Furry Jeremy is very fun to me but only when you go all in on it. It’s a whole subculture! And another harmless thing about him that makes people think he’s weird or pervy. And if I may add, perhaps particularly appealing to people who feel dehumanized by society and/or people who wish they had a simpler life where you make less decisions.

+ I don’t headcanon either Jeremy or Michael to be good at drawing, but I also didn’t want to bother coming up with art styles for them so I just drew it lol. If it’s not clear, first is what Jeremy thinks their fursonas would be (or probably, it’s his fursona, Juno, plus one he made up for Michael), and the second one is what Michael (somewhat jokingly) makes for their fursonas. Presumably fed on the dataset of cool furry art Jeremy has shown him.

I was not technically tagged, but at least two people on my dash were like DO WHAT YOU WANT NO ONE IS YOUR GOD, and you know what? They’re right and valid. 

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

96! And 90% of them are from just this year. Can’t wait to find out what the big 100 is gonna be. Any one of my WIPS could be Disney’s next 100th fic.

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

455,024 (also mostly from this year...)

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

In my entire life??? Since I was twelve??? I don’t even know, man. I wrote a lot of ooc crackfic and fic for cartoons when I was on FF.net, and then I was on LJ and wrote for a TON of different fandoms, but on AO3, I have written for Critical Role (so much CR), Yashahime/Inuyasha, Guardians of the Galaxy, His Dark Materials (TV), Steven Universe, Bleach, Alias, Supernatural, Dollhouse, Pushing Daisies (the last four were all transferred here from LJ, though)

4) What are your top five fics by kudos?

- turning wine back into water (Critical Role, de-aging fic with plot, 30457 words)

I STILL CANNOT BELIEVE HOW POPULAR THIS FIC IS. It beat out two of my super popular GotG fics that have been up since 2017 BY A LOT. Apparently, there was a market for the Mighty Nein being adorable cocktail brats and saving the world. Thanks, Liam’s Quest!

It is probably one of the most wholesome fics I will ever write too. I love it.

- Sunshine Came Softly (Guardians of the Galaxy, Rocket and Mantis friendship, 3188 words)

THIS FIC STILL GETS HITS EVEN TODAY. It was written right after I saw the movie so it hit hard and fast on the hype train. 

- Mine Is Just a Slower Sacrifice (Guardians of the Galaxy, Rocket-centric, 2248 words)

BOY YOU CAN TELL THESE FICS ARE ANCIENT BECAUSE I HADN’T DEVELOPED MY TITLE NICHE YET. where are the lower caps and Seanan McGuire lyrics!!

Anyway, this was written probably IMMEDIATELY after I saw the movie and had to process Rocket’s emotions during the last moments, because of who I am as a person. For what’s mostly a character study, it got some mileage on it.

- they drink dreamers up like brandy (Critical Role, 1625 words)

Back to Critical Role! I wrote this one when I was in a fucking blind post-finale haze and producing massive amounts of Kingsley content and I wanted to write a silly fic about Caleb being tiefling catnip. 

- if adversity breeds character (we’ve character enough for two) (Critical Role, Beau and Molly-centric, 1824 words)

I feel like most of my most kudos-ed CR fics are Beau-related, which is funny because I never really wrote her EVER. I guess I need to write her more often. ANYWAY, this one got jossed immediately after 141, but I needed to write Beau and Molly bantering and I couldn’t get her flipping him off after revealing her card is Rumor out of my head.

(Incidentally my sixth most kudos-ed fic is my Fjorester next gen fic, WHICH I WAS NOT EXPECTING AT ALL. IT’S A FIC BASED ON MY OC FANCHILDREN!! I’M VERY EMOTIONAL ABOUT THAT!!)

5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Usually!! There are times when I forget and then it’s been so long that I never go back, but I like responding to comments. They make me so happy and I want to make sure the people who take the time to comment know that I see them and appreciate them. Especially if they give me long comments. You long commenters know who you are and I value you and also flail incoherently in your direction.

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

God, probably this church takes no conversions simply because, like, the whole ending scenes are MISERABLE AND FULL OF ANGST and then it has the hopeful ending that is actually a bullshit lie.

But second place probably goes to what couldn’t i offer, what couldn’t i give, which is just misery porn in disguise as a character study. Sorry, Cree.

7) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

Okay, so back in the day when I was a tineh fanbrat I wrote a lot of self-indulgent crossovers featuring my friends and I in true Mary Sue format being ~saviors of the world~ alongside our favorite fictional characters and after I grew out of that, I very rarely did it again, because as someone who can only write AUs if they’re high concept and can only write crossovers if the canon welding is pristine, it’s difficult.

I have ideas for some! I just haven’t written them yet. Or they’re sitting in Google Docs partially written.

8) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not to my recollection, which is insane, because I’ve written some things in my youth that deserved it, but also I was a kid, so maybe I definitely did not deserve it. Don’t send hate to kids!!

9) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

The first smut I ever posted on AO3 involved some fucking American Gods flesh horror shit, so that answers your second question.

