#Also I've been thinking about writing a fic with a similar basis

[kiragecko]

cherrystainedknuckles

I guess the only problem with being asked to take a “marie kondo approach” is that in order to find any fanfic that appears to be based in actual canon timeline and plot points and characterization (which does exist, and I’m not sure why fanon fans seem insistent that it doesn’t), I literally have to search for hours. I’m not joking, I consistently make fic rec lists, and I have to search for hours and hours for actual canonical basis. same thing with character tags on tumblr.

I’m not saying fanon fans have to stop enjoying fanon or making up their own content. I’m just saying that when the tags used for both fanon tim drake and canon tim drake are the same tag it just becomes incredibly annoying sometimes, and I understand why people who like to engage with canon (me, often) become frustrated

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I have definitely had periods where I got incredibly frustrated with fanon! Around 2019, I was wondering if I needed to leave the Batfandom, because it had been so long since I read a new fic where the characters felt 'right'.

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But, if you're willing to, I'd like you to consider what you mean when you divide 'fanon' from 'canon'. Because I struggle to find a hard line between the two, for several reasons:

1. Fandom is transformative. Every fanfic is going to have some interpretation of the source material. The line between what is too much interpretation and what is acceptable is different for every person. For me, I find it can even vary based on writing style or other odd things - lighthearted fic can have more noncanonical stuff in it than heavier fic, and still seem true to canon.

2. 'Canon' is subjective. I do not consider the movies or video games to be 'canon', and it annoys me when things from those creep into the fic I'm reading. (I'm okay with SOME Battinson.) Some aspects of the cartoons are okay. I consider precrisis Jason Todd to be an alternate reality version, but Donna's precrisis origins are more canonical than the dumb retcons. Wayne Family Adventures isn't my main version of the characters, but I'm not bothered if some elements show up in my stories. I'm ignoring most of the nu52, but I like Duke and I'm still watching this new Lian to see what happens. I doubt your divisions are identical to mine.

(Also, some things that I think of as 'fanon' have shown up in nu52 canon! I do not accept them as any more canon because of this.)

3. Most 'fanon' is based on canon. Canon Tim has weird sleep habits. 90s Dick is really lighthearted and joking around some characters in ways similar to fanon. Dick can canonically not be trusted to take care of himself if his mental health gets low enough. Jason likes classical literature. Etc.

These are exaggerated and/or twisted in a lot of fic, but where is the line where they stop being canon? I wouldn't bat an eye at a lot of this stuff, if it didn't show up SO OFTEN.

4. Most 'fanon fans' do know some canon. What line are you going to set where it will be 'enough'. And are they allowed to mention parts of the canon they haven't read yet? Is anyone allowed to talk about Dick's early Robin days, or only the tiny amount of people who have read the golden age stuff? A lot of the 'mistakes' I see are obviously made by people who have read ABOUT canon, but don't know quite how it fits together.

5. 'Canon' is FULL of contradictions. Yes, there are canon events. Yes, there is characterization that is consistent across 3/4s of comics. But. I'm still working on my sidekick timeline. I've devoted days to figuring out ages and passage of time. I've spent over a decade trying to figure out Jason Todd's motivations, and why Tim treats him the way he does. I've read all the 90s and early 2000s CANONICAL character assassination of Jason.

I spent years thinking that Donna's death was almost as foundational as Jason's, only to later discover that I had just happened to read the specific comics that focused on the fallout, and she only stayed dead for a short time. That happens to fans ALL THE TIME! We read a character summarizing an event we haven't directly read, and just accept it as what happened. But characters have biases, and not all writers care about accuracy.

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I've read some Tim Drakes that I consider to be almost entirely 'fanon'. And quite a few that were so scarily 'canon' that I got chills. (Not all of which were similar to each other.) But the vast, vast majority have fallen somewhere in the middle.

I definitely do not want the responsibility of deciding which ones count as 'canon'! And I think I would strongly dislike anyone who tried to decide for me.

Being frustrated is logical, and I empathize. But the original post was about the impossible expectations some fans feel. The expectation to read thousands of comics, synthesize all the contradictions, and come to conclusions that match the 'true fans'. That's a perfectly reasonable thing to be complaining about.

If that's what some fans are experiencing, of course they're not going to want to engage with canon! There's no way for them to succeed, so why should they even try?

When you join THAT conversation to discuss your frustration about fanon, it strengthens that perception. When you call them 'fanon fans' it emphasizes their belief that you don't think they belong. And rather than trying to change, it's more likely that they'll double down. Canon is full of gatekeepers, so they'll avoid it.

[creationsabyss]

My thoughts on the Aventurine drama

I've been inactive for a while, I was (still am) busy in real life but coming back online to post and seeing discourse about a newly crowned favorite character is disheartening. Even more so, that people are harassing other writers over a drama I feel is overblown.

I have thoughts regarding it but I'm unsure if my opinion would be appreciated. But if you'd like to peacefully talk it out with me, I'd be happy to lend an ear. I'd like to hear both sides, as meager as my opinion may be.

Oh boy, here we go.

Aventurine is a character, a fictional being born to entertain the players. He is not real. He can not be offended by what you create of him. There is no point getting upset on the behalf of a character and prioritizing fiction over a person who does actually exist.

If we do want to condemn slavery fics, why not also cancel slave reader fics? Or ones that include things such as dead dove (including yanderes in general) fics because those topics are equally terrible to condone and write about from that point of view. Or how about other characters that have similar topics in their lore. Should those also be canceled too?

*There are also folks who make problematic pieces to help cope with their own trauma. Does that mean they should be canceled too? (On that note: making a piece that holds problematic content does not always mean the person condones it in real life. Fiction is fiction for a reason.)

In the end, I think everyone can have their own opinions, but I would like to say that your opinions do not justify terrible actions. Just because you disagree with something does not justify you bullying someone into deleting one of their works, whether it is art or writing or anything else, I do not think that is justifiable. Harassing someone or calling people to harass them is not right either.

*If you did disagree with it, why not message the author about it instead of making accusatory posts? Even when done with good intentions, all it does is cause harm when it's practically inviting people to go harass someone over a fanfiction. A very mild fanfiction at that.

If you disagree with a piece, cool. That's your opinion. Just don't interact with it then. Block that creator or that tag or whatever it is that led you there. Or if you're curious, ask that creator.

