department for Transport?”

Mycroft chuckled. “Yes, Detective Inspector Lestrade. People from whom I have not had to take away investigations, and who have not had to deal with my brother, and who have not seen me in a state of undress - essentially everyone in the world who is not you or who has not otherwise encountered me in my professional capacity - generally believe that I am a minor government official.”

Greg planted a kiss on his chest. “People are daft, then. You dress too well to be a minor anything.”

Mycroft’s lips twisted into a wry smile. “Thank you. I think.”

“Anyway,” Greg picked up his prior thought. “I don’t like the idea of you being hurt. I hate it in fact. But the scars are part of you. And I like you. I like all of you. Very much.”

Mycroft drew Greg up so that they were face to face and kissed him deeply. “I also like you very much, Gregory,” he breathed when they finally broke apart.

Greg pulled himself tight against Mycroft’s side and rested his head on the other man’s chest. The angle put the bullet wound on Mycroft’s thigh in his line of sight. “This is the newest one,” he murmured, touching it gently.

“Very astute, Gregory.”

“Not a youthful error of judgment, then?”

“No. That one is the reason I have a security detail.”

Greg covered it with his palm. “A few centimeters from your femoral artery.”

“Mm,” Mycroft acknowledged. “The circumstances were such that if my assailant’s shot had been better - or worse, I suppose, given your perspective - I likely would have bled out before assistance could reach me.” Greg hugged him a little tighter. “That caused my superiors to insist that I be under guard,” Mycroft finished.

Greg frowned. “You have superiors?”

“One or two. It’s a bit … complicated.”

Greg huffed. “I bet it is.” He planted a kiss on Mycroft’s chest. “You’ve certainly led an interesting life.”

“I believe the corollary to the traditional curse is ‘may you live an interesting life.’”

“Do you feel cursed?” Greg asked, craning his neck to see Mycroft’s face.

“On the contrary,” Mycroft smiled, “the fact that in spite of all this, or perhaps as a result of all this, I have ended up here, with you, has me feeling incredibly fortunate at the moment.”

“Me too,” Greg grinned.

~*~

Thanks for reading! The next story is now up over here.

#mystrade #his professional capacity #<- will use that tag for this series #greg lestrade #mycroft holmes #mirokai writes #mycroft x greg #mycroft holmes x greg lestrade #bbc sherlock

[circa-specturgia]

hello circa!! *throws confetti* storyteller saturday!! Your attention to detail in the world-building is so inspiring (your spear and good news and thaddeus drawings were INCREDIBLE), what other technology does the world have? Is there a strong drive to invent weaponry? Also, if you were one of the winged Aeris, what color would your wings be :0

Thank you! I absolutely love worldbuilding and pay it a lot of mind while writing, I’d say my stories are not just plot-centric but also world-centric to a degree, so I’m glad that that aspect of my writing shines through!

Note: Some terms here may be confusing if you don’t know the magic system of my WIP, Circa Specturgia! I suggest giving my TL;DR on the system a read, if you find that stuff interesting! If you want to jump in though, the simple words are: Specturgy - magic Specter - wizard/mage Matrix - magic circle Jynkaturgy - branch of specturgy, elemental magics Viðumancy - branch of specturgy, conceptual magics

Technological Advancement

The world of Istra is historically in a moment of technological revolution, or rather, right on the brink of it, with the events occurring over its course! I plan to have new technologies rising up every week, such as the assortment of guns mentioned above, made by Tamara!

In a bit of background, preceding the revolution occurring in the in-world 1700’s, was a period of a few decades spanning the middle of the 16th century, 200 years back: The Specturgic Aktriparivence, a total revolution of the way in which specturgy, the worlds magic, is studied, harnessed, and utilized, becoming far more available and widespread, no longer a mysterious art form or weapon of military use!

Now, the most advanced nations in terms of specturgic technology (and technology as a whole), are Ahætiem and Hevksiita, the second having been the birthplace of the Aktriparivance.

Atz & Verter, Atzverter & Aurecim

Aurelius Verter and Cimana Atz, recognized names now called the Parents of the Revolution, lauded with the kickstarting of the above mentioned technological revolution with the invention of the Atzverter engine, the more modern invention of the Aurecim Engine, and the funding of many other researchers and inventors, funding great minds around the world.

The first of the two engines was invented several decades prior to the revolution itself, however its resurgence was only brought around thanks to funding being give to the innovative duo, which allowed them to continue and expand their own research and create the second of the engines as well as fund others!

The workings of said engines are described below, in slightly worldbuilding/technical heavy jargon, though if that’s your thing, feel free to read!

In essence though, the Atzverter engine is a combination of a mechanical and specturgic device that uses specturgy to power it, with an output of energy which can be used in a variety of other technologies. The Aurecim engine, however, is able to provide propulsion, or negate the gravity on a vessel allowing for it to fly.

Applications - The Ahætieman Bullet Trains and the Hevksiitan Skyachts

Neat inspo images cause I love y’all

As mentioned above, these two technologies along with several iterations, modifications and versions, is entirely changing the way in which power is generated and provided across the world in many sectors, but for now I’ll focus on transportation!

As was said, the two nations with the biggest boom in new technology and research are Hevksiita and Ahætiem, both with very differing applications! Both nations are in a mutual and yet friendly rivalry, being military and political allies, for centuries now, with great kinship between their peoples. Their race is more akin to pushing each other to new heights, the Hevksiitan Imperial Dynasty and the Kings of Ahætiem being on a friendly basis, though showboating their successes between each other on the chances they have to do so.

Ahætiem uses both the Atzverter and Aurecim in tandem, in their bullet trains. The designs had originally been for a network of locomotives powered by the Atzverter engines, but upon the Ahætieman Council of Blood inviting the two geniuses to the nation to oversee the project, they simply announced they could give Ahætiem a much better system if they were given the proper funding and some time.

They did not disappoint! Within a few years they’d perfected their previously theoretical (at that point in time) Aurecim engine, and redesigned the whole system with the idea of using trains with far larger carriages, and far more power, aided by advanced Atzverter’s for the power, and the new Aurecim’s for negating parts of the weight and speed, letting them make the trains far heavier and yet far faster than what would have been imagined possible with just the first engines! The network is still being constructed, but many connections between the cities on the mainland continent exist already!

Hevksiita however… It was the home of the duo, and so they worked on a design for their homeland, one set in the mountains, a bay overlooking the ocean. The result was the Skyyachts, vehicles capable of full flight, far smaller and sleeker than airships of the past which relied on balloons, instead entirely relying on the most advanced Aurecim’s to date!

The risk coming with these is twofold. Firstly, any flights over the ocean or in any vicinity to Storms, or where Storms are predicted to spontaneously form, are far too risky to be allowed to be taken. While the Atzverter’s which power the Aurecim’s draw on the ambient energy of their surroundings during continuous use, and the high atmosphere and areas surrounding Storms is one of high energy, the risk of being caught in one or crashing over the ocean is too great to make.

The Skyyachts are this used for flights at high altitude, above the mainland, or in some cases, at lower altitudes, but further distances.

Military Technology

Current events have been slowly causing international tensions to rise between several nations, and as a result the Council of Blood AND Council of Names of Ahætiem have both called for the designing, preparation, and construction, of several war machines powered by Specturgy.

However, it is important to note that during the past decade of the revolution, several international summits and later conventions and have been held, on the topic of how specturgic technology could be applied and researched, in the goal of protecting life from any sort of unethical machinery, and from unethical testing in the goal of creating any such machinery. These international laws of course limit the design and use of any machinery and weaponry created.

So, yes, there is a drive to make technology, but, it is limited by the international rules agreed upon by the nations which have the capabilities to produce advanced specturgic tech.

Wings!

More light-hearted now!

I made a post about this here, if anyone wants to give their own answers! I wanna hear em!

As for myself, I’d like to say either snow white wings with flecks of gold and silver across the tips of the feathers, OR, pure black, ravens wings, shimmering in blue and purple in the light… Something ostentatious, but uniform, which I could match to clothes and all!

But realistically speaking? I’d probably get something a bit more mundane, something hazel or dark brown to match my hair? Maybe a few specks of white. Honestly anything corvid would make me happy I love corvids.

That’s about it! Hope the answers were satisfying! ✨ Feel free to ask as to anything!

