It’s fic time! Check out the June challenge entries by our talented authors, filled with all things summer and plenty of Caryl.

For Her by coreenfw

Strawberries & Moonshine by AlannasTara

You're a Sky Full of Stars by AlannasTara

Organic Love by silversundown

The start of summer and time for June's Member of the Month, who is relative newbie Dont Think Twice who has been actively reviewing fab fics!

1) Favorite Fanfiction Authors?

All these writers are very talented and I have Soooo many! Currently? Silversundown/ That1VT/ Adina Rose / Ramblinrose / Trogdor19/ ICanStopAnytime / Krissyg927/ Foreverlovingdaryldixon / Shae (I could go on!)

2) Favorite fanfictions in last 12 mos?

Again, there are many! I'm afraid I will have missed some out... Beauty and The Beasts / Region Thirty Three / Infinite Possibilities / Breaking the Ice / Ten Alive / Waltzing's For Dreamers / Bad Seed Rising

3) Favorite fic trope?

Little Dixon family/Anything with Sophia!  I love reading how secure Daryl eventually becomes. I feel, in these stories, we see who Daryl would have been with a 'normal' upbringing. Having a family of his own to care for, heals so many of his wounds. It's also so heartwarming to see Carol shed her past with Ed, Daryl gives her everything that her abusive husband didn't. With him, she's giving Sophia the father she deserved as well as allowing herself happiness. It would have been very interesting on the to see how the three of them would have interacted, if Daryl had indeed found Sophia in S2.

4) What would you like to see more of, or what haven't you seen in a fic that you would like to see?

The Friends to Lovers story - I do enjoy seeing a slow burn, but my preferred bit comes after! I love seeing how they navigate their relationship once they come together, especially if there's been lots of awkwardness. Christmas Day and Daryl, for example. I love to see how he deals with the simple stuff, once the relationship is established.

5) What made you start shipping Caryl?

They seemed to bring out the best in eachother from very early on. I noticed their characters more, when they were around eachother. It's that undeniable chemistry. I felt they just fitted, physically and emotionally.

It's gonna be May! Wait. What's that? It IS May! Which means it's time to announce our May Member of the Month. A round of applause for Sienna27! 

1.) Favorite Fanfiction Authors?

Hi, first, thank you to who/whomever I need to thank for the win!  And sadly, I can only share the name of one fave caryl author because I actually don’t read other people’s fic in fandoms where I’m actively writing.  It might sound strange, but it’s been a rule of mine for a number of years now, because I noticed back when I first started writing (and was still reading at the same time) that other people's ideas and storylines would get stuck in my head, and it would screw up my muses.  Fanfictional chaos ensued! :) 

So, to the one fave author that I have from back in the days when I first dove into the caryl fic world (2016), that would be Praxid!   I don't know if she's on here, but if not you can find her over on ff.net.  Her writing is gorgeous, and I devoured all of her stuff over maybe a week and she broke my heart over and over because everything she wrote was beautiful and tragically bittersweet. I honestly can’t recommend her enough, and it was after I finished her last story that I got the first idea for my own caryl fic.   So really if it wasn’t for her work, I might not even be writing in this fandom!

2.) Favorite fanfictions in last 12 mos?

Unfortunately, for the reasons covered above :) I can’t recommend anything that recent, so again I will plug Praxid, and her favorite story of mine is The Book of Judith.  If you haven't read it, please do yourself that favor and seek it out.   It's a future fic mostly revolving around Daryl and Judith, though there are caryl undertones.

3.) Favorite fic trope?

Oh, love a good Meet/Cute!   I don’t care how cheesy it is, it’s a great way to break the ice when you’re establishing a new relationship.  The best I could come up with for a meet/cute in TWD was Daryl saving Carol from a walker, and her falling into the guts.  A tale as old as time!  Ha, ha! :)

4.) What would you like to see more of, or what haven’t you seen in a fic that you would like to see? 

Again, not reading in the fandom right now, but something I would love to hear had became more of a trend are Pre-ZA stories.  Because honestly, the reason I started writing in this fandom was because that was the exact story I wanted to read, something super in depth about the days leading up to the collapse of civilization, and I couldn’t find anyone who had written that yet.   At least nobody had done one yet with the caryl ship, so I started writing my own version.   That became my biggest story, and I have had more than a few people comment after finding it, that they had also been specifically looking for something pre-ZA and I was one of the few that they’d found.   So I think it’s a good niche spot still ripe for a lot of ideas, because you can stick with canon concepts or go totally AU, and either way it’s a wide open space to explore.