Also, to reiterate, in my opinion, fiction is still just fiction. Especially when it's a fanfiction about a fictional character. Yes, his canon lore exists, but people can use that basis in fanfiction, something that will inherently warp canon because we are not the original writers and can not capture him in the exact way he was created. In case that doesn't make sense: Fanfiction does not have to comply with the original lore. Also since some of you seem to be forgetting: fiction does not mirror real life.

If you are truly that concerned over sensitive topics like that, directing that energy towards projects that involve such topics in real life would be much better than attacking people on the internet.

[purlturtle]

4 & 18 pls >:)

Thank you for asking! (from this list)

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

Oh, where don't I? 😅 Inspiration hits me so often, especially here on Tumblr (and not just with prompt posts either!), but also when I watch or read completely unrelated media and go "what if this, but Bering and Wells?!" 😂😂 I don't think I've ever been starved for inspiration; on the contrary: I have so many ideas in my ideas folder, and probably won't ever get to write them all! Luxury problem to have, I know, but there you go! 😅

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

Typically when I first save the document, I try to give it a descriptive title that easily allows me to recognize what this was about in a list of similar files 😁. Then during the writing process, sometimes a title presents itself, and then I rename the file. Sometimes that's a working title, sometimes it has the staying power. Sometimes a fic is known by the initial document name for the entirety of writing; although that rarely (never, I think) gets turned into the actual fic title when I put it on AO3. Sometimes I struggle to find a title until that very moment when I'm on AO3 uploading it!

I usually try to use something pertaining to the story. For Strata, for example, that word means both "layers", as in "Myka discovers several consecutive layers of who Helena Wells is (and who she herself is) over the course of the fic," and as in "this word is the basis for our word 'street', which is apt because this is a road trip fic". I considered myself very clever for this! 😂 Sometimes it's a line or phrase from the story, like "And Now You". I rarely ever use song titles, although I am planning to do so for the Vampire and Werewolf story I have knocking about in the back of my mind (and already used one: Wash Me Clean). That one will be all k.d. lang song lines or titles! At least at the moment that is my plan; we'll see how it goes when I get around to actually writing it! 😅

Thank you, these were fun!

[synobun]

One of them tag games

So I wasn't actually tagged by @cour5t in this, but I was tagged by @rosewinterborn in a very similar game, so I'm stealing the first and pretending it's the second, since the second had a few questions that didn't apply to me x)

Last song: I'm gonna do the last song I've had on repeat for this!

Favorite color: I never know what to say for this. Black? Dark red? Dark purple? Dark green? That whole colour palette is the bomb dot com.

Last movie/show: The last movie I watched that was new was Nimona! It was fantastic, 10/10 lives up to the hype. The last show I finished was Reacher. It was okay.

Next on my watchlist: I've finally started watching Criminal Minds, but I'm already kind of burning out on it midway through season two. And there's still like 300 episodes left. Ridic. I should probably catch up on Foundation and For All Mankind. Next movie is the cartoon version of Mulan!

Last game: Prey! I did a replay of Doom 3 a while ago and mused that the horror story-game genre should be revived, and then on a whim I decided to play Prey without knowing anything about it. And it's the exact kind of game I was talking about. It's pretty good.

Last book: Rebirth of the Sigil by Peri Akman. It was disappointing. :/ Especially since I know what the author is otherwise capable of. I had the same thing happen with John Gwynne recently as well.

Sweet/savory/spicy: Savory, I think? I don't have an instinctive sense of what savory is. Google says it's a meaty taste, and I rely heavily on protein, so I guess that. I have a pretty low tolerance for sweetness despite liking sodas and such. I don't like most desserts or can only eat a tiny amount. Spicy is alright but my digestive system disagrees.

Relationship status: *vague gesturing*

Last thing I searched online: The hours for my pharmacy to see if it was too late to pick up my medication.

Current obsession: I am generally not an obsessive person when it comes to, like, interests and activities. But I am an obsessive person when it comes to thoughts and emotions. Lately I've been struggling a lot with thinking about eternity. It has not been fun. On a lighter note, I have also been thinking more regularly about writing. Perhaps someday that will translate into action!

Greatest flaw: How much time do you have? This is actually something I have difficulty answering, because the line between something forced upon me and something that is actually inherent to me is blurred a lot of the time.

I think I'd say how I behave when I'm spiraling mentally. I close off and disappear from almost everyone in my life. Occasionally I can keep up appearances with one group but not the rest, but by and large I become a ghost. When I am in a conversation during those cycles, it's crazy how badly I'm affected. I don't become cruel or mean toward others, but my speech becomes jilted, I can't make eye contact, and I am just devastatingly hateful against myself.

It's partly why I isolate, so that I don't have to expose others to that behaviour. It happens on a yearly basis though, and it can last for weeks at a time, so it has a pretty negative impact on my relationships. I also have no idea how to navigate being in one of those moods while part of a relationship where daily contact is an expectation. When I was part of a romantic relationship, instead of having one big prolonged dip, I would fade in and out of it. A couple weeks good, a couple days bad. Rinse and repeat. Awful. Terrible. Annoying. There's almost no predicting when it'll happen either.

Fic I’m currently reading: I rarely read fics because I have no patience for wading through wish fulfillment, horny writing, and "He would not fucking say that" fics, so there's only one that I vaguely keep up with. My friend has a Mass Effect fic, which can be found here. It focuses on femShep(/Kaidan) and Tali(/Garrus) and is post-ME3.

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I tag anyone who sees this and actually made it to the end, tbh. But for sake of poking, I tag @rosewinterborn with this variant, and also @deadlyessencewhispers, @tananaphone, @stupid-elf, @carrotblr, @atinydroid, @imtryingx, and, uh, uh... I don't know... let's see... @kkshowtunes, @d3viantvanguard, and @awritingcaitlin. I probably just tagged everyone who follows me. Anyway thanks bye

[ruthlesslistener]

We sure do live in a society, don't we.

The anons sending you hate are doing my head in. Like, I can completely understand why they bristled at your initial response, because as someone who writes Ghost as an adult in a child's body (hi, Gently, my beloved fic that is drowning from my dead muse), I had a kind of similar "hey wait" response at first.

But then you CLARIFIED. You took the time to ask, listen and let others educate you on another POV. It may not have changed your own personal HCs (and that's OK!!!), but you clarified your meaning was not people like me - it was not the average person who spurred it - and that's all anyone can really ask for. You don't have to agree with or ask people.

