Tolkien Fanfiction Survey, 3rd Edition!
Dec. 14th, 2025 06:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dawn_felagund posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
silwritersguild
This is the last call for participants in the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey! We will close the survey on January 1. Signal boosts on other Tolkien communities, if appropriate, are much appreciated.
Do you read or write fanfiction based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien or a Tolkien media adaptation like the film trilogies or Rings of Power series? If so, we'd love to hear from you!
The Tolkien Fanfiction Survey first ran in 2015 and has run every five years since. It is run by Dawn "Felagund" Walls-Thumma, an independent scholar, and Maria K. Alberto, an assistant professor at Richland Community College. Both of us are also readers and writers of fanfiction ourselves. We are excited to introduce the third edition, which will give us insight into how the fandom has changed across the last decade!
If you choose to participate, we will collect basic demographic information and ask you about your beliefs and habits regarding reading and/or writing Tolkien-based fanfiction. Most questions are multiple choice, but there is also a space on each page where you can elaborate on any of your answers if you want to share more information with us. You can skip any question you don't want to answer and quit the survey at any time.
The survey will take about 20-30 minutes to complete.
Who can participate?
Participants must be 18 years or older.
- We want to hear from both readers and writers of Tolkien-based fanfiction.
- All levels of experience and involvement with Tolkien are welcome.
- Readers and writers of fic based on Jackson's film trilogies, The Rings of Power, and other Tolkien-derived media are welcome as well.
- If you read and/or wrote Tolkien-based fanfiction in the past but don't any longer, we still want to hear from you!
Click here to start the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey!
Art: "The Lonely Mountain" by MissMachineArt (CC license)
Heated Rivalry
Dec. 14th, 2025 10:16 amtheladyscribeWow, so I read Heated Rivalry in anticipation of the tv show, and tbh I did not really like the book! But I am head-over-heels for the show, oh my god. It's hitting all of my feelings. I saw someone on meme say that it has disrupted their Seasonal Affective Disorder, and honestly same? Wow.
I think the serial nature of its release is contributing here - I had not realized just how much I missed the weekly anticipation of a new episode! More streaming shows should be like this, tbh.
Anyway, I have fallen hard enough that I am writing a soulmates (TiMER) AU on bluesky in between trying to wrap up my Yuletide assignment. I am furiously refreshing the What Chaos youtube channel in breathless anticipation of their next episode reaction (already 2 days late!! get on this, guys!!). I am buying every song on bandcamp (because the music is STELLAR, like for real, haven't seen music cues this great since my SPN days). I am eating up every rec and little detail and gifset that crosses my path. I've watched all of the current episodes at least twice and will almost definitely rewatch Friday's episode again today.
I'm going to be home for the holidays visiting family when the final episode airs, and I am already trying to decide if I will get up early to watch it or if I will have to wait until after everyone else goes to bed that night to finish it.
If you are watching this, please come yell with me about it!
I think the serial nature of its release is contributing here - I had not realized just how much I missed the weekly anticipation of a new episode! More streaming shows should be like this, tbh.
Anyway, I have fallen hard enough that I am writing a soulmates (TiMER) AU on bluesky in between trying to wrap up my Yuletide assignment. I am furiously refreshing the What Chaos youtube channel in breathless anticipation of their next episode reaction (already 2 days late!! get on this, guys!!). I am buying every song on bandcamp (because the music is STELLAR, like for real, haven't seen music cues this great since my SPN days). I am eating up every rec and little detail and gifset that crosses my path. I've watched all of the current episodes at least twice and will almost definitely rewatch Friday's episode again today.
I'm going to be home for the holidays visiting family when the final episode airs, and I am already trying to decide if I will get up early to watch it or if I will have to wait until after everyone else goes to bed that night to finish it.
If you are watching this, please come yell with me about it!
Books: Murderbot, Shadow of the Leviathan
Dec. 13th, 2025 02:37 pmsnickficAll Systems Red (2017) by Martha Wells. A humanoid cyborg created to do wet work jobs finds itself giving a shit about a human research team it's supposed to be protecting on an alien planet.
