This month I’m featuring Mags (@50ShadesofMags), who many of you’ll know from Twitter as a master AI artist and a stellar author of an iconic BDSM Larry fanfiction.
This is a regular installment of No Stunts Magazine, so if you’re excited about authors and peeking behind the curtain in their brains, I encourage you to look at the last few issues for profiles of your favorite Fic Authors. Check out the most recent for July 2024 –
https://nostuntsmagazine.com/en/rosanns-writing-room-with-athena-sunflower728369-july-2024/
If you like this feature, want to chat, or give me suggestions for future profiles, please hit me up on X. @Rosann_1986.
Handle: @50ShadesofMags on X and LittleSpoonStyles94 on AO3
Pronouns: She/Her
Works: A Darker Shade of Love, Sins of The Father (WIP sequel to ADSOL), Outing Larry, Falling (WIP sequel to Outing Larry), Harry’s House Has A Blue Door (WIP)
Rosann: Welcome! What do you like people to call you?
Mags: Mags
Rosann: Thank you so much for being here. First up. How did you decide to get started writing fanfic for the 1D/Larry fandom?
Mags: I didn’t decide lol I was pulled into it. I was introduced to Louis and Harry in 2015. At first I was kinda not sure about the whole Larry thing. I mean I was skeptical. But a few hours of video watching on You Tube, I was hooked and pulled in. And I am glad I was. Thanks to this fandom I found my genre of writing. I could never go back to writing anything other than queer fiction.
Rosann: I love finding out how people discover the fandom. How long did you write before you published for the fandom?
Mags: I’ve always written stories since I was a child. There was a period of my life where I wrote for just one person. I wrote in the Buffy/Angel verse and Twilight. But I never published anything at all. I wrote for just this person who always encouraged me to write for people.
Rosann: I love that you had that support! Do you write in any other fandoms?If so, which?
Mags: No I don’t write in any other fandom.
Rosann: What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written and where did the idea come from? How long did it take you from first idea to publication?
Mags: My favourite is definitely A Darker Shade of Love. It took me a long time to write as it was a WIP so I updated every few days. The idea for ADSOL came to me once when I was reading an article about abused men and how they tend to stay silent because of shame. So I wanted to write about experiences of abuse that women go through but I reversed them on to men. I wanted to write about Stockholm syndrome and love. I wanted to put awareness out there that even men suffer in silence, that men do suffer the same abuse that women do. Many did not understand what I was trying to write and unfortunately the fic garnered a lot of hate and abuse towards me. It became personal and I would be lying if I didn’t say that it didn’t affect me but the positives outweigh the negative and many understood the concept of it. Some said that it helped them. Some told me it’s their comfort fic. Different people, different views. But I’m happy with it. I’m happy with the character development because I got my characters to go where I wanted them to.
Rosann: That’s great. I love that you worked through the negative and came out with something that you love. I don’t want you to out your anonymity, but can you tell us if you’ve written under other names, or if you’re perhaps traditionally published? Are you professionally trained?
Mags: I am not professionally trained. I read a lot. Books are my teachers. I have also been blessed with a vivid imagination so that helps. I do a lot of research for my fics which is why it takes me a bit of a long time to write a fic. I am thinking of publishing A Darker Shade of Love trilogy and my publishing name will be M.G. Belle.
Rosann: Good luck with publishing! I think that’s a great idea. What’s your favorite trope (if any) to write?
Mags: I don’t have a favourite. Any ideas that come into my head, I just write.
Rosann: How do you handle writer’s block (if you experience it).
Mags: I experience it and how. I’ve gone months without being able to write. I used to push myself to write but it only made me frustrated and I still couldn’t write. So now I learned that when I get writer’s block it means that my characters are on a hiatus and will come back when they’re ready. I don’t force it. I do however keep a notebook and pen with me at all times and scribble down stuff, bits of dialogue, ideas and points just to keep my brain going and tease my characters back.
Rosann: I think that’s great advice for anyone creative who gets blocked. Do you read other things while you’re writing? Why or why not?
Mags: Yes I do read. I read multiple stuff. I’m usually reading a book and a fic at the same time at different periods in my day. I sometimes read if someone sends me a bit of the fic they are writing and ask me what I think. But I’m always reading. Reading breeds inspiration. I can never go a day without reading.
Rosann: I agree with you completely! A lot of times, the “real world” frowns on fanfic in general. Have you had this experience? Do your friends and family know what you write–and how do you deal with questions about it?
Mags: No. They don’t know and I don’t want them to. First of all they would not understand why I write MM fiction. Second of all, I don’t feel comfortable with them knowing. Which is why, should I decide to publish in the future I have chosen not to use my name.
Rosann: If you write a serialized fic, do you plot/outline before you write or do you just fly by the seat of your pants?
Mags: I haven’t written a series yet. I have 2 sequels. With Outing Larry when I finished it I knew I wanted to write something else to it. I already had an idea of what I wanted to write so I started writing Falling. With A Darker Shade of Love, I had no intention of writing a sequel but when I finished it and was reading it back, I kept telling myself that it wasn’t complete it wasn’t finished. The idea for Sins of The Father came to me because I had loose ends to tie up. I mapped it all out in a notebook and started writing it and it just flowed out of me. I have 2 more books to write to fully complete ADSOL. So maybe that would be my first series.
Rosann: I can hear your fans now getting excited about more in that world! What are your thoughts on writing/consuming smutty smut for people not in that same community and (assuming) they haven’t been in those situations? i.e. Can non-queer authors write smut?