The best part of fandom is taking bits and pieces of each other's ideas and using them to decorate our sand castles and make them our own. That means "I wouldn't spin it that way but I liked reading how you did it." It also sometimes means "Oh I cannot get behind that but I respect your right to."

I think it says a lot that people are on anon, rather than actually talking to you and giving you a chance to engage with them one-on-one. I'm not sure I would label them trolls. I think their feelings got hurt and they are lashing out because of it, in an impolite way, rather than stopping to listen to explanations. I am going to give the benefit of doubt and assume that ill-intent wasn't meant, and that the reason they're on anon is that anxiety has them going "if I say it on my main, I'm going to get flamed because I offended popular tumblr user." To that I say: If you weren't on anon, Aren could've replied privately to you, and likely would have. A one-on-one conversation can go a large way for trying to clear up misunderstandings.

TBH, I probably could've just sent all of this on Discord but I just am frustrated. Asks like the ones you received are why I am terrified of sharing my own headcanons, why I assume anyone asking me ANY opinions has bad faith, and why everything I say has a giant ass disclaimer on it with "THIS IS LIKE, JUST MY OPINION GUYS" and we shouldn't have to do that. We shouldn't have to sit and police everything that we say because Someone Might Twist It.

Anyway, sorry. I just needed to put this out here because I was about to blow up on my own blog. lmao

Thank you tumblr user grollow I appreciate it immensely and I agree with everything you said about fandom being a sandbox made more fun by people having different ideas that make things fun to play with. It's just that I've been off in my corner playing relatively on my own for a bit, which kinda fucks over the amount of context you get on things a bit. And also the miscommunication had the misfortune of landing squarely in the intersection between 'things I really don't like' and 'things that have a canon basis but lack canonical descriptive details', turning it into a shitshow. Which I really really fucking wish didn't happen, even if I did enjoy discussing the pros and cons of different mental interpretations of Ghost and was able to come to the conclusion that it's about as appealing to me as a slice of apple pie. Which is to say, I like certain bits of it and will gladly nibble at said bits, but if there's any other option out there I'd take it over pie anyday. It's not bad and I certainly do enjoy it in extremely specific context, but it also doesn't appeal to me in the slightest and there's certain parts that I refuse to touch altogether (the texture of cooked fruit makes me cringe and nauseates me, much like the idea of Ghost being an adult trapped in a child's body from a horror perspective incites panic). But that's fine, bc then I can just plop the filling onto a friend's plate for their enjoyment, and nibble away at the bits I like in piece. My dislike of pie doesn't extend to the people who enjoy it, nor do I get upset when my brother refuses to eat what I cook for him. He's picky, I'm picky, I've got no right to judge. He's just as valid for saying my cream cheese frosting is gross as I am for thinking him refusing to eat anything but mac n cheese and scrambled eggs is gross. Same concept with fandom here

(And honestly, my judgement on the whole minor/adult thing is seperate from Ghost as a character altogether. I'm of similar mind with Miquella of Elden Ring, who is canonically an adult trapped in a child's body. Having a relationship with him in his child form would be fucked up- hell, even Mohg goes for breaking the curse first, and Mohg is canonically fucking insane! This isn't something limited to just one fandom, it's a hard line I draw in fiction in general)

Also yeah, I totally would have just worked it out in private, but I get the feeling the anon thinks I'm running some sort of clique or something over here where I would have twisted it into clout somehow. Which needless to say, I would not fucking do. Can't say this enough, but I'm autistic as all getout and had to deal with that enough in high school so I have nothing but contempt for that sort of behavior.

[kaaaaaaarf]

20 asks for fic writers

Thank you for tagging me, @fruityindividual, @lynxindisguise, @butcherbacterium & @spindrifters <333

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

14

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

56,757

3. What fandoms do you write for?

HP Marauders.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Killing Time (unwillingly mine) aka murder husbands

Now I'm Spreading Your Legs (with mine in between) aka the original hatefuck

soft like silk chiffon aka silk slip Remus

back when we were dinosaurs aka museum

Rolling In The Deep aka divorced sopping wet wolfstar

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, of course!! I love getting comments, they sustain me. I need them to live.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending

Oh, hmm. I try to give all my fics a somewhat happy ending. I guess my blood is singing with your voice, which is my Midsommar au...I think you can guess how that ends.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I think that museum will probably win this once it's finished, but for now I would say I Knew Your Love Before I Knew Your Name and You Grew Tall (I Stayed The Same).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

So far no. I have received some weird feedback before, but nothing hateful.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

hahaha Listen. When I started writing fic I was like "I will never write smut, it's too hard to do it right." and then the first fic I published was my original hatefuck fic. 🤷 In fact, I think I'm best known for my Hatefuck Extended Universe series.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I have not, I don't really think it's for me.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of. Like Lynx said, I think there are a lot of themes and motifs that float around the fandom so inevitably you're going to find something that is similar to yours. I have had people reach out and ask if they can write something inspired by my fic or like, with a similar theme (murder husbands) and I really appreciated the asking.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not yet! I don't know how I feel about it...there's no way for me to ensure that they have kept the story the same, ya know? I guess it would be a case by case basis.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

B, Kels and I started a sort of Miami Vice AU, but it sort of fell to the side. It was fun to collaborate, but we collaborate on every fic we write anyways, so.

In general, I don't think I'm the right person to co-write with because my muse is so fickle and comes and goes. I wouldn't want to let anyone down.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Wolfstar at the moment! I will always be an everlark shipper though.

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I have had a wolfstar girldads au sitting in my notes app forever and I would love to write it, but the muse never sticks around for long. I also have a soulmate au that I started but will likely never finish. I think my take is unique, but I've just never been able to figure out how I could make it work.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Oh, I guess I have a really good grasp on the characters I'm trying to write, and I think I'm also good at humour. Also if you need a flowery metaphor, I'm your girl.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

World building. I'm just incredibly lazy and not that imaginative. I also have terrible grammar. I use em-dashes to hide that fact that I have no idea how to correctly use a semi-colon.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I mean I would do it, but only if I had a friend who could proof-read for me. The last thing I want to do is write something in another language that takes a native speaker out of the fic entirely.