I can see why people love Murderbot itself; it's a big old angst bucket desperately trying to pretend it isn't one. I've seen people characterize this type as an iron woobie, and it's fandom catnip.
However, I did not connect with any other part of this novella. It's so damn insubstantial. There are other characters, but they're mostly indistinguishable. There's a strong whiff of claustrophobic found family that made me DNF the one Becky Chambers book I tried, with the same element of "the one character who doesn't buy in without question is treated as an antagonist." There's some worldbuilding, but extremely thinly drawn. The prose is conversational, which can work great in a lot of cases but here just feels like one more missed opportunity to give me anything I might be interested in.
I've read a lot of pro SFF novellas over the years, and I genuinely can't think of one that felt less deserving of its length than this one. You can pack a lot of thoughts and ideas into a novella! But this didn't even try. If it'd been a third of the wordcount, I probably would have liked it pretty well.
I've heard the second and third in the series are the best, and I might try them at some point, but tbh I think I'd have better luck with the show, which at least has real actors to lend some weight and complexity to the characters.
--
The Tainted Cup (2024) and A Drop of Corruption (2025) by Robert Jackson Bennett. The first two books of his Shadow of the Leviathan series, a Sherlock and Holmes riff (or possibly a Nero Wolfe and Archie riff) about an idiosyncratic middle-aged(?) female savant and her long-suffering young gay assistant solving murders in a fantasy world where basically all technology is organic in some way.
These were great fun. Bennett seems really into both cosmic horror (the "leviathans" of the series are mountain-sized monsters that crawl out of the sea and wreak havoc every wet season) and body horror (more terrible plant-related things happening to bodies than you can shake a stick at). Even when this world is running the way everyone wants, it's still so damn weird (complimentary). Augmentations that turn your skin purple and gray! Immortality treatments that stop aging and cause you to just grow forever, like an iguana! The augurs in the second book who pattern-match to such a degree that they can't handle spoken communication: A++, and they reminded me a bit of parts of Anathem.
Ana Dolabra, the foul-mouthed savant detective is far and away the best part. Her assistant Din Kol, from whose perspective the stories are written, is a real sad sack, both due to circumstances and apparently innate temperament, and sometimes that can be a bit of a drag. I also felt like his renewal of purpose in A Drop of Corruption came way too easily; it almost felt like it happened off screen.
Overall, though, these are just a great time. It sounds like Bennett is on a roll, and I can't wait for the next one.
I can see why people love Murderbot itself; it's a big old angst bucket desperately trying to pretend it isn't one. I've seen people characterize this type as an iron woobie, and it's fandom catnip.
However, I did not connect with any other part of this novella. It's so damn insubstantial. There are other characters, but they're mostly indistinguishable. There's a strong whiff of claustrophobic found family that made me DNF the one Becky Chambers book I tried, with the same element of "the one character who doesn't buy in without question is treated as an antagonist." There's some worldbuilding, but extremely thinly drawn. The prose is conversational, which can work great in a lot of cases but here just feels like one more missed opportunity to give me anything I might be interested in.
I've read a lot of pro SFF novellas over the years, and I genuinely can't think of one that felt less deserving of its length than this one. You can pack a lot of thoughts and ideas into a novella! But this didn't even try. If it'd been a third of the wordcount, I probably would have liked it pretty well.
I've heard the second and third in the series are the best, and I might try them at some point, but tbh I think I'd have better luck with the show, which at least has real actors to lend some weight and complexity to the characters.
--
The Tainted Cup (2024) and A Drop of Corruption (2025) by Robert Jackson Bennett. The first two books of his Shadow of the Leviathan series, a Sherlock and Holmes riff (or possibly a Nero Wolfe and Archie riff) about an idiosyncratic middle-aged(?) female savant and her long-suffering young gay assistant solving murders in a fantasy world where basically all technology is organic in some way.
These were great fun. Bennett seems really into both cosmic horror (the "leviathans" of the series are mountain-sized monsters that crawl out of the sea and wreak havoc every wet season) and body horror (more terrible plant-related things happening to bodies than you can shake a stick at). Even when this world is running the way everyone wants, it's still so damn weird (complimentary). Augmentations that turn your skin purple and gray! Immortality treatments that stop aging and cause you to just grow forever, like an iguana! The augurs in the second book who pattern-match to such a degree that they can't handle spoken communication: A++, and they reminded me a bit of parts of Anathem.