Taglist? Taglist! ✨ @bloodlessheirbyjacques @athenswrites @magefaery @writingonesdreams @muddshadow @awritingcaitlin @agrimedena-drax @pinespittinink @tryingtimi Let me know if you want to be added! ✨

#circa specturgia #wip.circa specturgia #writeblr #writers on tumblr #writing community #writing #writing inspiration #writing thoughts #wtwcommunity #fantasy technology #fantasy history #hard magic

[ginnyq]

WIP Excerpt: Bountiful Regrets

I haven’t done this in a long while, friends, mostly because Writing is Hard. But I feel like I have Enough to share now, and maybe putting it out there will motivate me to actually, you know, finish the next chapter?

(Here’s the already posted bits.)

Chapter 5: Bombastic Retreat

Boba fights for his life inside the Sarlacc, forced to grapple with his choices and regrets, and makes one final decision.

A sudden gasp. Eyes blinked open. Mind disoriented in unfamiliar surroundings.

Dank, rotting, wet, painful surroundings.

And then panic. Terror.

Memories flashed by. Too many to comprehend, or to belong to one person. Dozens of lives lived over thousands of years.

Every single one was as different from the others as sentients could be from each other, but they all had two things in common.

They were all dead, slowly digested in the stomach of the Sarlacc.

And they all suffered the intimate torture of Susejo.

But — Which one am I?

Even the memories were confused. The Corellian gambler Kess had narrated his experience to his beloved, but could no longer remember her name, or which of the many women in his mind she truly was.

Tuskens who no longer remembered their tribes. Various smugglers, spice dealers, swindlers, and even bounty hunters sentenced to the pit by Jabba, who couldn’t remember which of the crimes they remembered were their own.

And then there was the Jedi.

A sixty-year-old woman who’d spent her life after completing her training studying Sarlacci across the galaxy. And she had been conducting research on Tatooine when she walked right over the top of a baby Sarlacc. Tentacles grabbed her by the ankle and dragged her into the pit, barely five meters wide then.

Even as the acid burned her, she did not blame the Sarlacc for behaving according to its nature; she felt sorry for it. She spoke to it, learned she was perhaps the second or third sentient the Sarlacc had ever eaten, and felt the incredible anger of perhaps its first victim, a mildly telepathic Choi, barely out of childhood, named Susejo.

She’d called her lightsaber and freed herself, but the pit was too deep and the Sarlacc’s tentacles too quick for a successful escape. And even suffering broken bones and the enormity of her failure, she apologized to the Sarlacc for hurting it.

After a few days of boredom while being slowly digested, she suggested to Susejo that they pass time by telling stories.

Am I the Jedi? How long have I been here? What is my name?

A low, deep laugh emanated from everywhere. You have been here only a few weeks, and you are not a Jedi.

Susejo’s mention of Jedi brought forth a rage, long controlled but intimately familiar.

Life feeds on death, came a different voice, deep and sonorous, always serious and full of comfort, too long gone but never forgotten. A bounty hunter must always be ready to go anywhere and face any danger.

Susejo’s grating, acidic cruel voice eviscerated the other. No, you are certainly not a Jedi. Your name is —

“Boba Fett,” he spat, holding Dad’s words close and allowing just a sliver of his rage to power his words. “My name is Boba Fett.”

The flash of a purple lightsaber. A helmet (empty and yet very much not empty) bouncing away from a body that collapsed, lifeless, to the sand.

Interesting that you, of all people, should admire my Jedi. I do miss her. She was very kind to me.

Another flare of that omnipresent rage. “Then why did you kill her?”

Because she wasn’t like the Jedi Boba had met. She was kind. She had, in spite of her own suffering, offered comfort to a scared, angry, lonely child.

A spiked helmet. A woman in gold whispering, “He is not gone, Boba, merely marching far away,” holding him as he cried out for his father.

I didn’t kill her, Susejo snapped, and the tentacles holding Boba convulsed, forcing the breath from his lungs. The Sarlacc ate her.

“You could have stopped it,” Boba coughed, words powered by his boiling rage. “You could stop all of this, if you wanted, you coward —”

A large tentacle whipped across Boba’s head, the crack of sound creating a visible crack in the visor, and possibly his skull. He nearly vomited, but nothing could stop the ceaseless voice in his head.

Who are you to lecture me on killing? You have killed more than the Sarlacc by far, have shoved away more kindness than every creature in this pit combined. Susejo’s laugh bounced around inside Boba’s helmet. You and I are not so different, Boba Fett.

#writing #fanfic #my fic #bountiful regrets bittersweet resolve #excerpts #boba fett #bobadin #boba adopted by the tribe au #boba in the sarlacc

[anna-hawk]

2021 FIC YEAR IN REVIEW

Tagged by @lucy-sky and @darlingshane 🧡🧡

number of completed works: 21

Total word count: 93160

Fandoms written in: Detroit Become Human - Daredevil - The Punisher - The Walking Dead - Small Engine Repair - Stranger Things

did you write more, less, or about what you’d expected? Definitely less than I wanted to.

what’s your own favorite story of the year? Cyberfingers because I was able to really get into the ship and get a better feel for it. It was very self indulgent to write.

did you take any writing risks this year? Yes. I started posting a WIP when I was always scared to do so. Unfortunately, it did end where I was afraid it would...

I also wrote for 2 new ships that are very different from each other and from what I've written until now. I think I was more successful there 😅

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the new year? Writing more for DBH and exploring several AUs as well as trying my hand at poly.

Most popular story of the year? Why are you smelling me, Hargrove? I was honestly so pleasantly surprised by the incredibly warm welcome of my first fic for ST. The fandom was really sweet. I saw that one gorgeous fanart and got this idea and people seemed to enjoy it. What more to ask for?

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: 3.AM. Idk... it was the first, longer Frank fic I've written in a while and despite it being very angsty I also loved going back to that Reader verse. But it didn't land as well as I'd hoped? 🤷🏼‍♀️

Most fun story to write: Oh definitely Happy Birthday, Sweetheart. I can't remember the last time I wrote so fast to get a fic out while having so much fun. I had a specific date to get it done since it was a bday gift, but no one but me knew and I just poured everything I love and knew Amaya would love into it. So there wasn't any pressure at all despite it being for someone in particular.

Biggest disappointment: That I wasn't able to continue The Teacher and the Deputy like I'd hoped.

Biggest surprise: The notes and kudos I got for Invisible to the naked eye because it's short and crack-y but it's nearly my best loved DBH fic 😅

Tagging : @jessarioferebor @coffeeboy900 @justhereforfancontent @chelseasdagger @kteague and really anyone who writes here or on AO3.

#writing #well this was fun

[curiousartemis]

Since I’ve started to push myself to get involved with the “publishing hopefuls” scene on Twitter, I realize I’ve been doing incredible damage to my psyche. Participating in contests and hashtags, watching “tips and tricks” videos on YouTube, following literary agents and editors, bookmarking resource websites - it’s become this immense pressure that’s settled over me. I see other authors being published, landing agents, winning contests, and I alternate between seething with jealousy and outright weeping because it becomes (false) confirmation about my own writerly inadequacies. 

It got to the point where I couldn’t pick up a novel and enjoy it because I was so jealous, so upset, so bewildered that this person “made it” ... despite the fact that I hadn’t actually tried to make it yet myself. I’d already “condemned” myself - decided that I would never make it. No agent would ever vibe with my story. My writing would never be polished enough. My storytelling abilities were inherently inept. 

I had trouble reading and enjoying fanfiction. “Why am I reading this?” “I should be reading in my genre and age group, so I know what’s hot in the market right now. I should be reading published books from successful authors so I can see how to improve my own craft. I SHOULD BE LISTENING TO YET ANOTHER VIDEO OR PODCAST.” 

I looked at my two current fanfiction WIP and felt immense disgust. I was diverging too far away from canon. I had taken a series too far, and no one was no longer truly interested. I had convinced myself that I was a “master” at first person POV, but in reality my execution of that POV was puerile and trite. My original characters were repetitive and juvenile. I was unpopular and disliked.

I started feeling about popular fanfiction authors the way I now felt about published authors: jealousy, despair, anger. Why does this author get multiple asks a day? Why does that author have fifty comments for a one-shot they only shared last month? Their writing isn’t better than mine... or is it?

Doubt, fear, self-hatred... every day I struggled to open my document and continue writing. 

I had this moment of self-actualization yesterday - how much I was hurting myself, and how much it was sapping the joy away from my life. Knowledge is power, and I hope to be more mindful of which seemingly harmless encounters trigger me - to curate my internet experience, to take my journey as a publishing hopeful one step at a time, and to remember that I love writing. 