5.) What made you start shipping Caryl? 

The CDC scenes!  First them on the elevator, then him trailing her down the hallway, finally the next day with him hovering near her while Jenner did the presentation.   Whether it was intentional or not with TPTB, I immediately saw those moments as growing attraction/protectiveness on his part.   And those feelings were something very much confirmed (and shown to be reciprocated by Carol), opening season two. 

Tropes are totally dope and the topic of our April’s writers chat.

Tropes are a form of artful written expression used to convey something other than their literal meanings. These can be figures of speech such as similes, metaphors, irony, personification, hyperbole, puns, etc. A trope can be a repeated symbol or thematic element, for example, a flame or fire may play heavily when discussing the passion between two characters. The photo above refers to a common plot device you may have heard of. Oh, Unresolved Sexual Tension. Oh. Oh!

Often, tropes serve to provide information about a character’s role in a plot or her/his motivations, such as the Anti-Hero, Bad Boy/Girl with a Heart of Gold, or Damsel in Distress. They can also appear as plot conventions such as Don’t Know What You’ve Got ‘Til It’s Gone or Slow Burn. When done well, a trope can keep your readers interested in your story. When done poorly, they may become predictable or cliché.

Join us for the next writers chat on Thursday, April 5, 2018 at 10pm ET. We will be discussing your favorite tropes to use in your Caryl fanfiction. Bring your questions, ideas, and imagination. There will be time for a little writing practice. Readers, please join us and tell us about all your favorite tropes that you can’t possibly get enough of.

Have suggestions for a future chat topic on Nine Lives? Send a PM to jaibhagwan, kaoscraze82, or whoswhatsitwhich with writing topics you'd like to discuss. We'd love to hear your thoughts. Our goal is to motivate you to keep writing!

Without further adieu, we present to you your March Fanfiction Challenge: Romance Trope-a-palooza Masterlist, chock full of tropey goodness! 

Enjoy! 

Stay Close by Redvelvetunicorns

The Deal by Krissyg927

The Heart is a Different Organ by Krissyg927

Beautiful Disaster by Krissyg927

Three Tubes and a Butterfly by Krissyg927

The Cruise by AmalynJon

Trope-a-palooza!

[.gif by loveviral.tumblr.com]

That’s right, folks! Our next challenge is all about Romance Tropes in Fanfiction! Bed-sharing? We got you covered! Fake - Dating? Bring it on. All of the little guilty-pleasure-fanfiction-tropes you love are all here to inspire you in our Romance Trope Fanfiction Challenge.

Just pick your favorite trope from the list* below, and write a story, letting your imagination take the wheel!

• Mutual pining


• Bed sharing


• Fake dating


• Marriage of convenience


• Friends to lovers


• Soulmates


• Meet-cute

*list courtesy of thestanceyg.tumblr.com

Now for the Rules:

Challenge Dates - Submission date is March 24; Posting date is March 25.

Open to - Fan Fiction (Caryl and McReedus)

The Prompt - Pick a romance trope (or two or three) from the list provided to use in/inspire your fanfiction piece.

The Deadline - All submissions must be turned in by midnight on March 24 Pacific Standard Time (PST).

Send a PM to silversundown, the-space-between1013, or alannastara on the Nine Lives site that you want to enter the challenge. Even if you're not sure you'll have anything ready in time - let us know you're planning on it. *YOU MUST DO THIS TO BE INCLUDED.*

For FANFICTION:

WRITE! Stories must be at least 100 words.

Multiple entries are allowed (and so veryyyy welcome)!

Do not upload it yet! Wait until Saturday, March 24th to upload your fic – just like in challenges past, we will be suspending automatic validation for that day for all authors who enter the challenge. (This is one of the main reasons why you need to let an admin know you'll be participating.)

Submission Day is Saturday, March 24th – post your fic. It will not appear on the archive, but will enter our validation queue. Make sure you submit it under the Nine Lives Challenge category!

Publication Day is Sunday, March 25th – We will post the master list and all of the challenges entries so everything shows up at once. That way, we’re all surprised by what we get to read!

Any challenge fics posted before March 24th will be deleted. IF FOR SOME REASON you are unable to post on the 24th, please send a PM to one of the challenge mod - we will work with you.

Any questions? Post here or privately to one of the challenge mods. Happy ficcing!

