#fireinmywoods

[markcampbells]

As ever, I am both nosy and greedy, so: 💫🌿🕯️🎀

Em, I'm so sorry, I saw you of all people sent me asks for this and my brain shorted out like my Playstation in a recent thunderstorm. 😂 (The Playstation is fine! My brain is debatable.)

💫what is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

I really, really appreciate when people call out specific lines or moments they liked! It helps me understand what it is about the stuff I write that resonates with people, and it's just always nice to know what people liked about something I created. I also appreciate the comments I get occasionally where people tell me I helped them view a character differently or consider something they hadn't before! It always feels funny and gratifying to get people thinking differently about something we both know really well.

🌿how does creating make you feel?

Is there any other answer than "like a merciless god?" No, in all sincerity, great. Writing has been my main creative hobby (reading book buying is probably my main hobby in general) since I was ten years old, and nothing has really come close to it in terms of me having an outlet and a way to do something that's, by and large, for myself. I do work with partners, I go in and out of writing fanfiction (we are in an "in" phase at the moment), but I have my own original stuff that I pretty much write for myself because I don't aim to publish, and it feels nice to be able to do what I want and write what I want to see in the world. I've sometimes considered writing something longer I would submit to an independent press or something (I usually get this urge each year after the Brooklyn Book Festival, aka The Day Trai's Wallet Cries, because you spend the day talking to all these folks from indie presses and seeing authors like "yeah! I want to do that!!!"), but for right now, I'm happy making my own little worlds and characters who owe their existence to me.

🕯️was there a fic that was really hard on you to write, or took you to a place you didn't think it would take you?

pack up the life that's left is probably the hardest thing I've written for McKirk, and in some ways, in general. My dad died when I was young, and in a few ways, that's why McKirk resonates for me so strongly as a character dynamic--AOS Jim's entire life is shaped by his father's death, and even if TOS McCoy's loss of his own father was sort of a last-minute retcon of his character in some ways, it's so wrenchingly acted by DeForest Kelly (and, I think rightfully, called one of the best Trek scenes ever by people who know what they're talking about) that you can't help but accept it as the major moment it is, so when you combine those two characterizations together into one ship where these characters can share those emotions with each other... it's a lot. And it's a kind of relationship I have personal experience with, because my high school best friend lost his father when we were teens, and we've been each other's confidants and consolation in that regard for at least fifteen years. Jim never knew his dad, while I knew mine to a certain extent, but the thing we have in common is that grieving as an adult hits somewhat differently. For myself, I had a period of a few years in my late twenties where I kind of had to reprocess all my grief and think, fuck, I'm a whole person my dad never got to know. And in a lot of ways, I'll never really know my dad beyond what my family and his friends can tell me. I wanted to explore some of those same feelings for Jim--what would it make him feel to learn that his mother had kept a tangible connection to his father from him? And once he's processed that new connection, what will he do with it? While I don't personally observe any faith, my parents had an interfaith marriage, and I grew up most connected to my father's Jewish family. My mom, after his passing, made sure to observe certain customs, including marking my dad and his parents' passing with a yahrzeit candle each year. Because I work with the fanon that Jim is Jewish, with my personal spin on that being that Jim feels somewhat alienated from his faith on the whole post-Frank but is trying to regain it, I knew I wanted to include that in the fic, and so did the best I could to represent that tradition. I have to admit that the most gratifying and touching thing about getting this fic out into the world was the people who took the time to comment by sharing their own stories about loss, and what it meant to them to see a Jewish mourning custom reflected in fic. I really was not expecting that kind of response and it made the effort it took to pull the story together so worth it.

🎀 give yourself a compliment about your own writing

I try as hard as I possibly can to get the emotional side of my work right, and sometimes that gets really difficult when I'm writing about something I haven't personally experienced. I think, in that regard, the thing I'm proudest of is the second chapter of your hands can heal.... I have, honestly, been deeply fortunate to never experience severe mental illness or emotional abuse, and both things figure heavily in Bones' background in that chapter, conveyed to my readers by some fairly sparse flashbacks. I knew I had done my best to write the work in a way that felt true to me, but I wasn't really going to be sure if I had gotten it right until I heard from readers, and the comments I've gotten in response over the years about getting those aspects right have meant more to me than practically any other feedback I've ever gotten.