Ana Dolabra, the foul-mouthed savant detective is far and away the best part. Her assistant Din Kol, from whose perspective the stories are written, is a real sad sack, both due to circumstances and apparently innate temperament, and sometimes that can be a bit of a drag. I also felt like his renewal of purpose in A Drop of Corruption came way too easily; it almost felt like it happened off screen.
Overall, though, these are just a great time. It sounds like Bennett is on a roll, and I can't wait for the next one.
movies: Wicked 2, Dust Bunny
Dec. 12th, 2025 04:56 pmsnickficDust Bunny (2025). A little girl hires a hit man (Mads Mikkelsen) who lives across the hall to kill a monster under her bed. Or, Roald Dahl meets John Wick.
This is listed as a "horror thriller," which I guess is true in the same sense that the Barbie movie is a "political drama." I would be more inclined to call this a dark fantasy/action movie. It's also rated R, and I legitimately do not know why; this is like a mid-tier PG-13. I kept waiting for things to get gory and justify the rating, and they never did, so I recommend managing your expectations on that front.
The aesthetic here goes extremely hard. Their apartment building is an absolutely incredible art nouveau confection. We visit other locales with similarly heightened decor, but honestly nothing is nearly as visually stunning, which I think is fine, because the apartment building is the heart of the movie.
The acting here is all extremely good. In addition to Mikkelsen and the child actress, who is fantastic, we also have Sigourney Weaver, David Dastmalchian, and someone I didn't know named Sheila Atim who is delightful.
This is fun ride and great time. I spent most of the movie having absolutely no idea where it would go next. If any of this piques your interest, I definitely recommend it.
--
Wicked: For Good (2025). First, props, the subtitling is clever. Anyway, this is the second half of the story of a good witch and a bad witch fighting/collaborating with the machine while pining for each other and also some guy who's just kind of there.
Honestly, "just kind of there" describes a lot of this movie. It doesn't really expand on any of the political motivation from the first movie, so I had trouble remembering exactly WHY the wizard and his henchwoman have decided to demonize the animals and by extension their defender Elphaba. Fiyero the awkward third wheel, whom I actually found quite charming in the first movie, got almost nothing to do here. No animal character got any kind of significant development; the closest we got was one of the flying monkeys, who didn't even get any lines for plot reasons. There's a subplot involving Elphaba's disabled sister becoming increasingly more unhinged and embittered by her romantic disappointment and probably ableist society at large, but then, you know, she dies from a house falling on her, so that's the end of that. There's a Big Reveal about Elphaba's parentage that literally everyone saw coming, but which Elphaba herself doesn't even get to find out about or react to. There are barely even any big musical set pieces and basically no dance choreography at all. The only song that made a real impression on me was Elphaba's big heel turn song No Good Deed, and I hear from the theater folks that it was kind of weaksauce compared to the live musical version.
All that said, this is the Elphaba and Glinda show, and they're great, honestly. Ariana Grande's comic timing is impeccable. The pining truly is spectacular; there's an amazing scene towards the end that must be seen to be believed. The shippers feasted.
This is listed as a "horror thriller," which I guess is true in the same sense that the Barbie movie is a "political drama." I would be more inclined to call this a dark fantasy/action movie. It's also rated R, and I legitimately do not know why; this is like a mid-tier PG-13. I kept waiting for things to get gory and justify the rating, and they never did, so I recommend managing your expectations on that front.
The aesthetic here goes extremely hard. Their apartment building is an absolutely incredible art nouveau confection. We visit other locales with similarly heightened decor, but honestly nothing is nearly as visually stunning, which I think is fine, because the apartment building is the heart of the movie.
The acting here is all extremely good. In addition to Mikkelsen and the child actress, who is fantastic, we also have Sigourney Weaver, David Dastmalchian, and someone I didn't know named Sheila Atim who is delightful.