The title of my fic In ár gCroíthe go deo is Irish, but it's also a song title from Fontaines DC so I didn't have to worry about that so much.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

This one! Marauders. I've only been writing since April.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

The ones I'm most proud of are The Killing Time (unwillingly mine) and back when we were dinosaurs.

no pressure tagging: @kaleidoscopexsighs, @grimjobs, @vajazzly, @crushofdoves, @greenvlvetcouch, @sommerregenjuniluft, @cancerravenclaw, @facewithoutheart, @sheisraging , @achilleslikespeas, @hihimissamericanbi, @colgatebluemintygel and @thefairylights

[saintsenara]

My favorites of yours are absolutely, hands down, are Nor All That Glisters Gold, Ecclesiastes 3, and Inhuman Resources.

I just love the way you write, it's so descriptive and moving, and I love the characterization of the Black sisters when you write them. They're incredible.

And I just love how everyone hears Umbridge in "inhuman resources." Everyone despising that women is my jam.

thank you very much @thecasualauthor18 - this is lovely and i really appreciate it.

nor all that glisters gold was a fic for @womenofthehouseofblack fest on the basis of a prompt about what sirius and bellatrix's life growing up together would have been like.

i'm extremely fond of the idea that - whatever he says to harry - the two of them were close when they were young. they're very similar, particularly in the contradictory fact that they're both incredibly cruel and incredibly loyal, and they provide one of the better examples of the harry potter series' central thesis on the importance of choice, and how choice transcends things like blood or background.

so we see here how the two begin to drift apart, as sirius realises he can't maintain a relationship with someone who seems hell-bent on being a terrorist. his decision to choose james - which i hate seeing undermined in fics which opt to portray him as a drawling aristocrat - is extremely brave of him, but once he makes it there's no going back.

we also see an area of bellatrix's radicalisation that i'm convinced of, but is quite oblique in canon - that the pureblood world's obviously restrictive gender roles led her into voldemort's path, since he is one of the few men of her acquaintance who are willing to offer her the (relative) freedom she desires. poor rodolphus gets a bad showing here, as in so many of my works, and so do cygnus and orion black, and their desire to keep the three sisters confined within the gendered expectations of their mothers and grandmothers. it ends badly...

then, to ecclesiastes three

as anyone who follows me will be aware, i hate characterisations of sirius which focus on him feeling more comfortable around his 'own class' - i.e. those which have him tense at having to mind his tongue about wizarding traditions around lily, but perfectly at home with lucius malfoy or the lestrange brothers.

i feel the same about andromeda. there seems to be so often in writing about her the idea that she would regard her life with ted as a downgrade from what she would have had if she'd chosen the same path as her sisters (or, at least, as narcissa, i think we can all agree bellatrix shouldn't be anyone's standard for a fulfilling life...), and that - always missing the world of her birth - she would easily forgive the sisters who cut her off for the crime of falling in love the moment the war is over.

that really annoys me - not least because, as per canon, the estrangement is something both bellatrix and narcissa enthusiastically agree with, and i don't see why andromeda should have to get over that the minute narcissa is rattled by the fact her other sister is dead and her husband's very probably going to prison - and so i wanted to give andromeda a story in which she very much does not regret her life, in which ted is a total dilf, and in which her rage at her sisters does not subside just because narcissa would like it to.

of course, there's some complexity - this fic explores one of my favourite headcanons: that bellatrix asks voldemort to leave ted and andromeda alone - but andromeda still manages to be spectacularly pissed off throughout all of it. and good for her.

[i've written about inhuman resources here. the tl;dr is that everyone despising umbridge is my jam too.]

[the-ace-with-spades]

ahh i’m like three chapters into ur trans bradley fic on ao3 and i genuinely cannot get over how good it is- i’ve been looking for a fic like urs for so long, it’s really perfect

sorry idk why i’m writing this but i just wanted to say how relatable the scenes are and how well you’ve written his experience. i’m assuming that comes from your own experiences, but oh my god it’s so good🫶

anyway, thank you for the fic and i will be reading the shit out of the rest of it-

thank you

Hi!!! Thank you so much, I've written that fic because I couldn't find anything like it and I'm so glad that someone is taking some joy from it as well. I've written it all with my own experiences as the basis simply because I've not related much to trans characters in similar fics and wanted something more mine and Rooster just been my boy atm - I'm glad someone else finds it relatable in some way

Also, don't be sorry! I love asks (and rambling about my writing...) and it's very kind of you to take the time to write it up here. Like, you made my day, fr fr

Thank you for the ask and hope you'll enjoy the rest of the fic as well 🙏🏻 (the one that comes next, I think it was you who left a comment recently and thanks for that so much as well, it gets my excitement going so much more - I'm having a bit of a rough time rn but hopefully will finish next chapt in not so long)

[aqqleshiqqing-archive]

Hi, Jil!! Just popping in because of your tags on my fic asdfghjkl

I did write "this one is for my Pokémon mutuals" with the thought "specifically Jil" in parentheses in my head--you're like ... my main Pokémon mutual. Gotta share some breadcrumbs of Aria/Eusine with THE Pokémon mutual, of course.

Also Eusine is a fairly arrogant character--he's very proud of his knowledge of myths (oh no ... a man who likes history ... and me having a history degree ... how could I resist ... /lh) and does tend to dismiss others when they try to correct him. He's not as dismissive of Aria or Morty, though, because ... *childhood friends beam.* Also maybe he likes Aria that way, so he's a bit easier on her, who knows--

Anyway, I had the misfortune of seeing the only (?) Johto anime episode with him as a kid, and little 9-year-old Sarah really though, "Man. This guy's a jerk." Little did she know she'd fall for that jerk years later. We don't talk about that--

The loss of the shiny Pidgey exists because I was training Ollie (my Chikorita/Bayleef/Meganium) in HG the other day, encountered a shiny Pidgey, and realized I didn't have any more Poké Balls--massive loss. But also a win because ship lore. And also the second time I've run into a shiny Pidgey while playing a Johto game ... maybe someday I'll actually catch the thing.

ANYWAY. I always felt Suicune would prefer Aria over Eusine (similar to the way the plot unfolds in the games, with Eusine eventually ceding the right to catch Suicune to the player), and while she would like to catch it, she's not as ... let's say ... passionate about it as Eusine is. Hence why Suicune tends to respond to her.

