#zinder talks

Aww, thank you! 🥰 I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying that one as much as I did writing it!

I can't take full credit for the idea, since the premise came from @venelona, but I had a lot of fun thinking of how to make it into something a bit longer and more involved. (No one was expecting 30k except for me 😂)

It's surprisingly challenging to pick five! But here are the ones that I ended up with.

open my eyes to everything (there must be something more) My massive, on-going WIP fic - a BSD DazAtsu time travel AU (currently posted at 213k words)

gotta survive (can't do this on my own) My most recent complete fic - BSD DazAtsu, a sort of fairy tale AU where they're both in the PM (31k words)

find me there (and lead me back home) Somehow my only posted BSD ChuuAtsu fic, a neat little AU that I had fun with. (6.5k words)

When Time Runs Out A fun, kinda angsty Soulmate AU, a twist on Soulmate-Identifying Timers where the time counts down to your soulmate's death. Happy ending! BSD DazAtsu (4.4k words)

The Gate Of Souls Throwback to one of my oldest fics where 70% of it was actually written 8 years prior to posting (back in 2015) before I did much of any writing. Filled in the blanks, edited, and posted it last year, but I still rather enjoy it. (Finally a different fandom lol) Fullmetal Alchemist, RoyEd soulmate AU (3k words)

Heyyyy! Happy Holidays 💖💖💖

Favorite drawing of mine... is probably one I can't really say much of anything about just yet nor has it been posted, so I'll skip that one for now. It'll get posted sometime in January. But, I'm also pretty proud of this one, if only because drawing people is my biggest weakness in drawing.

I don't think I can narrow down to even a top 5 favorite drawings I saw this year, so I think I'll have to skip that one. Far too many to choose from even just among fanart I've been sent. 🥹

Favorite fic I've read this year... I don't think I could pick just one if my life depended on it. So, here's... a top 5 from assorted fandoms:

Solo Leveling: It's Time For Another Good Idea, Bad Idea by Haurvatat (Ship: Sung Jin-Woo/Woo Jin-Chul) [Readable if you've only seen season 1 of the anime, but I'm assuming it has copious spoilers. Loved it anyway and just got done re-reading it for a second time today.]

Bungou Stray Dogs: Dazai and the Moving Detective Agency by forest_raccoon (Ship: Soukoku) [Not complete yet, but an astoundingly detailed AU that manages to worldbuild very well in the same vibe of the movie.]

Yuri on Ice x Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood: Trust Me, I'm an Alchemist by metisket (Background-ish Ship: Victuuri) [A crossover I never expected, but absolutely loved.]

Avatar: The Last Airbender: Salvage by MuffinLance (No Ship) [A fic I don't think I would've read if not for the outpouring of love in the comments below seeing a most-gorgeous bind of the fic.]

My Hero Academia: Complicated Creation by Elemental (Background Ship: EraserMic) [A fic I absolutely loved reading and wish I had found sooner.]

Favorite fic I've written would have to be 'open my eyes to everything (there must be something more)' - the behemoth dazatsu WIP that feels like the one that started everything. (First fic for the ship, first truly long fic, the one that most people found me from)

I also really enjoyed writing 'gotta survive (can't do this on my own)' - the dazatsu fairytale AU that grew legs of its own and managed to exceed 31k words.

I'm sure I have a whole host of favorite quotes I've written somewhere, but the instant I tried to think of any, almost every one vanished from my memory. So here's the only one that I'd call a favorite that I can still remember!

[Dazai talking] "But you are my prince, Atsushi. I could never forget such a special person coming into my life, turning my world upside down—" "That's because I tackled you!" "—and leaving just as quickly as he came." ~ gotta survive (can't do this on my own)

As for next year... my current plan is to finally (finally) wrap up 'open my eyes' and get around to writing some of my backburner ideas (including some body swap/ability swap fics, probably in the 10k-30k range, and probably the idea that lost the coin toss to 'open my eyes' last year). When 'open my eyes' finally gets to the end, I have a bit of a fun surprise planned, so readers will have to wait for that one.

Oooh, that's a good one! I'm gonna go ahead and exclude any flat 0% grades for tests I wasn't able to take OR make up later (asshole teacher in HS)...

When you get this, share a bit of whatever you are currently working on! However much you are comfortable with! Then send this to 5 of your favorite fellow creatives, be they writers, artists, editors, crafters, musicians or whatever else!

A piece from one of the un-posted chapters for 'open my eyes to everything (there must be something more)':

Morning finds Atsushi shaking his head in bemusement as Dazai pushes into the room and begins digging through his closet to pick out his outfit. It's reminiscent of how parents supposedly act on their kid's first day of school. Except, Atsushi thinks with a laugh, Osamu is definitely picking the tightest pants I own based on the ones he's rejected already. That isn't very "parental".

And just for fun an old draft snippet from the Double Agent Chuuya fic I have plotted out and plan to write eventually. This one was planned around the same time as 'open my eyes' was, but that one won the coin toss for being written first, so this one had to wait to get more written [maybe not super current, but it's one I'm looking forward to writing]:

Woo! Just got another one of these bad boys for all of my craft and DIY stuff! The blue one is new. Anyone who has a dedicated craft space and needs storage and a worktop should consider something like this.

Pros:

Lot of storage space, including short but large footprint drawers which is helpful for many kinds of craft supplies

2 locking, swivel casters which makes it pretty easy to maneuver and locks firmly in place

Built-in power strip

Drawers are soft-close and slide smoothly

Built-in lock to keep curious kids or nosy family out of your expensive art supplies

Metal is easy to clean (and you can use magnets on it)

Cons:

Bigger ones get pretty pricey

Can be very heavy/difficult to install wheels if you don't order it assembled

May require a trailer rental to bring home if you don't have a truck/large SUV