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retrowhatever · 2 years

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All the Horizon Fanfic Stats You Never Knew You Needed

So I did some data analysis. More graphs and lots of rambling below the cut.

I love graphs. And spreadsheets. And making my hobbies unnecessarily complicated. So obviously once I discovered that there's an unofficial ao3 api, I had to learn a new programming language so I could throw some math at my Horizon hyperfixation and make some graphs about fanfics. This post is the result of that rabbit hole, I hope you enjoy it!

Before we get started, I want to make one thing explicitly clear: this post is a celebration. It's a celebration of fanfic, authors, and the fandom in general. If you have something mean to say about a ship, a writer, or a fic, this ain't the place. I made these graphs and wrote this post as a love letter to a game I'm obsessed with and the incredible people who make the fan content that is my main form of sustenance these days lol, so let's keep the discussion positive.

One last thing: I generated these graphs from data that I pulled on Aug 4, 2022. Anything published after that won't be reflected here. Alright, here we go! Let's see some graphs!

Fanfic by Length

The first thing I wondered is what the average length of fic was. I did not include any fics below 100 words, assuming they were either art or placeholders, neither of which provide any useful information regarding number of words.

I defined the categories as follows:

Ficlet - less than 2000 words

Short Story - 2K-10K words

Novella - 10K-50K words

Novel - 50K-100K works

Behemoth (pun fully intended) - 100K+ words

Obviously, there's some blurriness at the category edges, but it's pretty clear most fics tend to be relatively short. I'm genuinely surprised by how many huge, sprawling works there are though - I definitely expected there to be a single-digit number of behemoth fics. Mad props to the folks writing those monstrosities for the rest of us to enjoy!

Fanfic by # of Chapters

This graph kind of underscores the point about most fics being relatively short. There are almost twice as many single chapter fics than all other fics put together.

A thing I think is relatively unique to fanfic as a medium though, is that a fair number of those single chapter fics are novella or even novel length. You're not often going to find a book at a bookstore that's tens of thousands of words and has no chapter divisions, but that's not unusual in fanfic.

Fanfic by Author

Okay, the first thing you need to understand about this graph is the following numbers:

2.6

Those are the median and mean fics published per author in the Horizon fandom, respectively. In case you slept through your stats class, what that means is most fanfic writers have written one or two Horizon fanfics. Now go back and look at the graph.

...yeah. We as fanfic lovers owe a lot to these folks. Most of them are on tumblr, so even if you don't have an ao3 account (same, babe, same) you have no excuse not to go show them some love!

Serie11 is @valaloy

SoupAndChaos is @soupandchaos

mythicait is @mythicaitt

DragonRose35 I couldn't find a tumblr for

Kittleskittle is @kittleskittle

VidalsQueen is @sun-and-shadow-aloy

NorthernGhost is @thatsgonnabeanogho

sunspot (unavoidedcrisis) is @sunspott

januarys I couldn't find a tumblr for

foibles_fables is @foibles-fables

unstable_grad I couldn't find a tumblr for

Pikapeppa is @pikapeppa

YoGrossDude is @yogrossdude

bioluminesce is @owlswatch

wandereringray is @wandereringray

escafiils is @chloefraazers

Fanfic by Rating

Okay, now things are getting spicy! First of all, if I'd had to guess the most popular rating, it probably wouldn't have been Teen. But, given how popular the "fluff" tag is (foreshadowing for the tag graph later in this post), I guess it shouldn't be that surprising.

Secondly, I'm clearly not the only one who struggles to understand what exactly the Mature rating is for, considering it's the least-used rating by a fair margin.

Fanfic by Ship

The most popular ships, colour-coded based on orientation. From left to right: mlm, straight, wlw, poly, machines(?????), unknown

I want to reiterate here that I made this post to celebrate the awesome Horizon fandom, so if you're thinking of using this graph to argue that one ship is better/more correct than another... just don't, k? Good.

I also combined similar tags, so if someone used all three of the tags "Aloy/Erend", "Aloy/Erend (Horizon: Zero Dawn)", and "Aloy (Horizon: Zero Dawn)/Erend (Horizon: Zero Dawn)" for the same fic, that's actually going to count as three fics in the Aloy/Erend column. I'll probably end up redoing this graph eventually with a less naive counting algorithm, but for now this is what we've got.

Now that we've got methodology out of the way, let's talk about some cool things this graph shows!

First, Kotaloy shippers obviously have a lot of things to say. Unlike the other five most popular ships, Aloy/Kotallo is the only one involving a character that wasn't in the first game. And it's the second most popular ship! Y'all are rabid and I love it.

Second, of the wlw ships, the second and third most popular ships involve a character from the DLC and a character who dies immediately after you meet her, respectively. You guys are out here making meals from crumbs and I am impressed. Also, though, why don't Petra and Vanasha get more love??? I'm unsurprised that Talanah and her favourite Thrush are the #1 ship, but I (a clueless straight, to be fair) loved both Petra and Vanasha and definitely expected to see more fic involving them.

Third, I love the variety here. This graph only includes ships with at least 10 fics, and there are so many different ships represented! There were tons more that had 5-10 fics too, and it honestly made me so happy to see that there were multiple fic options for almost any pairing in the game.

Fanfic by Tag

Y'all. Look at all the fluff. People always joke about making their blorbos go through it in their fanfic, but like. There is SO MUCH FLUFF. We all really just looked at these characters and went "well, they deserve nice things for a change", huh? I also love how popular canon divergence is - anecdotally, I usually see that tag on fics that are like "well, what if that shitty thing didn't happen?"