I’m allowed to be sad; I’m allowed to be disappointed. But I’m allowed to be happy, too. And I want to be happy.

#writing #arty writes #sad artemis hours #arty tells it like it is #i hesitate to label this as 'sad hours' b/c it's the opposite #i had that epiphany yesterday #and everything just feels so much clearer #i do acknowledge the incredibly difficult year i've had #and i've had extremely traumatic experiences with fandom #but honestly i'm in such a good place right now #fandom is so fun again! #and my writing community (nirnwrote) is amazing #so just breathe arty #try to relax #and enjoy writing again

[hoochieblues]

100 Days of Writing: Day One

Day 1: Write about what your motivation is to write at all. What got you started? What keeps you going?

(For @the-wip-project)

I write because it’s my home. Because it’s how I process things, where I feel most comfortable, how I show love and solidify the things that are important to me. Trouble is, I didn’t realize that for a long time.

(cw: abuse mention under the cut, I guess?)

As a kid, writing was my ~* thing *~. I was an introspective child, badly bullied, horrible home life, abusive af family. I had the physical fortitude and emotional stability of a mid-collapse Jenga tower, plus we were flat broke and never stayed in one place long enough for me to make friends. I didn’t have much going on. But making up stories? I could do that. And I kept getting told I was good at it. 

By my teens, I’d won a few competitions and gotten a stack of rejections of publishers (as you do), and an offer of early college admission, based partly on my supposed talent. Expectations were high. Then I got sick with a debilitating chronic illness. Every academic institution dropped me like a hot potato, and I was sidelined into “being disabled” and - somehow - also nursing my monster of a mother through cancer. Suddenly it was no longer ‘how will you explore your talent?’ but ‘how are you going to monetize it?’. 

That led to a long period of miserable freelancing and trying to commercialize my work... with limited success, for various reasons. I made bad choices, had skewed perspective, and was surrounded by a lot of shitty people. Illness didn’t help. And, eventually, I burned out. 

Writing was still the time I felt happiest, still the thing I loved most, but I’d lost the spark and fulfilment I used to have, and it had become something that taunted instead of comforted me. 

Weirdly, I came to fandom after writing original fiction, and it was a huge turning point. I found a sense of community, and I got feedback from readers that wasn’t based on how commercial the work was, but what they liked about it. That validation - that hope that, maybe, me writing something I loved because I loved it, and for no other reason - was enough. I was enough. 

No one - nothing - had ever made me feel like that before. 

Of course, it ended up not lasting. I wasn’t around that long before the trifecta of illness, life, and noxiously toxic humans saw me putting my for-fun writing on two separate hiatuses (like.. three year hiatuses...) and eventually, in 2018/9, the rest of my life imploded and I had a huge fucking breakdown. A lifetime of abuse’ll do that, apparently. 

Long story short, I realized how much I’d defined myself by the value I held for other people - how useful I was, what good I did, how I took care of them - and my creative skills were a part of that. I mistook the validation of being deemed “good” at something for a validation of me. I had squeezed myself and my talents into so many boxes for other people that I had lost the love of creation itself, and I’d lost sight of why I loved it. 

So, having spent the pandemic doing All Of The Therapy (with highly mixed results), I resolved to do right by myself... or at least better. 

Some days, that means working on the straight jobs that pay rent (usually editing, sometimes questionable romance novels). Some days, it means following my heart and writing what I want... loving what I want. 

If that means gory horror/sci-fi that’s going to make about a buck eighty on Kindle Unlimited, fine. If it means a million words of fanfic about my fave OTP/emotional support video game franchise (*cough*dragonage*cough), good. 

What keeps me going - not just writing, but going - is that, finally, I’m doing it for me. And no one can stop me anymore. 

Perhaps that’s part of why I decided to come back to tumblr, too. The last time I was here, this platform had an incredibly supportive community... even if I never really threw myself into it. Doesn’t matter if no one reads this. I know I’m not alone, because I can see there are a bunch of other weirdos like me out there, talking to themselves in the tags.  

#100 days of writing #personal #writeblurble #i figured imma do this thing and it's going to get vulnerable and intimate and probably be a bad idea #but so much of the past several years has involved me struggling horribly with the thing that is simultaneously my passion #my creative outlet and my dang job - allegedly - that i figured this might be some much needed introspection #especially as i return to tumblr and the fandom shit that saved my sanity once before #...again - allegedly - #soooo why not #behold my squishy core #buckle up children #bring snacks #100daysofwriting

[featherwurm]

Stories

Longer narratives with complex character interaction and distinct through-lines. (Please note that this is not a free prompt - these are my own personal Wips.)

The Eternal General - A man is forced through a grueling ordeal in a low-fantasy world as the actions of the man he served as head general take shape as an unearthly monstrosity. This begins an endless bond of servitude to otherworldly forces and an eternity of different lifetimes (Features: Marcus, Rin, Ivan, Ytra.) This is a collaborative project with @fullyfunctionalminiaturebeehive.

Scratched Sky - Lifetimes and worlds away from where he began, Marcus finds himself in a world nearly destroyed through outside forces which took his likeness and were forestalled by an embittered and exhausted Ivan. He is forced into a life of recluse as we learn of the outfall of the creatures that Marcus has become bound to. (Features: Marcus, Ivan, Lynne, Shay.) This is a collaborative project with @fullyfunctionalminiaturebeehive.

Longbody Dragons - Below the ocean a reclusive empire reigns, and these dragons ferociously guard their own secrets. The Dragon King pits his many offspring against each other to determine who will succeed him and protect his empire from any interaction with the outside world. The twins, Shen and Su, take very different paths in life, but when Su's self-imposed exile comes to an end, there will be major change. (Features: Shen, Su, Dragon God Rahab, Ji-Ho.)

Gryphon and Dragon - Two creatures from another time that seem very out of place in a world where, from a technological dark age, a strange dieselpunk future has arisen. They must both unravel the strange mysteries of her past (who she is, why she is subservient to human will and whim), and going forward, ensure they understand his kind (what kind of a creature has the mind of a man but venom enough to fell him). When they find Gryphon's sisters, they are in for more than either of them is ready to take on, but out of duty and out of obligation they will go forward to whatever end. (Features: Gryphon the Sphinx, Dragon, Irina, Olga, Masha.)

Parnassus - A creature who at once seems beautiful, alluring, and otherworldly copes with being ripped from his homeland in an event that nearly destroyed him. Along the way he finds and gives much kindness to many, and the ways in which it trickles through their lives is complex and deep. (Features: Parnassus, Esquiline, Lucifer, the Tendriled Woman.)

The Voices - Strange and horrible creatures rise from the sites of massive human calamity in a slowly post-apocalyptic world. What they do, who they interact with, and what happens to them may be critical to the remainder of human life in the world (Features: The Voice of the Drowned, the Voice of the Decadant, the Voice of the Burned, the Bird.)

Humanfolk - ‘Humanity’ at the brink of collapse has split into three subgroups through various means, the humans, the flight-afflicted, and the merfolk. While once a hope of the last bastion of human thought, the merfolk had long since distanced themselves from land-dwelling humans and were considered little more than a food source. The flight afflicted are the result of a strange sickness that warps the mind and body - giving the precious gift of flight at the cost of reason and understanding. Humanity will have to find new ways to survive. (Features: Orcafolk, Flight Afflicted.) This story may blend with The Voices.

Vali the Dreamwalker - A story about surviving, enduring, and eventually thriving. Vali is gifted with the incredible ability to traverse and alter the dreams of any living thing, but ultimately, for all his efforts, healing will be his ultimate trial. (Features: Vali, Media, Oxalis, Fenn, A'thel, En'thel, B'rath, Ensen, Neis.)

Anton the Changed - A circus is abducted and altered by the fae for their own entertainment, some 100 years after this, one of their members manages to escape back to the mortal realm, although he has been permanently changed by the ordeal. He finds others that understand him and together they plan rescue of those he was bound with. (Features: Anton, Pleasant, King, Malachi, Samuel, The Fish.)

Anachronism - An immortal afraid of the ways in which the world changes, they have tried to keep to strange 'time bubbles' where the world stays still as time moves forward around them. When they are shunted from their last bastion of an older time, they are forced to confront the modern world and their own nature. (Features: Butler Cross, Rail.)

The Unable - Strange tentacle-headed creatures appear one day on our planet, inert apart from their subservience to any human whim. Their existence becomes a new economy, until, at last, one day they appear to awaken and develop wills of their own.