... she does think him chasing after Suicune all the time cute, though. It's very subtle, but she would've been mega embarrassed to fail that Pidgey in front of him--because, while it's not stated directly, she's imagining a scene where she failed at her life goal in front of her crush. It's not like Eusine doesn't do that on a regular basis, but that only makes it worse for Aria asdfghjkl

I also liked writing the subtle “… you were talking to Suicune about me?” followed by Aria immediately changing the subject--and then her adjusting his bow tie later. Subtle things get me all the time--

Anyway, uh--Morty, huh? 👀 /lh

(And sorry for the essay--I just. Have a lot to say and like to respond to tags through asks, sometimes asdfghjkl)

~ heart-of-aspiration 📖

HI SARAHH!! - oh man the fact you had me in particular to share the aria/eusine ship makes me SO honored ("THE pokemon mutual", that made me audibly giggle) and i'm honestly here for it, and you can tell i can definitely like - have the capacity to take batch after batch of hardcore pokemon ship/self insert lore (and be equally as talkative and lengthy about it...) so naturally i'd immediately gravitate here, and it's characters belonging to gen 2 which i'm incredibly biased to.... AHFJSHFGAS

i should've expected this from eusine - it would seem that he doesn't seem too dissimilar to his manga counterpart (which is radiating the same vibes as how you written him, he's definitely arrogant but kind enough to help) i actually should share some panels of him maybe! i'll admit that he was really hilarious for being lowkey petty due to a certain circumstance in the manga, but moving on!

i respect that his attitude is toned down towards aria and morty, they're totally good friends and morty doesn't seem like someone who'd engage in fights quickly - he's super relaxed and wise...

the whole pidgey story got me WAHUSHASHDAF THAT'S SUCH A MISSED OPPORTUNITYYY but that moment was enough to be a realistic incident for aria and i LOVE it. i hope you can actually catch that shiny birdie!!

i can totally imagine a scenario where she notices eusine on his failed attempts to catch suicune and he probably curses to himself (assuming he's alone) and aria would just quietly laugh, reminding herself how much she adores him and how cute he is for that - i swear i know a dynamic where they had a similar vibe to this but i can't seem to point out who or what -- but my point is, i love that dynamic so much. it doesn't feel TOO much like a rivalry but it's enough to at least poke fun at each other's professions + their little romance heheh ITS JUSTTT. YEAHHH!!!

let's not talk about morty /lh /pos the headband makes him look so cute combined with his relaxed personality and i'm on a hunt for a misdreavus and to name it after him as we speak WAHUSDHAUFS (IT'S NOT SUCCESSFUL HOWEVER BUT I'M GETTING THERE) let's just say he's one of the early crushes i have - not too active but i... would like to hold his hand HWAJHSDJAHJFDSAF. if he ever resurfaces im running to you immediately /pos /lh

[bromcommie]

For the ask game ;)

🏜️,❄️,🥐,🌻 aaand 🥤

Hope you are having a good day!

Hiya, thanks for the retaliatory hit! (affectionate) hope you're having a lovely day too :) 🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work? Ooh, can I just say any? Kidding, albeit I am very grateful for everyone who takes the time out to comment, even if it's just a string of emojis or something! But I am eternally grateful for long, detailed comments and especially love when people point the things that they related to in my work or things that clicked for them (particularly the ones I thought might be overlooked or alternatively, too heavy-handed to land) or even line up certain things or parallels that didn't fully register to me while I was writing except as a vague ~vibe~. I just appreciate it a whole lot, and it makes the whole exchange feel like a conversation. ❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

Hm, I don't know - I don't think I have one specific dream theme/plot. That said I have been thinking a lot about Red Room/Department X plotlines recently. I really love the throughline of the struggle for identity + shifting ideologies/definitions of what it means to be a good person + autonomy & free will vs. wanting to belong dichotomy in those stories. Especially when it's grounded in interesting dynamics that aren't very black and white (i.e. Nat and the other widows, the handlers, the WS.) That era is also just very interesting to me in terms of real world circumstances and events, and the scifi potential to explore trauma and psychological fuckery in general is endless. So I guess I'd really love something that deals with Natasha's memories as a child + teen in the war and how that shaped her both before the Red Room even got their hands on her, as well as during and after; how she became this kind of mercurial person who is still (maybe surprisingly so) solid at her core. Something a la Name of the Rose, if you've read that run.

As for who I'd like to write it, I am in fact attempting to write something to that effect into my current post-CATWS wip, so I guess me? Not to say I wouldn't love to read something similar by someone else - there have been several fics out there that dealt with Natasha in a way that had me staring into empty space for an hour (in a good way) - just that I enjoy the process of developing ideas like that in my head differently than I do reading about them from another angle, if that makes sense!

🥐 ⇢ name one internet reference that will always make you laugh 

that vine with the two guys with heavy NY/NJ area accents screaming at a duck. wait no - any patrick william charlton vine where he suddenly acquires a german accent. wait no - the can I PLEASE get a waffle one.

oh man. any one vine really. I'm very nostalgic about vine. 🌻 ⇢ tag someone you appreciate but don't talk to on a regular basis

I feel like if I started doing that I'd end up spamming way too many people haha. I do wanna say I very much appreciate everyone I've gotten to interact with and follow during this CATWS10 event and over the past two months I’ve been on here more!

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love Oh, god. GOD. This is so tough, I'm really blanking right now. I've been around for a loong while lol and there are so, so many insane, brilliant ones. It doesn't help that I really haven't read that many in the last few years as much as I've been writing them.

Off the top of my head though, I recently went back to Speranza's All the Angels and the Saints. One of the all-time old school Cap greats. All of their stuff is just wonderful, foundational Steve, Bucky & SteveAndBucky content. Also everything by magdaliny. I don't even know what to say there, except maybe goddamn.

I’ve also been reading a couple Red Room fics that I can’t find right now but that were great, so I’ll have to dig through my old laptop bookmarks and get back to you with a personalized list, hehe 🫡

[padfootagain]

A quick update, friends!

Just wanted to share a quick update after posting my first fic in a while, and discuss what I'm planning to do, and also ask for your opinion on a few things (a pole is under the cut if you're interested). I'm going to put everything under the cut to avoid bothering people who would not care about this post.

But before that, I would simply like to thank everyone who has read my new fic! I wasn't expecting to do so well on my come back, I've already received requests again... It really feels like I'm fully back, and I'm very grateful. So thank you so much to everyone!

Now, the rest is under the cut :

First thing first, again, thank you so much for the very positive feedback I got for my Sirius fic! It's very encouraging to me, and shows that I can still write good (or at least okayish) fics, despite being gone for so long! So thank you all again!

I've received two similar requests for some Ben Barnes fic (I don't know if it's the same person going on and off anon or just two separate ones that are just oddly similar...), requesting some shenanigans with the Shadow and Bone cast, the request is accepted and already written!