That's not to say it's all sunshine and rainbows. The next two most popular tropes are "angst" and "hurt/comfort", and as an enthusiastic consumer of both, I'm not surprised. But again, anecdotally I see a fair number of fics tagged with one or both of those and a "fluff" tag.

Going back to the ratings graph, where we learned that the most popular fic rating is Teen & Up, it shouldn't be surprising that both "First Kiss" and "First Time" are more popular tags than any of the more explicit sex ones. Also, given that Aloy grew up an outcast, I think the popularity of those tags speaks to how fun it is for both writers and readers to delve into what that means for her when it comes to sex and relationships.

Finally, the most-used content warning tags will surprise exactly no one, I think. Canon-typical violence (because duh), PTSD (growing up a literal outcast before finding out you're a clone made by an AI so you can save the entire world from extinction will do that to ya, not to mention all the shit Aloy's friends/lovers have been through in their own lives), and canonical character death (glares at GEMINI) are all pretty obvious choices.

Conclusion

Because I have zero impulse control, I'm already working on a part two for this post, where I will address such pressing questions as "Which ship has the most verbose authors?" and "Who's the gayest Horizon character?" as well as recklessly use the powers vested in me by the math and algorithm gods to find some hidden gem fics that you might not have read yet.

In the meantime, I would love to hear some more opinions on these graphs! I've commented on some of the things I found interesting, but there's lots more to address here, so feel free to reblog this post or snag any graph you find interesting to use in a post of your own. I only ask that you tag me if you do - because I want to read what you have to say!!

Also, if there's any stats or questions about Horizon fanfic that you're particularly curious about, let me know. I'm limited by the information available on ao3, but I will do my best to find you answers and include them in the next post.

Lastly, one final reminder that we're here to celebrate the awesomeness of Horizon fanfic, the fanfic authors, and the fandom in general. I will humbly accept all constructive criticism about my (somewhat questionable) statistical methods and data interpretation, but ask that you keep comments about ships, tags, authors, etc positive and productive. Remember these are real people creating free content for the rest of us, and don't yuck someone else's yum.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you found this half as interesting as I did!

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heroofshield · 3 months

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Why I Wrote It Bingo

tagged by @alyssalenko! Tagging @gavotteangel @pikapeppa @perhapsrampancy @socially-awkward-skeleton and anyone else who wants to do it <3

Board is by ao3commentoftheday and is found here

Fics under the cut

Found a Prompt List/I Don't Even Know: Whumpcember 2023, Where to Start (BINGO challenge), Stuck with You, & Promptober 2019

Spite: Someone to Carry You

Gift Fic: Pretty much any of my ClintNat fics.

Fuck This Character in Particular: Salty Sweet ;)

Just to See If I Could: Heartlines

Thought of A Great Scene/This Idea Won't Shut Up Until I Write It: Our Flag Means Death & Guns (specifically the third chapter) and Pray for the Wicked

Everything: (excluding IDK/Spite/Just To See) Basically my entire Vega/Ryder catalogue :D

#tag meme #fanfic #mcu #mass effect #clint barton #natasha romanov #james vega #annabel ryder #reyes vidal #my writing

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ranaspkillnarieth · 26 days

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Writing Bingo!

Tagged by @junos-office-drama , I got a bingo!

That's for her story, Blue Beard, Red Rose!

This one is for my story, Filled With Silver and Fire

How to play: Take my Bingo card and based off of one of your stories, see if you get a bingo! Then make your own bingo card and fill it with things from your story, then tag writers you know!

Tagging: @ir0n-angel , @crackinglamb, @pikapeppa

#tag game #tag bingo #writing #wow I have a lot of s words #could have added swearing as well lol

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pikapeppa · 2 months

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Rolan/Tav romance: Someone Great

In sum: a friends-to-lovers Rolan/f!Tav fic from Rolan's POV, with eventual rated E smut and mild angst with a happy ending.

Current word count: 36k words across 4 chapters, likely 7 in total.

First chapter (prologue) is below; you can find the rest here on AO3. ❤

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For as long as Rolan could remember, what he wanted most in the world was to be a great wizard.

It started when he was eight, with a dusty and faded book he found under a bed while his mother was cleaning someone’s house. He brought the book home with them that day; it didn’t look like anyone wanted it, and Rolan had never heard of ‘transmutation’ before, and it sounded neat. His mother threw the fit of all fits when she realized that he’d stolen from a client, but she allowed him to keep the book — it wasn’t like she could return it without looking like a bloody thief, she complained — and as Rolan painstakingly worked his way through the tome, he realized what he wanted to be when he grew up: he wanted to be a wizard. Not just any wizard, but a wizard great enough to perform every single spell in this book. He wanted to be able to pull on the Weave with the ease of tugging a loose thread on the cuff of a shirt. He wanted to be able to do amazing feats of magic, amazing enough that Mother wouldn’t be so mad at him anymore.

So he started learning. He read that book cover to cover until he had most of it memorized. He practiced from it faithfully, working his way from the easy spells to the trickier ones. And on the day when he succeeded at turning a jug of water into wine, the smile on his mother’s face made it clear that this was his destiny. He was meant to be a great wizard, a wizard whose feats of magic made him useful and impressive, and from that moment on, he knew that a great wizard was exactly what he was meant to be.

Then Mother disappeared.