If you’ve participated in one of our “Writing Sprints” chats before you’ll know how much fun they are: not a competition, but a group effort to spark your writing flow.  We’ll provide a series of short writing sprints based on some Caryl prompts, you write (or not) and maybe share the results (or not!) and just maybe it will inspire a new story or unstick you from a fic you’re stuck on!

This chat will focus more on the writers, but readers are welcome to join. After each sprint, we’ll invite whoever is willing to share what they've written for some constructive feedback. OR, you can choose to keep your words to yourself. ;) There’s no pressure to share, but a little feedback could get the creative juices flowing.

So, bring your sense of humor, your anxiety, your patience, and a stopwatch/timer. We’ll have a good time, and hopefully no blood will be shed. Maybe just a few tears from feels. We’ll bring some tissues, too, just in case.

Join us in the Nine Lives chat room on Thursday, March 1st from 10pm-12am Eastern Time!

Have ideas for a future chat topic on Nine Lives? Send a PM to jaibhagwan, kaoscraze82, or whowhatsitwhich with writing topics you'd like to discuss. We'd love to hear your thoughts. Our goal is to motivate you to keep writing!

[My sincere apologies for the delay on this - I had ONE JOB and I botched it. SG]

A reminder - the Member of the Month (MOTM) award has been completely restructured, with the winner selected randomly from a list of members who have either published or updated a story or contributed at least five reviews in the past 60 days. The questions have been revised, too!

So to kick off the new Member of the Month program - put your hands together for dixonvixen!

1.) Who are your favorite Caryl authors?

I'm afraid I can't answer that fairly since I've only read one story so far. I just wrapped up working on my own fic, and typically I do not read while working on something of my own since that in itself consumes most of my free time. I did read my first story on here just recently which was chosen because it happened to be the current FSOTW, and a baby fic which I am a sucker for. Many kudos to the author lilabut for sucking me into her wonderful fic Illuminate The Heart from the very first paragraph. I was totally in awe of how well she translated our Caryl to the page, and particularly impressed by her writing for Daryl. Everything from the dialog to the descriptions of his mannerisms was spot-on.

I am very anxious to start reading more fics which is on my day-off agenda for today! I do review so look for a shout-out from me!

2.) Favorite Caryl fics of last 12 mos?

TBD per my above response

3.) Favorite Fic trope

It's gotta be a good baby fic, especially one involving a high-risk pregnancy/conception struggles. It has been the trope of every fic I have written so far, but Caryl has been such a thrill to write for that I am branching out with my next fic and shifting my focus to developing Caryl as Alexandria's new power-couple.

4.) What would you like to see more of, or what haven’t you seen in a fic that you would like to see?

This is another one that is difficult to answer considering I've barely read any so far, but I can say that I am definitely interested in reading more AU fics. I've always steered clear of them with the assumption that I wouldn't be able to get into it, but considering how much I enjoyed my first introduction, I will most definitely be checking out more of them moving forward.

5.) What made you start shipping Caryl?

Wow, how much space do you have for my answer? Simply stated, Caryl checks every box that describes what I look for when choosing my ship. As individuals, I feel a strong connection to female characters that are survivors of abuse and have evolved into incredibly strong and inspiring women as a result. With male characters, I am a sucker for the misunderstood type. The dude that everyone has written off as a loser, and made totally inaccurate assumptions about. Over time, we get these little glimpses into his soul and discover that there is one fine piece of man candy hidden beneath the rough exterior.

I hated Daryl when he first came on the screen. I had never seen an episode of TWD before this past summer, and really didn't know a thing about the show at all. A guy I was dating at the time had an interesting connection to the show, got me to watch it because I was intrigued by his involvement with it. He was very curious about what I thought of Daryl after seeing him for the first time and my response was something along the lines of, He's an ass! I chuckle at this now because only a mere few days later when I watched the Cherokee Rose episode, I began singing a different tune. Not only did I receive my first hint that Daryl was gonna supercede Rick in being my TWD crush, I also began to realize that Caryl just might become my new ship.

Watching so much so quickly though proved to be a bit of an overload, and it really wasn't until I began my second round of binging the series, seasons 1-6 that is since seven hadn't yet come to Netflix, that I really began to fall in love with Caryl. I would rewind every scene they were in together several times, and by the time season seven finally came to Netflix, I was hardcore shipping Caryl. With each passing episode, I found myself whining when would they ever see each other again? When I finally stumbled across "New Best Friends," there was no going back from there. I must have watched their scenes, and the scene where Daryl threatens Richard that he will kill him should anything happen to Carol (swoon!) a dozen times that day alone, and it still remains my favorite Caryl moment. I honestly hope season eight will eventually offer something that can top it!