[trek-tracks]

Surprising exactly no-one, Jim moved in permanently the next day anyway

(Credit to @depsidase for the original post)

[hopefulcanary]

scrubbing in, with chapel and bones

idgaf if they canonically don't do this for whatever reason, we're all here for the #aesthetic

who are they about to tend to? eh, probably jim.

[fireinmywoods]

fic: a battuta

It’s deep into gamma; he hardly saw a soul on his trek up from the shuttlebay. Jim must have forgotten to order the lights off when he headed to bed.

In which Leonard comes home. Teen, ~5k words.

As always, spoilers for palimpsest. Please please please read that first!

[read on AO3]

[handwrittenhello]

everyone wake up new @fireinmywoods fic just dropped

this was an exercise in simplifying because i always go so over the top but often feel like i rush the sketch/lines to get to the coloring, and get frustrated when it doesn't turn out like my perfectionism wants. by forcing myself to keep it simple i found myself actually enjoying the process more!

[lokilenchen]

I read @fireinmywoods new fic a battuta and I just couldn’t resist drawing them in the way I imagined them while reading 💛💙

[katierosefun]

📚

thank you for the ask, anon! // from these asks

📚 Is there a fanfic or fanfic writer you recommend?

god, so many! i will admit that like. i do not read as much fanfic as i write it, especially these days, so my list of recommendations by no means captures every single amazing fanfic writer / fanfic there is out there in whatever fandom i'm about to list, but some fics that have been living rent-free in my brains these days have been:

gift horse dentistry by RC_McLacklan (beyond evil: hilarious writing, i literally hadn't laughed so hard at a fic in a really, really long time)

if every house is haunted by pale_and_tragic (beyond evil: the way i literally started crying like. twice. it also awakened something in me i think, because i think i started crying while writing out my comment for the author lmao)

all is well (in this blighted world) by fadeinwinter (beyond evil: ie. perhaps one of the most zombie apocalypse fics ever in that god god god god god god god finding love again at the end of the world jesus christ)

to the stars by merryofsoul (beyond evil: the star trek and beyond evil crossover that i think might have honestly been the fic that re-triggered my love for star trek because. jesus christ the way i am obsessed with science officer han joo won grouching about dong sik even on a spaceship. and also, typical star trek shenanigans but with the beyond evil crew is just. so fun. put those men in situations! put those men in situations that originated from perhaps one of the gayest franchises of all time!)

such a wonderful life by @b1uetrees (beyond evil: god can you see a pattern. i swear i read other fics. but like. beyond evil but now add in a dash of it's a wonderful life magic. this one moved me a lot just because maybe i love dong sik and i love dong sik being told his life is significant or whatever!!!)

i remember who i am when i'm with you by @electricalkittens (beyond evil: nur i am so sorry i haven't commented yet i read it and then said that i was gonna comment and then haven't done it but i swear i'm gonna leave a comment so u know the full scope of my appreciation for this fic but like anyways, yet another one of my faves right now because ohhh i'm always a sucker for joo won finding his way back to dong sik and dong sik wanting joo won to stay but none of them know how to quite communicate that yet and anyways!!! so normal)

pas de deux by @fireinmywoods, although you would need to read palimpest first, which is perhaps one of the most. genius fics that i have ever read. i mean it. (star trek, aos: just like. i dunno! i'm sort of obsessed with this fic especially, just because i think it! unlocks! something insane in me!)

rhapsody in blue by @kckenobi (star wars: the clone wars: i am. only a few chapters in this fic but i would be remiss if i didn't mention this one because a) i will always adore kasey's writing and find a way to mention her writing, even if i don't actively read as much star wars stories these days, and b) it's literally been so long since i've read an au where it's very clear that someone is so passionate about the exact setting they're writing about, and it's just something i thoroughly enjoying seeing in any story, and c) i mean? suspense + family trauma? sign me up.

i could. honestly go on forever about fic writers and fics that i would recommend, but. for the sake of length + also time, i'll leave this list here! and my bookmarks page is actually. substantial these days, so anything that i've bookmarked is almost always an indication that i recommend it.