Concerning requests, I just wanted to remind you all that I do not write smut or nsfw content. If you make a request that could include smut, I will thus keep your idea but without any nsfw scene.

Quick update on where we're at! Here is my little list of all my fics that I have been working on or am currently working on :

You will recognize the first five fics as being the ones already included in my posting schedule that I shared last week (it's still my pinned post, in case you need to check it out again). But as you can see I've been pretty productive this week! Wrote a long one-shot that I will split into two parts cause it's too long, and the request I received this week. Also already working on a chapter for a series.

I am thus seriously thinking about posting more often than what I had originally planned... I don't want to overwork myself, so I don't think I'll go as far as posting twice a week on a regular basis, but I might do an intermediate rhythm... like once every five days or something like that. I don't know yet, I'm still thinking about it. But it's a bit silly that I have so many stuff ready at this point, I reckon. So might let myself post more often in the coming days.

Also, as you might have noticed in this list, there is an awful lot of Ben Barnes content coming (I do not blame myself for it, I love this man with all my heart, have been doing so for way too long to still be counting now, it's really not my fault...). But I am aware that some of you might be interested in other characters ! So, if you have a minute, you can answer this little pole here in order to decide who I should focus next for another one-shot!

I am also thinking about planning an event in the coming month, if things go well, if you're still enjoying my writings and if I'm still productive :) I think it could be a nice way to mark my come back, make you all involved in the creative process again, and it also would be a way to help me focus my energy. Because rn I have so much motivation to write fics, it's a bit overwhelming tbh cause I have lots of ideas and have a tendency to be a bit all over the place. So, organising on an event could help me focus all this energy. It would probably be an event using dialogue prompts or AUs/tropes. I will give myself a few more days to think about it, and will probably ask your opinion again about it through some poles :)

Anyway, end of this very long post, a pat on the shoulder to anyone who's managed to read this post all the way through, and I will keep you updated again next week :)

Feel free to drop by to discuss everything I'm discussing in this post, or if you just want to have a chat about whatever you want :)

Thank you all again, have a nice Sunday!

[fruitdaze]

if you’re still doing this ♡ (your choice what’s your fav comment you’ve gotten all year), ↻ (losing all my senses every night + mingqian? 🤔) ✹ (a trope you really want to write for a cp but haven’t gotten the chance to yet or haven’t found the right cp for it yet?)

i am still doing it!! funny you asked about mingqian because this is an extremely mingqian-themed set of answers

♡ favorite comment i've gotten all year

i’ll choose a comment from last year since this one has just started! i got a comment on my mingqian first time fic that i still think about on a weekly basis, from a person who had never even read liu yao but read the fic because i wrote it (!!) and told me that the way i wrote ace spectrum cheng qian felt really relatable and hit them hard (!!!). i’m ace myself and i really enjoyed writing from the pov of a character who (in my interpretation anyway) was on the spectrum, and it was soooooo rewarding to hear from someone else who had a similar reading experience :’)

↻ pick a fic and a different ship and I’ll tell you how I’d rewrite it

i think it could be so fun to do something along the lines of sensory deprivation for cheng qian specifically... priest left a lot of unanswered questions about cheng qian being in a body that isn’t his own original body and isn’t even quite human. so what does it mean for his sensory experiences to be in a body made of jade?? does he feel physical sensations less or more?? i think there isn’t much evidence either way in the Text so this could be spun, like. any way. just for kicks. also yan zhengming would have the time of his life doing a “”scientific”” exploration of cheng qian’s body and i want that for him, and he would even get a fun temperature play out of it because cheng qian always runs cold. wow my brain wheels are spinning

✹ a trope you really want to write for a cp but haven’t gotten the chance to yet or haven’t found the right cp for it yet?

i’ve had a tiny snippet of yzm sickfic in gdocs for like 8 months, which was originally a mini prompt from hel but i am really hoping to turn it into a silly romcom-esque fic this year! and quite literally since i finished 6yao i’ve been turning over the idea of mingqian switching. that hasn’t gone anywhere yet but perhaps. someday

fic writer asks

[distortedclouds]

Hi Clouds!

4, 7 (our of all your fics), 9 (BW), 18 (pretend like I didn't see the tags), 22, 24

Heeeey Anna!! :D

4. What is the hardest to write in -fic-?

Dialogue

It's easier for one shots, especially if it's few lines, but the moment I need to write a conversation I'm screwed. I probably spend more time on a couple thousand words of conversation than I do an entire 8k chapter

I guess this is apparent by the lack of long discussions in my fics unless it's absolutely necessary for the plot

7. Which chapter was the most fun to write/which chapter has been the most fun so far to write?

Aruani town date in chapter 7! It's probably one of the lightest chapters in all of BW and I had so much fun with it!

For other fics, it's chapter 3 of "I'm begging for you to take my hand" because hat thighs-kissing scene is still one of my favorites to this day!

9. How did you get inspired to write this?

Initially BW was only a PWP angsty smut one-shot. I was inspired by thinking that Annie's the series Strong Woman period (alongside Mikasa) she puts up a hard fight on all fronts

yet her only weakness seemed to be her father and how after the first time she broke his leg, I couldn't see her raising her hand at him ever again even if it's at the risk of her own safety. Bit by bit, I started thinking of what after the angsty smut of chapter 3? Trying to stay as truthfull to their canon characterization as possible, I was curious as to how Armin, in particular, would react to Annie being hurt on a near-daily basis

I ended up going through a lot of reactions for Armin before settling on him being the opposite of his usual self (brave) and instead fearing losing Annie the most that it paralyzes him from even protecting her. Also interesting because I'm confident in my belief that Annie fell for him for his bravery the most

18. Any multichapter fic you're planning on writing in the future?

:3

Post-canon mutual-pining fake-dating fic! I've been more talk than show about this one, but what started out as a fun concept and potential for awkwardness and horniness is shaping up into an actual plot with character development

In a way, I think of it as the spiritual successor of BW in allowing Armin to get similar development in handling his issues the way Annie did.