This is fun ride and great time. I spent most of the movie having absolutely no idea where it would go next. If any of this piques your interest, I definitely recommend it.
--
Wicked: For Good (2025). First, props, the subtitling is clever. Anyway, this is the second half of the story of a good witch and a bad witch fighting/collaborating with the machine while pining for each other and also some guy who's just kind of there.
Honestly, "just kind of there" describes a lot of this movie. It doesn't really expand on any of the political motivation from the first movie, so I had trouble remembering exactly WHY the wizard and his henchwoman have decided to demonize the animals and by extension their defender Elphaba. Fiyero the awkward third wheel, whom I actually found quite charming in the first movie, got almost nothing to do here. No animal character got any kind of significant development; the closest we got was one of the flying monkeys, who didn't even get any lines for plot reasons. There's a subplot involving Elphaba's disabled sister becoming increasingly more unhinged and embittered by her romantic disappointment and probably ableist society at large, but then, you know, she dies from a house falling on her, so that's the end of that. There's a Big Reveal about Elphaba's parentage that literally everyone saw coming, but which Elphaba herself doesn't even get to find out about or react to. There are barely even any big musical set pieces and basically no dance choreography at all. The only song that made a real impression on me was Elphaba's big heel turn song No Good Deed, and I hear from the theater folks that it was kind of weaksauce compared to the live musical version.
All that said, this is the Elphaba and Glinda show, and they're great, honestly. Ariana Grande's comic timing is impeccable. The pining truly is spectacular; there's an amazing scene towards the end that must be seen to be believed. The shippers feasted.
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Admin Post: GYWO 2026 Promotion
Dec. 12th, 2025 10:57 am![[admin post]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/entry/admin_post.png){kind=small}
gywomod posting in getyourwordsoutIf you want to share GYWO with your friends, please feel free to use either of the codes provided to let them know you’ll be writing a lot in 2026 and you think they should too.
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GetYourWordsOut: Year Eighteen!
Pledges & Requirements | getyourwordsout.net
( Promotion )
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You can also recommend they follow us on Tumblr (
GetYourWordsOut: Year Eighteen!
Pledges & Requirements | getyourwordsout.net
( Promotion )
Thanks for sharing
getyourwordsout!
Admin Post: GYWO 2026: Pledges & Requirements
Dec. 12th, 2025 10:51 amgywomod posting in getyourwordsoutGYWO is BACK for 2026! We're starting our eighteenth year-long writing challenge with thirteen pledges to help you challenge yourself, achieve your writing goals, and build a writing life.
Keep in mind that even our smallest goals require a serious commitment throughout the year. While it’s okay for writers to be behind or even entirely miss their pledge goal, we want you to pick a pledge that will keep motivating you all year long. Before choosing your pledge, please take note of the few requirements we have of our members, and carefully consider which of the thirteen pledges you'd like to choose. You may choose only one pledge.
( Membership Requirements & Information )
( Pledge Types )
Pledging
If you pledged in a previous year and didn't meet your goal, quit, or were removed from the comm for missing check-ins, you are welcome to pledge again.
When choosing your pledge, consider your personal writing habits and what you find most motivating. Will hitting your word count goal early help propel you to keep writing through the remainder of the year? Do you need a major challenge to keep you on pace? Have you surpassed smaller goals in previous years and need more of a challenge? Are you already writing multiple days a week? Make sure the pledge you make is one that will motivate you. (If you need help deciding, please check out our post Choosing Your 2026 Pledge.)
To make your pledge, there are two steps to complete: Pledge & Request.
Step 1: Pledge
Complete the GYWO 2026 Pledge Form. You must provide (1) your email address, (2) your Dreamwidth or OpenID username, and (3) your 2026 pledge level.
If you participated in GYWO previously under a different username than the one you plan to use this year, please take your best guess at your previous username—we track repeat members so we can see how the community has grown year to year.
Optionally, we request your Discord, Bluesky, and Tumblr usernames and your birth month for a monthly celebration post.