The Gardener - At the forefront of human bio-engineering and molecular botany, a strange and singular person lives in total recluse. Despite their successes, there is much they hide. They are forced to confront their own issues as they deal with corporate espionage, the ethics of synthetically made life and sapience, and reconciling a painful past. (Features: The Gardener, Glass.)

The Pitfighters - In a wold where manipulation of the human body can be pushed to tremendous and frightening physical extremes, underground pitfighting is a brutal blood sport fed by using the bodies of the illegal and the unwanted. Three different former pitfighters tell their stories in a political drama (Mercutio), a buddy road trip (Tac and Ephra), and a gentle love story (Tom and Zir) (Features: Mercutio, Tac, Tom, Ephra the Shifter, and Zir the Reptile Charmer)

Sinkhole City - In the world, strange portals to some other place are opening, and while they are dangerous, people seem drawn to them, and cities form around their edges. In this strange place Leon, recovering from a previous life, discovers many secrets and quirks of it, and the dramas that play out because of it. (Features: Leon, Lynne, the Horned Man, Rin, Ivan.)

The Beast of 1,000 Shadows - The monster lives far and away in distant hills and changes her form when she removes her pelt. She has different ones, but not many, and those that pass through her domain know to fear her. All but one. One who had been through many other things long before and marked them all on her skin in her own way. A wanderer and a wayfarer who found reason to pause. (Features: The Beast of 1,000 Shadows, The Tattooed Woman.)

Soft Minotaur - A version of the myth where the poor beast escapes with the help of two Athenian sacrifices, seeking only a simple life.

Quellus and Cipher - Raised in secret to be trained as the perfect king, the young man known only as Cipher (his real name lost - it was supposed to be a cipher for him to determine), suffers in the military academy where he has been pushed ahead, ahead, ahead, even though he'd rather retreat into the woods. When he is revealed as prince, his elder brother Quellus, with much hesitance and love, helps him flee from their war-torn society. (Features: Quellus, Cipher, Cipher's Sister.)

The Raw - ... I was going through some things. (Features: The Raw.)

The Unnamed World of the Four Schools - When a war for conquest comes to the Dark Mage's swamp, she is forced out of the neutrality that binds mages to lives of recluse. Reluctantly joining up with the mage, Arthur of the Woods, the two of them journey to forestall further conflict, and prevent a magic war that could damage the very fabric of reality. (Features The Dark Mage, Arthur of the Woods.)

The Unwitting Mage - Terrivald had lived a peaceful life under his brother's shadow, quietly enjoying a solitary life in his library, until a baffling artifact of elven making and a strange prophecy teleport him halfway across the world. As he journeys home, he must discern the purpose and abilities of said artifact, and whether or not he truly believes that he is some sort of savior figure, or if someone is simply having a laugh. (Features: Terivald, Navaras, Sandstorm.)

I often record my more memorable dreams as short fiction with accompanying illustrations. They are all tagged under 'Dream' and are sometimes a starting point for a longer piece of fiction.

I occasionally make short comics if I think the idea suits the medium.

My husband, @fullyfunctionalminiaturebeehive is working on a story involving Sihal, Farrow, Agate, Fall, Muriel, Rochelle, and others (side characters include Druzy, Saphire, Emerald, Snowflake Obsidian, etc.)

Some old stories may or may not see the light of day (but have some fragmentary existence in my portfolios) include: Mortalis, D.R.L.H., There are Places, Unfortunate Innocence, Vlasis and Lavinia, Lane Davenforth.

[babbushka]

Hi, it's okay if you don't want to answer, I just wanted to ask you because I find you incredibly successful ❤ First of all, your works had a great influence on my decision to write. I said to myself, "I want to express myself like her, I want to be able to reflect what's on my mind on paper like she does." You inspired me and I started writing, hoping that one day I would get to the point where I'm successful like you. I know it'll take time to establish my own way of writing and it'll improve as I write. But when I write, I always get stuck, I think I can't convey what is going on well and rush it. I guess I make no progress. I don't know what to do, if you have any advice I would be happy to hear it. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, love your work ❤

Hello my dear anon, oh this is so kind of you to say! I'm absolutely honored to have inspired you to start writing, and I'm happy to give any advice for how you can continue on with this craft, for whatever that may be worth to you :)

(putting it under a cut because it's long lol)

Firstly, I would like to say that the word 'success' means different things to different people. There's success of public reaction, how it's received and all that, but there's also success of internal goals. I personally try to concern myself more with my internal goals, and less about how other people view the writing in terms of likes/kudos/reblogs, whether that's fanfic or my screenplays. These sort of goals vary depending on the piece, but usually they boil down to trying to make someone feel a certain way, or trying to make a certain point in the story.

For example, if I'm writing something that's supposed to be a hurt-comfort piece, then to me, it is successful if at least one person is comforted while reading it. If I'm writing something that's a horror thriller, then it is a success if I'm able to make at least one person feel that sense of fear, or at the very least, dread. It doesn't really matter to me how many notes it gets, or how many people read it, as long as I was able to impact one person (and that usually is myself lol) then the piece was a success, and I move on to the next.

I think it's important that you contextualize how you see success for your writing. My best advice really and truly is to write the things that you want, and not what you think will be popular. Write the plots that interest you, try to convey the emotions that you want to feel, do what brings you happiness. When you put your heart into your work, people will see it and be drawn to it, trust me.

In regards to getting stuck, oh my gosh have I been there before! We all have, it's a part of the creative process where at some point, all of us run against a wall, and have to be faced with how we're going to move forward. Please don't be discouraged by this, it is a natural part of the process, I promise. I have been writing for over a decade, in one form or another, and I still have moments where I have no idea what I'm doing! But, over the years, I've sort of figured out some tips or rather, things that I do to make writing a little bit easier of a time:

Outline your story. I don't care if it's 1k, 10, 100k -- outline. I don't care if it's just a oneshot or if it's a professional novel, you outline. Outlines can seem boring and unnecessary, but they are your best friend in terms of what the hell is going on in this story. This is where you really figure out what the plot it, how things happen, what the points of action are, all that jazz. I have an outline template that I can give you to use, if you'd like it. Outlining is the structure, it's the skeleton of your story, and without it, there's nothing for the meat (dialogue, descriptions, actions, etc) to stick to.

Warm up before starting on your WIP. It can be as easy as writing a string of nonsense, keysmashing, typing up random dialogue that has nothing to do with anything -- just get your brain moving and those creative muscles flexing. Then when you're itching to just work on the real thing already, delete the nonsense, and get to it.

Have smaller WIPs to work on alongside the big one. This does not work for everyone, but for me, I find it really helpful to switch gears when I'm stuck on a particular piece of writing. It's nice to say "okay, i have no clue how i'm going forward with this one, let's work on this one for a bit instead," because what tends to happen is that by giving your brain a break, it's able to flow ideas more freely, and you'll be past that sticky point in no time.

In terms of trying to convey what's happening on the page, I really do think that asking yourself a million questions to give context -- or rather, having a friend ask you them -- is so helpful.

Let's say for example, you have:

He put the book down.

Well, alright, that's pretty straightforward, and it works, but, it doesn't paint much of a picture. We simply need more context:

How did he put the book down?

Where did he put the book down?

What did he feel when he put the book down?

Why did he put the book down?

What is the significance of the book?

What did he do after the book was no longer in his hands?

When you ask yourself these questions, you can take 'he put the book down' and turn it into:

Slamming the weathered diary onto his desk, he blinked back tears, the shock of its contents too overwhelming for him to handle. Alone in the room, his mind races-- never in a million years could he imagine that his own father had endured such sorrow. He paces, unable to simply stand with this knowledge weighing heavy on his chest, his deepest fears realized. He never should have read the diary, but now the damage was done, and the words could not be unread.

or,

With a trembling breath of reverence, he let the smooth pages of the book flutter to a close as he gently set it back on the shelf. This was it, this was the very tome he had been looking for! The very same one that had been treasured for years, heralded as impossible, a myth, a legend. A light fills him, one of eager anticipation, but also of clawing fear: he must protect this book and the knowledge it contains, this he knows, so that it can never fall into the wrong hands. Leaving the library, he amends to return that evening with a way to smuggle it out, but for now, he must plan how.

Two very different interpretations, two very different images! All from the way we answer the defining questions of context.