Basically, yes, but I write smut to facilitate character development in a way that regular story beats can’t, mainly with characters who are in some way deeply fucked up and have unbalanced dynamics. 

So basically chances of me writing smut that isn’t Creecien or Lucigast? Very low. (I haven’t written Lucigast smut yet but I will. Inevitably.)

10) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that anyone’s told me, but one time when I was a teenager someone ripped off an entire group messageboard RP I was in and tried to pass it off as a fic they wrote.

11) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that anyone’s told me!

12) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I tried and it did not work out, because of (non-wanky) reasons, but it’s just not something I’d be very good at. I was the kid who wanted to work alone on group projects. I’m bad at group work.

13) What’s your all time favourite ship?

That I’ve WRITTEN??? Because that at least narrows it down significantly. Sesshoumaru/Rin hands down. It’s a good dynamic and they’re fun and sad at the same time. 

My self-indulgent ass does also enjoy writing Creecien though. I’m putting it out there because I want it.

14) What’s a WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

GOD POOR SUPERNOVAS OF ALL SOUND AND LIGHT. THAT FIC COULD’VE BEEN A CONTENDER, but I unfortunately posted it RIGHT BEFORE the White Diamond episodes aired and it became so jossed by canon so fast that I gave up on life with chapter two half finished. I need to delete it but I can’t bring myself to bury my shame.

15) What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and meta-narrative and character-specific stuff. I go into every story with CHARACTER FIRST mentality, which is how I end up writing so many damn character studies or why my word counts explode. I’m just out here naval gazing because I love character stuff SO MUCH.

I’ve been told I’m good at fight/action scenes too, which... Shocks me, but I think watching and playing a lot of D&D stuff has really improved how I write fighting and action sequences.

16) What are your writing weaknesses?

[whispers] too much naval gaze. dial it back, bitch. 

I get really caught up in character stuff and forget to do important things like ADVANCE THE SCENE OR DESCRIBE THE SCENE OR LITERALLY ANYTHING. I also don’t think my prose is all that great, but I’m pretty sure every writer feels that imposter syndrome bullshit, so /waves hands. All I’m saying is I have seen some writers on AO3 who are writing some fucking vivid imagery and stringing flawless sentences together and weaving introspection and description together like beautiful baskets and they are stronger than any US Marine and I salute them and wish to be them.

17) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Iiii try not to. There’s times where I want to throw in, like, a little Zemnian for Caleb flair, but I try to stick to things that are either untranslatable (like German compound words), common phrases (like please or come here), or insults/curses/ pet names. Things that I don’t think Google will fucking lie to me about.

18) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I think it was a Sailor Moon crackfic about Haruka being forced to enter a beauty pageant which was just a blatant rip-off of Ms Congeniality and oh my god was it awful. I don’t even wanna talk about it.

19) What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

this church takes no conversions, probably BECAUSE it’s my little red-headed stepchild of a fic involving so many things that are just never going to make it popular (backstory fic, fic that is almost 85% headcanon, doesn’t involve popular characters, etc.), but godDAMMIT I love that fic so much. It was fun and I use every bit of that headcanon in almost everything like it’s my job.

shattered stage is a close second, because it was such a crazy concept for a fic that I PULLED OFF SOMEHOW and is this wonderful mix of crazy plot and character and lore and my three favorite tieflings having to work together. And also Jayne Merriweather as the main villain. 

A lot of love went into both of those fics and they are my babies. this time next year we’ll see if I add Creedemption and shoot at fate to this list- probably. All of my epic long fics resolve to be my babies because I spent so much time on them, and I have to love them and cherish them because I raised them into gigantic wordy attempts to write a doorstopper.

Chocolate Indulgence

Ever had one of those moments where you're staring down a food-item you know is going to absolutely wreck your stomach...but you know you'll eat it anyway?

Most of the people I know that have a dairy-sensitivity (e.g. lactose, rectin, etc.) tend to have moments like that frequently. They know eating cheese is going to cause Satan-himself to reach in and clench their stomach in his vice-like grip, but one does not simply say 'no' to pizza. Then there's the ones that ensure they've got dibs on the closest washroom before they shovel ice-cream or a milkshake into their system and that particular washroom becomes a hazmat zone for the next three hours. I've seen the latter used with purpose too when this particular someone I knew was pretty backed-up while travelling. He was out with some friends when he realized it'd been quite a while since he had last went no.2. His friends knew about his dairy-sensitivity and their eyes widened when he ordered something with dairy from the shiftiest-looking vendor in the area (he was also a huge germaphobe, so the fact that he went even 3 ft near that vendor already caused jaws to drop). He chugged it, asked his friends to wait around the area for a solid hour or two, and then proceeded to violate the public washroom. He came back looking like the definition of ‘relief’ just as his friends had started to think he had died ‘cuz they didn’t expect him to be in the washroom that long.

While not as dramatic, I sort of had one of these moments last night. Of course, it wasn't just that one moment that led to that, it was a whole day of events that led up to the moment.

