stonepicnicking_okapi

What has two thumbs and has written 8000 words of her Spook Me challenge fill in 3 days?!

THIS GAL!

go, okapi, go!

So I've decided to soldier on with my BTS fill for Unconventional Courtship. The problem with that is it is really a 3 part series which will probably take another month to finish, but I think it'll be good. The first part will be Sope (SUGA/j-hope) doing the blindfold sub and switching doms without telling him (which is the Harlequin plot I am stealing--the challenge requirment). The second part will be Namjin (Namjoon/Seokjin), with a nice serial killer/coma patient plot [just like the soap operas we used to watch, eh, bethctg?]. The last part will be a poly Vminkook (V/Jimin/Jungkook) with lots of Jungkook on a motorcycle and Jimin in assless chaps. And then we'll put everything to bed, heh, heh.

Next month is July Watson's Woes and trustinghim is leading with a retrospective look at past prompts. I have decided to do prompts from years 2013 or 2014, which are years before I started JWP (I think, at least years before I posted to AO3).

I have started on my Season of Kink bingo. I have gone back to The Old Guard and Nicky/Joe and posted a fluffy pwp from a favourite porn star AU (written by someone else) for the lands of magic Pride theme. I have a second one planned for this week, also soft pwp with Nicky/Joe for the prompt 'in public.' That will also get me points for my lands of magic Countdown to Summer theme, a song fic with that song of The Corrs and Bono I posted called 'Summer Wine.'

It will also be Sunshine Challenge next month, so that will be fun. I think it's gemstones this year. Sparkly! Also, I know it's more than three months away but I am already thinking about Hallowe'en. A maze fic. An epistolary fic.

Tomorrow I will post the final poem for my final set of GYWO Yatzhee prompts, so that will be done. I've done 6 out of 8 possible rolls so that's good.

I am planning to finish these by the end of the year.

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe 'too often', trope you can’t get enough of?)

I feel compelled to tell my readers where every character in a scene is looking and when they turn their heads. Lots of staring, gazing, gawking, fixing, glancing, etc. Lots of head turning, tilting, nodding, shaking, etc.

Character A asks for something (usually in a sexual scenario) and Character B 'obliges.' I don't think most ficcers use this word in that way. (i.e., John asked for more, and Sherlock obliged.)

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

I am one of those who thinks John from BBC Sherlock always makes tea even though it isn't supported by canon. Lestrade from BBC Sherlock likes American coffee drinks and American candy. Moran from BBC Sherlock has 3 different bolt holes which he uses depending on the job. Stamford from BBC Sherlock is always BAMF. Moriarty's eyes are always green. Nicky from The Old Guard's eyes are blue-green (usually with a sea or ocean reference thrown in).

( The entire list )

Word count for October: 55,895

I reached my GYWO 2021 target of 250,000 words this month. Though about 30k less than last October, this month's count is actually artificially low because I only count words when I fic is complete, and I have 4 (yes!) WIPs outstanding which were begun in this month. So there's about 21k unaccounted for (yet).

So I managed 25 fills for Kinktober, but I telling myself it's ok to go into November to do the rest of them. I did about 11 fills for Whumptober and 11 for fallintofallfestival and 3 for Watson's Woes. I did my 2 Spook Me fics, too.


I still think there are some prompts from Whumptober which are worth filling and I want to finish the last two for Watson's Woes and I only have 6 more fills to finish my gen bingo, so there's still a lot I want to do, so I am going to be barrelling through until December 1.

So, WIPs:

1. a frayed knot (nobody has mentioned the pun in the title but I think it's brilliant) The Old Guard, Joe/Nicky, shibari, Meet Cute AU. This is getting a lot of nice attention. ancientreader helped me with some visuals a year ago when I had this idea and I'm glad I finally am getting to realize it. Artist model Nicky, artist Joe. Another 2-3 more chapters. I know what's going to happen, I just need to write it. I even bought the Kindle version of Shibari You Can Use to help me.

