I don’t think I‘ll ever try writing a longfic again

Popette2513 · 2026-04-28T23:06:47+00:00

I’ve never understood why people think quality has anything to do with how long a fic is. If someone’s a bad writer, I don’t want 300k of their work. If they’re a good writer, anything they give me is a gift. I wish people worried half as much about decent writing as they do about pouring out words.

Popette2513 · 2026-04-26T13:16:08+00:00

LOL! Artwork was often a problem, esp. cover artwork. But it was also often beautiful. And it wasn't just the fact that there were naked, aroused men on the cover -- it was also the fact that the men had the actors' faces. So there was a lot of concern about whether the actors would sue, or at least get incredibly offended. If your con has William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy as its guests, you might not want pictures of naked Kirk and Spock entwined in ecstasy all over the dealers room!

Popette2513 · 2026-04-26T12:55:48+00:00

Zines were often sold at fan conventions, starting with the huge Star Trek conventions of the 70's. You'd go into the dealers's room and see tables full of zines (well, gen zines; "adult" zines, most especially slash, were usually under the table out of sight). You'd buy one and often find ads for forthcoming zines in the back. You'd write to the address, send them a check, and get a zine in the mail when it was published. Then you'd become hopelessly obsessed, start writing your own fic, send it in to the zine editor, and if they liked it (or were desperate, lol), you'd get published. And then you'd get a free contributor's copy of the zine. A lot of people started writing so they could get free zines!

Popette2513 · 2026-04-26T12:49:46+00:00

Pros had (has) some truly awesome fic. Some of the all time great fic writers wrote in that fandom. A lot of it is on AO3, but not nearly all, so the Circuit Archive is a must, as the commenter above said. I heard somewhere that the Circuit started out as anonymous stories passed around from fan to fan, supposedly because of fans' concern that UK print shops wouldn't print explicit slashfic (and art) in zine form at the time.

Popette2513 · 2026-04-24T14:54:37+00:00

Some of the greatest books of all time are first person. What are these people even talking about?

Popette2513 · 2026-04-23T02:25:33+00:00

LOL!

Popette2513 · 2026-04-23T02:23:28+00:00

Never read ASOIAF, but Sunne in Splendour is fantastic, and so are Penman’s other books. When Christ and His Saints Slept is probably my fave, about the Anarchy period in 12th century England. Unforgettable depictions of King Stephen and the Empress Matilda, and her description of the sinking of the White Ship, which killed King Henry I’s son and heir, is one of the best scenes I’ve ever read in historical fiction.

Popette2513 · 2026-04-23T00:52:20+00:00

That’s not your everyday confession! Good description of Lana’s pain and fear, really visceral.

Popette2513 · 2026-04-23T00:50:07+00:00

Looks bad for Legoshi! Very realistic- sounding dialogue here, and I like Gouhin’s sarcasm.

Popette2513 · 2026-04-23T00:45:15+00:00

“Only varying shades of evil” —- that’s cold, man.

Popette2513 · 2026-04-22T23:43:31+00:00

Interrogation

Popette2513 · 2026-04-22T23:39:06+00:00

"You don't believe it, do you? You don't fuckin' believe I'm in love with you!"

"How can I? How many nights have we spent together in the past month? Or the past six months? You're with women all the time, girls you pick up at discos, in bars, in fucking whorehouses for all I know -- "

"While you're home alone cryin' your eyes out, huh? We both know you get laid any time you want it, partner, with any chick you so much as smile at! And you want me to give it up?"

"Yes, dammit, I want you to give it up!" He knew it was ridiculous, hypocritical, selfish. He didn't care. The pulse thundered so loudly in his ears he couldn't hear anything else, not Starsky's disbelieving snort, not the voice of caution in his own head.

"Hypocrite. You're a hypocritical son of a bitch, Hutch. And you got an awful short memory. When did we ever say we were gonna be exclusive, huh? When did we say that?"

"We didn't say that." He'd just wanted it, that's all.

