i found this fun tag from @/immaplatypus on tumblr specifically for fanfiction writers, and i thought i'd try it out!! a lot of it is probably meant for non-oc writers (aka: the writers who write stories with already established characters), but i figured i could take a stab at it, regardless. and, if you're interested, i tag you to do the same! now let's get on it :))

1) From one to five stars, how would you rate your writing? (No downplaying yourself)

okay, not downplaying myself, i'd probably go with 3.5. obviously i've improved massively since i first started writing (and even within the past year!!), but i still think i have a lot of opportunities for improvement. it's always been my dream to become a published author, but i'm not sure if i'm there yet. fortunately, though, i'm planning on taking creative writing in university, so i think i'll be able to hone my skills and really make my writing more polished. 

i'm still super proud of my writing, though, especially lately. i've come so far :')

2) Why do you write fanfiction?

escapism, baby!! writing fic definitely helps me get even closer to my favourite media than i would by just watching it, and also allows me to bring more appreciation to under-appreciated characters. but also, it's super good practice for writing original works, allowing me to develop characters, description, and certain plot points while following the arc of an already established story. and it's also fun!

3) What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

probably my bonus scenes? i don't like to just follow the script completely without adding my own changes, so i really like adding a lot of my own scenes in between of what is actually canon. it does definitely end up inflating my word count, but i think it allows for more character development and a little bit of creativity within canon. it also let me development my own plot points, such as *spoilers ahead* the sort-of flayed arc with alina and the "chosen one" arc with nadine. i try not to take over the scenes/plots of already established characters, but give my own characters their own plots that allow them to be main characters regardless of what canon demands. hopefully that makes sense.

4) Are there any writers that inspire you?

oh you know there is. oh you KNOW there is. shout out to the authors on here that have written some of my favourite fics: Coruscant_Cosmonaut, @sarahoppers, saImondean, crierayla, blythering, ralphmacchiatos and wavyfloral. they are all so so talented and i am honoured to be mutuals with them <333 go check them out!

5) What's the fic you're most proud of?

i guess i should say ignis fatuus, since it is a watty award winner (not to brag, or anything), but honestly, i like paramnesia a little bit more. it took me forever (over a YEAR) to write, but when i finally finished it, i'd never been more proud of myself. i also think the writing in it is the best i've ever done, i love the original parts i added, and nadine and molly are my faves.

i am also proud of the acatalepsy series, but, honestly, not because of the writing. looking back on it now, i'm not the biggest fan of what i wrote, and i think i could've handled some parts a little better. but i am proud of putting myself out there and keeping it online for everyone to read, even though i was super nervous to receive feedback for it. i'm also proud of myself for continuing to work at it, writing multiple drafts, and doing all three books. good job, younger me!

6) What element of writing do you find comes easily?

description!! i love writing description so much, and it thankfully comes easily to me. that's why my fics are overloaded with it 😭😭😭

7) What element of writing do you struggle with most?

DIALOGUEEEEE. i hate writing dialogue so much. i get scared that scenes where characters are just sitting around and talking are boring, i can never tell if it's actually accurate, and i hate trying to be funny because i'm not funny. please look away if my dialogue sounds off, i'm TRYING.

8) Which character(s) do you find easiest to write?

out of my ocs, probably alina, because, although she does have a personality, she's also kind of the typical heroine type you always see. i'm not dissing her, btw, i love writing her, but she's always just come super easily to me.

out of canon characters, peter parker. i can write him in my SLEEP. when he's in civilian clothes, i just make him as awkward and nerdy as possible. boom, done. when he's spider-man, i just make him say a lot of quips. boom, done. it's a breeze.

9) Which character(s) do you find most difficult to write?

out of my ocs: cecelia. sometimes i cannot stand writing her because she can be such a dick for no reason. she literally is so judgmental to everyone around her, and i can't STAND IT. plus, sometimes i'll write her doing something like, kind of polite, and then i'll realize it isn't in her character and have to scrap it. i love her with all of my heart, but, despite our similar backgrounds, we are VERY different people.

out of canon characters: maybe klaus? idk, i got super nervous about writing him at first. he has a very particular brand of weird, and i wasn't sure if i was getting that down or just being weird for the sake of being weird. i have gotten some comments before saying that i've written him true to character, but i still definitely doubt myself.