2. Wonder Bred. An inversion of my usual BBC Sherlock Omegaverse in that Sherlock is the Omega. Meet Cute with a case fic based on a Korean film I really like called Hide and Seek. This is the fic that will deal with all the pregnancy kinks (inflation, pregnancy, lactation). John is Sherlock's heat stud, and Sherlock ends up with a false pregnancy (a psychosomatic pregnancy) so they stay together and solve a case while waiting for the reversing serum to be developed. I think this will get some nice attention when it gets going. I turned off the comments because my #1 Crazy Reader is an Omega Sherlock fan and I don't want comments from her to throw me off my stride. I know what's going to happen and I think it'll be a lot of fun.

3. BBC Sherlock's Glitter monograph. This is more my usual style of stand-alone chapters with a theme (the theme being how glitter is an ideal forensic contact trace). I have at least 2 chapters to go and I know what those are, I just need to write them. More could pop up.

4. The Kilt was Orange and Black. This one worries me because I don't really know what's going to happen, but I wanted to do a send up of the film Psycho with BBC John Watson from my Men in Kilts series. So John and Lestrade go undercover as housekeepers/cleaners at old motel called The Bates which is being turned into a Hallowe'en attraction. They are trying to find out what happened to a woman who went missing in 1960 (Marion Crane from the film). Sherlock lurks (as he does!).

Reading: I have been reading horror/supernatural short stories from a very large anthology called The Weird. Lots of great stories. Huge book, though.

Personal: In a few hours, the boys, their father, and I are headed to the ocean (3 hours away) for 2 nights. I am still wary of trick or treaters in a pandemic so it's basically a flight. I hope we have a good time. Photos to appear on Tuesday.

It's been a good October. So good, I am going to stretch it into November!

11. What do you envy in other writers?

The ability to plot (case fic). The ability to tell stories in verse (epics/narrative verse). The ability to make things super hawt (porn!). The stamina to write long fic. The ability to write good kissing scenes (much harder than you'd imagine, for those who've never tried).

12. Do you want your writing to be famous? No. I've never submitted a work for commercial publication and have no desire to do so.

13. Do you share your writing online? (Drop a link!) Do you have projects you’ve kept just for yourself?

Almost all of my works are on AO3 (username: okapi). The very few that aren't are drabbles or double drabbles on DW comms where I have no established collection on AO3 to archive them.

No, I don't keep projects 'for myself.' For me, that would be the opposite and anathema, even, to why I fic. I fic to share and instigate conversations with other people, end stop.

( The entire list )

9. Are you more of a drabble or a longfic kind of writer? Pantser or plotter? Do you wish you were the other? Both, or neither?

I am a drabbler. I prefer writing short fics and drabbles. I don't usually read long fic either unless one of my friends has written it or it's something I am super keen on.

I am a pantser and a plodder. I write in sequence. I don't skip and move on to the next bit if I'm stuck. I may wait a day or two and come back to it but I don't continue on writing the rest of the story. That's not how my mind works.

I have had a long fic in mind for many years (a seven layer BBC Femlock mystery) and I would have to be a plotter, and a very good one, to realize it. I always think about doing it for Nanowrimo, but November is after October and October is my High Holy Season of Ficcing.

I think I would find it difficult to sustain enthusiasm for a long fic that involved a lot of plotting. It doesn't strike me as fun or a great use of my limited free time. But that's just me.

10. How would you describe your writing process?

So, I see *something* that gives me inspiration. A prompt. A bit of a film. An image. A quote. It almost always suggests a particular fandom at the same time. So I think about it a lot, first, composing dialogue, and then when I have a moment, I write it down and start plodding.

I ride my moods. If I feel like writing porn, I forgo sleep and other responsibilities and dive in. Sometimes I am feeling like something clever or quirky or sentimental. I take advantage of wherever my minds is going.

I usually write at night, but those days when I wake up early with a great idea are pretty special. Sometimes things just flow.


( The entire list )

Borrowed from sixbeforelunch.

5. What character that you're writing do you most identify with?

I think it is still BBC Sherlock's John. I am not writing a BBC Sherlock genderswap fic right now, but I began ficcing by writing nothing but fem!lock, and it's safe to call fem!John a self-insert. But even male John is usually me. I can't find myself in Jeeves or Bertie, Nicky or Joe, or Jimin or Suga. I am not writing Vera Claythorne's And then there were none at the moment, but I also identify with her.