Rolan never did find out what happened to her, exactly. Ran away because she got sick of him, the kids at school would say, but he overheard a couple of the teachers whispering a rumour that her body was found in the alley next to a pub in the Dock District. Either way, Mother was gone, Mister Matheson who owned the house said Rolan couldn’t live there anymore, and all he had was that book. That book of magic, the book that he believed would lead him to greatness: it became the only thing standing between him and starvation.

Instead of practicing the more complicated spells after school, he used the simpler ones to put on street-shows for coin, and he used the coin he got to fill his belly as best as he could. As he sat on the curb eating runny vegetable soup and scraps of bread, he would remind himself that one day, when he was grown, he would be great. He would learn every spell in his book of transmutation, and he would find the best archmage in the city and become their apprentice. And then, with a real teacher to look after him and a whole entire library at his disposal, he would become the great wizard he was meant to be — great enough to prove to this whole city that he was more than just a show-offy street rat with a few cute tricks up his sleeve.

Then he met Cal and Lia.

He was ten when it happened. They were new to Elturel, and they loved his magic show. Little Cal gasped with delight and clapped at his every trick, and Lia beamed at him and called for an encore when his show was done. At the end of the show, they gave him enough coin that he was able to buy some stew with actual meat in it, and when he curled up in an alley with his threadbare blanket that night, his stomach wasn’t cramping with hunger for once.

The next day, Cal and Lia came back to see his show again, and they brought their mother Lana with them. Lana gave him so much coin that he was able to treat himself to a roast chicken dinner that night, complete with mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables and a loaf of fresh-baked bread: a meal so rich that he threw up half of it within ten minutes of scarfing it down.

The day after that, they came to see his show again, and Lana asked if he wanted to join them for dinner at their house that night. Despite his nagging feeling of too-good-to-be-true, he cautiously agreed. The shepherd’s pie Lana made was the best food he had ever eaten in his life, and the grown-up’s sweater they lent him was the coziest thing he’d ever worn. And right there, at the dinner table, with a full belly and Cal and Lia chattering beside him, Rolan fell asleep.

The visits went on like this for some time: daily visits from Lana and Lia and Cal followed by dinners at their home, which became the shining moments of his days. Then, after a few weeks, something wonderful happened: Lana invited him to come home with them and stay.

For the first time in over a year, Rolan had a home — a new home and a family, a mum and a brother and sister. And he knew why he’d been gifted with these things: it was because he had the makings of a great wizard. He was talented and bright, smart enough to manipulate the Weave with only the guidance of his treasured book of transmutation, and that was why they’d taken him in. That was why Cal and Lia liked him, and that was why Lana — Mum — had invited him to stay. They could see that he was going to be great, and there was no way he was going to disappoint them by being anything less. He would be a great wizard someday, as great as Elminster himself, and he would prove to them that they hadn’t made a mistake by bringing him home and calling him ‘big brother’ and ‘son’.

So he kept learning magic. He studied on his own after school, buying more books of magic over the years and memorizing them and mastering their techniques. He researched the most famous archmages alive and decided that Lorroakan would be the ideal fit for a mentor, and he wrote Lorroakan several careful letters listing his achievements and requesting the chance to become an apprentice. He practiced his spellcasting in his spare time, abjuring and evoking and enchanting in private and showing off the flashier spells for Cal and Lia and Mum. And when Cal gasped in delight and clapped, when Lia smiled and asked for an encore, when Mum hugged him and kissed his forehead and told him she was proud, he knew he was on the right track. He was talented and special, well on his way to becoming the great wizard that his family expected him to be, and nothing was going to get in the way of his goals.

Then Mum died.

He was eighteen when it happened. Within a week of her passing, their landlord, Madame Giselle, threatened to evict them if they couldn’t make the rent, and Rolan refused to let that happen. Cal was only twelve, a mere two years older than Rolan when he’d lost his mother, and Rolan refused to see him sleeping on the street like he’d once done. Lia was fourteen, just barely old enough to leave school and start working, but Rolan refused to let her give up her education at such a young age. And so, with no small amount of bitterness, he left his last year of school and put his magical studies aside, and he found a job instead.

He went to work at a tailor’s shop, offering his magical talents for the petty purposes of sewing perfect straight seams in a fraction of the time. As he sewed seams and ironed pleats and cut lengths of fabric into the shapes of fabulous robes that he couldn’t afford, he fantasized about how someday, he would be great. He was talented and smart, a self-made wizard who had already mastered the contents of two dozen books on evocation and transmutation and even the trickier discipline of conjuration, and when the great Lorroakan finally recognized his talents, Rolan would have the tutelage and the opportunity to become a great wizard, too. He would become famous for his talents, a wizard of wide renown with such skills that people would pay thousands of gold for his magical solutions to the most esoteric problems. He would use his fortune and power to buy his family a house, a huge incredible house with three big bedrooms and all the best furnishings, and Cal and Lia would never have to worry about going homeless or hungry ever again.

Years went by. Cal and Lia finished school and started working, and Lia told Rolan to stop working and go back to his studies so he would stop moaning about being a great wizard every single day. But Rolan couldn’t just stop working. Costs of living were going up every year, and even with all three of them working, they were just making enough to be comfortable. If Rolan quit his job, they would barely make ends meet, and he refused to see Cal and Lia struggle like he once had. He was responsible for them, for making sure they had the life they would’ve had if Mum was still with them, and he couldn’t just stop working altogether, even though his job was a bloody waste of time that took him away from what really mattered: his magical studies.