10) What's your favourite genre to write for?

if we're talking fanfic genres, then definitely superhero. it's just SO FUN, and as someone who's getting more into marvel now (i've started to actually watch all of the old movies, lmao), it's really intriguing. also most of my favourite media is superhero related, anyway, so it works out :))

11) Who or what do you find yourself writing about most?

uhhhhh... female protagonists who get the shit beaten out of them. angry girls. sunshine boys who deserve the world. girls with superpowers (that's basically all my account is, now). 

12) Tell us about a WIP you're excited about.

revenant! i've been writing it super slowly lately, because i've been busy recovering from getting my teeth ripped out of my head and trying to get through my classes. but i'm getting there! 

i've already got a shit-load of ocs in this fic, definitely more than my other fics, and i love them (well... most of them) so much. cecelia's family are the GREATEST, the academic decathlon team is so iconic, and what i've written of peter and cecelia's relationship has been so fun. 

i'm so excited to get further into it, especially infinity war, because i know cecelia's interactions with the avengers are gonna be hilarious. ughhhh i love her so much.

13) First fandom you ever wrote for?

no one is allowed to judge me for this, but................................... moshi monsters. in my defense, i was around nine years old, didn't even know what fanfiction was, and i just wanted to write a story about my favourite moshling, jeepers. it was only a few pages long, handwritten, and absolutely terrible.

i still have it, i think. i also still have my moshling collection with jeepers in it. it's sitting on my shelf, judging me as i write this. 

rip moshi monsters 2008-2019 😔😔😔 i'll never forget you </3

14) What's your favourite fandom to write for?

umbrella academy. besides the ignis fatuus series, i wrote another umbrella academy fic when the show came first out, and, despite how shitty it was, it was still a lot of fun. it was about remus hargreeves, who had electricity powers (sorry Coruscant_Cosmonaut). and, honestly it was the ignis fatuus before ignis fatuus, with a close oc + vanya relationship (though obviously not romantic), the plot point that the oc just broke up with their ex, and the oc getting beat the hell up. i actually used it to help structure ignis fatuus, lol.

although i'm planning to write season three of the ignis fatuus series, i also want to write another tua fic eventually! this time with one or two hargreeves ocs. if you've read my old spam book, you'd know i had two hargreeves ocs i was planning to use, and i still might, just maybe change them up a little. i guess we'll see!

15) What's the weirdest fandom you've ever written for?

.........moshi monsters. ok next question.

16) Any guilty pleasure trope(s)?

i don't know if these are really guilty pleasures, but the grumpy/sunshine dynamic (which is superior when the girl is the grumpy one, by the way), hurt/comfort, and friends to lovers (which is NOT boring, okay???).  

17) A trope you'll never, ever write for.

teacher-student romances. the bad boy/good girl. bully/victim relationships. large age gaps in general.

18) Wildest fic you've ever written?

tw: self-harm

ooooh boy. back when i was like, ten, me and my friend collaborated to write a harry potter fanfic called "the girl who lived". very unique title, i know. 

HOLY SHIT, though, it was wild. the ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD PROTAGONIST was homicidal, depressed, and regularly smoked and cut herself (WHILE SMILING). we were obviously trying to be as edgy as possible, but jfc. there's a limit, and we crossed it a hundred times over.

19) Do you prefer canon-compliant, AUs, or something in-between?

hm, i wonder? 

20) Gen fic or shippy stuff?

shippy stuff! i mean, obviously, that's never all the fic is, but writing romance is my favourite. it's a whole lot of wish-fulfillment, honestly, since i've never even held hands romantically with someone, and most of the time i end up writing what i wish i had in a partner. think of any of my pairings. what do they have in common? they're all wholesome as hell! even with the little bit of nanya and sinclairgrieves drama, i still try to make the relationships as non-toxic and actually HEALTHY as possible. it's so fun, even though sometimes it makes me feel #foreveralone 😔😔😔

21) Favourite pairing to write for? (platonic or romantic!)

i am not going to choose a romantic pairing, because that is literally impossible; i love them all. i can't choose just one platonic pair, either, so here's a list of my favourites:

-alina and dustin

-alina and max (honestly, though, almax rights!)