I started the day going out to have breakfast with a family member before heading off to work. A favorite fast-food chain had recently opened a location near our place and near the place I worked so we decided to go there for breakfast/lunch, whatever you want to call it. I've been eating less recently, being busy and anxious about work and some other life-stuff...also with my work being at non-consistent hours my family member ends up eating without me and most of the time I'm too exhausted to bother cooking for myself. I live with some fairly judgemental family members who go off on me if I don't clean up properly when they say so and cooking for myself just becomes more of a hassle than it's worth. E.g. I'll make some instant noodles for myself and before I've even taken the first bite they'll come over and start screeching about how I left a cooking utensil in the sink rather than clean it and leave it out to dry before I sat down to eat. I was already eating straight out of the pot I was cooking the thing in, the utensil was a butter-knife I used to get some XO sauce or whatever out of the jar and into the pot...and the butter knife wasn't necessary or useful for eating the noodles. My plan was to leave it in the sink and wash everything all at once in about 20 minutes when I had finished my food. I didn't want to deal with the screeching after hours of dealing with customers and co-workers screeching at me to do a task while I was in the middle of doing another task someone else had screeched at me to do, so I've opted to roll with being hungry for the last few days. My usual routine was wake up, get ready, make a quick breakfast to get me through my shift, come home and stay out of the way until dinner time with my family--if there was going to be a shared dinner-time, and then go to bed.

Yesterday was basically the same. I had breakfast at a fast-food restaurant with a family member who was kind enough to drop me off at work. After work I decided to come home rather than eat out after work (I wanted to save some money). I went home and was already pretty hungry but dinner wasn't going to be for another four or more hours. I ended up taking a nap, realizing after I woke up that I had managed to get through the day without drinking coffee, and that was probably why I ended up napping. I got downstairs to find that my family member had opted to cook for themselves, meaning I was on my own for dinner. I grabbed something small and self-contained to avoid being yelled at for making a mess and went about my business. Hours later, I was getting ready for bed. I couldn't sleep 'cuz my stomach had been growling at me since I started brushing my teeth. I was fairly awake from the nap I had taken so I decided, "screw it--I'll grab something to eat and watch a movie or something before I go to sleep".

What to eat, right? After days of being hungry after work, I decided I deserved a treat. I was really craving something sweet, but the only thing that satisfied that sweet tooth was some coffee I had in the fridge...which I was definitely not going to indulge in. I wanted to sleep eventually and coffee at 2AM was ridiculous. What else is sweet and goes almost hand-in-hand with coffee? Chocolate. Pancakes would make a mess, mug-cake was an option but I didn't want to measure out everything...also, one of my family members has been pretty snarky about finding flour on the counters. Some of it is from them, but since I'm the one that's always making home-made pasta and other types of noodles it's always my fault if there's a powdery substance on the counters. I didn't want to just outright eat chocolate chips like I usually do 'cuz I had already brushed my teeth and felt bad about eating something that would stick to my teeth and add to decay. In the end, I opted for a mug of hot chocolate. I was craving something sweet, specifically chocolate, and hot chocolate fit the bill. If I rinsed my mouth with some water after drinking it then it’d probably be okay.

My usual method is dumping the packet into a mug, filling it about 2/3 of the way with hot water, stirring until the powder is dissolved, and then topping up the final 1/3 with cold 2% milk. The milk makes it richer as well as cools down the contents enough to drink. I hesitated a little about adding the milk, the boba-incident fresh in my mind. I decided "screw it. I don't have to work tomorrow" and I added the milk to the mug. I decided to indulge further. It's been a crappy week walking on eggshells at home and at work and choosing to be hungry rather than listen to family members rant and yell over a bit of flour...so I found some nutella and added a generous spoonful to the hot chocolate. If you haven't tried this, you should (provided you don't have a nut allergy). I recommend dissolving the nutella in the hot-water/powder mix, prior to adding milk. The heat will allow it to melt that much faster. That mug of hot chocolate was heavenly.

I took the mug upstairs and put on something to watch while I enjoyed my chocolate-y treat. A couple of hours later, I was ready for bed.

As I lay down, waiting to sleep, I felt an odd sensation in my stomach. It wasn't painful. It was just shy of uncomfortable. It was an odd feeling I couldn't place. Was I still hungry? Were my guts unhappy with the little bit of dairy in the hot chocolate? It felt like a mild pressure around my navel-area, but my stomach was definitely empty too. I rubbed my stomach a little, staying awake for a while monitoring the feeling, hoping that it wouldn't be a repeat of the boba incident. I didn't have to work the next day, but I didn't want to go about the whole day feeling like a painfully bloated basketball. I don't know if it was gas from the dairy 'cuz I couldn't burp and I didn't feel any gurgles or gas-bubbles moving around under my palms. It wasn’t entirely like hunger either. It felt like there was something sitting in my guts...not painfully, but just present, and my stomach was undecided about whether this something meant it was allowed to be hungry or not. I guess my stomach was confused. It was so late that it was early, usually an hour where everything is asleep, there was dairy somewhere slightly bloating up my guts, but it was also hungry. I had downed dairy on an empty stomach and it was confused...was it supposed to still be hungry? Was it supposed to go to sleep? Was the dairy going to be a problem? To growl or not to growl? 