After months of arguing with Lia and cajoling from Cal, Rolan finally agreed to taking one day off per week. And with the boon of that spare day, he was able to think again about his great purpose in life. He took up his self-studies once more and made inroads on the tomes he’d been forced to put aside when Mum died. He wrote to Lorroakan again and requested the chance for an apprenticeship. He kept working at the damned tailor’s shop, but for the first time in almost ten years, he had hope — real, tangible hope that he could get back on track to becoming what he was always meant to be: a great wizard who got the recognition he deserved for how talented and brilliant he was, and who could use those talents and brilliance to make sure Cal and Lia had everything they ever wanted.

Finally, when he was twenty-eight, Rolan finally got the chance he’d deserved all this time: Lorroakan wrote him back and offered him an apprenticeship. That night when Cal and Lia got home from work, he told them the incredible news, and over a celebratory meal and a couple bottles of wine, they started making plans to move to Baldur’s Gate within the month.

Then Elturel fell into Avernus, and everything literally went to hell.

Their house was destroyed in the fall, and they lost nearly everything, including Rolan’s treasured library of magic tomes. Their neighbours turned on them, calling them devilspawn and refusing them shelter, and it was all Rolan could do to use arcane shields and mage-armour and invisibility spells to get them out of Elturel alive. They ran into Zevlor, who was leading a bunch of refugees to Baldur’s Gate for a fresh start, and through chance and lack of choice, they ended up travelling with them on the way to Baldur’s Gate.

But things went from bad to worse. News trickled in about some bloody goblin army, and when they ran afoul of a scouting party of goblins, they had to beg for refuge at the Emerald Grove. The archdruid Halsin immediately gave them shelter, but then Halsin went off on some quest or other and didn’t come back, and the druids’ second-in-command Kagha started threatening to throw them out.

Rolan was furious. Just when things were starting to look up for him, just when things were starting to finally look like he could give Cal and Lia the life they deserved, things had to go to shit. He had an apprenticeship to get to, a fucking life that he’d been aiming for since he was eight years old and that he’d been forced to put off time and time again, and he was not going to let a bunch of bloody goblins get in his way of getting to Baldur’s Gate.

But Lia didn’t want to leave the refugees behind. She wanted to stay with them, to risk her life and Cal’s to protect a bunch of strangers that they didn’t even know, and Rolan lost his temper. They got into an argument, the worst they’d ever had — and that was when they met her.

Her name was Tavanah: “call me Tav,” she said. She was a half-elf rogue from Baldur’s Gate with the oddest ragtag group of companions imaginable, and Rolan did not like her.

She was nosy, stepping into his argument with Lia and making him feel like he had no choice but to stay and protect the refugees. She had an annoying calmness about her that made Rolan feel like he was being overly dramatic when he absolutely was not. And most irritatingly of all, she got things done, and she did it quickly. She made that Kagha woman let Arabella go, and she went to the goblin camp and killed the goblin pack’s leaders and got Halsin freed. And for some reason that Rolan just couldn’t put his finger on, Tav’s heroism rubbed him the wrong way. Who in the hells did she think she was, interfering with his family? They were his responsibility, not hers. He’d been protecting them and providing for them since he was eighteen years old, and he’d gotten them safely out of Elturel all on his own with only his magical talents to thank. He didn’t need the interference of some busybody rogue and her weird friends to keep his own bloody family safe and sound, thank you very much.

Then, while travelling through the shadow-cursed lands with Zevlor and the others, they ran afoul of the damned cultists, and Cal and Lia were taken.

It happened faster than he could even fathom. One second, he was throwing a shield over the kids with one hand and flinging magic missiles with the other. The next thing he knew, Lia was screaming his name while she and Cal got dragged away into the dark.

It was the last bloody straw. Rolan was supposed to protect his siblings and kept them safe; what the fuck else did he have all of these talents and power for? What use was he if he wasn’t able to protect this own fucking family? But he’d failed at protecting them, he’d failed, and now they were gone. Cal and Lia were gone, and he was alone — he was alone, all alone, and he deserved this. He’d failed them, he was no use to them, he didn’t deserve a family, and that’s why he was alone. He wasn’t great at all. He wasn’t special or talented or worthy of an apprenticeship with someone like Lorrokoan. He had failed to keep his family safe, the one singular most important thing he was meant to do, and being alone and curled up at the bottom of a bottle was exactly where he deserved to be.

Then Tav showed up at the Last Light Inn.

As soon as he saw her, Rolan realized something: this wasn’t his fault, not really. It was Tav’s. Cal and Lia were gone because of her. If she hadn’t talked them into staying with Zevlor and the others, this wouldn’t have happened. If he and Cal and Lia had left on their own, he wouldn’t have been distracted protecting the kids; he would have put all of his skills and energy into keeping Cal and Lia safe, and they would still be together now. But Tav had interfered, sticking her nose into things and talking him into playing the bloody fucking hero, and because of her, Cal and Lia were gone.

He told her as much — as least, he thought he did, though things were kind of blurry at that point. And then she had the gall to tell him he shouldn’t give up hope, and that she would go to rescue Lia and Cal with her friends.