-alina and el

-alina and gabe

-alina and will

-gabe and max

-gabe and lucas

-nadine and diego

-nadine and klaus

-nadine and allison

-cecelia and christine

-cecelia and liz

i could honestly keep going 😭

22) Do you listen to anything while you write?

yes! i always make playlists for each of my works, some of which are public on my spotify (shoutout to the two followers of my acatalepsy playlist!). they're the songs i most associate with the story and the characters, and i try to order them as if they were the actual soundtrack of the fic. i also listen to random albums (i've been listening to laurel hell by mitski and ancient dreams in a modern land by marina on repeat lately!), and some of my other, private playlists with my favourite songs. though usually when i put music on, i don't actually pay attention to it. it's more there for background noise.

23) Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

i am terrible at using other people's ideas (whether that be from a plot shop or an apply fic), so definitely my own independent ones. i don't know why that is, but whatever i write has got to come from my own brain.

24) One-shots or multi-chaptered works?

multi-chaptered! i've written a few one-shots before, but i definitely prefer multi-chaptered works. it's definitely difficult for me to concentrate on one thing long enough to write it in one sitting, haha.

25) Have you ever daydreamed about side adventures/spin-offs from your fic? Tell us about them!

i'm gonna be honest, i do daydream about my fics a lot, but not really about side adventures. however, i do sometimes think about how my ocs would interact with other people's ocs on here. and, honestly, i think it would be super fun to do a collab someday with another user and have our ocs interact. if we're pretty close mutuals, and you're interested, then hit me up 👀👀👀

(also, tbt to when me and Coruscant_Cosmonaut planned a whole hdm fic collab, came up with both the plot and characters, and then just... forgot about it. rip)

26) Is there anything you've wanted to write, but you've been too scared to try?

probably a series with different characters set in the same universe. like, maybe a marvel series where one book is a peter parker x oc, and another is a captain marvel x oc (just as an example), and the characters end up making cameos in the other's book. i think it would be super cool, but it would obviously require a lot of planning ahead, and a dependence on me sticking through with each individual story, lol. 

27) What's the nicest comment you've ever received?

i get so many nice comments on my work, which just warms my heart so much <333 here's a compilation of some of the ones that really made me smile:

28) How well do you handle criticism when it comes to your writing?

simple. if i ask for it (usually before posting), i'll take what you said seriously and work to improve. if you're commenting it unfounded (like someone recently did on ignis fatuus's prologue), i will take it into account, but i'll also be super annoyed by it. especially given the fact that, at that stage, i'm probably never going to change things. 

if we're talking, like, unconstructive criticism, then yeah, it does make me feel like shit. but i think i've gotten better now, and although i'll be stung, i'll probably just delete your comment and call it a day.

29) Have you ever gone outside of your comfort zone for a fic? How did it turn out?

honestly, i'd say paramnesia probably brought me out of my comfort zone. some of the topics i discussed regarding sexual harassment and sexual assault definitely weren't what i was used to writing, and the scene in chapter twelve (iykyk) was the first time i've ever written something so graphic. i'm not 100% sure if it turned out the exact way i wanted it to, but i tried to write it with care and respect, and hopefully it came out that way.

30) Tooth-rotting fluff or merciless angst?

a bowl of angst with a teaspoon of fluff on top. that's pretty much the haven formula now.

31) Do you have any OCs? Tell us about them!

no. sorry.

just kidding. i obviously have ocs, i write oc-insert fanfiction. i know most of you probably already know them, but let me give you a quick run-down of my main ones, anyway. don't worry, i'll try to make it entertaining ;)

alina fairgrieves-spoilers (acatalepsy + mad'ouk + paroxysm)

-stranger things oc

-twelve years old in season one, fourteen by season three

-bisexual

-huge star wars fan; named her cat skywalker

-her father works at the lab

-RAGING hero complex

-powers?

-everyone ships her with el and max

-would die for you

gabriel "gabe the great" burton (mad'ouk + paraoxysm)

-stranger things oc

-thirteen in season two, fourteen in season three

-gay as hell

-originally lived in chicago before moving to hawkins

-wears button-down shirts, reads the newspaper, and has a habit of rambling

-literal sunshine <333

-carries around knives sometimes

-his grandma is someone you don't want to mess with

nadine "i punch walls" vidal (ignis fatuus + paramnesia)

-umbrella academy oc

-twenty-nine in season one, thirty-one in season two

-lesbian!