Thank you so much for selecting me to be Member of the Month! I am so happy to be a part of this home for lovers of all things Caryl, and grateful for those who made it happen!

To post or not to post: That is the question.

It’s a New Year and there are stories to write... tales to tell. Each of us has our system for getting words on the page but what about what comes after? How do you get your story out there for the revered readers to enjoy? Do you post chapter by chapter or do you wait until you type “the end” to present your brilliance to the world?

Our February chat will center around this scintillating topic. What works for you and why? Can you delay the gratification and bask in the glory of a completed work or do you need your kudos now and post that chapter as soon as your beta signs off?

We want to hear from the readers as well... are you heart eyes about WIPs or does it take a ‘complete’ tag before you click that link?

This is your opportunity to sound off. Please join us on Thursday, February 1st, 10 PM Eastern Time (click on the handy TIME ZONE CONVERTER at the top of the events section to check your local time) and let us hear what you’ve got to say!

Kill two birds with one stone...a bird in hand is worth two in the bush...the pot calling the kettle black…

Chances are you have heard one of these phrases before. Trite phrases and goofy cliches -- that is what our January Nine Lives Fanfiction Challenge is all about! We’ll give you a list of cliches and phrases, and you must pick one to use in your fanfiction piece. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy! Amirite?

List of suggestions:

• In for a penny, in for a pound


• Like a house afire


• Never say never


• The pot calling the kettle black


• Easy peasy lemon squeezy


• All is fair in love and war


• All is well that ends well


• Every cloud has a silver lining


• Time heals all wounds


• They all lived happily ever after


• Read between the lines


• Fall head over heels


• Waking up on the wrong side of the bed


• The quiet before the storm


• Between the devil and the deep blue sea  

If you do not see a phrase above that strikes your fancy, here is a link to a list of more phrases from which you may choose.

Now for the Rules:

Challenge Dates - Submission date is January 27; Posting date is January 28.

Open to - Fan Fiction (Caryl and McReedus)

The Prompt - Pick a trite phrase or goofy cliche, from the lists provided, to use in your fanfiction piece.

The Deadline - All submissions must be turned in by midnight on January 27 Pacific Standard Time (PST).

Send a PM to silversundown  or the-space-between1013 on the Nine Lives site that you want to enter the challenge. Even if you're not sure you'll have anything ready in time - let us know you're planning on it. *YOU MUST DO THIS TO BE INCLUDED.*

For FANFICTION:

WRITE! Stories must be at least 100 words.

Multiple entries are allowed (and so veryyyy welcome)!

Do not upload it yet! Wait until Saturday, January 27th to upload your fic – just like in challenges past, we will be suspending automatic validation for that day for all authors who enter the challenge. (This is one of the main reasons why you need to let an admin know you'll be participating.)

Submission Day is Saturday, January 27th – post your fic. It will not appear on the archive, but will enter our validation queue. Make sure you submit it under the Nine Lives Challenge category!

Publication Day is Sunday, January 28th – We will post the master list and all of the challenges entries so everything shows up at once. That way, we’re all surprised by what we get to read!

Any challenge fics posted before January 27th will be deleted. IF FOR SOME REASON you are unable to post on the 27th, please send a PM to one of the challenge mod - we will work with you.

Any questions? Post here or privately to one of the challenge mods. Happy ficcing!

[CW: discussion of appropriate tagging of rape and dubious consent in fanfiction.]

Running a fanfiction archive is more complicated than any of us admins ever expected. We're lucky here, in many ways, because we don't have ship wars to contend with - we can float along in our happy little ocean liner and enjoy our OTP.

Sometimes, though, we have a problem - usually one that wasn't taken into account when the site was built, and hasn't come up before, so it's never been addressed. When that happens, we have to talk it through among the three of us: how do we handle the current instance that raised the issue, and how can we reduce the possibility of it being a problem again going forward? (You'll notice we didn't say, "prevent it." That's because we've learned that it's almost impossible to perfectly anticipate the scope of human behavior.)

We recently had occasion to review the list of content warnings Nine Lives provides for authors to use, which include "attempted rape," "rape (implied)," and "rape (actual.)" There was no provision for "dubious consent," which an author might use for a situation they considered potentially questionable (consent is unknown or uncertain, as distinguished from consent being definitely absent), and we felt that omission could lead to situations where a fic might not provide adequate warning to allow readers to avoid content they would find problematic.