Rolan was furious. How dare this woman, this stranger, make it seem like he was some coward who didn’t have the stones or the skills to save his siblings on his own? How dare she make it sound like he was giving up? He wasn’t giving up by sitting here drinking. He was just — he… Well, he wasn’t bloody well giving up, not on Cal and Lia, not ever. And to prove her wrong, to prove that he was worth the trust that Mum had put in him all those years ago by taking him in, he went to save Cal and Lia on his own. He was more than able to do this, after all; he was skilled and brilliant, a self-taught prodigy well on his way to becoming great, and he was more than capable of bringing Cal and Lia back all by his bloody self.

But the shadows were too much. He got overwhelmed by them within half an hour of leaving the Last Light Inn, and as the shades and the undead crept in, so too did the terror. Was this really how he was going to go down? Here in the shadows, failed by the only talents he had while Cal and Lia were in trouble somewhere: was this really how it was going to end? He couldn’t let it end this way, he couldn’t. He couldn’t — Cal and Lia, he needed them — no, they needed him, they were probably so fucking scared, and he needed to stay alive for them, for them…

Then Tav showed up with her party in tow, and they saved his life.

Again, Rolan was absolutely furious. Not only were his talents not enough to save himself, but Tav and her friends had witnessed him being… not enough. They had seen him being useless and pathetic and scared, and worst of all, he was forced to admit that he couldn’t save Lia and Cal on his own — an admission that felt worse than chewing cut glass.

At Tav’s calm suggestion, he went back to Last Light with his horns hung low to wait for news of Lia and Cal. And later that very same day, the pair of them came wandering into the inn through the back door.

Their clothes were stained, and their faces and hands were smeared with dirt, but otherwise, they were no worse for wear. And for some reason that Rolan couldn’t even understand, the sight of them both blessedly unharmed made him see red. Here he was, marinating in a horrible miasma of fear and worry and shame, and they both dared to stroll back into the inn looking grimy but unharmed?

He blew up at them. Lia exploded back at him, and Cal tried to calm them down, which just made Rolan even angrier. Then bloody Tav walked through the tavern’s back door with that irritatingly calm look on her face, and she told Cal and Lia how much of a wreck Rolan had been without them both.

For a split second, Rolan was murderously enraged. How dare this woman talk about him to his own siblings as though she knew him? How fucking dare she? But then something truly mad happened: Lia deflated like a balloon and apologized to him.

Lia actually apologized to him — something that she almost never did. And Rolan suddenly felt like he was going to burst into tears. In that moment, he realized something with crystal clarity — something he should have realized ages ago: it didn’t matter how his siblings made it to safety, just that they were safe. Being a great wizard didn’t mean shit-all without the people who made him want to be great, and those people were Lia and Cal. And as irritating as it was to admit it, the person who helped him understand all of this was Tav.

As much as it humbled him to admit, he was… grateful to Tav for the clarity that her help afforded.

Over the next week, as the Elturians waited for the all-clear to move on from Last Light, Rolan spent a lot of time thinking about Tav. She didn’t know him or his family, but she’d gone out of her way time and time again to help them — not just them, but all of the refugees, and the druids and Harpers and gnomes to boot. She’d done all of those good deeds without expecting anything in return, and she’d done them all with that cool-as-a-cucumber demeanour she had. And the more Rolan thought about her, the more he realized something rather annoying. He wasn’t just grateful to Tav; he admired her, too. There, he’d admit it: he found her impressive, almost like a role model of sorts, or like… Ugh, he couldn’t believe he was thinking about her in this way, but as a hero. Silly though it felt to be a grown man thinking of someone this way, Tav reminded him of stories about folk heroes of old, and he found himself thinking about that more and more as he, Cal, Lia, and the refugees finally left the no-longer-shadow-cursed lands behind. Tav was a person whose actions weren’t just great, but… good, too. And this was what Rolan spent a lot of time thinking about as they made their way from Last Light to Baldur’s Gate.

As they drew closer to Baldur’s Gate, though, his excitement started taking over his thoughts. He was so close now, so close to the thing he’d been waiting for his entire life: the chance to finally be what he was meant to be. Here in Baldur’s Gate, with Lorroakan’s skills and guidance, Rolan was finally going to become a great wizard. He was finally going to learn the kinds of advanced magical theory and techniques that he’d never had the time or coin to learn before. He was going to make a name for himself, to prove that he was worth the affection and trust that Mum and Cal and Lia had given him over the years, and everything would finally fall into place.

Then he actually met Lorroakan.

He couldn’t tell Cal and Lia the truth, not after everything they’d been through to get here. So he told them that Lorroakan wouldn’t allow them to stay at the tower, and he found lodgings for them at the Elfsong with Alfira and Lakrissa so they wouldn’t see what Lorroakan was doing to him. He endured the beatings and the insults and being ordered around like a whipped dog, and he told himself that if he just stuck it out and kept his head down, he would finally get his chance. He’d find a way to access the secret cellar where the rare tomes were kept, and he’d learn everything he’d been deprived of for all these damned years. He just had to endure it a little longer; he couldn’t give up. Not now, not after everything he’d done to get this far, not after dragging Cal and Lia all this way. He couldn’t let it all be in vain — he simply couldn’t. He would get his chance at greatness, he just knew he would — as long as he didn’t give up.

Then Tav and her friends showed up at Sorcerous Sundries, because of course they did. And with one look at his face, he could see the truth of his shameful situation reflected in the darkening of her jade-green eyes.

She visited Lorroakan briefly, then came back from the tower looking like thunder and stormed out of the shop. And not long after that, an actual honest-to-gods aasimar showed up.

That was how Rolan found out that Lorroakan’s coveted Nightsong was a person — not an artifact, but a living, breathing person. And Lorroakan’s plan all this time had been to imprison her forever.

