Rules: List the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!
tagged by @junemermaid, no-pressure tagging anyone who would like, because I have no idea who's seen and either done or passed on this one lately. PLEASE PLEASE DO IT AND BLAME ME IF YOU HAVE EVEN THE SLIGHTEST INCLINATION, I love seeing these things, I'm just brain-dead re: tagging today. 💙
1. Vakarian makes Shepard feel old.
Chicory, Mass Effect, Weaver Shepard, not on AO3 yet because I'm trying to turn it into a series of first/early impressions of the ME1 crew from Shepard's perspective.
But then I've done Kaidan's first impression of Shepard already, so I can't decide if I should do her version of that or figure out another one. But also should I add Joker? I should always add Joker. But then in what order? (You can see the overthinking process here, can't you?) SOMEDAY I WILL WRITE WEAVER & TALI AND IT WILL BE DELIGHTFUL. She adores Tali. But also wishes to keep her safely in engineering 99% of the time. BUT ALSO...
anyway. back to sentences. ->
2. Emmett had known that he would see her.
Almond Blossoms, 7kpp, Emmett/Sheltered Princess & a lot of chaperone POV's. Also I posted that in September last year so this is clearly going to be a little depressing in terms of my ongoing 'am I a writer anymore?' existential crisis
3. “Don’t move.”
Never Again, Shadowhunters, Malec, sort of omegaverse, sort of weird magic bonds, a very belated prompt fill from the @knotinmyname anti-ai-scraping event.
4. The Matchmaker may have announced them, they may consider themselves engaged, this might be exactly what they should be doing as these connections are exactly what the Summit claims to be for… but Nathalie’s a 'known’ seductress and suspected murderer, but Clarmont’s only 'allowed’ here for the Royal Family to keep an eye on him, to make sure he knows how generous they are being with their mercy.
Relief, 7kpp, Clarmont/Ambitious Widow (Revaire feels!). Yes, that is just one sentence. Yes, I did that on purpose. No, I probably shouldn't have, but idc. 😅
5. Alec hasn’t even been Marked, still technically a fledgling rather than a Shadowhunter, when he learns that most nephilim can’t hear their weapons sing.
untitled eldritch angel powers prequel, Shadowhunters, Alec Lightwood & Politics is my jam, even when he's like 10 or something. As is weird magic and angel lore that I get to make up! Not on ao3 because I think it's going to be in a bigger thing, but I haven't actually done it yet, but I also get really tired of trying to rearrange my AO3 stuff because then I lose links and comments and brain power that should have been used for maybe writing something again some day.
6. All the dealers know Magnus’ name.
Fluff for @foodsies4me! Malec Auctioneer AU on the floor because it made me smile. (I used to be an auction block clerk.)
7. A familiar flare lit up his apothecary, and Magnus reached out to catch the fire message.
working title is 'wtf the clave is competent' and this is another playing-with-lore Shadowhunters prequel (that will eventually be Malec) started off via a Tangential Tuesdays prompt (which is a thing I would like to properly do again, but I keep not writing which makes it tricky)
8. An Omega heir to two old bloodlines in line for a Headship was something the Nephilim hadn’t seen in almost a century, and ought to have been prestigious enough for Alec to have chosen any path or mate he wanted. [x]
9. That was Magnus. [x]
These are both omegaverse prompts for the aforementioned anti-ai event and actually posted on time last June. Both Shadowhunters and Malec and just little bits and pieces of almost things. And fun on their own, imo, but. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
10. Cullen thought he’d gotten used to seeing this new Hawke in Haven.
Gladiolus, Cullen/Hawke, Dragon Age: Inquisition (Hawke as Inquisitor). Another prompt fill, a ficlet for a collection I have on AO3; its continuing existence is almost entirely @jadesabre301's fault.
Well, picking chapters and scenes posted on tumblr rather than my ao3 was probably good for my sanity, since my ao3 is a bit of a mess.
I seem to start with very declarative sentences this past year or so: we are here and this is what we're dealing with. Which is not... how I have previously concluded this meme, but I'm not sure that it's really any different than usual, just more obvious. It's a habit developed, I think, in writing relatively short-fic and also playing with lore or setting, because I very much need to set up my framework if I want anyone else to follow it.
I definitely should try and play some ME and/or watch some Shadowhunters and clean up some of the bits that I would really really like to have as finished stories though. This has successfully reminded me that I do, in fact, usually like writing and still think like a writer, so that's probably good!