Step 2: Request
Once you have completed the GYWO 2026 Pledge Form, please request to join the Dreamwidth community if you are not already a member. We will approve memberships on January 1st (as we still have 2025 members scrambling to hit their goals!), and we'll hold you in the queue until then. You're also invited to use the link provided on the confirmation page to join our Discord server. Access roles are assigned starting on December 31, but it's a good idea to get yourself acclimated to our server rules before then.
If you are a current GYWO member or already have access to the GYWO Discord server, you won’t need to request membership. But it may be a good idea to confirm you can view Dreamwidth member-locked posts and see the full channel list on Discord.
If you are not planning to use Dreamwidth, let us know in the pledge form. You still need to sign up with a DW or OpenID account, but we won't hound you about joining the community. (But really, we strongly recommend it.)
If you are not planning to use Discord… you don't need to do anything, actually. But it is where we host writing sprints.
If you’re concerned we didn’t receive your pledge:
IMPORTANT: Anyone requesting to join the community who has not made a pledge will not be added. To ensure you are not left out, make your pledge first, then request to join.
You have through January 15, 2026 to make your pledge.
After that time you will NOT be able to change your pledge
or join the challenge, so think carefully before committing.
Got all that? Then it’s time to complete
the GYWO 2026 Pledge Form
If you still have questions, ask them here! But hopefully this post covers everything you need to know about what is required of members, what the pledge options are, and how to make your pledge. We hope to see your pledge soon!
FAQ
• If I’m a 2025 member, do I need to pledge? Do I need to request membership?
• Can I pledge if I previously quit the challenge, was removed for missed check-ins, or didn’t meet my goal?
• How do I change my pledge? What if I decide I'm not ready for GYWO this year?
• I participated before but can’t remember my previous username. What do I do?
• How do I track my pledge?
• What happens if I finish my pledge early?
• What happens if I don’t finish my pledge?
• Do I have to participate in the Dreamwidth community? Do I have to regularly check Dreamwidth?
• How do I get or retain membership on GYWO Discord?
If you want to share GYWO with your friends, feel free to snag one of our banners at the GYWO 2026 Promotion post.
Keep in mind that even our smallest goals require a serious commitment throughout the year. While it’s okay for writers to be behind or even entirely miss their pledge goal, we want you to pick a pledge that will keep motivating you all year long. Before choosing your pledge, please take note of the few requirements we have of our members, and carefully consider which of the thirteen pledges you'd like to choose. You may choose only one pledge.
( Membership Requirements & Information )
( Pledge Types )
Pledging
If you pledged in a previous year and didn't meet your goal, quit, or were removed from the comm for missing check-ins, you are welcome to pledge again.
When choosing your pledge, consider your personal writing habits and what you find most motivating. Will hitting your word count goal early help propel you to keep writing through the remainder of the year? Do you need a major challenge to keep you on pace? Have you surpassed smaller goals in previous years and need more of a challenge? Are you already writing multiple days a week? Make sure the pledge you make is one that will motivate you. (If you need help deciding, please check out our post Choosing Your 2026 Pledge.)
To make your pledge, there are two steps to complete: Pledge & Request.
Step 1: Pledge
Complete the GYWO 2026 Pledge Form. You must provide (1) your email address, (2) your Dreamwidth or OpenID username, and (3) your 2026 pledge level.
- Your email will be added to a GYWO newsletter mailing list. This monthly newsletter includes a link to the monthly check-in and brief community news. Your email is also the primary contact for moderator questions and reminders throughout the year. Your email address will never be shared without your explicit permission.
Your Dreamwidth or OpenID will allow you access to this community where you will find discussions and support, writing challenges and games, and more. Members are not required to participate in the community (but we hope you will). This username is your official GYWO username and will be used at each check-in to identify who you are in our database. As such, if you are using OpenID, please make sure it is connected to Dreamwidth before pledging.
Your Pledge Level is your goal for the year. Even if you exceed your pledge, you’ll identify your official pledge level at each check-in.
If you participated in GYWO previously under a different username than the one you plan to use this year, please take your best guess at your previous username—we track repeat members so we can see how the community has grown year to year.
Optionally, we request your Discord, Bluesky, and Tumblr usernames and your birth month for a monthly celebration post.