There in the Tower of Ramazith, with Lorroakan on one side and Tav on the other, Rolan made his biggest realization yet: he realized who he really wanted to be. He didn’t want to be a great wizard, not if being ‘great’ meant being anything like Lorroakan. What he wanted was to be good, like Tav. He might not be great like her, but he could be good, and that had to start right now.

So he turned on Lorroakan. He fought alongside Dame Aylin and Tav and her friends, and in so doing, he helped to set himself free.

Free. Rolan was free — and he was free in every sense of the word. With Lorroakan dead, with the ownership of Ramazith’s tower and Sorcerous Sundries now in his hands, Rolan was free to have the life he had always wanted. He had a home now — a permanent home, one that really belonged to him and Lia and Cal. He had an entire wizard’s tower full of knowledge to explore. And at long last, after everything that he’d suffered and overcome, he finally had the chance to be… not great, or not just great, but the chance to be… something more. And as Rolan stood there in Ramazith’s tower, watching Tav comforting Dame Aylin while her friends chatted and cleaned off their weapons and armour, he saw the truth: Tav was a perfect example of what ‘something more’ could really be.

For as long as Rolan could remember, what he wanted most in the world was to be a great wizard. But now, he knew there was more to life than that. Life was more than being the best, and it was more than having the world recognize how great you were. Being great didn’t mean anything at all without the people who inspired you to greatness, and the ones who inspired Rolan the most were Cal, Lia — and a certain green-eyed, cool-as-a-cucumber half-elf rogue from Baldur’s Gate.

Read the rest here on AO3.

#rolan bg3 #bg3 rolan #rolan baldur's gate 3 #rolan/tav #rolan x tav #tav x rolan #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #tav/rolan #bg3 fanfiction #baldur's gate fic #pikapeppa writes

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fogsblue · 5 months

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20 Questions for Fic Writers

thanks to the wonderful and lovely and hard working @little-box-of-wonders and @crackinglamb (sorry its taken so long)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

82! didn't realise it was that many.

2. What's your total A03 word count?

217,200

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently just Horizon (HFW mostly)

Previously Doctor Who and briefly Stargate, Arrow and one crossover with Firefly.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Chase the Dark - Doctor Who (Ten/Rose) (E) - 1,146

How to Control Your Time Lords - DW (Ten/Rose/Master) (E) - 452

Chase the Dark: Epilogue - DW (Ten/Rose) (G) - 346

Still Cute - Arrow (Felicity/Sara) (T) - 267

Metacrisis Jack - DW (Ten/Rose/TenToo/Jack) (E) - 266

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

yes, because if someone read my fic and took the time to leave a comment, even if it's just a 🧡 I want them to know I appreciate it!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

hahahahahaha... No.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I mean, I always do happy endings (yeah, both types 😏) but... maybe Secrets of the Forest?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

On the fics themselves, no. I did have some vague blogging about a few of my fics years back in the Doctor Who days...

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes, lots of smutty. frequently fluffy, oneshots, though it's also common in my very rare longer fics too.

It's mostly F/M but as seen above, sometimes it's ot3 or more

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I've only written one crossover, which was Doctor Who and Firefly, as a gift. more likely to write an AU.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't know of any being stolen, but admittedly don't look past ao3 really

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

not that I'm aware of

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

nope, but it sounds like it could be a fun challenge!

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

oh see now this is tricky... at this point in time, I'd say Aloy/Kotallo!

not sure I have an all time favourite? I've only got like... 4? that have lasted and while I don't engage with the older ones right now, I still love them, but... eh, who knows!

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I don't really have any wips ... oh maybe one? but I don't really have any interest in finishing it

16. What are your writing strengths?

hmmm, fluff? is that a strength? I do like taking slightly ridiculous ideas and trying ground them so they feel possible, and I *think* I do ok with that?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I get caught up on little details sometimes, and make them an issue, and definitely no good on flow-y writing... hopefully it's still enjoyable though!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

if it makes sense for the story and there are translations included, I think it's fine. not something I'll do, as someone who never learnt another language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Doctor Who, the Doctor and Rose caught be by surprise and I fell into the fandom and fic and then eventually tried my hand and writing my own...

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

seeeeeeee, this is hard too...

Secrets of the Forest (Horizon, Aloy/Kotallo (E)) has such a special place in my heart, I had so much fun with the world and their story and it's a smutty fairytale in a lot of ways and I'm happy with how it turned out 🐂

but also...

Kotallo versus the Goose (Horizon, Aloy/Kotallo (E)) was such a crazy idea, but I wanted absolutely ridiculous and very sweet and I think I achieved that... HONK! 🦢

------

tagging, only if you want to, @nyxianthe @mrscullensrutherford @poppypopp @every-raindrop77 @wafflesrock16 aaand @pikapeppa 🎉

#fic meme #i guess?#anyway #this was fun

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noire-pandora · 1 year

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I got tagged by @rakshadow @musetta3 @in-arlathan @barbex @pedlimwen @cleverblackcat @kittynomsdeplume @pikapeppa for the fic writers' end of the year round up: 2022 edition.

Thank you for the tag and for thinking about me. You all are wonderful and inspiring writers and your presence and works are to be admired.

Words written (published or not, WIPs included): I wrote 122.381 words this year! More than I wrote last year. I'm proud of myself for writing this much even if I lost my steam in the last months because life. Nevertheless, wow I wrote those words!!