6. What character do you have the most fun writing?

BBC Sherlock's Mycroft Holmes (whether genderswapped or not) is very fun to write because of the banter. So much fun.

( The entire list )

I ordered 2 pair of cargo trousers to replace the ones that got shredded and they both fit. One is of the scrubs variety and one I have to roll up and button the others at the bottom so that they don't drag the ground, and both don't look exactly STURDY, but nonetheless, I have them, so yay.

My Joe/Nicky food fic was well received: the 5 times Nicky made food for his new neighbor & the 1 time Joe returned the favor. It was for the fluff challenge at story_works. And I got the prompt from this fluff prompt generator.

I like the 5+1 structure so much I am working on a fic where Joe and Nicky work at a radio station in Cincinnati (a TOG/WKRP fic) for my crossover gen bingo square with 6 songs from 1978.

I have started on Kinktober ficlets. I know it's early but it makes me happy so there. First one will be a The Old Guard/Inception crossover with Joe/Nicky/Arthur/Eames and lots of dream sex on the Kenyan coast.

The second one is my BBC Sherlock Men in Kilts AU with John going back into the kilt (an orange and black one with embroidered bats) to do cleaning for the Bates Motel before Halloween. Cue Scooby-Doo plot with porn.

The next one is BBC Sherlock's monograph on glitter. And the one after that is my lovely new fandom, BTS, Omegaverse with Jimin and (maybe) Suga going to haunted house to pass Suga's heat. I watched an old Korean movie The Housemaid (1960) today. It was interesting, but more suspense of a Fatal Attraction variety than horror. But it gave me some good images to start with. And there are A LOT of Korean films at my library. Koreans seem to like their zombies but I am looking for ghosts and eerie stuff.

The light came on so I got air in the tires. It made me feel like an Adult.

I finished Agatha Christie's The Sittaford Mystery. It was good. And now I am reading Catherine Aird's A Most Contagious Game. I resisted getting the last of the River of London series at the library today. I still have one on audiobook but it's not a Peter Grant book, it takes place in Germany, and I have a short story compilation Tales from the Folly. There's a nice line where Peter says 'A detective inspector doesn't get out of bed for anything less than a body at the vicarage," so I might one day do a fusion of the Rivers of London world and Miss Marple.

Word Count: 32,885

Reading/Listening: I have started on audiobook Book 3 of The River of London series. I am starting The Mysterious Mr. Quin by Agatha Christie in audiobook, narrated by Hugh Fraser. Physical bookwise, I am also making my way through The Best of It: new and selected poems by Kay Ryan, poetry, and Guilty Creatures, an anthology of animal mysteries from the British Library Crime Classics. I had a couple more borrows on online library system so I started Antidote to Venom by Freeman Wills Crofts.

Writing: The big goal was getting the Unconventional Courtship fic done. July is Watson's Woes month, so that's what ahead. I also want to make some progress on my Gen Bingo prompts.

Personal: I've been posting more personally during the month, so not much to say. I am trying to keep the boys busy (worksheets, library visits, lots and lots of books--seriously we max out our 60 borrow limit almost every week--crafts, visits to the pool, this week 3 hours of gymnastics camp in the afternoon, puzzles, Midsomer Murders, and game time). The boys' father has been gone for about 2 weeks and will be gone 3 more. The rock tumbler goes 24/7. We are in day 5 of Stage 2 (of 4). It reached 106 F (41 C) yesterday. I am so, so glad I pitched a royal fit and got the boys' father to fix the A/C in my car before he left.

This is a fandom meme created by squidgiepdx.





Day 7: What's the longest time you've been in a fandom. Not necessarily your oldest fandom, but a fandom that you started and still continue to read/write/create content for in some way.

I posted my very first fanfic on December 18, 2013. It was a genderswapped BBC Sherlock Johnlock short porny one-shot Escaped Eloquence. I posted a genderswapped BBC Sherlock one-shot about six weeks ago, on April 28, don't call it a comeback (i been here for years). [BTW the oldest fic has 23 kudos, the most recent 11, never going to be a popular thing.] I don't read genderswapped BBC Sherlock fic anymore. I only read any BBC Sherlock fic if someone I know has written it and/or it's been written for a challenge that I am participating in. But BBC Sherlock still holds a special place in my heart.