#I've written so many tens of thousands of words I can't publish yet because I'm STUCK on smaller scenes that precede them

[avelera]

Is Giving Sanctuary over? I thought it was a chapter away from completion but I've seen you talking about it like you're extending it and now there's a series. Where are you thinking of taking it?

Nope! There's 1 more chapter left in the main story which I've taken an unforgivable amount of time writing 😅 Mostly cuz I tend to get stressed whenever I write the "last chapter" of something, it feels like I've run out of chances to include anything I forgot!

I ended up breaking Giving Sanctuary into 2 parts, after much consideration on the matter.

The fact was, I always intended to show Giving Sanctuary Hob and Dream "through the ages" as a sort of epilogue - what else changes about their life because their meeting in 1689 ran longer than expected?

But I saw a lot of people were waiting to read the story until it was complete, and the fact is, this chapter coming up marks the "end" of 1689 and the "get together" arc. It's a complete story. People should be able to read it as such without waiting for a SUPER long, arguably somewhat off-topic epilogue.

That said since the "epilogue"/"Keeping Sanctuary" sequel was intended to be part of the main story, there's a lot of threads it ties up. Not necessarily stuff that's central to the "get together" story, but questions that were raised during the course of Giving Sanctuary.

Questions like: (Cut for Giving Sanctuary spoilers)

Does Dream ever undergo the same sort of journey that Hob does?

What exactly was Destiny planning with that banquet? And why did he include all of his siblings in the one month time skip, not just Dream?

Do Hob and Dream make it as a couple?

What events are averted by them getting together in 1689? Which events aren't averted?

What happens to some of our side characters as a result of the altered 1689 meeting, like Jessamy, Calliope, and our briefly glimpsed personification of the Manor House? Does Hob ever get around to naming the Manor House??

And much more!

The sequel will begin with their one year anniversary in 1690, from there we check in on them in 1789, 1889, and then dive into the 20th century, which is where my outline really began to grow to the point I realized I might have a whole new fic on my hands and I didn't want people to put off reading the 1689 stuff just because I was still writing the 20th century stuff.

Suffice to say I'm super excited to jump into the next stuff, my brain's just been stuck on wrapping up the 1689 stuff, but I hope to get that done soon!

[nebulouscoffee]

🛒✨💖❌🤗

All great questions, thank you!

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

I've noticed a lot of my fics play around with time/perception/reality, whether it's interconnecting flashbacks with the present or having nonlinear and/or unreal shenanigans going on. I think this is because I mostly write ds9 fic, and one of the main fascinations I have with that show is how almost every main character has a somewhat distorted or extraordinary perception of reality!

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

Aww thank you <3 uhhhh well more than one person has commented that I'm good at capturing character voices and sometimes I read my writing and think "hey they're right actually" :)

💖 What made you start writing?

The childhood urge to Make People Up and then Put Them In Situations! Fanfic specifically, it went like: pandemic -> ds9 rewatch -> unexpected obsession with the doctor lizard ship I somehow never cared about before -> getting into fanfic for the first time (I'd only occasionally read gen fics before, or b/7 lol) -> wanting to process complicated feelings I was sitting with & feeling inspired by some incredibly good fics I'd read -> voila we got 'Home'

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

Haha I've learnt to never say never, I mean if you'd asked my early 2021 self if I'd ever attempt writing romance or ship fic you'd've gotten a resounding "lmao no???" and we all know how that went

... I guess, demonising and/or killing off a character just to get OTP together? (Not a "trope" but definitely a trope y'know😂)

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

KILL 👏 THE 👏 CRINGE!! 👏 (or embrace it, whatever works :D)

Never forget you're doing this for fun! And for FREE! You don't owe anybody anything! Not so much writing advice as outlook-towards-your-writing advice, but (as long as your fics aren't like. racist or otherwise harmful lol) be proud of yourself and all your babies!

As time passes, you will inevitably come to look at your first works differently. This is where you must be vigilant against the cringe😂

Instead of "my older work is bad", think "I hadn't written much fanfic yet so I wasn't as good as I am now, and it's so cool that there's actually visible improvement"

Instead of "this fic is sooo out of character I hate it now", think "I wrote this back when I read the characters differently"

Instead of "I can't post this thing until it's perfect", think "I've gotten so used to improvement my standards are just unattainably high now, but the people reading liked what I wrote back then because something about it was good, and they'll probably like this too"

Instead of "I hate that my cringey old fics are still being read by people", think "This thing I created out of love and shared to connect with fellow fans brought them joy, and is still bringing people joy even after I've moved on, which is really cool of me actually"

Always remember your target audience is fellow obsessives with brainrot, NOT snarky people on the internet who don't care about the stories you're telling (esp if they don't even write fic! They'd never understand how hard it is to put your work out there.) Like 90% of the time when something's called "cringe", it's really just... sincere? Well, fanfic is literally a medium where people care about a show so much they voluntarily write tens of thousands of words for zero profit. It doesn't have to be good; there's published literature for that. People come to fanfic for the passion!

Don't write your blorbo with the main goal being distancing yourself from the basic girlies who like them wrong. Don't water down your favourite dynamics to cater to the people who "don't get" your ship. Fully unhinged fan content made out of love and Too Many Emotions will ALWAYS be better than painfully self-conscious works that are too afraid to be sincere imo (I don't read much smut but I'm sure this applies here too- just commit to it fully and people will find it hot! Nothing kills the vibe like being able to tell the fic writer was embarrassed they were writing this lol.)

Doesn't matter if you're writing for a rare pair that most people just go ??? at, or a popular character/pairing that's slowly starting to get hate because it's everywhere- don't be afraid to be sincere. Be fully and unapologetically insane about your obsessions and never ever get baited into being cynical about your work. Be true to yourself and have fun with your weirdo friends, and your fics will reflect that <3