I actually DID pick up a fic from over a year ago and restart it. I'm so proud. I might even finish it this time. It's a Pokemon fic because... well that's just been my jam for a while now.

As a side note: Pokemon has been one of my longest running hyper-fixations, but I think that's just because of the length and breadth of the content.

I suppose that means I'll need to keep an eye out for other mega franchises in the future. It's nice to have something enduring. XD

I hope all of you are doing well.

Since I know a lot of people out there struggle with a variety of illnesses, it's good to keep in mind that this time of year you should be gentle with yourself. (April in particular is actually one of the harshest months for anyone dealing with depression, for example.)

It's a slog. It will get better.

That may be completely unrelated to what any of y'all are going through, but I remember hearing it from an expert years ago and it was genuinely eye opening... and a good reminder to take a couple vacation or personal days in the Spring.

Happy weekend!

Right now I'm still on my Mob Psycho 100 kick, with Pokemon going pretty strong, but a few new series have popped up.

• Frieren
• My Derelict Favorite

I'm curious to see what else grabs me. How about you all? :)

What's everyone focused on this weekend?

I've been a reading a ton of Fire Emblem fic and just might get around to writing one of the stories I have floating around in my head.

We'll see.

I also may have found my drawing tablet! Assuming my stylus is with it, I may draw a bit.

I usually find the main character to be the least interesting. This isn't always, but it's often.

Part of it is the sense that sometimes protagonists rest too much on BEING protagonists to be interesting. Everyone sort of falls all over them and they're special just because and... It feels flat to me.

So most of the fic I write/read centers on secondary protagonist or side characters to varying degrees.

What about you all?

That vibe when your non-popular character focused fic (that you barely expected anyone to read) gets a comment! XD #fanfiction #fe3H

I might expand on a short Fire Emblem fic I wrote in a rush last weekend. I'm in the mood for some deep friendship fic and I have some inspiration.

What about all of you?

Every fanfic writer I know has one.

I have a sequel to a fic from forever ago that I just...haven't gotten to writing. I've started and stopped at least three times! I don't know why it's been such a struggle.

What about you?

I'd been on various other kicks for a while, but this week Fire Emblem: Three Houses pulled me right back down the fan-fiction rabbit hole. I'm not even sure what kicked it off.

There are a few series that I find myself coming back to. What are yours?

Fandom round up!

Reading: "Sweet Little Lies" by Tatami_Hokes on AO3 (Mob Psycho 100 fic).

Writing: I have some pokemon fic swirling in my brain thanks to revisiting the anime, but I haven't decided. We'll see if I have time/energy for writing this weekend.

Drawing: I've been debating dabbling with comics again, but leaning more toward original stuff. Fan comics might be a good way to ease back in though, as I've had a Fire Emblem comic idea on my mind for ages.

The "Perfect Protagonist" and/or the "Perfect (2 Dimensional) Love Interest" are honestly grating to me.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind that the protagonist is special or chosen or what have you. Although I do love it when authors play around with the "non-special" or "non-chosen" characters as protagonists as well. And who doesn't love a good anti-hero, right? (Well, sometimes me depending, actually.)

Anyway, my issues is with when they're just default accepted as perfect by all the other characters around them, as being able to do absolutely no wrong whatsoever, while other characters are somehow judged more harshly in the same context.

The perfect love interest archetype tends to be especially annoying because they are almost always pitted against a far more fleshed out and complex rival character who suddenly and inexplicably will become intolerable as if to justify why the protagonist should definitely go with the other.

I've been rereading a bunch of my favorite MP100 fics, but I should probably get back into doing some writing. Now to choose a WIP. XD

AO3 is back up (yay!) and there are other sites out there hosting great fanfic and comics. What's on your list for this weekend?

As for me, I'm waiting on a few Mob Psycho Fics I've been following to update.

Updates on #AO3 - The main site appears to be back up and running, though some work is still being done. There's talk of a spoof account on Twitter that is attempting to collect donations by posing as part of the team. Please be careful when donating to any organization, especially via links provided on social media!

Also: The spoofed named "AO3_Status_" is very close to the "AO3_Status" name of the original account but uses an extra "_" at the end. It may not be the only bad actor out there.

#fanfiction #fanfic

#AO3 is currently down due to a DDOS attack.

Edit: People are being asked to minimize traffic to the site while this is going on.

#fanfic #fanfiction

Share a favorite line from one your fics or one you've read recently. (Be sure to credit the author if sharing someone else's.)

Bad formatting? Lack of editing? What really puts you off of a fic and why?

Keep in mind that pet peeves are not universal. I'm sure I'll be guilty of the plenty of things that come to mind for many people.

(Sorry not sorry! :D)

This goes without saying, but I'm saying it anyway: Please be nice!

One of my favorite tricks when I have been staring at a passage I'm not happy with for too long is to open a separate word document and then trying to capture the idea without limiting myself to just the small string of words I initially set down.

(Once the words are in front of me I find myself trying to rearrange them as I don't have a much broader vocabulary to choose from.)

Another is to have a scratchpad where I can set aside entire paragraphs or chunks I'm not sure of, but not ready to part with just yet. Some of them become different stories or can be used for later.