-dijon, france, born and raised

-buff + feminine = supremacy

-doesn't know the concept of boundaries

-some idiot: not all men

nadine: you're right. my dad would never do this.

-can make illusions

molly hamasaki, queen of the universe (paramnesia)

-umbrella academy oc

-twenty-nine in season two

-pansexual!

-biracial; half-japanese, half-white

-would totally have a cooking/crafts youtube channel if she lived in the present day

-actually the nicest person ever

-can not fight to save her life (literally!)

-the moon to nadine's sun

-has a dead husband i keep forgetting about (rip john)

cecelia olivier aka the eyeroll emoji (revenant)

-marvel (specifically the spider-man movies) oc

-fifteen in homecoming, seventeen in no way home

-heteromantic asexual 

-dakota/sioux

-kind of the villain, but not really

-the grumpy to peter's sunshine

-can turn intangible at will; has a super cool alter-ego called phantom

-smarter than i'll ever be

-might kill for you, if she really likes you

-her uncle is literally named dick, which tells you all you need to know

i'm not funny 

32) Summarize a random fic of yours in 10 words or less.

because i'm extra, let's do all of them!

acatalepsy: loner girl is totally not into boy, okay?

mad'ouk: alina's friends are blind, gabe is an angel

paroxysm: trauma, summer edition (featuring gabe the angel, pt 2)

ignis fatuus: local dumbass is accidentally adopted by famous family 

paramnesia: is this really a vanya hargreeves fic?

revenant: renegades by marissa meyer, but less frustrating (i hope)

33) Is there anything you wish your audience knew about your writing or writing process?

1) every fic i post on here is at least on its second draft. my original ones are a hell of a lot worse, so don't think this is the kind of stuff i can pump out on one try, lol.

2) it takes a long time!! sometimes i lose motivation!! but comments are the #1 thing that inspire me to keep going. so, if you like my work, please leave a comment or two! i seriously will love you forever and always <333

34) Copy and paste an excerpt you're particularly fond of.

from paramnesia:

"WHEN SOME STARS DIE, they explode, creating a shockwave that propels the materials they are made of out into the universe. This occurs when the star runs out of fuel—otherwise known as the end of its lifespan. The pressure drops, and some of the mass flows into the core. Because the core is now so heavy it cannot stand its gravitational force, it collapses so quickly it causes the explosion. Called a supernova, it's the largest eruption humanity has ever witnessed. And it also happens to not only be so bright that it has the potential to outshine its galaxy, but also so large that its remnants are around a million times larger than the already uncomprehendingly gargantuan star it erupted from.

When Nadine Vidal woke up in the alleyway behind Commerce and Knox, it was as if she'd experienced her own miniature supernova; one that had occurred in her mind instead of in the universe. Something in her had exploded, and her entire body—not just her brain—had felt its effects."

35) Ramble about any fic-related thing you want!

okay, you want a ramble? you'll GET a ramble!!

1) i can't believe paramnesia is almost over, holy shit. the actual drafting of the fic has been finished for a while, but the fact that i'm almost done posting it??? unbelievable. there was a time where i never believed i'd actually end up finishing it, so i'm so proud of myself for finally getting there. even if there are, like, two people reading it.

2) i am SO excited to write far from home (which will probably be book two of revenant, so a little ways away), solely so i can explore the effects of the blip more. i feel like it was kind of looked over in the mcu (at least, in the films i've seen; i've heard it might be played out more in tfatws) and i've been going over different ideas on how i want to play it. obviously, cecelia is going to get blipped (things wouldn't really work if she wasn't), so really delving into her thoughts on that??? it sounds super cool.

3) mad'ouk is almost at 100k reads. holy crap. thank you sm <333

4) i can finally reveal the title for acatalepsy book four!! i have literally known it since 2020, when i first started writing the series, and i actually still have the super old cover i made for it, lol. anyway, it's going to be called hiraeth: a homesickness for a home you can no longer return to, or that never was. i knew from the beginning that this would describe alina's feelings about leaving hawkins, which is going to explored in the plot. 

thanks for checking out this incredibly long tag!! i hope you enjoyed, and thank you for immaplatypus for coming up with it!