So we've added "dubious consent" to our warnings. Some may think that doesn't go far enough, but after discussion that's how we've decided to approach this issue. If you have a different idea on this, let us know.

The existence of an additional warning doesn't automatically mean an author will use it. Like anything else, we have to rely on our authors to consider the applicability of and then use the appropriate warnings, or to put something in the story notes to alert readers to possible difficult content. There also are going to be instances where the author truly doesn't see the content as troublesome. That's where our readers come in.

If you have an issue with a story, you can PM an author directly and have a respectful conversation with them about your concerns. If you'd prefer not to contact the author, you can PM one of the admins (subversivegrrl, alannastara, or ikkleosu) and let us know what your concerns are. You can also contact us via the "contact" link at the bottom of every page, but please note that those site emails don't get checked every day.

However you decide to approach the issue, PLEASE come to us directly. Whisper campaigns, or sending complaints about story content to third parties, like on Tumblr, or a Facebook group, or anywhere else that does not directly connect to the people who can do anything about it, doesn't address or resolve the problem. All that does is stir up hostility and gossip. We've had instances in the past where back-channel sniping has nearly caused authors to stop writing entirely. We're very lucky that this instance was solved by civil communication, but it could easily have gone the other direction.

As always, if you have a suggestion for how the Nine Lives archive can better serve our members and authors, please don't hesitate to get in touch with one of the admins or use that contact link below. We're here because you're here, and we want to make the site as welcoming as possible for everyone.

Feast your eyes on the huge turn out for the BINGO challenge! Tropes mixed with tropes and sprinkled with more tropes, just how we like 'em!


Strawberry Snuggles by pookiedixon

Kids In Love by Redvelvetunicorns

From Beneath the Facade by Amanda Hawthorn

First Ride by coreenfw

When it's Over by Marie1063

Seclusion by CharlotteAshmore

The Retreat by CharlotteAshmore

Live For the Moment by Ethereal_Wishes
 
the learning curve by lilabut

Lost in Haunting Pictures by BettyBubble

A Brief Moment in Time by Geektaire

Seventeen Seconds by silversundown

Angel Wings by Geektaire

Apartment 316 by Shannonsto

the strawberry room by thekittenking

this world we live in by thekittenking

Absolution by murk free

Forged in Fire by jaibhagwan

Daybreak by Shae

What do Ernest Hemingway, Jane Austen, and Stephen King all have in common? If you answered that they are all authors, you are correct. However, the comparisons tend to stop there.  

When you think about some of your favorite authors, it’s probably easy to put them into a specific category based on their writing styles. While the genre may play a large part in helping you decide what type of book you want to read, the style is more about that author’s take on that situation and how they bring it to life. It should set them apart from all the other writers and make them stand out in their own unique way, just like a personalized signature would.  And just like people, writing styles can change and evolve over time, giving us new ways to branch out and help us discover even more possibilities!  

So whether you’re new to writing, a seasoned veteran, or you’ve never written a day in your life—come join us on Thursday, October 5th at 10pm Eastern time (click on the Timezone Converter under "Events" to find your local time) and let us know your thoughts! Think about what makes a story or a certain writer stand out in your mind and why. Get tips on how to make your own writing style even more recognizable. Also, if you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to message kaoscraze82, jaibhagwan, or whoswhatsitwhich and let us know about it! Hope to see you there!

Just realized we forgot to tell you about some further changes to NL staffing --

Meeshie is stepping back from her role as chat moderator, but she'll continue to be involved with the tech end of things.

subversivegrrl will sort of oversee the chat function but mostly leave the nuts and bolts to the chat mods, jaibhagwan, kaoscraze82, and the newest member of the team, whowhatsitwhich! We're glad WWW is back on the scene with new fic (and bringing back some old favorites as well, yay!) and are also tickled pink that she's available to lend a hand wrangling the monthly chats.

Caryl’s first date...what an amazing idea to contemplate. We could wax poetic about how we think they would act and all, but I think we all know what we really want - the fic! So without further ado here’s the master list of 50 First Dates. Happy reading!

Impractical Magic by NotEnoughTimeOnMyHands

Lady and the Tramp by coreenfw

Missed Connections by silversundown

Falling by Amanda Hawthorn

a difference of opinion by thekittenking

Apocalyptic Dating by AmalynJon

The Accidental Date by the-space-between1013

Operation: Hookup by Shannonsto

Fired Up by Shannonsto