22. Something you wished you included afterwards?

More about Annie and Armin's nightmares and trouble sleeping in BW. They're critical parts of their development I'm not really sure why I simply glossed over them. I guess the story was already above my level and I needed to get through it without adding another layer of complexity

But I can confirm that nightmares and trouble sleeping will play a critical role in the next fic for the two of them

24. Do you prefer multichapter fics or oneshots?

I'm gonna have to go with multi-chapter fics

I love one- and two-shots because I can get straight to the point writing a particular scene or emotion I've been thinking of, whether it's fluff, angst, or smut

However, I get attaches to longer fics because of all the effort that goes into creating them. An entire pocket-universe that I get to think about for literally hours upon hours. In a way, even after they're done, I feel like multichapter fics are still able to live on in their own right. I still think about BW more than I do my one shots for a reason

[cutebutalsostabby]

12, 25, 27?

12) favourite character to write about this year.

Hmmm probably Hyrule, surprisingly. "Surprisingly" in that thinking it through, I didn't actually write much from his perspective? I did think about it a lot though, and he'll have a few special moments (teehee) coming up in the chapters I'll hopefully get to sometime soon.

I love both halves of the Downfall Duo (plus Wild as the bonus third half, as a treat), but the extra fun thing about the version of Hyrule that lives in my head is that the more I delve into his personality, the more Problems(tm) he develops. Like: yeah he's pretty well-adjusted, hmmm he's a little traumatised actually, oops he's reeeeal bad at processing difficult emotions, wow maybe that clinginess is liiittle bit unhealthy -

I wanna pick him up and shake him /pos

25) a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read.

Hmm... I read a bunch of fics this year, but for the purpose of recommendations I'll start with "What Hero?" by AimeeLouWrites on the basis that if you like my fics you will probably also like this one:

It's a Linked Universe "chain meets Wild' fic where the premise is Wild evading the quest through committing to a bunch of ridiculous lies about how the hero doesn't exist. Lots of light-hearted fun plus a few gentle servings of angst. Slightly heavier angst in a similar work by the same author called "Child's Play". But yeah I would feel pretty confident that anyone who a) enjoyed my fic "In Which Wild Avoids Meeting the Gang", and b) either doesn't mind or actually enjoys seeing the same/similar trope repeated (and imo that's the literary comfort food I go to AO3 for) would enjoy reading this.

As for other recs... if you like whumpy hurt/comfort, I've been rereading some of CluelessMoose's fics recently:

And a fic I started reading a few years ago (Undertale fandom) updated earlier today so I'm going to go ahead and link that one too. It's a long ongoing fic about Sans and Papyrus growing up in the aftermath of the war between humans and monsters. Has some tasty angst, more based on their situation than the existence of an antagonist, and plenty of cute moments. Read if you like fics about children being clever and independent; avoid if the lack of adult carers or scenes of harm/risk to children may be triggering. Content warning also for malnutrition/starvation; it's not super extreme, but it's there.

27) favourite fanfic author for the year.

Going to go with CluelessMoose, linked above. See my favourite thing to do with whump fics is to go back to particular scenes I remember and like and reread them as a bedtime story. Hell yeah, put those characters in situations!!

[erotikkook]

I'm Back!

𝐀 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Hi there, everyone! It's been a hot minute since I've been active (i.e. over 6 months), but I wanted to give you a long update on where I've been, what I've been doing, etc.! If you're not a big reader, I'd skip past this post - it'll be kinda lengthy. possible tw: mental health/physical health, potential cursing, mentions of sex in relation to tumblr content - ALL SECTIONS WILL HAVE TW ACCORDINGLY

NOTE: THERE IS ALSO AN ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT SOME UPCOMING FICS. IF YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED IN MY PERSONAL LIFE BUT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT WHAT TO EXPECT HERE IN TERMS OF MY WRITING, JUST SCROLL TO THE CATEGORY LABELLED "FANFICTION"

𝗠𝗬 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘

𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙠 I've spent extensive time going from one job to the next. I'm making a very similar transition again, hopefully for the final job. It's an even better full-time job that would make me twice as much as I make now. I was offered a position which means I'm well on my way to renting an apartment and getting a better car!

𝘽𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙙𝙖𝙮 By the time you see this, it'll be my 20th birthday! So just a little happy birthday to me and all my other April babies.

𝙋𝙝𝙮𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 (𝙏𝙒) TW for this section, mentions of physical + mental health and mentions of weight. Please skip this if you're uncomfortable. I've also spent a lot of time being physically and mentally ill. I'm now officially diagnosed with several things. This means I'm on medicine, which makes me very tired, unable to do a lot, and made me gain weight as a side-effect of the medication. I've always had issues with my self-esteem, weight, and relationship with food - thus, I spiralled for a while and, being as stubborn as I am, refused to get help when I was suffering mentally. I still need help, but I'm happier and feel healthier too! I've learned to accept myself as I am and to love how I look. There was a ton of internalized fatphobia that I hadn't realised existed, and I've since been working through that. I'm also very slowly becoming friends with food again. Wish me luck! You're all good for TW now! Read on!

𝙈𝙮 𝙃𝙖𝙞𝙧 I've been grappling with other parts of myself too. My hair is one of them. It's been very feminine my entire life, and thus I've grappled with the length of it. It's also, at the same time, been my only source of comfort - something I could control and do with as I pleased. I've since come to terms with myself in many ways, so I've chopped all my hair off! I know it might not be a big deal to most people, but it took a lot for me to do that and admit that my obsession with it was unnerving and unhealthy. Imagine a mini mullet. If you're a close friend, you've probably been bombarded with pictures of my hair, but I'll leave the rest up to the crowd's imagination!

𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗧𝗬

𝘼𝙣 𝘼𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 I'd like to very formally announce that I identify as genderfluid! For those who may support the LGBTQ community but don't quite know what the term means, I think WebMD sums it up pretty well for just a vague understanding: "Someone who is fluid -- also called gender fluid -- is a person whose gender identity (the gender they identify with most) is not fixed. It can change over time or from day to day." Usually, this will switch between he/him & they/them for me on a personal basis, so if we're ever having interactions and you're unsure, those are your best bet! 𝙈𝙮 𝙉𝙖𝙢𝙚 I'd also like to officially announce that my preferred name is Declan! This was decided after almost six months of thought. Ngl, there were a lot of sleepless nights, but here we are, and I'm very happy with who I've become! I don't intend to explain my decision. I've talked with my support system about my feelings enough for the life of me, but nevertheless, thank you for your support in advance!