Definitely not as dramatic as something my dairy-sensitive friends have gone through, but that's what I thought about while I was soothing my stomach before going to sleep. I added the milk to my hot chocolate, wary that it would upset my stomach. Whatever that feeling was, at least it allowed me to sleep. I was still hungry, seeing as the only solid food I had to eat was over 14 hours ago and it was the 'empty calories' of fast food, but at least I didn't have to contend with the gnawing hunger as I tried to sleep. I didn’t add a whole lot of milk into the hot chocolate, so it wasn’t enough to cause some major indigestion. Not sure if this happens to other people too, but I've found that when I sleep on a hungry stomach I wake up with a corner of my pillow in my mouth and a loud and cramping stomach demanding I fill it before it plays the 'nausea' card. I didn't want to spend my day off feeling hungry, nauseous, and contending with indigestion.

As always, feel free to send asks in talking about tummy stuff. If it hits my kinks or I like it, I'll post the reply. If you don't see it odds are either that tumblr ate it or I'm not really interested in it and I can't contact you to say that if you're on-anon. Sometimes I’ll let the ask sit in my inbox for a while until I figure out how I’ll respond to it. I tend to be hungry fairly often lately, so if you ever wanna just send a stab in the dark hunger-RP-esque ask that’s totally fine. I’m not too big on the idea of teasing with food or overly patronizing banter, but tummy-centric stuff like manual stimulation of my hungry tummy for the growls/sensations or some way to torture my aching guts is usually something I’m down for. Hands on a suffering stomach are a pretty steady craving whenever I fall into kink-feels.  Navel-stuff is rare to see, but definitely welcome too. 

self-rec challenge

fic authors self rec! when you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you’ve written, then pass on to at least five other writers.

tagged by @citadelsushi, thank you!! <3 i’m only tagging @homoryder and @lorspolairepeluche bc i’m like 90% sure most ppl i follow have been tagged ;o;

1. Zero Hour (shepard x ryder)

summary: shepard wakes up on the hyperion after his death in the normandy SR1′s destruction. the reasons are unclear, and there’s past matters of the heart and mind to contend with, let alone an entire new galaxy where being commander shepard isn’t good enough anymore.

why i love it: it’s my self-indulgent baby, but also an exploration of shepard in andromeda and how he might react. i’m having tons of fun writing this, and it’s the most i’ve written for anything so i’m doubly proud of my adhd ass for sticking with it.

2. Outbound Signal (shepard x ryder)

summary: after meeting and working together on arcturus station, shepard and ryder form a friendship that might just be too much for one galaxy. feelings get in the way, and when it's your last night on earth, you gotta make it count, right?

why i love it: because i hate it tbh with ya’ll, it’s one of those things that i wrote to establish my canon and honestly all it does is hurt. definitely one of my favourite pieces in terms of showcasing emotion and how i write it, but also because it’s still a punch in the gut for me every time i read it.

3. Lazarus (shepard)

summary: explores shepard's feelings at his tribunal post-Arrival, pre ME3. a legend is hard to kill but the man behind it is human; made of flesh and bone and things that can break.

why i love it: i mostly wrote this as a character study for my own shepard, his reflection on his trial after the events of arrival. i feel it’s often a missing piece of shepard during me3, we never really see how those events unfold so this was my snapshot view of it and how it impacted on my shepard. it’s not a pleasant moment for him, and i feel like this is a brutally honesty insight into shepard’s life at that point. [tw for suicidal themes]

4. Love Keeps No Record of Wrongs (shepard x ashley, kaidan & ashley)

summary: kaidan and ashley manage to take a moment from a world that took everything else.

why i love it: because i will always always always love kaidan and ashley having this affectionate, take-no-shit relationship where they are the ultimate ride or die team, and they love shepard each in their own ways. set post me3, just a sweet moment of kaidan trying to be there for ash when shepard can’t be.

5. The World is Not Enough (shepard x ryder)

summary: shepard and ryder only exist in-between their lives, in quiet spaces that belong to each other's missing shape. that's all they've ever been able to do. time is a luxury they don't have. these are the moments they're allowed to take.

why i love it: it’s my otp and also i love writing parallel voice pieces, or mirror pieces. it also touches on something that i wanted to establish early on in their relationship which is that neither of them needs one more than the other, and they’re both good for each other in their own ways. i was really worried about writing a power imbalance in their interactions, and this kind of helped me nail it down.

Fanfic Year in Review - 2016

I was tagged in this by @hollyand-writes; thanks! :)

Total number of completed stories: 8, plus 1 WIP I started that is still in progress.

Total word count: Just about 90K posted to AO3.

Fandoms written in: Dragon Age (2 and Inquisition), Mass Effect, and Strange Magic.