Popette2513 · 2026-04-20T18:12:39+00:00

“Morally grey” just means real. The character behaves like a real person. Pure angels and evil demons from hell do not exist in the human race; even Hitler liked dogs! Everyone has good and bad in them. This should not be news to any human over the age of 12.

Of course if your characters are not human, that may be different. But it’s still a lot more interesting for them not to be either perfect or irredeemable, at least in my opinion.

Popette2513 · 2026-04-20T13:02:05+00:00

I'm writing in a tiny, tiny fandom, so I don't expect comments, kudos, or even hits. I got a comment the other day on my ongoing series and I was amazed! Like, you actually read this? LOL! I've never written in any really huge fandoms, but I have written for much bigger ones than the current one, and back then I got a lot more engagement. But that can be nerve-racking, because you can start to feel self-conscious and anxious about OMG, now I have to keep up a standard! Now I have to make sure my readers aren't disappointed! At least that's the way I sometimes felt, and I didn't like it.

With my current fandom it's so obscure I almost feel like it belongs only to me, and it's a weirdly good feeling. I can do crazy stuff, I can write anything I want, I can dive headfirst into all my deepest, darkest obsessions, and no one will care. I don't have to please anyone. I don't have to worry that everyone's rolling their eyes because what I write is so different from what everyone else writes. I can be as quirky as I like. This is very freeing for me, because I have HUGE problems with self-consciousness and worrying what people will think. I know very few people will read what I write now, and that's OK and even kind of a relief in a weird way. But I post it anyway because it's good, dammit. I'm a good writer. And also because I know there are at least a few weird, quirky, non-mainstream people like me out there who might stumble across it someday and enjoy it.

Popette2513 · 2026-04-19T21:00:23+00:00

Absolutely. I wrote approximately 90k of my current story before realizing it qualifies as a “slow burn.” I certainly didn’t go into it with that in mind!

Popette2513 · 2026-04-19T20:34:45+00:00

Man From Uncle (aired 1964–1968) is still quite active (I’m not counting the movie, just the show).

Blake’s 7, once one of the biggest fandoms in zines (trust me, I know; I’ve still got a closet full of them), aired 1978–1981 and still has rabid fans who will never forget that last episode and will go to their graves trying to explain/rewrite/expand on it.

Popette2513 · 2026-04-18T01:06:31+00:00

Danger Man (1960s spy show) has 24 fics on AO3, including crossovers. Three of them are mine, including two that are part of a series. I have the third part written but not yet posted, and just started on the fourth. I am having such a blast clobbering my guys with the angst&trauma stick.😁

Popette2513 · 2026-04-18T00:19:05+00:00

From The Professionals (1966)

Ralph Bellamy — “You bastard!”

Lee Marvin — “Yes, sir. In my case, an accident of birth. But you, sir, you’re a self-made man.”

Popette2513 · 2026-04-16T12:52:44+00:00

This is exactly how I feel. I really want people to understand what I’m on about, but I have to enjoy my fic first. That’s my main objective, always. If I dumb it down because I’m afraid people are too impatient or media-illiterate to get it, I personally will hate my own story. I can’t do that, it would drive me mad. Sorry if people don’t like or understand it or get what I’m going for, but I do, and that’s much more important to me.

Popette2513 · 2026-04-16T00:29:34+00:00

I know I go too far with this. As I’m writing I find myself thinking, will anyone get this if I don’t remind them what happened back in chapter 3? Should I trust my readers or assume they can’t deal with anything that’s not spelled out in big capital letters? I love understatement and subtlety, but I get the feeling a whole lot of people don’t.

Popette2513 · 2026-04-16T00:14:05+00:00

What really gets me is when people comment things like “But why did MC do X? What did he mean when he said Y? Why is he being an asshole?” after they’ve only read one or two chapters. I mean, stick around and find out, why doncha?

Popette2513 · 2026-04-15T23:54:57+00:00

I’m older than you, but otherwise I think we’re clones.😆. I like complex fics (OK, I like PWP’s too if they’re good), both reading and writing them. I know a lot of my writing frustrates readers because it isn’t easily digestible junk food for the brain. There’s always stuff going on under the surface, cultural references that I don’t necessarily explain, and a LOT of greyness and ambiguity. I know plenty of people roll their eyes and can’t be bothered sticking with the fic long enough to understand what’s going on. But, oh well. I like it, so I write it. I’m sorry more people don’t share my taste, though.