It takes time, and practice makes perfect. Writing is a skill just like any other, and the more you do it, the better you will become, I promise. No one wakes up one day out of nowhere and is perfect at being creative, often, the beauty is in the process of learning and developing your craft. I know it can feel frustrating, but the very fact that you know you are struggling means you are getting better, because you can recognize where you're having trouble and are trying to fix it. That is something to be proud of, and something that I know you can work through in time.

I hope that you were able to find this helpful, and I'm sending you all my love!

[imaginedmelody]

2020 Fic Roundup!

I don’t think I’ve ever done a fic roundup post before, and if you had asked me in the first six months of this year, I would not have believed that this would be the year I would start! I started 2020 in a serious writing slump, struggling even to finish the rare fic challenge I signed up for. And I thought that would characterize the whole year for me. But then in the last six months, I hit a stride unlike I’ve had in years. It only feels right to take a moment to review and commemorate it!

Total number of completed stories: 8 (seven one-shots and one completed WIP)

Total word count: 28,448

Fandoms written in: All For the Game; Stranger Things; Community

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected? Oh more, absolutely. Community (my biggest fandom this year) wasn’t even on my radar at the start of 2020. I had a couple things in the works, but nothing I was making serious headway on. I hoped I might finish a few in-progress things, but I didn’t think I’d have and finish as many new one-shot ideas as I did. It reminded me of my days in the Shameless fandom when I would churn out little one-shots every month or so.

What’s your own favourite story of the year? My favorite is one of the ones that got the least attention: Cooperative Independent Studies. I guess it was hard for people to find- there’s no pairings in it, it’s mostly just a character study of Jeff (and, secondarily, of Abed). But I feel so good about the way it turned out. I’m writing a sequel right now and I’m equally satisfied with what I’m exploring there.

Did you take any writing risks this year? Not in the stuff I got to the posted/published stage, but I did start the first few pages of a selkie AU fic for Community, which is something I’ve rarely (if ever) done before. I’ve written canon divergences, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever written something that transplanted the characters into a whole different world.

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the new year? To keep up the pace, to second-guess myself less, to write longer fics. Maybe to try out a couple new fandoms or challenges!

Most popular story of the year? My gift fic for the All for the Game fall exchange- Not What It Looks Like, More Than It Seems- was by far the most popular fic I posted with 384 kudos. I was unsure about it when I posted it, so everyone’s enjoyment made me incredibly happy.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Either “Cooperative Independent Studies” or Bound to Be A Better Ride (Than What You’ve Got Planned), which is for an incredibly tiny pairing in the Stranger Things fandom that no one ships. (Although while the ship itself is underappreciated, the fic was very well received and appreciated by the fans who read it!)

Most fun story to write: Either Applied Footwear and Other Friendship Rituals or Functional Modalities of Videocalling and Progeny, although looking up the acro-yoga positions for my AFTG spring exchange fic, Hold Me Higher, was also super fun in its own way!

Biggest disappointment: I have been putting off finishing my Spring Awakening fic, From God Above, to the One I Love, for two years now. I only have one more chapter to go, and I probably have only 1000 words left of it to write. I hardly worked on it and did not update it at all this whole year.

Biggest surprise: I’m used to smut being one of the more immediately successful things you can write in a fandom, but while it did reasonably well, my one smutfic for Community, Fundamental Principles of Inhibition Management, accumulated fewer kudos than any of my other fics for that fandom. I’m not disappointed or complaining, but it surprised me because I’m used to more substantial non-smut fics being ignored in favor of easy-to-read sexy stories.

#imaginedmelody writes #2020 fic year in review #i've loved reading all your years in review so i had to do my own!

[louandhazaf]

An Unbalanced Force -- Plot

Hi! Okay, so @kingsofeverything​ posted this incredible fic this year called An Unbalanced Force, aka Marold Harold. 

Lauren and I talk about writing stuff a lot, and one thing that I think we both struggle with sometimes is plotting. How do our stories fit into standard plot templates and how do we go about doing standard plots for our WIPs. We’ve talked briefly before about figuring out the actual plot of Marold Harold, but I haven’t put actual thought into it until yesterday, thanks to the @authorsworkshop​ current prompt.

So, warning here, there are major MAJOR spoilers in this post. If you haven’t yet read An Unbalanced Force and would like to do so without spoilers, then, uh, stop reading! 

I figured the real story here is Harry building a life he really wants. I, personally, suspect he would’ve carried on his marriage for much much longer had Gabe not very clearly stated that he did not want kids, therefore that’s the inciting incident that has Harry really figuring out what steps he needs to take to make his life his personal definition of a success.

Whereas I think a lot of stories are normally weighted in the rising action, I think Marold Harold is balanced in exposition, because we the readers, and Harry himself, are really learning about what this new life in this new places is, and he’s really looking around himself and seeing all of these things can be his, a place to fit in, truly. So the move from inciting incident to climax is not as big of a piece as other stories because he’s pretty clear on what he wants, he just needs to get himself ready to take the steps to get there.

The real crux of the story is him taking the step to say ‘I want a divorce’ and him reframing his life in a way that centers what he wants, and that’s what everything before that builds up to.

Then, post divorce, the falling action, is him falling apart a little. He isolates himself from everything that he was building towards, rejecting the support of his community and centering a life that he thought he should have, one that was sad about his divorce. He wouldn’t allow himself to be happy.

So then the resolution is when he allows himself to get back into his community of friends. And finally, when he accepts Louis love and knows, truly and deeply, that they are moving towards a future where they are both going to work towards what they want, because they have the same end goals.

I think maybe the plot looks like this?

Thoughts?

#GO READ MAROLD HAROLD PEOPLE #marold harold #an unbalanced force #plotting fics

[katsidhe]

And now it’s your turn! I would love to get the Director’s Commentary on “Awake, Arise.” Especially if you get inspired to add another chapter. 😜❤️

Thank you so much to both @caranfindel and @quirkykayleetam for asking about “Awake, Arise”! It’s a multi chapter, WIP season 9 AU with all my favorite things: Sam, and also torture. What else is there to say??

…okay, fine, let’s add some background.

How did you come up with the idea?

Sam’s been hurt a lot, hasn’t he? He gets injured every other episode, he gets tied up and threatened and tortured, he gets choked and stabbed and conked on the noggin and everything else under the sun. It’s why we love him. But most everything that’s happened to him (with the big ol’ glaring exception of the Cage) has been, if not wholly unanticipated, at least a shock in that moment. On the job, then acute hurt, then relative safety. When he’s in a fight, he can give as good as he gets. If he’s abducted, it’s a surprise, and it’s temporary. If he’s killed, it’s sudden, and he’s coming back. Even though hideous injury is a predictable hazard of his occupation, Sam hasn’t really been in a prolonged period of helplessness/anticipation of injury without a reasonable hope of escaping it or fighting back… at least, not on Earth.

In the Cage, on the other hand, Sam experienced unimaginably brutal and creative abuse, with no hope of escape or fighting back or rescue, and with every anticipation that each new day would be more absurdly unbearable than the last. But… he also didn’t need to be functional, per se, not beyond whatever variable standard of “entertaining” that Lucifer specified. He didn’t have to pull himself together to research a case or interact with civilians or navigate the nuanced and thorny complexities of his relationship with Dean.  

Basically, Sam’s day-to-day struggles are stressful and ongoing and dangerous, but he never knows precisely what to expect, and he knows he’s generally equipped to fight back; his time in the Cage was a lot more morbidly predictable and inevitable, but there was no requirement to be a sane, productive member of society.

So….. what if we combined the best worst of both worlds? What if Sam got an exact time and date and description for the hurt, a who what when where, without any way for him to fight or avoid it? And it would just keep happening, but in between, he had to keep living his life? What if, on top of that, it was the worst thing he could imagine: a return to the Cage? (Trauma is nice but REtrauma is nicer.) How do would he deal with THAT flavor of ongoing trauma—something unlike anything he’s felt before? 

Hence… the premise of Awake, Arise, which I tossed around in my mind for a few years, sort of fruitlessly wishing someone else would think of the same idea and write it. (I found a few stories with premises that were… vaguely similar but not quite there.) Eventually, I realized I’d have to be the change I wanted to see in the world. Or some such thing.

Why is it set in season 9?

Short answer? Not to put too fine a point on it, but adding Lucifer to s9 makes a stew that I think most embodies what I see as SPN’s mission statement: “Sam Winchester navigates various abusive relationships, of varying severity, to varying degrees of success.”

Longer justification: first of all, it’s gotta be after season 7—so that Sam’s in a place of relative functionality—and before season 11—so that Lucifer’s got little hope for imminent rescue. So that narrows the field a little.