Looking back, did you expect to write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected? I expected to write a lot less. That last Inquisitor/Iron Bull story was an abrupt decision, and given that it was 25K words, had a serious impact on my word count. I also didn’t expect These Chains to expand the way it did. Silly me, picking up a project and thinking it’s going to be 20K words or less. Like the dumb slow-burn romance lover living in my head would allow that.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What’s your own favorite story of the year? That’s tough. Probably Wall Yourself Away, just because I’ve waited a long time for Bull and Kat to get to the mushy stuff, and it was like finally releasing a sneeze to get it written down.

Did you take any writing risks this year? Sort of? I knew when I started writing it that These Chains was not necessarily going to be popular; it’s a pairing that doesn’t come off looking so good in canon, BDSM is divisive, femdom is not super popular, etc. It was a dynamic I’d never written before, so in that regard, it was definitely a risk. But ultimately, it was something that @argharies had the idea for and that we ended up developing together as a fun creative exercise, and oh what fun it was.

Do you have any fanfic or profit goals for the new year? I definitely want to wrap up These Chains. I’m getting fairly close to having no more “active” WIPs floating out there in the wild, and I would really like that to happen this year.

Otherwise, I have a few long-ish fics that have been varying stages of development for varying amounts of time, including:

f!Hawke/Isabela fic set during-and-post-Inquisition, getting into what the heck Hawke was thinking to get involved with the Wardens and what happens when she goes to Adamant (let me tell you: Isabela is Not Happy). This was actually a story I was developing for the 2015 Dragon Age Big Bang. I ended up dropping out because, surprise surprise, it got much longer and more complicated than I had planned, and I ran out of time.

f!Hawke/Isabela modern-ish AU featuring Gangs, Fake Dating, and Lots of Panic (about Castillon’s Lingering Grudge); this one was a lot of fun to play with earlier this year.

f!Adaar/Josephine fic set during the “Of Somewhat Fallen Fortune” quest, which is similar in style to Only Pieces/Wall Yourself Away: a flashback fic showing some historical development for both Adaar and Josephine, juxtaposed with the present goings-on. This one is kind of like a sneeze, too.

Jyn Erso/Cassian Andor fic, the premise for which is so full of spoilers that I’m not even going to get into it. If it ever comes to light, you’ll see. Honestly, the most delightful part of even starting this was that Star Wars was really the first fandom I wrote (shitty, self-insert, never-posted) fanfiction for; coming back to it 15-ish years later feels really fun and indulgent.

Just about two dozen one-shots, of various pairings--mostly Shakarian right now, since I’m working on my replay of ME before Andromeda hits, but plenty of Inquisibull & other DA stuff, too.

I have no idea if any of these are going to actually happen this year. If I had to put money on it, I’d say some ficlets and that f!Adaar/Josephine fic, but if I put my head between my ears, I’d hope to really flesh out that f!Hawke/Isabela story. None of those longfics are going to see a post date until the whole damn first draft is written, though. I’ve learned my lesson.

Best story of the year? Probably a toss-up between In Which Tongue Will We Speak and A Little Rehearsal; I personally thought I nailed characterization/atmosphere/humor the best in these two.

Most popular story of the year? By all accounts, it was all the leaves on the trees are falling, though it hardly seems fair; since I started writing it in 2015, of course it has more hits, kudos, comments, subscriptions, bookmarks, etc. than anything I posted in 2016.

Of those that I started posting in 2016:

Most hits: These Chains

Most kudos: Misfire

Most comments: Wall Yourself Away

Most bookmarks: These Chains

Most subscriptions: These Chains

Story of mine most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Eh, I don’t think any of them were underappreciated. Most have a 10% kudos-to-hits ratio, which is about what I expect (the exception is These Chains, which is at about 5%, for very obvious reasons). They’ve all received comments. I think they’ve gotten plenty of appreciation.

Most fun story to write: I loved A Little Rehearsal. There are some characters and pairings whose voices, for whatever reason, really flow for me, and Garrus/Shepard is one of them. In my opinion, I really get their humor/camaraderie (ymmv; these are, after all, my versions of these characters).

Story with the single sexiest moment: Honestly, probably Wall Yourself Away, just because the emotional component has really come in and joined the party; These Chains would have been a contender if Shepard and Vega were in the same spot, but they’ve got a ways to go.

Most sweet story: We All Fall. Quintessential Josephine/Inquisitor fluff.

“Holy crap, that’s wrong, even for you!” story: Nothing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I have no shame, or maybe the stuff I’m into/write about is just not niche enough. Plenty of people would probably take issue with both Wall Yourself Away and These Chains for the BDSM aspect, but they’re probably not part of my fandom circle.

Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: I’m continually adjusting my perception of Bull, more than any other character I’ve ever written, so Wall Yourself Away. When a character’s main personality trait is that they’re a good liar, you kind of constantly second-guess everything you think you’ve interpreted about said character. It is exhausting.