Mags: I mean smut is smut isn’t it? Whether it’s Het smut or gay smut it’s basically the same thing. When I wrote Outing Larry I didn’t write any smut. I didn’t know how. In fact, Outing Larry on Wattpad is different than Outing Larry on AO3. The one on Wattpad is the one without smut because I didn’t know how to write it. Yet. So I started to researching gay sex. And well I learned a lot lol. But honestly, it shouldn’t make a difference. Whether its two men, two women or a man and a woman, they are basically doing the same thing. It’s all down to the author on what kind of smut they want to write. If a non-queer author wants to write about queer smut, I don’t see why it should be an issue because like I said, it’s basically the same.
Rosann: I’ve noticed that a lot of writers include people from the boys’ real lives/situations. What are your thoughts for including personal things like that or not?
Mags: It comes natural to use people the boys are familiar with and whom we are familiar with also. They’re this “I feel like I know them” kinda feeling so authors tend to stick with those they are familiar with. It’s not a bad thing. However, lately I have started including my own characters that I have made up myself like the twins Izzy and Denim in SOTF. In the fic I am currently writing Harry’s House Has A Blue Door, I am giving life to new characters also instead of using real people from their lives. In certain situations I have to keep the actual ones but I am discovering that I rather enjoy giving life to characters I have made out of nothing. I love giving them a story, a background. I love giving them life.
Rosann: I love that. What are the hardest scenes/tropes for you to write?
Mags: A Darker Shade of Love has not been easy to write. A lot of difficult topics and subjects. It played on my emotions a lot. When my characters were anxious, I was anxious. When they were broken, sometimes I had to stop because I felt that. What I’m finding the hardest to write at the moment is a part in Sins of The Father that tackles grief. I lost someone very close to me and writing about the passing of a character and the grief of their friends and relatives is like reliving my own grief and the dark, hard times I went through. In fact I’ve put it on hold until I can come back to it.
Rosann: Lately there has been some discussion on stan Twitter about what authors of fanfic “must” do (for example, provide trigger warnings). What do you think a writer has responsibility for to their readers? Conversely, do you think readers have any responsibility to writers (for example, leaving kudos or comments)?
Mags: As an author who wrote a very dark fic, I believe in warnings yes. It is of the utmost importance for me. I have put up a lot of warnings because of the various triggers in my story. When new readers come in my DMs to tell me they are going to start reading it, I stress on the importance of reading all the trigger warnings. If readers decide to ignore them and read it anyway, that is not my responsibility. I did my part and I will not be held responsible for their negligence. Like I said previously, ADSOL has garnered a lot of hate so much so that it was removed off Wattpad twice due to people reporting it despite the fact that I broke no rules. I once read a fic, a very popular fic in fact that I see being recommended a lot and I was shocked at the lack of warnings it provided. That was serious negligence on behalf of the author because when certain topics are used for fics especially concerning people under 18, there should be warnings. You never know what a person has gone through. Something that we write might trigger them and it is our sole responsibility to put up those trigger warnings. As for the readers’ responsibilities, I don’t expect anything. I mean it’s nice to have kudos. I love the comments especially when they engage with the characters. I like talking to my readers. I love their feedback. But like I said, I can’t expect anything from them. I write, I put it out there then it’s up to them what to do.
Rosann: It sounds like you have a good attitude about your writing. Can you give other burgeoning writers some writing tips–for writing or publishing?
Mags: One main thing I like to tell people who come talk to me about writing. Never write with the intention of people reading your work. They might not. Always and foremost write for YOU. You are your primary audience. When readers start reading your work, that’s a bonus. And always explain the character’s feelings. When you give details you are taking your readers by the hand and taking them on a journey. Make them feel feelings. Engage them. Bring their feelings forth. It’s all about making them feel what your characters are feeling. That’s what writing is. To use the power of your words to paint a picture and make them feel it.
Rosann: This is excellent advice. Do you have favorite fics that have inspired you?
Mags: My all time favourite fic is definitely Birds in Gilded Cages followed by All Tired Talk. I feel like these two fics are very underrated. I hardly ever see them recommended. Hats off to all the fics that are always being recommended but it’s kinda always the same lot of fics. When I see fic recommendations, I’ve now learned by heart which those fics are. But these two I have an affinity for. These two authors also wrote difficult subjects and these are the kind of works that stimulate my mind, that give me that spark, that give my mind thought and my heart feelings. It’s fics like these fics inspire in me the need to sit down and write. Life is not made up of fluff and rainbows. Life is made up of hardships too. There should be a balance. Personally I prefer to read fics that have difficult themes with fluff and rainbows weaved into them, those moments like when the sky is heavy with dark clouds and then the sun peeks through. It’s the kind I love to read. So hats off and kudos to these two amazing authors of Birds in Gilded Cages and All Tired Talk.
Rosann: Great recommendations. I’ve linked to them if readers want to check them out. Do you do anything to promote your fics? Mood boards or something
Mags: I make mood boards, yes. I don’t promote though. I feel weird promoting my work. I only put up a tweet or post on my IG when I update a WIP. I still feel weird when people recommend my fics and I am so thankful for them. But no, I never promote or recommend my work to people who are looking for recommendations. It’s weird I know but I feel kinda shy to do that. I usually recommend the; my two fave fics lol.
Rosann: I understand, but I hope this interview will serve as some promo for you! Anything else you want to answer that I haven’t asked?
Mags: I would just like to thank everyone who reads my work. You have no idea how much I appreciate it and for the support you always give me as an author and personally too. It means a lot to me. I have wanted to be a writer since I was a child and having people read what I write is amazing. My dream is to self publish so fingers crossed. Thank you for having me.
Rosann: Thank you so much for being here – I wish you the best of luck and keep writing. You’re already doing it! Xx
Please go follow Mags on X (@50ShadesofMags) and read their most recent work on @ao3 here LittleSpoonStyles94 | Archive of Our Own