𝗙𝗮𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

𝙁𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙎𝙤𝙤𝙣 A few fics are coming your way. I'll announce them here but will probably make a separate post too! Here's what's set to come out (note, no dates are listed as of this moment, I'm bad with dates, and I no longer want to make promises I can't keep):

Desperate For You - Seokjin x Reader - based on Desperate by Jonas Blue & Nina Nesbitt

take it and run - Taehyung x Reader - based on Friends by Chase Atlantic

Fallin' Without Caution - Namjoon x Reader - based on People Watching by Conan Gray

checkmate - Yoongi x Reader - based on Lost The Breakup by Maisie Peters

I have about 31 requests (I counted, holy shit) to get through, so I'll also complete those. I know it's been over a year, but I appreciate the unending patience!

[essayofthoughts]

7, 13, 35, 39? :D

7. Any worldbuilding you’re particularly proud of?

So back in the days before everyone decided the entirety of Harry Potter was as shit as it's creator* I actually used to run a HP headcanon blog, specifically one where I noodled out ideas about the flora and fauna of the magical world. I had a lot of fun with @themonsterblogofmonsters and while I probably won't be going back to it for some time - Hello CritRole pit! - I do still enjoy the sheer amount of sandbox space available in it.

Consequently some of my favourite worldbuilding I've done in fic form is probably The Banker or the Ban? Goblin Professions in Magical Europe, done for the Worldbuilding Exchange 2021. I wanted to try to dig into the racism and xenophobia of the magical world and to use some of the analogues and allegories of canon to further expand on it, to show how such things might occur in the world, sometimes mirroring known historical events, and to criticise such behaviour.

* I will be clear: JKR is a piece of shit. HP itself is flawed but worth criticising on its own merits, not being lumped in with its radicalised, shitty creator. I have seen a great deal of criticism that comes solely from a basis of wanting to believe it was always bad and that JKR was always bad and I dislike things that pretend that radicalisation isn't something that can happen to anyone - even you, reading this.

13. Are there any tropes you used to like but don’t anymore?

To write? Not that I can think of. To read? I definitely gained an ever-increasing dislike for slash fandom and went from tolerant of A/B/O to often quite skeeved out by some of it. There's a lot of misogyny and even racism often built into the way people who preferentially ship non-canon (usually white) gay ships and it often results in the villainising or fridging of existing canon female or POC love interests - this was especially bad in the Sherlock fandom; I recall reading one fic, absolutely excellent characterisation, beautifully written... but which introduced the character of Mary Morstan before her debut in the BBC Sherlock canon solely to make her a deceptive serial cheater so that John would be morally justified in getting with Sherlock.

After that I found that I just couldn't enjoy slashfic anymore - so often it ends up being at best dismissive of canon love interests and at worse actively malicious towards them, often drastically mischaracterising them.

I am someone who cannot stand purposefully, knowingly deceptive or dishonest presentations of things - and I consider the purposeful, malicious mischaracterisation of a character to be a similar brand of dishonesty.

Also just... the insistence of shipping your two (again, usually white) male faves together, often using the excuse of "But the female characters aren't as fleshed out!" - my dude, nor is that one guy mentioned in a throwaway comment by another character and yet fandom's so willing to give one-off male characters rich backstories and inner lives and just refuses to do that for the female ones. For the trans ones. For the characters of colour. It hacks me off and it's just fucking lazy.

And that's why I generally don't read slash anymore.

35. What aspects of your writing are completely unlike your real life?

I mean, I ran monsterblog for... several years, but my niche interest is Archaeology not Biology. As for actual fic... while I have codependent tendencies I'm pretty strict about managing those these days and I've certainly never been as codependent as certain characters I've written. And unlike Percy in Ghost Cass, I do not have the disembodied voice of one of my siblings in my head. I don't go adventuring like VM, and I am someone who Does Not Like travelling, especially long distances or overseas - I'm terrified of getting lost or running out of funds somewhere I don't speak the language.

Otherwise... I don't know? I often use things I've noted in my own life to help flesh out the world - the way that a valley can spread out down below you, golden fields split by green hedgerows, the way the cold wind can bite at your face, the soft cut of salt in the air when you're near the coast, the way birdsong can trill through the air. And with characters - quirks of eyebrows, the way a mouth twists, certain aspects of posture and movement.

I like using these little things I note day to day to help ground a story in a sense of reality, like the way a grounding touch can draw you out of your own thoughts. The point is to take something fantastical and bring it back to something the reader can easily understand and grasp - can relate to. That way, no matter how outlandish a thing one writes about - facing the bright, burning fireball of a dragon's breath, lets say - can be given a sense of reality by a reminder of the acrid scent of burning hair, the way the fire fills one's whole vision, the raw sting that lingers on the skin like lasting sunburn.

It makes the fantastical real.

39. Is any aspect of your writing process inspired by other writers or people? If so, who?

So back when I was in the MCU fandom, I used to write a lot of Maximoff twins fics. Like a lot. Like over 200 lots.

And most of these were oneshots. Some of these were way-overlong oneshots (looking at you, Crimson Peak AU) but still - they were oneshots. And I got in the habit of writing these in a vignette style, small snippet scenes, capsule moments that gave an idea of the overall story while still being only a few thousand words, if that. Each of the sections was marked by a lower-case numeral and there could be as few as five and as many as... I think I got up to 100 in the Crimson Peak AU.

I stole this way of doing vignette fics wholecloth from the wonderful @cosmonauthill. They used it as a way of doing simple fics for a prompt game and I found it so helpful for actually finishing fics, because I could just organise snapshot scenes into rough order and not write the dull in-betweens. I'm also very envious of Niamh's ability to very deftly create an atmosphere or a visual image of a written scene and emulating what they've managed to do in some of their fics has definitely pushed me to improve.

I also attribute a lot of my... I don't know... particular way of thinking about things, and how I try to empathise with and even write characters I don't like and struggle with to @tobermoriansass, who taught me to more carefully think about alternate perspectives and where they originate from, even if I don't agree with them, and a lot of my specific thoughts about Campaign 1 and certain notes I'll repeatedly bring up in fics are absolutely due to discussions I had with @chamerionwrites as I was watching the Campaign. Chamerion has a very measured way of explaining their thoughts that really helps to understand how they got there and why they think they make sense and I generally find that more compelling than other arguments.

And also, through all of these, it's pushed me to want to make sure that even when you disagree with a character's choice you still understand where they're coming from. Niamh's ability to deftly set the atmosphere and Mike's to present the perspective and Chamerion's to put it all together coherently - knowing all three of them has pushed me to improve in these ways due to these things I admire deeply about all of them.