Most unintentionally telling story: Probably Ornamented. Why is it unintentionally telling? Because it tells you all that if I sit down with an hour and a vague prompt, I’m going to churn out Hawke/Isabela fluff with creeping character development. That’s it, lol. That’s what’s in my brain.

Hardest story to write: Well, as the year has gone along, These Chains. I just got knocked out of the right mindset and need to dedicate some time to revisit it so I can get going again.

Biggest disappointment: None, really. I write and post fanfic with zero expectations; there’s plenty that doesn’t get posted because I’m just scribbling, it’s unfinished, it’s not ready, etc., but when I do post it--that end product is still what the starting product was. Basically just something I wanted to offload from my brain, or, usually, the fic that I want to read but can’t find. That other people enjoy it delights me, but if they don’t, oh well.

Don’t get me wrong; in general, I do wish that a greater level of feedback was generated for fanfiction. It’s just that I’m content as-is, personally. I’ve been part of a big enough fandom that I once got a ton of increased views and feedback; the super-long Dean/Castiel fic I wrote back in 2013 has more than 23,000 hits, 668 kudos, was part of somewhat popular rec lists, etc. My personal enjoyment of my own writing, however, is just not changed by the level of feedback.

Biggest surprise: The super-lengthy and loving feedback I got on Wall Yourself Away. I anticipated this fic especially to be a labor of love, mostly written for myself; while I am totally interested in other OCs, I usually still assume that most people do not want to hear about someone else’s OC, and this fic was all-Katrina-all-the-time (plus other OCs I pulled in, too). The fact that a fair few people were captivated was really nice. (I said I was content without much feedback, not that I don’t enjoy it when feedback occurs anyway! :))

Tagging:  Anyone who wants to, really. I’ve seen it going around, so I’m not sure who’s done it and who hasn’t. Feel free!

Elite Boston Marathon contender Shalane Flanagan shares her morning routine

New Post has been published on http://newsglobaltoday.com/2018/04/elite-boston-marathon-contender-shalane-flanagan-shares-her-morning-routine/

Elite Boston Marathon contender Shalane Flanagan shares her morning routine

Shalane Flanagan could take home another major title at this year’s Boston Marathon.

Flanagan, who attended high school in a Boston suburb, won the 2017 TCS New York City Marathon in 2 hours, 26 minutes last November.

Seth Wenig/AP

Shalane Flanagan of the United States crosses the finish line first in the women’s division of the New York City Marathon in New York, Nov. 5, 2017.

That time doesn’t come from sleeping in late or have an irregular schedule. Flanagan, also an Olympic medalist and American record holder, said marathon training as an elite athlete is not as glamorous as some may think.

For one thing, she has to pay way more attention than the average person about how she fuels her body.

Flanagan is so focused on nutrition that she and her former college teammate, Elyse Kopecky, are releasing their second cookbook, “Run Fast, Cook Fast, Eat Slow,” in August.

Amazon

Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow.: Quick-Fix Recipes for Hangry Athletes

Before Flanagan starts cooking each day, she pours herself a cup of coffee.

Here, the 36-year-old share how she starts her mornings.

Predictable wake-up time

I go to bed and wake up at the same time every day to keep my body on a schedule.

Sleep is super important for an endurance athlete so that means lights out at 9 p.m. and I wake up naturally at 6 a.m.

Coffee, then phone

I try not to check my phone until I have one of my favorite mugs filled to the brim with coffee in front of me.

Coffee with creamer is my vice that I can’t live without.

GC Images/Getty Images

Shalane Flanagan is seen outside “Live With Kelly,” Nov. 6, 2017, in New York City.

‘Super important’ breakfast

Breakfast is also super important.

My go-to breakfast before a hard workout is a bowl of oatmeal with filling toppings like nuts, berries, bananas, nut butter, etc. and a smoothie.

My favorite smoothie recipe is the “Can’t Beet Me” smoothie in my cookbook. (Scroll down for the recipe!)

First workout

I always log my long run or speed/tempo workout in the morning, followed by a weightlifting session at the gym three times per week.

My strength routine does not involve heavy lifting. It’s mostly body weight exercises with a lot of focus on building core strength. I also have an active recovery stretch routine that I do daily.

Then I typically do a shorter run in the late afternoon.

I always wake up excited for the day so I like to knock out my workout first thing. I hit a slump in the afternoon and during peak training, I always find time for a power nap.

The importance of nutrition

Elsa/Getty Images, FILE

Shalane Flanagan of the United States celebrates winning the Professional Women’s Divisions during the 2017 TCS New York City Marathon in Central Park, Nov. 5, 2017 in New York City.

Nutrition has been one of the most important components to keep me healthy and running at this level at my age.

There is so much misleading nutrition information out there and I didn’t always eat right. When I moved up in distance to the marathon, I found my self hungry all the time and I was relying on a lot of snack foods to get through the day.

When I started working with Elyse [Kopecky] on “Run Fast. Eat Slow.” I learned that I needed more fat in my diet.