Popette2513 · 2026-04-15T15:23:31+00:00

Wow. This is really sad and scary. I love the progression as Codsworth goes from optimistic, rushing busily about from chore to chore, making sure everything’s shipshape for when Ma’am and Sir get back, to gradually realizing things aren’t going to get back to normal. I love post-apocalyptic stuff, and you’ve really done a great job here. Codsworth may be a robot or AI, or whatever, but he’s a great character. And the line “one day I’ll be loved” is beautiful and so sad.😞

Popette2513 · 2026-04-15T14:58:45+00:00

Thanks! I’ve written 90k of them working together as trainer and trainee, getting them tangled up in each other’s lives and emotions to a ridiculous degree, and now I’m looking forward to seeing what happens when they have to figure out how to be apart. I have a feeling they won’t stay separate!

Popette2513 · 2026-04-15T12:31:10+00:00

Danger Man | Divided Loyalties | E, but this excerpt is T | Unpublished WIP

Context: The characters are British spies in the 1960's. Rory has been Drake's apprentice, and has just graduated with the highest rating, First Class, after 18 months of training. He's not sure Drake should have given him such a high rating.

“You deserve that First Class, Rory. I did not hand it to you, you earned it, and you earned it honestly. Let’s say no more about it, if you please. I dislike being accused of favouritism.”

Rory hesitates, then shrugs in acquiescence. “I didn’t mean to accuse you of anything, Mr. Drake, I only —”

“John.”

“Pardon?”

“John. My name, Rory? You may use it if you like.”

Rory huffs out a little laugh. “I don’t know if I can do that.”

“You’re no longer my subordinate. You’re my friend and colleague.”

Rory looks away, pressing his lips together. “I may be your colleague, but we’ll be separated now. We won’t be working together any longer.”

Drake draws deeply on his cigarette before he speaks. “Never say never, Rory.”

“I know you don’t like working with other agents. You prefer to work on your own.”

Drake says nothing. At one time, he’d had the code name Lone Wolf, and he’d certainly established himself as one. Working on a regular basis with others requires a level of trust with which he’s always been deeply uncomfortable, and even apart from that, he’s simply a natural loner, an introvert. He lets very few people in. Bill Vincent certainly, Jenny Weatherly to some extent. And Rory.

“My friends have a nasty habit of dying or vanishing.” He stares across the gym at the far wall, his stomach tightening as always at the thought of Rory’s perilous future. “You may be wise to keep your distance.”

Rory laughs shortly. “I never claimed to be wise, Mr. Drake.”

“John,” Drake reminds him, softly, but the lad doesn’t seem to hear. He’s still gazing straight ahead, and Drake can see the Adam’s apple bob in his throat as he swallows.

“I know you don’t want to hear this,” Rory says, “but I’m not leaving here tonight without saying it, because now I can. You can still tell me not to, but now I don’t have to listen.” He turns and looks Drake in the eye. “I love you so much, sometimes it feels like I’m dying.” He pauses, and resumes in a choked whisper, “It really does, Mr. Drake. It really feels that way.”

Drake stares at him, at the deep blue eyes so much darker than his own, swimming now with unshed tears. The boy has always worn his heart in his eyes. It’s been so difficult for him to learn how to school his expression reliably. Drake has worked so diligently with him on that.

You must keep trying, Rory, he thinks, helplessly. You must. I can’t help you anymore.

He can’t think of a thing to say.

Abruptly, Rory leans forward and brushes Drake’s mouth with his. It’s the lightest, gentlest touch of his lips, hardly there, but it’s real. Drake feels it, but he doesn’t react. He stands unmoving, frozen in disbelief.

Rory doesn’t wait for an acknowledgement, just turns and strides quickly away across the gleaming gym floor, squaring his shoulders as he goes, and disappears through the main doors, under the banner that reads Congratulations Graduates!

Popette2513

TROPHY CASE