And then I got to thinking about the other goals I had for a fic (y’know, beyond just endlessly self-indulgent Lucifer and Sam convos and Cage headcanons, which is my real genre of choice), and I realized I really, REALLY wanted to deal with the intricacies of Sam and Dean’s post-Gadreel relationship. The newly Mark’ed Dean is looking for absolution that Sam’s in absolutely no mood to give. Sam’s reeling from possession and betrayal; he’s trying, for the first time in a long time, to set some boundaries in their relationship. What better time to make things EVEN WORSE, than when Sam’s already got to navigate his victimhood at the hands of his own brother? What better time to add in Lucifer as both foil and cruel truth-teller?

Other things to love in season 9: Dean’s, erm, complicated relationship with violence and torture and Sam-as-victim is being exacerbated by the Mark (oh Dean, you scary bastard, I do love you)… and Cas and Sam’s friendship is both touchingly close and more than a tad off (”the only one who’s screwed up worse than you is me”, anyone?)… and Gadreel, whom I love, is hanging around to be a Sam-mirror (they should be friends but they’re very much noooot ahahaha)… 

What’s with the title?

“Awake, arise, or be forever fall’n” is a Paradise Lost quote. It’s Satan’s rallying cry to the other angels who have fallen from God’s grace: he’s telling them that he’s their only salvation. 

How closely is it going to follow canon events?

I’m operating under the logic that the ONLY thing that’s altered between canon and the Awake Arise universe is the existence of Abaddon’s spell. That being said, the addition of Lucifer to the season 9 chessboard upsets the plans of quite a few players, and changes the Sam’n’Dean dynamic dramatically! There are a lot of fun implications that come from that one alteration, so while  generally, facts that are true in canon remain true here, the landscape’s gonna look pretty different in the end.

Was this your first real attempt at creative writing?

Yepppp. It’s not my first fic ever (that dubious distinction belongs to a very short piece I wrote in about an hour right after 11.09 because holy shit 11.09 was not fucking around), but it’s the first one I’ve ever expended serious effort on. When I started writing it in 2017, I didn’t think of myself as any kind of an author. I think my writing has improved since then, and hopefully it will continue to improve.

It’s incredibly self indulgent, isn’t it?

Why, yes. Yes, it is. It is an excuse for my id to hurt Sam in fun new ways. I tacked intellectual character justifications onto it post hoc.

Are you ever going to update?

Yes. I am going to see this unholy thing through to the bitter end (which btw is already written). Chapter 17 is about three-quarters done.  

How long is it going to be?

Who knows! It began life with a broad fifteen chapter outline, but I kept thinking of more things to add to the middle, and then I needed additional things to connect those things in ways that made sense… you get the picture. Right now my outline has bloated to 33 chapters, and it’s almost certainly going to be longer than that.

And there’s my commentary! Thanks for asking!! I’m not even sure what people are most interested in knowing about this piece, since it’s a WIP… so if there’s some burning question or idle curiosity I didn’t cover, drop me a line!

#i speaks #this was so much fun #awake arise #sam and lucifer #sam and the cage #sam and trauma #sam and abuse #my fic #dean critical #i suppose #anyway the takeaway from this is that I like media about trauma and abuse #raise your hand if you're surprised

[saltoftheao3]

I've been updating this fic that I've loved writing. The first few chapters had a huge amount of success that I'm thankful for ofc but... recently... it's kinda stopped? I don't care so much for the comments and kudos but during the past two chapters I've noticed the bookmark count go down and it stings bc it means ppl disliked something enough to take back their bookmark. idc much about the stats but watching it go down is still really discouraging... Any motivation or comfort in that area?

Aaah, that’s one of the difficulties with longer WIPs. After a certain amount of chapters they tend to reach that point where you can’t just “jump back in” as quickly as with a shorter project, so you’d need to reread the entire fic so the update makes sense to you, but that takes a lot of time, so sometimes you dismiss the entire fic entirely (which reminds me there’s some updates for fics i love i should really read). And people use bookmarks very differently - for a lot of people it’s more of a “to read” list than a list of recommendations. 

It still sucks, dear nonnie. But power through it! the end is in sight, and you’ll be able to look at your fic and tell yourself “wow, i published an entire story, on my own!” Which is quite an incredible achievement imo. Stay strong!

#ask

[jiminjoo]

my holy jikook fic rec pt.3

third part of my holy jikook fic recommendation series. hope you like it! 

(also part one and part two are here) click keep reading for the part three!

You Broke My Heart (but I broke it myself) by Rose_gold715

Jimin's fiancé has abandoned him on his wedding day, and Jeon Jungkook, Jimin's first love and worst heartbreak, is back.

“i love it. i was having a problem finding a nice fic and this fic saved me !”

parallax by gangbang

jungkook needed help realizing that he'll always love jimin: past, present, and future.

“amazing, i love the author and I enjoyed this so much.”

friday nights (with you) by kstorms

How a random night at a karaoke bar leaves Jimin with two new friends and a frowny, terribly handsome crush.

“characterization is on point, i love this awkward kookie”

Can You Give Me My Breath Back by DeadpanSnarker

Six months till the tournament that would decide Jungkook's future. Six months where he and his team were in dire need to monopolize the ice-rink that had taken a liking to Uni’s new sweetheart. Where Jimin made a bet with Jungkook, which, if Jungkook lost, he would have to be taught how to ‘truly’ skate.

Or as how Jimin had phrased it, ‘By the time I'm done with you, you’ll have fallen in love with figure-skating’. Surely things didn’t work out in Jungkook's favour.

In their fickle game, Jungkook is in for sex and Jimin is in for love. By the end of the six months, perhaps he would like figure-skating, but he would have adamantly fallen in love with the figure-skater.

“very enjoyable read, the dymanic between them was done well but i think ending was rushed a little bit.”

A Glass of Water by Rose_gold715

Namjoon is maybe a little over protective of Jimin and takes it upon himself to find out the identity of his new boyfriend. The others are absolutely no help.

Or,

Jungkook and Jimin are dating and everyone knows except Namjoon.

“funny and different, a jikook fic written from namjoon’s perspective”

As You Are by jonghyunslisterine

Jungkook's looking for a model for his Shibari exhibition. Jimin just needs some money.

“vulnerable jimin is always nice to read.”

past the point of no return by busan_brat

Jungkook has never been the one to give up on things that mean the most to him.

Jimin isn't an exception to that rule.

Open Your Heart, I'm Coming Home by DeadpanSnarker

‘Falling for you was my last violent act unforgiven by the gods.’ It is about time Jungkook and Jimin put down their cameras and looked at everything with the walls let down; it is about time they both saw things without any addendums. Little did Jimin know that this is the story of the one time when his heart doesn’t choose wrong—as few reassurances as existed. Little did Jungkook know that it is such a fine line between trying to make a wound scar-over, and inadvertently reopening that wound—as little harm as intended. Still, who would have thought it would take two tragedy-laced tattoos, one back-when photograph, and one double-edged short-film to fix two broken hearts—to bring them together.

In short, this is the story of bright sparklers, long rides, and bittersweet falls.

International playboy (don't answer) by blt_prf *WIP

oH I FUCHKED UP I FU UCKED UP YOUR'E NOT NAMJOON

yeah what I've been trying to tell you

or

the one in which Jimin manages to mess up everything in one night and accidentally texts the guy he has a crush on

all about your heart by bonnia

Jungkook has to exercise incredible control not to think about Jimin, naked, just a room away. He’s not a pubescent boy. And it’s just Jimin.

(Jimin, whose hands fit so perfectly into his. Jimin, who’s got the greatest thighs Jungkook’s ever seen and whose weight feels so perfect when he’s feeling playful enough to sit on his lap. Jimin, whose body is moves with fluid, sinuous grace that only a dancer could achieve — )

Okay, so maybe it isn’t just-Jimin.

(or: jungkook and jimin end up sharing a bed after a hotel room mix-up)

Falling for you again by  Rose_gold715

Jungkook loses all memory of the last five years of his life.

Jimin is scared he will never love him again.

“every version of jungkook belongs to jimin, that’s all I’m going to say”

maybe baby by gangbang

there's something weird in the air! jimin has a sneaking suspicion it might be a love potion.

“it’s kinda jimin/everyone but end game is still jikook,like always *winks*”

time slip by namakemono

Jimin wakes up in the year 2017, which is very strange, considering the fact that last he checked it was 2013.