For me, Alec is easiest. Mostly because he’s the first character I wrote when I started out writing for this fandom so I’ve had the most time to figure out his voice. And also because I relate to him a lot as a character so I feel like it’s more alright if I let myself bleed into him when I write. Funnily enough he’s not my favorite to write even though he’s the easiest.
41. How many stories do you work on at one time?
I’ve got a crazy amount of wips but I actively work on around three at a time. It’s usually one chaptered fic and then two one shots or prompts or something else to work on if I feel like I need a break from the main chaptered thing I’m working on.
54. Any writing advice you want to share?
I know this is pretty obvious, but if you’re not having fun take a break. Writing should be something you enjoy, not something you’re forcing yourself to do. If a story you’re working on isn’t bringing you joy take a break from it and come back later. If writing in general isn’t doing it for you, take a break. Sometimes breaks can help and when you come back to whatever you’re working on the magic might be back :)
You are very welcome! (Don’t forget to send me your Steam name!)
tiny-olive replied to your photo “Pyre Flash Giveaway Pyre is on sale on Steam right now, and I thought...”
You are so kind, Lost!! I've watched my gf play it, and I am obsessed with the soundtrack and design. I'm planning on playing it very soon, and I'm starting in on making a Pamitha cosplay c:.
Aw, thank you. *blushing* I picked up the soundtrack the other day and I’ve been listening to it obsessively and bawling over “Bound Together.” I bet your Pamitha cosplay will be amazing and look forward to seeing it. (And good to hear from you!)
queercatlady replied to your photo “Pyre Flash Giveaway Pyre is on sale on Steam right now, and I thought...”
I love cry g
ME TOO at least when it’s over books/games/art and not work...
junemermaid replied to your photo “Pyre Flash Giveaway Pyre is on sale on Steam right now, and I thought...”
I bought Pyre on PS4 and it's waiting for me to have some free time to sit down with it. It looks like a game I want to savour and think about, and life has been... not conducive to that lately. But I am working on it!
Dammit, life, cooperate! I look forward to your thoughts when you play it, however long that takes.
fireferns replied to your photo “Pyre Flash Giveaway Pyre is on sale on Steam right now, and I thought...”
i actually bought pyre on the winter sale because of you (and another friend of mine) talking so much about it! and i started watching critical role recently, too, and i'm loving it, though it means about 90% of everything you post is blocked by ts since i'm avoiding spoilers!
Yup that would pretty much wipe out my blog. :D I actually block critical role too because I’m still not done with the original campaign (on #103), though I’ve mostly been risking it and clicking through because most posts right now are about the new one. Glad you’re enjoying it (and hope you enjoy Pyre)!
Almost anyone who asks if you throw a prompt in my inbox that makes my brain go ooooh
you, when I can manage it! 😘
(any fandom/internet friend whose tastes I think I get!)
It always has to come back to me, though, both whatever I want/need right now, and also the bb!jilly in my head who, in retrospect, didn’t always get the stories she needed when she was ten, or fifteen, or twenty (or even thirty, tho that’s probably about when I started posting fic for public consumption)
43. Are you an avid reader?
I used to be, and I do occasionally still binge read a series in a weekend or something, but I seldom have the spoons to really relax into a new world these days.
/I mean, I read at a lot of fic when I sit down and avoid my chores, but that’s not quite the same thing. Not because fic isn’t writing/reading, but because of that “at” in terms of focus on my end.
Hopefully I will be again someday.
(Not in 2020 tho. For all the obvious apocalypses reasons.)
BUT, for anyone with a similar spoons/focus problem, I can heartily recommend Tor.com’s novella lines of genre fiction, they’re reliably well-written and edited and imaginative and small enough to not require the same commitment level as most modern novels while still packing a satisfactory emotional punch.
48. Favorite genre to write in.
Fanfic/Fantasy/Romance
I have enough prior knowledge re: narrative structure, world-building & folklore to be able to mostly riff off of canon and romance tropes without having to, idk, consider how I want to do it, so it’s really comforting to write and I can succeed at some level, most of the time, with whatever I set out to write. (Even if it doesn’t make it to a story I can post, I can capture some of that first idea enough, yk?)
I love reading mysteries and well-built science fiction, but they require more brain cells and research than I really have available atm in terms of creation.
Even 3am doesn't offer any relief from the weather. Her hair catches on the wall behind her when she leans back and the metal of the fire escape is still warm beneath her thighs.