- Any GYWO writer may join the GYWO Discord at any point during the active year—just follow the instructions once you join the server to receive full access.
- For Bluesky, we only follow back GYWO writers who have provided their accounts for the current year.
- On Tumblr we interact with accounts who ping or message us, but it's helpful to know if you're a current GYWO writer.
- For birthday celebrations, we only include GYWO writers who have provided their birth month for the current year.
- Reminders: Sign up for only ONE pledge.
Sign up with only ONE account.
You may sign up using Dreamwidth or OpenID.
You may use a fic/writing journal instead of your personal one.
If you have previously participated under a different username, please let us know so we can track our repeat members.
Step 2: Request
Once you have completed the GYWO 2026 Pledge Form, please request to join the Dreamwidth community if you are not already a member. We will approve memberships on January 1st (as we still have 2025 members scrambling to hit their goals!), and we'll hold you in the queue until then. You're also invited to use the link provided on the confirmation page to join our Discord server. Access roles are assigned starting on December 31, but it's a good idea to get yourself acclimated to our server rules before then.
If you are a current GYWO member or already have access to the GYWO Discord server, you won’t need to request membership. But it may be a good idea to confirm you can view Dreamwidth member-locked posts and see the full channel list on Discord.
If you are not planning to use Dreamwidth, let us know in the pledge form. You still need to sign up with a DW or OpenID account, but we won't hound you about joining the community. (But really, we strongly recommend it.)
If you are not planning to use Discord… you don't need to do anything, actually. But it is where we host writing sprints.
If you’re concerned we didn’t receive your pledge:
- The GYWO 2026 Pledge Form will automatically send you email confirmation of your pledge. Additionally, we will be updating the GYWO 2026 Writers page on the website as new members are processed. If you don’t receive an email and your name isn’t added to the 2026 Writers list, email gywomod@gmail.com. Please give us at least twenty-four hours before inquiring about your status. (Over the Christmas holiday we will not be processing pledges, so please check back on Dec 27th.)
IMPORTANT: Anyone requesting to join the community who has not made a pledge will not be added. To ensure you are not left out, make your pledge first, then request to join.
After that time you will NOT be able to change your pledge
or join the challenge, so think carefully before committing.
Got all that? Then it’s time to complete
the GYWO 2026 Pledge Form
If you still have questions, ask them here! But hopefully this post covers everything you need to know about what is required of members, what the pledge options are, and how to make your pledge. We hope to see your pledge soon!
FAQ
• If I’m a 2025 member, do I need to pledge? Do I need to request membership?
• Can I pledge if I previously quit the challenge, was removed for missed check-ins, or didn’t meet my goal?
• How do I change my pledge? What if I decide I'm not ready for GYWO this year?
• I participated before but can’t remember my previous username. What do I do?
• How do I track my pledge?
• What happens if I finish my pledge early?
• What happens if I don’t finish my pledge?
• Do I have to participate in the Dreamwidth community? Do I have to regularly check Dreamwidth?
• How do I get or retain membership on GYWO Discord?
If you want to share GYWO with your friends, feel free to snag one of our banners at the GYWO 2026 Promotion post.
fic recs: horror from FIAB
Dec. 10th, 2025 09:49 amsnickficThe Sorcerer and the Shadow, Cthulhu Mythos, Original Miskatonic Student/Original Sorcerer, 3k. Nathaniel Palfrey seeks a sorcerer's aid. Ambrose Corbin is more than happy to oblige. A twisty, nasty little horror story, full of layers. Really captures that menace Lovecraft's villains have while also being a literal gay seduction story. You love to see it. :')
HousesuoH, House of Leaves, 7k. Pre-canon horror fic about a contractor who agrees to do a renovation project on the house and really, really regrets it. This author has correctly identified the missing quarter-inch as the best/worst part of the whole book and has expanded on it. What a fun little horror story.
Yggdrasil Station: A 1-day Wormhole Hopper's guide!, Original Work, gen, 2.6k. Join interstellar travel blogger 1DAYWORMHOLEHOPPER as she guides you through the unique attractions of the one-time backwater Yggdrasil station! A delightfully terrible little story/blog/transcript of a cheerful vlogger trying out the gourmet dining experience of a meal prepared from a bodymodded human tree. Must be read to be believed. The author absolutely nails the voice of this particular genre of media.