Here's the recording. Mine is different cuz I add my daily word count in a sheet. This year, the data starting from Sept to Dec was lost. So I almost did a table flip. Until I remembered I ALSO use a writing bot to record my daily word counts so I re-added the lost word count in the sheet to get the total.....the things I do for fanfic 😂

Smut scenes:.......0. Gosh darn it. One of my goals this year was to write an entire smut scene but I failed. 2023 has to be the year!!! My Lavellan is waiting for me to start it 😂

New things I tried: I jumped into exchanges and I wrote pairings and characters I never wrote. I participated in art trades and OC exchanges. I submerged my tiny writer feet in lots of fandom stuff and it was fun! I can't wait to do it even more this year!

Fic I spent the most time on: Definitely Daughter of Fire/Herald of Spirit. I spent so so many hours writing the chapters, editing them and re-editing them. It was so much fun and I want to do it again this year! I feel more confident with my English skills and I kinda....don't care anymore if people like it or not. Life kicked my ass and writing must be my calm down hobby.

Fic I spent the least time on: I usually spend lots of time working on what I post because I'm like that. The things I wrote and was semi-relaxed with were my DADWC drabbles. I did work a lot of those too but not so much as on the other things.

Favourite thing I wrote: Daughter of Fire. It's my special project. But I did had lots of fun writing for the art exchanges! Writing about other OCs is fun!

Favourite thing I read: gods I read so so many fanfics this year. And over 20 books and manga. I can't pick! I'm grateful for every fic and book I read cuz it kept me sane. Thank you for writing them!

Writing goals for 2023:

1. Write that darned smut fic. Istg, if I don't get it done this year, I will flip two tables. 😂

2. Try to finish DoF. I think two years for a long fic are enough. I want to be more confident about publishing my long fic even if now I don't have a beta. Anyone feeling like beta-ing me? 😂

3. Participate in more exchanges and give more writing gifts. Because gifting people is fun and writing about other OCs is fun.

4. Reach 200.000 words in a year. Fingers crossed.

5. Have fun because that's the only thing that matters.

I'm going to tag: @rosella-writes @darethshirl @little-lightning-lavellan @thebookworm0001 @anneapocalypse @thedastrash @knightdawn @potatowitch @pinkfadespirit @johaerys-writes @plisuu @fandomn00blr @crackinglamb @oxygenforthewicked @inquisimer @queenaeducan @perlen-gold @anderstrevelyan @melisusthewee @isk4649 @a11sha11fade @dreadfutures @sidhelives @retrowondergirl @bluewren and anyone who wants to do it. Please don't feel forced to participate and please be proud of what you've written this year. No matter how "small" or "big" it is. You wrote and that's all that matters.

Thank you for all the support you've given me and to my works. To many more fanfics this year! Cheers!

#end of the year round up #2022 edition #thank you for the support you've given me this year!!

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barbex · 1 year

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Fic writers' end-of-year roundup: 2022 edition!

It’s that time of year, writer friends — time to take stock of what we’ve been up to this year! @pikapeppa tagged me, thank you!

And I'm tagging... everyone. @storybookhawke, @bexifer, @ocean-in-my-rebel-soul, @rpgwrites, @fandomn00blr, @asaara-writes, @dafan7711, @kemvee, @kunstpause, @blarrghe, @a-tear-in-the-veil, @in-arlathan, @elveny, @hawkeish, @starsandskies, @dismalzelenka, @charlatron, @enigmalea, @tessa1972, @wickedwitchofthewilds, @noire-pandora, @queen-kass-the-writer, @lavellanvibes, @vonuberwald, @evilsapphyre, @pinkfadespirit, @musetta3, @lesetoilesfous, @faux-fires, @midnightprelude, @ellie-effie, @andrastesknickerweasel, @mordinette, @kagetsukai, @zet-sway, @roguelioness, @potatowitch, @for-the-ninth, @anneapocalypse, @rakshadow, @contreparry, @realace, @chaosride, @emotionalmorphine, @anderstrevelyan, @thedastrash, @only-slightly-terrified

---

Words written (published or not, WIPs included!): 188,336 words according to my trusty spreadsheet, in 45 fics on AO3 and a few secret things.

Smut scenes: How do I even count that? I wrote 11 explicit fics in 2022. Some had several scenes.

New things I tried: I tried writing more short things for DA Drunk Writing Circle on Friday nights. It went well, I think, but sometimes it feels like I'm wasting a big idea on a small thing and then I can't use it again, which is STUPID, I know, but it's still a thing going on in this old head.

Fic I spent the most time on: I have such a bad memory. I don't remember such things, time us just so... timey.

Looking at my trusty spreadsheet, I spent three months in the beginning of the year to finish Destiny's Bite and then Mystery of the Rose appeared. Currently, I'm spending the most time on Twilight and Soup. Like an unhealthy amount of time. You don't even know how much this fic occupies my brain space.

Fic I spent the least time on: I think I wrote the first chapter of Mystery of the Rose in one night.

Favourite thing I wrote: I think it's Outshine the Stars, but I love all my ongoing fics too.

Favourite thing I read: The Right Pressure by DemonicPersephone, the pining, the careful feelings developing...

Writing goals for next year: More words. Finish a few longifcs. Write the original novels. Just... use time more efficiently. Oh and if possible, maybe play a game again? But mostly, more writing.