Integrating whole foods and healthy fats into all my meals keeps me satiated and enables me to recover faster from hard workouts.

Flanagan shared some of her favorite recipes from her first cookbook, “Run Fast. Eat Slow.: Nourishing Recipes for Athletes,” with “GMA” here:

Wild salmon sweet potato cakes recipe

Wild west rice salad

Life during marathon training

Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images, FILE

The Week In Pictures

When I’m marathon training, I don’t have much time for anything else. My life is not as glamorous as people might think!

The morning after the Boston Marathon

I’ll still be running on adrenaline so will be up early and I’ll definitely indulge in a naughty breakfast — a donut or two!

No. 1 piece of wellness advice

Learn to cook! Spending more time in the kitchen is the best thing you can do for your health.

Shalane Flanagan’s ‘Can’t Beet Me’ smoothie recipe

Run Fast, Eat Slow.

The “Can’t Beet Me Smoothie” from “Run Fast, Eat Slow,” is photographed.

This recipe makes enough for two, so your running buddy can fuel up, too. Or you can store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Ingredients:

1 cooked beet (see directions opposite), peeled and quartered

1 cup frozen blueberries

1 small frozen banana

1 cup unsweetened almond milk or other milk of choice

1 cup coconut water

1-inch knob fresh ginger, peeled (use edge of a spoon)

1 tablespoon almond butter

Directions and tips:

1. In a blender, place the beet, blueberries, banana, milk, coconut water, ginger, and almond butter. Blend on high speed for several minutes until smooth.

2. For rushed mornings, this smoothie can be made the night before. Simply stir in the a.m. and sip while you lace up.

If you have a high-speed blender such as a Vitamix, you don’t need to cook the beet. Using it raw preserves nutrients, and it will puree completely in the blender. Simply peel and quarter.

Don’t put those beet greens in the compost pile! They’re chock-full of inflammation-fighting nutrients. Use them in stir-fries, pasta, or pesto or toss them right into the smoothie.

Reprinted with permission from “Run Fast, Eat Slow: Nourishing Recipes for Athletes, by Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky.

10 Blood Pressure.

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About Me: Blog Award Nominations and 13 Fun Facts

New blog post! Today, we're doing something a little different: we're talking about me, blog award edition! I was recently nominated for The Real Neat Blogger Award by the Anxious Canadian and The Blue Sky Tag Blogging Challenge by The Savvy Dreamer. Both challenges involve answering a few given questions and nominating your own set of bloggers to answer a few questions of your own.

Being, well, me, I smudged the rules a bit and combined the nominations (and their questions) into one post. I'll also nominate eight bloggers (because it's my lucky number!) to jump on Blogging Award train.

So what inspired this celiac to blog in the first place? What's my favorite book? And what's the most important piece of advice I've ever received? Find out that and more in this about me, blog award edition...

1. Why did you start blogging?

As I've shared in other posts, my celiac diagnosis was my biggest motivation to start blogging. I was diagnosed with celiac disease only a few months before starting college. So, of course, I immediately began Googling how gluten free celiacs were surviving college...but I only found one blog and a few other resources. 

My solution? I'd blog about it myself...even though I had no idea where to even begin! I've always loved writing (and I ended up majoring in it during college...and am now going to grad school for an MFA in Creative Nonfiction). So, I picked a random blogging platform that seemed easy to set up (hello Blogger!) and started publishing my thoughts online. Fun fact: my blog was originally called Casey the Celiac Sealion because of my college's mascot...but I (thankfully) changed that early on.

2. What is your passion in life?

Honestly? I'm not totally sure. I love writing (hence my impending grad school adventure). I love connecting with others (hello blogging).  I also love fitness, reading, editing and cooking. I'm not sure where these interests will take me, but I hope I'll be able to help people with what I do.

3. What's the most important piece of advice you've ever received?

The first piece of advice that popped into my mind are the words of my sixth-grade school counselor. (Who was also my "foster dad" when my dad was deployed). When I moved away, he gave me a glass dolphin with a card that said, "Keep searching for your porpoise."

His words remind me that there is more to life than being productive or making money. I also want to make sure I'm setting myself up for a job that I can enjoy and (hopefully) use to make a difference in the world. At the same time, though, the pun reminds me to laugh and not take life too seriously. I'm a weird combination of Type-A perfectionist and goofball, but following my heart (while rockin' a sense of humor) has worked pretty well so far!

4. If you could travel anywhere in the word where would it be?

If someone gave me a ticket to anywhere outside the U.S. (that was safe and had some gluten free options), I'd take it and go. I've only left the U.S. when I lived in Cuba as a toddler. And thanks to a combination of celiac disease and financial aid clauses, I wasn't able to study abroad in college. So, I'm really game to travel anywhere! Some top contenders, though, include Australia, London, Scotland, Ireland, Italy and Spain (all of which, I've heard, are awesome for celiacs by the way!). 