HousesuoH, House of Leaves, 7k. Pre-canon horror fic about a contractor who agrees to do a renovation project on the house and really, really regrets it. This author has correctly identified the missing quarter-inch as the best/worst part of the whole book and has expanded on it. What a fun little horror story.
Yggdrasil Station: A 1-day Wormhole Hopper's guide!, Original Work, gen, 2.6k. Join interstellar travel blogger 1DAYWORMHOLEHOPPER as she guides you through the unique attractions of the one-time backwater Yggdrasil station! A delightfully terrible little story/blog/transcript of a cheerful vlogger trying out the gourmet dining experience of a meal prepared from a bodymodded human tree. Must be read to be believed. The author absolutely nails the voice of this particular genre of media.
Tips for Getting Unstuck
Dec. 9th, 2025 02:36 pmtheemdash posting in getyourwordsoutWelcome again to everyone joining us for the Year-End Marathon and to everyone looking for a peek behind the curtain at GYWO. Each month volunteers post discussions about writing craft, life, and publishing. This rare public post is to give a taste of the full GYWO experience. We welcome you to interact, comment, and share your own experiences on the topic.
Tips for Getting Unstuck
No matter how much planning you do, there is always an opportunity for a writer to get stuck. Maybe your characters don’t agree with your plan, or you realize the plot twist is too obvious, or for whatever reason today this scene just doesn’t want to be written. Regardless of what’s actually going on, the bottom line is that you’re stuck in your writing and you need to not be stuck.
Let’s talk about some ways to apply a little grease and get your draft moving again.
( Tips for Getting Unstuck )
How do you go about getting unstuck while you’re drafting? Have you tried any of these strategies? And if you’re stuck right now and want to throw spaghetti at a wall, some of us will be around in the comments.
Tips for Getting Unstuck
No matter how much planning you do, there is always an opportunity for a writer to get stuck. Maybe your characters don’t agree with your plan, or you realize the plot twist is too obvious, or for whatever reason today this scene just doesn’t want to be written. Regardless of what’s actually going on, the bottom line is that you’re stuck in your writing and you need to not be stuck.
Let’s talk about some ways to apply a little grease and get your draft moving again.
( Tips for Getting Unstuck )
How do you go about getting unstuck while you’re drafting? Have you tried any of these strategies? And if you’re stuck right now and want to throw spaghetti at a wall, some of us will be around in the comments.
FIAB fics!
Dec. 8th, 2025 04:42 pmsnickficficinabox reveals have happened, and after being a post-deadline pinch hit (and then a post-post-deadline pinch hit...) and being a little nervous about it, I got some great things. :3 More recs to come once I get a chance to explore the rest of the collection.i said farewell (i meant don't go), Red Sonja (2025), Sonja/Petra, 7k. Petra survives the arena, goes traveling with Sonja after the end of the movie, and absolute does not pine or have any feelings about it (and then gets abducted by an eldritch cult, oh no). Jaded traumatized warrior women/young earnest warrior woman, what an excellent ship. :') The writing here is gorgeous, and the fic hits that good tropey goodness in a way that can be hard to find in femslash.
Probably readable canon-blind? If this sounds like your jam at all, I definitely recommend. This fandom is SO SMALL that the tag is unwrangled on AO3, and I worry that no one but me is going to find this fic and read it.
The Lonely Ones, Kyle Murchison Booth stories, Booth/Alexis Rigby pre-slash, 5k. One misterable stormy night, Alexis appears on Booth's doorstep, to their mutual surprise. This is the first fic for this ship longer than a drabble, and I am so delighted it exists. The writing is really delicate and lovely, and very careful, as it needs to be when writing Booth making new personal connections (whether he wants or not).
Reflections, Kyle Murchison Booth stories, Booth/Ratcliffe, 3k. Despite his best intentions, Ratcliffe loses touch with Booth and then starts to form some suspicions about why that might be. I love this premise of Booth being a kind of liminal being as well, which fits right in with some of the ways Monette treats time and setting in canon. A nice shippy little ghost(?) story.