#tag game #end-of-year roundup #2022

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elveny · 21 days

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15 questions for 15 friends

Thank you for the tag @awordwasthebeginning ♥

ARE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?: Nope, not that I know, at least

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?: ... ... I honestly don't know. Last week or so?

DO YOU HAVE KIDS?: Yes, twin boys.

WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY/HAVE YOU PLAYED?: I used to do Kickboxing. I now go to the gym halfway regularly and also do Yoga.

DO YOU USE SARCASM?: Yes. Mostly with people I know both understand it and can deal with it.

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?: General appearance. A special "vibe" if they seem to belong to groups I also belong to (queer, gamers, LARPers...).

WHAT'S YOUR EYE COLOUR?: Green.

SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?: Happy endings. I don't like scary movies at all.

ANY TALENTS?: Yeah. I'm a creative person and sing very lovely. Oh, and I read really fast.

WHERE WERE YOU BORN?: Southern Germany.

WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES?: Gaming, reading, gardening, writing, drawing, singing.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS?: Two darling black cats.

HOW TALL ARE YOU?: 1,78m

FAVOURITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL?: Art.

DREAM JOB?: Aahahahahahahahaha. I don't have one. If I could I wouldn't work at all in a "normal job" but fill my days with creative endeavours, traveling, and a variety of volunteer work.

Tagging forth - as always without pressure and with love - to @curiousthimble @pikapeppa @johaerys-writes @kunstpause @okami-zero @barbex @lynmars79 @sarsaparillia @captainderyn @cecilyacat @pigeontheoneandonly @greyias @nayci @storyknitter @keldae and all who want to grab it ♥

#tag game #15 questions

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crackinglamb · 17 days

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Fanfic Writer Questions

Tagged by @dreadfutures, thank you! 💕

Tagging @ir0n-angel, @natsora, @lilbittymonster, @maculategiraffe, @bogunicorn, @theluckywizard, @fasterpuddytat and @pikapeppa. No pressure!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

113

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,917,213 as of this morning.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Dragon Age, Fallout 4 and Doctor Who are the three current. In the past I've written for Mass Effect, Southern Vampire Mysteries/True Blood and Borderlands. I have one (1) lonely Wayhaven Chronicles oneshot.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

What a Wicked Game to Play - 1590. This is my epic DA MGIT fic. Solas/OFC, rated E, 412K words.

Twist - 1416. This was my first DA longfic. Carly and Co. show up in the top five again. Solas/OFC, rated E, 197K words.

Junkyard Dogs - 551. My very first fic. Written for FO4 almost 7 years ago. Hancock/F!SoSu, rated E, 107K words.

Twist Some More - 460. An extended epilogue/love letter to Carly and Solas. Rated E, 67K words.

Humans Are Just...Like That - 327. A sorta crack treated seriously oneshot for Mass Effect. It began its life as a long thread in a Discord server. I made a comment to the effect that it should be turned into a fic, and everyone told me to go for it. So I did. FemShep/Garrus in the background, rated T, ~3K words.

(All of these are complete, too.)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Almost always. Even if it's just with emojis. I generally say that I will reply to every comment as long as it's polite.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

No More My Heart Beats Without You, a Solavelyan oneshot. 'Ware the tags. Rated E, 5K words.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

TSM, without a doubt. The entire point of the Twistverse was to write a happy ending Solavellan.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Rarely. I'd say I get more trolling than hate. To date I've only had to moderate one fic to keep it under control.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

*cackles* 51 of 113 of my fics are rated E and another 18 are rated M (although sometimes that's for violence). What kind? Any kind. Explicit, fade to black, character driven, pure PWP, established ship, there's a couple of threesomes in there, a variety of kink...

I am a shameless purveyor of sexual content.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I've only ever written in-franchise crossovers, and I don't think those count.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope. People are welcome to as long as they credit back to my original, though.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! I've written a couple round-robin style fics with the DAFF crew, and collaborated with my beloved Angel once or twice.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

I'm poly and aro. OTP is not in my vocabulary. 🤣 But I have pairings I return to, time and again. The Doctor/Rose, Hancock/SoSu, Varric/Hawke, Solas/Anyone.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Just Like Fire. It started as a prompt fic when I was in a slump. But now I'm kinda over it and don't really feel like putting in the energy to wrap it up. Solavellan, rated E, 26K words.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, smut, being succinct and bite-sized. Even in the longfics. And of course, canon shall be yeeted.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Endings! OMG, trying to get myself to a conclusion is like pulling teeth.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I'm eh about it. Sometimes I do it with fantasy languages, sometimes I do it if it's canon (I know, a rarity for me). Sometimes I just don't because it's more work than I care to do. It's case by case.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Fallout 4

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Uh... *forgets everything I've ever written*

Look, I tend to write for me first and foremost, so I reread a lot of my own work and inevitably get sucked into it. I am the target audience, after all. But there's a couple that I've reread the most:

Unexpected - FO4, Kellogg/SoSu, rated E, 30K words. This was my first real attempt at canon divergence and I still love it very much.

Hope Is a Fragile Thing - DA, Solas/OFC, rate T, 13K words. A soft but kinda sad post-canon thing. The goal with it was to both finish the writing before posting a word of it (which is how I do all my work now), and to write a MGIT without explaining how she got there.

Blank template under the cut

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

3. What fandoms do you write for?

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

5. Do you respond to comments?

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

16. What are your writing strengths?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

19. First fandom you wrote for?

20. Favorite fic you've written?

#tagged #fanfic writer questions

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