Primal by Rose_gold715

Jimin goes into heat and Jungkook sees Jimin's unguarded, unrestrained Omega side for the first time.

“very well done abo fic”

100% success rate by bonnia

Legend has it, that whenever Kim Taehyung unleashes the ;) face, things do not bode well for Jeon Jungkook.

But legend also has it, that Jeon Jungkook has a penchant for making terrible decisions.

(or: in which jungkook has a crush the size of manhattan, taehyung is his alleged wingman, and jimin is only wilfully oblivious)

Late Night, Early Morning by cest_what

Jungkook just wants somewhere to sleep.

“it was soOoOOo cute”

your body is a place to stay by jonghyunslisterine

In which Jungkook juggles a five-year-old daughter, Jimin the pretty bookstore employee, and coworkers who like to tease him too much. 

Push-up (push me down) by mintsugakookies

Jungkook needs to finish his work out and Jimin's lips are his motivation

or

"Jungkook is that kind of person who will ask Jimin to lay underneath him while he is doing push ups and every time he lowers himself he kisses another part of Jimin’s face."

“if you want a fresh air from all this big angsty fics, this is what you need.. short, sweet and nothing else.”

my, what big teeth you have by  jonghyunslisterine

Jimin's locked in a cellar with Jungkook on the night of the full moon, and the only way to stop the werewolf from killing him is by becoming his mate.

3, 2, 1... Bang (Me) by DeadpanSnarker

Three things you need to know: Jeon Jeongguk was the reason Jimin('s life) was hard; Kim Taehyung was the reason Jimin and Jeongguk became ‘sinnervers and partners’; (Kinky) Online games were dangerous, kids. Innuendoes thrust aside, Jimin would consider his relation with his ‘crush’ quite successful. How better could it go from silently crushing and pretending he wasn’t head over heels, to a shameless one night stand and pretending everything was still the same, to teaming up in a sexual game of life and death, really?

Their story would later be known as a twisted version of Seven Minutes in Heaven. Or alternatively, The Big Bang – a conspiracy theory.

“it turned out very differeent than what I expected when I first started to read but I guess it was good :D”

Finally by Rose_gold715

Unloved and outcasted, Jimin runs away from his mate and his pack. Jungkook comes after him, and saves Jimin in more ways than he could imagine.

a dream come true by ito

“you know once in a while you need a fic that “no plot yes smut” 

Hey Mickey! by yoongidontdoit (sammyinnerdglasses)

Park Jimin, star cheerleader, has it bad for the doe-eyed, shy freshman star of the lacrosse team, but the kid doesn't have any idea how hot he is. Jimin sets out on a mission to get senpai to notice him.

won't say i'm in love by vminism

Jimin’s there in a flash, because of course he is, he always is. Spinning around on his heel and reeling Jeongguk in with an arm around his neck.

mine (hands on your body, i don't wanna waste no time) by gothguk

Jimin has expectations for his first summer back home from university; Jeongguk somehow manages to single-handedly destroy them all.

two sides; same story by namjoone

Okay, so maybe Jimin thinks his neighbor is hot.

A little.

Okay, maybe a lot.

White T-shirt and Brown Timberlands by Rose_gold715

Jimin is filing for divorce after eight years with Jungkook. He needs to let go, and yet, he wants to hold on a little longer.

“is it obvious yet that i like this author little bit too much.”

Dream Maker by graesun, Polkari Seuta (VeritasEtVita)

Oh, dream maker, you heartbreaker / wherever you're going, I'm going your way.

Several days in the lives of Jimin and Jungkook living off instant ramen and lots of kisses.

#jimin #jungkook #jikook #bts #bangtan #park jimin #jeon jungkook #kookmin #jikook fic #recs #rec #jikook fic rec #jikook fanfic #jikook fiction #jikook fanfiction #jikook fanfic recommendation #jikook fanfic rec #kookmin fic #kookmin fanfiction #kookmin fic rec #kookmin fanfic #kookmin fanfic rec #bts fic rec #bts fic #bts fanfiction #bts fanfic rec #bangtan fic #bangtan fic rec #bts fiction rec #bangtan fanfic

[de-profundis-ad-astra]

I haven’t done one of these in a while and I’ve gained a few followers in the past few months, so it’s time for a re-intro!

About Me ||

I’m Miranda, a train wreck of a human being just trying to survive right now. I’m a school psychologist living in the Bay Area, CA, though I’ve been a writer much longer than I’ve been a psychologist - and I consider that my biggest trade. I spend what little free time I have on my WIPs/novel projects.

I love hiking, swimming, running, all manner of outdoor activities as well as reading, writing, sketching, and video gams.

Space is my #1 aesthetic. Send me a picture of nightscapes and I’ll love you forever.

Stats ||

I’m 26 Virgo sun, Cancer moon, Virgo rising Neutral good Bisexual She/they E/ISFP, depending on the day Hufflepuff Type 2

About my writing ||

- I’ve written just about everything under the sun, but my current WIPs are an urban gothic and… my co-author and I haven’t really decided on a genre for our series. We half-seriously call it a historical fiction, even though it takes place in the present day. It’s more of a spy/espionage thriller, with some jabs at historical events.

- I’ve been writing for almost 14 years (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). I got my start in fanfiction for a fandom that will at this time remain undisclosed. I started working on original stories when I was in high school, and I just haven’t been able to put then pen down, since.

- I write for the YA/adult fiction cusp, which I believe is called new adult. My series will cater to older teens or new adults, and my urban gothic is strictly adult

- A lot of my work is related to character study. My work strives to be character driven more than plot driven. Developing my characters is my favorite part of my writing process.

- My co-author and I love to make vine compilations that we think are fitting to our characters and come up with absurd headcanons about them. It helps when I’ve hit a rut in my writing.

- I write for the love of it. Ultimately, I’d love to get published one day, but for the time being, I love my teeny audience and after my stint writing fanfic, I’m ready to get serious about my original projects.

WIPs ||

Wretches and Kings: An undeniable crime problem plagues the city of Easthold, an affluent city rife with thieves and bandits of all pedigrees. This in and of itself is not all that strange. What’s strange is the incredibly high volume of unsolved crimes, of acts no one has claimed, ones even the Easthold Police Department can’t even begin to find blame for. Even when committed in broad daylight, even when the police arrive on the scene in the middle of a heist, no one manages to catch more than unclear glimpses of the culprits, no bullets hit their marks, and when all is said and done there is somehow never any reliable evidence. No camera ever manages to catch a thing, no trap is ever successful, and never has a single witness managed a coherent report, like somehow none of them ever pay enough attention. Like somehow what they’ve seen can never be put into words.

   Status: First draft completed (Approx. 140k words)

LEGION (a four part series): Kerri Stevens was born and raised into her life as an operative for Legion, a top secret espionage operation dedicated to maintaining global order, to protect people. Charlotte Moore joined because, well, it seemed like a good time. As Named Agents–the best of the best, operatives identified by a letter of the phonological alphabet–they’re each talented and respected in their fields.

And their recent actions have put them at risk of losing their jobs.

To prove their loyalty, Charlotte and Kerri are assigned to assassinate the other. Whoever emerges victorious will have the benefit of keeping their rank and title. Whoever loses… well. After an unfortunate comedy of errors reveals to them that they work under the same employer, they reach a hesitant truce and team up for the sake of unearthing the mystery.

As Kerri and Charlotte set out to dig into Legion’s infrastructure, aided by a pair of similarly displaced agents, they discover that their employer’s foundations are built upon lies and deceptions deeper, and far more personal, than they could imagine. 

   Status: Second draft in progress (70k/??? words so far)

2021 Goals ||

1. Finish the second draft of Legion - most likely during the summer, when the school year is wrapped up and I’ll have a ton more free time on my hands

2. Begin brainstorming the second draft of W&K. Solve plot holes and tie up loose ends left behind from the first draft

3. Find a low maintenance writing community that can tolerate my horrifically inconsistent posting. I struggle to follow a schedule between everything else I’m juggling in life at the moment. If anyone knows of any low maintenance writing groups, I’d love to join!!