Wintering with Sorrow, by Himring
Dec. 7th, 2025 11:58 amhhimring posting in tolkienshortfanworksAuthor: Himring
Title: Wintering with Sorrow
Characters: Hild (Helm's sister) and her son Frealaf.
Pairing: n/a
Text type / Format: drabble
Source / Fandom: Lord of the Rings (Appendices)
Rating: Teens
Warnings: Angst
Word Count: 100
Summary: During the Long Winter in Rohan, the king's sister and his nephew have retreated before the invaders to Harrowdale. They have lost contact with the remains of the defeated army which was driven to the Hornburg, together with the king and his younger son. They know that the king's older son has fallen and fear for the others.
Author notes: This was written for an Insta-drabbling event at the SWG Discord yesterday, for a poem prompt. I am also claiming it for the December challenge here, as I did not manage to post a drabble in November, only ficlets without fixed word count.
( Read more... )
Title: Wintering with Sorrow
Characters: Hild (Helm's sister) and her son Frealaf.
Pairing: n/a
Text type / Format: drabble
Source / Fandom: Lord of the Rings (Appendices)
Rating: Teens
Warnings: Angst
Word Count: 100
Summary: During the Long Winter in Rohan, the king's sister and his nephew have retreated before the invaders to Harrowdale. They have lost contact with the remains of the defeated army which was driven to the Hornburg, together with the king and his younger son. They know that the king's older son has fallen and fear for the others.
Author notes: This was written for an Insta-drabbling event at the SWG Discord yesterday, for a poem prompt. I am also claiming it for the December challenge here, as I did not manage to post a drabble in November, only ficlets without fixed word count.
( Read more... )
fic recs: femslash
Dec. 5th, 2025 10:37 amsnickficStar Trek: TOS
Cheek to Cheek by![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
septemberbells
Chapel/Uhura, 100 words. Very sweet. <333
The Haunting of Hill House
Oleander Square bygalaxyofroses
Theo/Eleanor, 2k. Theo returns haunted from Hill House, maybe literally. I love this unconventional form of haunting. This has just great atmosphere, with lovely prose and such elegant imagery.
Original Work
Little Rat byChocoChipBiscuit
Noblewoman/The Woman Her Husband Is Having an Affair With, 5k. A noblewoman goes to a her London townhouse, only to discover her estranged husband's newest bed-mate. I enjoyed the hell out of this. I love their dynamic, their mutual respect for each others' worldliness and practicality combined with their attraction for each other. Also: the smut is scorching hot. Just delightful all around.
True Detective: Night Country
All Summer in a Day byLuna
Danvers/Navarro, 3k. Or: six months later, a reunion. This is the hot, gorgeous, atmospheric, character-driven, immediately post-canon shipfic at that random lake cabin that we all deserved! The writing here is so lovely, and the dynamic between them is complicated and full of sparks. I especially love the Danvers voice here. Wonderful stuff.
Cheek to Cheek by
Chapel/Uhura, 100 words. Very sweet. <333
The Haunting of Hill House
Oleander Square by
Theo/Eleanor, 2k. Theo returns haunted from Hill House, maybe literally. I love this unconventional form of haunting. This has just great atmosphere, with lovely prose and such elegant imagery.
Original Work
Little Rat by
Noblewoman/The Woman Her Husband Is Having an Affair With, 5k. A noblewoman goes to a her London townhouse, only to discover her estranged husband's newest bed-mate. I enjoyed the hell out of this. I love their dynamic, their mutual respect for each others' worldliness and practicality combined with their attraction for each other. Also: the smut is scorching hot. Just delightful all around.
True Detective: Night Country
All Summer in a Day by
Danvers/Navarro, 3k. Or: six months later, a reunion. This is the hot, gorgeous, atmospheric, character-driven, immediately post-canon shipfic at that random lake cabin that we all deserved! The writing here is so lovely, and the dynamic between them is complicated and full of sparks. I especially love the Danvers voice here. Wonderful stuff.