5. What's the most used app on your phone/tablet?

I spend way too much time on Instagram, but I also regularly use VSCO to edit my photos and Canva to make blog graphics. And I'm typing this blog post up using my phone's Blogger app (while riding the stationary bike, wink wink). Non-blogging related, I use Find Me Gluten Free all the time! 

6. What do you like to do when not blogging?

I love working out, whether it's on my own, in a hot yoga class with my dad or on a family hike. This past eight months, I've also been really into long afternoon walks. When I'm not working out, working on the blog or just plain working, I'm usually baking or reading. I've also been known to love thrift shopping!

7. Summer or Winter?

Fall. The weather is just right! 

8. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done or you would like to do?

The craziest thing? Probably going to grad school in a state that I've never even visited! I'm a little terrified about Minnesota's mosquitos and reportedly "bipolar" weather, but I'm also super excited for a fresh start. I'm moving out to Minnesota for teaching training (the other craziest thing is definitely teaching my first college class at 21 years old!) at the end of July. I'm just grateful that spending the winter in Colorado Springs has conditioned me somewhat for Minnesota's winters...

Needless to say, you'll be hearing a lot about Mankato, Minnesota for the next three years! 

9. If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things you would bring with you?

A water purifier. (A dehydrated Casey is a dangerous thing). A Kindle for reading (as long as I can get a signal...otherwise, some realllllly long book like Ana Karenina!). And, of course, a raft for me to ride back to the mainland once my granola cravings became overwhelming!

10. If you could meet anyone in the world who would it be?

I would love to meet Dorothy Parker. (For those who don't know, she's a super sassy feminist writer from the 1920s). I have a feeling that she'd scare me (she is the queen of sarcasm and burns!). However, I really admire Parker's wit and her ability to make it in the writing world at a time when women's occupational options were limited. 

11. What’s your favorite dessert?

Homemade granola + So Delicious Unsweetened Vanilla Coconut Yogurt + berries + sunbutter. I have some version of this every night for a snack. 

12. What’s the best book you’ve read?

One of my favorite books is The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. For those who don't know, I minored in Women's Studies and am very intrigued by beauty standards (hence blog posts like this one). The Bluest Eye explores beauty standards and racial stereotypes, and Morrison's writing style is exquisite. I recommend most books from Toni Morrison. 

When I'm reading "lighter," though, I prefer psychological thrillers. One of my favorites recently is The Girl on the Train. I haven't seen the movie, but I bet the book is better! I also love The Woman in Cabin 10. (Watch out for a full list of my favorite summer reads in the near future). 

13. If you had all the money in the world what would be your biggest indulgence?

If you read this blog, you probably know the answer already: alllll the gluten free goodies! I'm a self-professed foodie, and I would definitely spend some major bank at Whole Foods if I had unlimited funds. And, of course, I'd load up on my favorite treats like Health Warrior chia bars (who I'm now an ambassador for), Snackin' Freely paleo bagels, Enjoy Life cookies and lots of Sunbutter!

Like this post? Show me by tweeting! Just click here: "Learn more about this #glutenfree gal + meet the #bloggers I nominated for a #blogging award! via @collegeceliackc http://bit.ly/2sRamFr"

The Nominees

Now, the fun part! I get to spread the blogging love to another eight bloggers. The only rules (of both the Real Neat Bloggers Award and the Blue Sky Tag Blogging Challenge)? 

Tag the person who nominates you in the post (if you choose to accept the challenge!)

Answer the eight (or however many) questions they've given you 

Nominate another eight (or however many) bloggers to do the same! 

So who are some of my favorite bloggers lately? 

My Uncommon Everyday: if you love reading about chronically awesome college students like me, you'll love Ellen! 

My Little Tablespoon: she may live in Canada, but I feel like this girl and I are foodie twins. She posts tons of tasty food, plus posts about everyday life and mental health. 

Rice and Repeat: I just discovered this girl a few weeks ago, but I'm already in love. Gorgeous photos and lots of healthy living advice! 

Claire Bear Blogs: lots of fabulous food, travel and lifestyle posts! 

Fit as a Mama Bear: healthy food, fun workouts and family stories.

Katalyst Health: if you haven't already been reading this gluten free blogger, DO IT! Her recipes are INSANE...and everything else she writes is pretty rad too! ;) 

Donuts and Down Dog: how awesome is this blog name? And although I just found Lizzie's blog, I love her approach to wellness and healthy living.

The Urben Life: Jenna is another new blogger crush of mine. She also specializes in allergy-friendly recipes! 

My questions:

1. What inspired you to start blogging - and keep blogging? 

2. If you could only have sweet or savory snacks for the rest of your life, what would you choose? 

3. Early bird, night owl or perpetually tired penguin? 

4. Sum up your blog in three words. 

5. If you have to recommend one Netflix show to everyone you meet, what would it be? 

6. If you could travel anywhere in the world for free, where would you go? 

7. What's one recipe or meal that never lets you down? 

8. Name one book you think everyone should read at least once. 

And that's a wrap!

Did you learn anything new in this about me, blog edition? And how would you answer some of these questions? Tell me in the comments! 

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