Taglist ||

@firefeatherx @goldenhour-goldenboy @mandoplease @phoenixhalliwell @havenforafrazzledmind @beatriz-silva-00 @pascalz @worldominatorx @givemethatgold @agirllovespancakes @lilacyennefer @dignityneeded @veuliee @briskywalker @davairys @aetherwrites @ryns-ramblings @teriwrites @isnt-it-byronic-dont-you-think  @marmaladewords @radiomacbeth @piratewolfe (let me know if you want to be +/-)

#writeblr #writeblr introduction #writeblr intro #pls post to the tags this time pls #writing community #writeblr tag #sorry to the taglist i'm trying over and over again to do this jfdksljfd

[so-shiny-so-chrome]

Witness: Battle_Cat

Creator name (AO3): battle_cat

Creator name (Tumblr): fuckyeahisawthat

Link to creator works: https://archiveofourown.org/users/battle_cat/works

Q: Why the Mad Max Fandom?

A: Fury Road blew my goddamn mind. I like action movies and female action protagonists, but nothing has ever quite hit me like Fury Road. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I had never written fanfic and didn't know what ao3 was, but the characters just wouldn't leave my head. I started seeking out meta on Tumblr, and many of the people who were writing and sharing great meta were also writing fic, and at some point I started thinking, hey, this is a thing I can do. And then I did it, A LOT.

Q: What do you think are some defining aspects of your work? Do you have a style? Recurrent themes?

A: Smut smut and more smut, lol! And sometimes action. I really like writing about intense physical experiences and the emotions they generate. I come from a screenwriting background, so I tend to be terse and am always thinking about how to say the most with the fewest words possible. I love writing characters who find it very hard to talk about their feelings, so Max and Furiosa are pretty much perfect for me.

Q: Which of your works was the most fun to create? The most difficult? Which is your most popular? Most successful? Your favourite overall?

A: Ahhh I can't pick between all of my children! AO3 statistics says Zero to Sixty, my Max-and-Furiosa-get-together fic, is my most popular by hits, kudos and bookmarks, which is not surprising given that it was written early in the fandom. I don't think I can pick a favorite but I have a lot of love for: Desperate Measures, Her Reputation Precedes Her, Hard Run, Tough to be Tender, and Scarf Thing. The only fic I'm still slightly unhappy with: Equinox. I feel like I set up some great tension and then wrapped it up too quickly.

Q: How do you like your wasteland? Gritty? Hopeful? Campy? Soft? Why?

A: Hard but with some humanity left still.

Q: Walk us through your creative process from idea to finished product. What's your prefered environment for creating? How do you get through rough patches?

A: Most of my short pieces are really just a single scene, sometimes with setup and aftermath. Sometimes I'll start with an image (like one of @youkaiyume's excellent smut drawings) or a concept or idea for the scene. Something short, like under 2,000 words, I will ideally sit down and write in one draft, maybe in a day or two. I don't do a lot of drafts, although I do somewhat edit as I go. Something longer like a multi-chapter fic, I usually have a separate Word document with notes and a very rough outline. I usually have the ending or the big climactic scene in my head before I've got everything in the middle figured out. If I'm struggling with something, I'll usually step away and just let my brain chew on it for a while, until I figure out what about it isn't working for me. I learned in grad school that your brain can be doing a lot of creative heavy lifting while you're off doing other things.

Q: What (if any) music do you listen to for help getting those creative juices flowing?

A: I'm not much of a music person, tbh. I have gotten inspiration from fanart, Tumblr submissions and kinkmeme prompts, though.

Q: What is your biggest challenge as a creator?

A: Finding enough time and energy to write. I'm someone who needs big chunks of time to let my brain get into the creative state and this whole having to have a job thing is a real drag.

Q: How have you grown as a creator through your participation in the Mad Max Fandom? How has your work changed? Have you learned anything about yourself?

A: When I saw Fury Road, I had been in a serious writing drought for the better part of a year. I was frustrated and feeling very hopeless about the filmmaking world. Even under the best of conditions, filmmaking is an incredibly slow process with a lot of gatekeepers. Being able to just write something, put it on ao3 and get instant feedback was an incredible breath of fresh air. I remembered my love of writing and found a whole new creative community. I started exploring a new genre, erotica, and learned that I love it. I started writing prose again after a long period of focusing on screenwriting, and gained a new appreciation for what can be done in the short story format.

Q: Which character do you relate to the most, and how does that affect your approach to that character? Is someone else your favourite to portray? How has your understanding of these characters grown through portraying them?

A: Furiosa is the character who lives in my head most vividly. She has a lot of characteristics I tend to put in my original female characters: a certain ruthlessness and hardness; hypercompetence combined with standoffishness punctuated by a few key moments of vulnerability.

Q: Do you ever self-insert, even accidentally?

A: I don't really like talking about characters as self-inserts. I think every character has some part of you in them whether you're aware of it or not.

Q: Do you have any favourite relationships to portray? What interests you about them?

A: Maxiosa for sure. I already had a pattern before Fury Road of writing hard women and caring men, so Furiosa and Max fit right into that. They are both incredibly damaged people who have been the victims and the perpetrators of violence, have a lot of self-loathing, have been isolated in various ways for a long time, and are used to having no one to trust. Bringing those two people together and watching them slowly allow themselves to trust each other is very powerful.

Q: How does your work for the fandom change how you look at the source material?

A: Fury Road is an incredibly rich text and there are so many things that are only hinted at, left unexplained or implied. I've lost count of how many times I've watched it at this point, but there are always more details to notice and spin headcanons about.

Q: Do you prefer to create in one defined chronology or do your works stand alone? Why or why not?

A: For MMFR, I started out writing mostly short smutty one-shots. At a certain point it made sense to start stringing them together, and the ones that take place in the same timeline are now roughly in order in the series Together. It happened organically, though - I tend to write my longer stories non-chronologically anyway, so at some point I realized I was constructing a giant smut novel.

Q: To break or not to break canon? Why?

A: Ehn, I am pretty agnostic on this. Sometimes sticking to canon can be a fun limitation you impose on your story. Other times, ignoring it can be a fun what-if.

Q: Share some headcanons.

A: Ace definitely lived. Nux definitely died historic. Valkyrie is alive in some of my stories and not in others. Dag's baby is a girl and she names her Angharad. Max comes and goes from the Citadel, staying for increasingly longer periods of time. Furiosa often wants to leave, but feels too much responsibility to the new Citadel to ever let herself.

Q: If you work with OCs walk us through your process for creating them. Who are some of your favourites?

A: I haven't created a lot of OCs in the Mad Max world because the canon characters are just so interesting to explore. But when I do they just kind of pop up. Biltong from the story Her Reputation Precedes Her is a personal favorite.

Q: If you create original works, how do those compare to your fan works?

A: My original works are mostly on the action/thriller/horror spectrum. I had never written smut before MMFR, but to me, it's very similar to writing action. You're telling a story through high-intensity physicality and the emotions surrounding it. In my original works, I mostly write female protagonists in high-intensity situations, so it made sense that MMFR would catch my attention.

Q: What are some works by other creators inside and outside of the fandom that have influenced your work?

A: @primarybufferpanel 's Orbit was my fandom gateway drug. @primarybufferpanel, @sacrificethemtothesquid, @lurkinghistoric, @v8roadworrier, @thebyrchentwigges, @thatonezombiecosplayer, @youkaiyume, @ecouter-bien , @bethagain, @fadagaski and @yohunny have all created things that I find inspiring, epic, thrilling, heartbreaking, hot, funny or all of the above. And I'm lucky that I've gotten to know many of them online and in meatspace!

Q: What advice can you give someone who is struggling to make their own works more interesting, compelling, cohesive, etc.? 

A: Stop and ask yourself: What does this character want? Why are they doing what they're doing right now? Concretely, what are they trying to achieve? What are the obstacles? What are the consequences if they don't get what they want? If a scene or story isn't working for me, usually it's because I don't know the answer to one of these questions.

Q: Have you visited or do you plan to visit Australia, Wasteland Weekend, or other Mad Max place?

A: I've been to Wasteland Weekend 3 times (2016, '17, '18) with Clan of the Boltcutters, and plan to go again in 2019. It's been so cool watching our camp and the festival grow and change each year. I had never been to anything remotely like Wasteland before I got involved in the Mad Max fandom, and now I can't imagine it not being part of my year. Australia...maybe someday.

Q: Tell us about a current WIP or planned project.

A: While I've been writing in the Venom fandom lately, I do plan to come back at some point and finish Closer, a story I really liked writing that I just haven't gotten time to get back to. I also have a few lingering MMFR projects that will hopefully be completed later this year.

Thank you @fuckyeahisawthat

#Mad Max Fandom Creator Spotlight #Mad Max Fandom Spotlight #fury road fandom #Mad max fandom #mad max fanfic author spotlight #mad max fic #fury road fic