#esotam series

[pokimoko]

It's been a year to the day since I completed my Eternal Sunshine of the Absent Mind Moon Knight fic trilogy, so I thought I'd commemorate the occasion with some Jake Lockley art inspired by the series, with a dash of A Monster Calls for angsty flavour. Enjoy! 💜

[pokimoko]

Just reached 20K words on my next Moon Knight fic! It’s looking like it’ll end up being another 30K fic, so it’s still a little way off from being posted. And most of the snippets I want to share (and god I want to share them so bad) are kind of spoilery for the overarching plot, so for now I will simply pique your interest with what I have deemed the story’s “vibe moodboard”:

Make of it what you will.

[pokimoko]

hi so i just finished reading your Eternal Sunshine of the Absent Mind duology and OMGGGGG reading that was such an amazing experience?? 

your handling of the unreliable narration was SOOOOO well done–it left the perfect amount of gaps in the narrative to keep me hungry for answers but included enough details to not be confusing or disorienting!! that stuff seems suuper hard to pull off but you did such a great job,, your handling of Steven's amnesia and the way his mind blocks certain things out is really awesome too because there are a couple scenes where it works REALLY well (like the part in the library where Cynthia says United — and it could EASILY be US or UK, and also the k—ing scene in the first work; that emotionally destroyed me as with most of the fic).

the headspace imagery also had such creative and interesting ideas,,, khonshu as the pigeon,,, the scrabble magnets,,, the symbolism of the changes happening over time to the phone and the computer,,, 

your depiction of all the characters feels on point—love how you were able to demonstrate a lotta familiarity steven and marc's speech mannerisms from the show—and i really love your characterization of jake,,, he's always struck me as a very tragic character n i feel like you got that across perfectly,,, plus, the "that'll be $2.50" line killed me

also i just really adore how you skillfully organized everyday events to lead to varying conflicts in the story and connect to plot points in the show (ex. steven's pigeon experience leading to him becoming vegan); you seem like an incredibly facile writer and i am excited to devour your other fics

*proceeds to not be normal about this*

[pokimoko]

Ohhhh my gooooddd 😭. Just finished in your absence. I cannot stress this enough when I say you are my absolute favorite fanfic author EVER and I mean that with the utmost sincerity. I literally just set aside most of my day when I realized you had written another moon knight fic they are always such an experience to read and I always look forward to them. Always so good and they always blow me away fr fr fr thank you. 1000000/10 🤯

Hugging this message to my chest, framing it on my wall, kissing it gently, imprinting it in my mind, cherishing it with all my heart.

Thank you so much!!! 💜💜💜

[pokimoko]

For the ask game May I ask: 18, 22, and 35? Love u bird overlord you make me toss my marbles into the sea everytime I read one of your creations💖

Hello my favourite bird underling! Lovely to see you pop by. :D Let's answer some queries! 18. Do I enjoy research? DO I ENJOY RESEARCH???? YES! I love researching! I will spend hours just researching for fics (even if, ahem, that researching is just watching movies and shows that relate to the fic's concept) because I like using those little details to enhance the story itself or alternatively as a source of inspiration. As for which story required the most research, that would definitely have to be I've Heard That Song Before. For that one fic, I ended up researching *deep breath* Hungarian geography and history, 1940s culture (predominantly music), Marvel comic lore, WW2 history, 1940s military letters and equipment, baseball, national parks, swing dancing, Russian poetry and history, Pluto (my beloved), Jewish culture and writings, Roma culture, Greek mythology, and just a whole bunch of other things. I ended up having History Notes at the end of every chapter because of all the research I did for that story, because I just wanted to share all the cool and important things I learnt during the writing process. So yeah, research is a friend of mine. I think every fic deserves at least some research. 22. When do I title fics during the writing process? Hm. It depends. I usually have an idea in mind before I start a fic, and sometimes that sticks for the whole thing (like perilune, which was a word I'd been wanting to use as a fic title ever since I discovered it) but I usually go through several variations throughout the writing process until I end up with one I like and that I think fits the story best. For example, In Your Absence (Rebuilding the Memory of Goldfish Dreams) had several names, in terms of the bracket bit. It started as In Your Absence (I Will Try to Stay Present) to IYA (I'll Find My Way Back to You) to IYA (All That's Left is The Ghost of Me), which is was for a few weeks before I decided to lean on the fishbowl metaphor (and the dialogue: "I wonder what fishes dream about") and switched to IYA (Seeking the Memory of Goldfish Dreams) until finally landing on the title it is now. In the Absent Place (Listening to Silence on the Radio) started as The Absence of Others (and Why We Pretend That’s Okay), then The House We Call Home (and Why We Must Keep It Spotless), then This House of Ours (And Other Things That Don’t Exist) and quite a few other variations of these until a line of dialogue from the show 'Legion' (from 2x05: "I was in the absent place, and then I just…There she was, in the mirror, looking back at me.") inspired the first part, and the game 'Oxenfree' (which involves radios and ghosts and is just amazing) inspired the second part of the title. So to answer how I come up with names, it's a lot of experimentation and outside inspiration. 35. Can't believe you're making me decide on one fic as my favourite. Cruel of you, don't you know all of them are my babies (*pointedly not looking at my pre-2019 stuff*). I think I'll go with The Absence of Fear simply because I am so proud of how it turned out, and because of the fact it kickstarted my Moon Knight writing (and the ESOTAM series which I have loved making so much). It'll always have a special place for me for that reason. Also I wrote that baby in like 3 nights and god, I don't think I've reached that hectic pace ever since. I was a writer possessed for that story and that story alone. Ask me fanfic questions!