[excavatinglizard]

I wasn't sure if I'd work up the nerve to post this (blame my brain) but honestly, Day 6: Fake Relationship is just the best excuse out there. How could I not?

A cover design for @fireinmywoods​' fic Palimpsest. Please please go read it.

Some of my thoughts under the cut, with spoilers for the fic itself. Don't open if you haven't read it!

Oh my god I’m so sorry but this is such a long rant about a pretty simple picture. I’m just bored and I love getting to explain my thought process over the hours it takes to draw and I usually try to stop myself. Anyway, yeah, I promise it’s not as deep as i make it all sound here.

Recently I went: You know what? If I'm going to have Palimpsest on my kindle it damn well needs a cover. I went through a couple concept doodles before settling on this one.

Format: Ok, i haven’t read Palimpsest in a while but I tried to put as much in as I could. The concept of Jim and Bones facing opposite directions is meant to be a bit of a reference to 'read one way and then another'. The original concept doodle actually had them on either side of a spiral maze, but damn it I refuse to draw that much grain. As it is this is definitely a bit of a 'fuck it, squares' moment.

The choice to have Bones facing the camera (viewer? audience? what do I say in this case???) again is literally just because he's the narrator. We’re seeing what he wants to show us from his own point of view. Jim’s face is obscured; we don’t know what he’s really thinking or feeling, only what Bones sees of it.

I’ve already said I refuse to draw too much grain (even though I seem to keep doing it. ITS JUST SO PRETTY), but I KNEW I needed them out in a field. Someone in the discord once mentioned the paragraph:

He tips his head back against the wall and looks out at the corn bordering the schoolyard, vividly green against the backdrop of blue sky, golden tassels swaying lazily in the breeze. Terraforming is a hell of a thing. This place was probably an uninhabitable rock a couple centuries ago, and now it could easily pass for Illinois or Iowa. He wonders how Jim feels about that. All the work the man’s put into leaving his childhood behind, years of striking out deeper and deeper still into the great unknown, only to end up in another damn cornfield.

 Now, I don’t trust a single one of you to not open this before reading, so I’m not going to expound on why this line stuck so firmly in my mind, but just trust that it did and I wanted to include it in the cover. I also pulled some of the imagery I used in the SIEL cover and had them both being a little bit consumed by the grass, sinking in around the ankles.

Color scheme: I don’t know why, but Palimpsest has always given me very warm-colored energy, in the same way that SIEL was always greys and greens. Gold corn, red sunsets, blond hair and endless skies. I also like drawing in warm colors, and it contrasted the SIEL cover nicely. I admit I think of the stories as two parts of a set, and I do so like when series have covers that work together.

Extra details: Take a look at Bones. What have we got?

A med kit. A tricorder. A wedding ring. His colors stand out against the corn and set him apart. I may have tried hard not to spoil anything, but I’m very much not above putting plot points in the fine details. Fight me.

You could probably argue that the black swirl means something, but really I just love the contrast and I think it looks cool. And it makes the text stand out, which i was having trouble with. And fills space. Yep.

Anyway, that’s it, thanks for reading this far if you did! I had a lot of fun with this piece :)

(And I’m so sorry Em if this is coming off as obsessive, I have no excuse other than your writing makes me lose my shit (in a good way). It does not leave my brain)

[inkfinch]

Bones’ least favorite mug

Inspired by @fireinmywoods tags about Leonard “Bones” Mccoy aka Not The Most Responsible Adult In The Room But Oh He Likes To Pretend

[ Image description: Front and back of mug decorated with splatters of blood interspersed with sparkles. The tea bag tag with a skull hangs on the side. Written in all caps, the front of the mug displays WELL PLAYED DR. MALPRACTICE and the back: ANOTHER FINE TRIUMPH OVER MEDICAL ETHICS. On the side are the floating heads of Jim and Bones arguing with each other. end id ]

[startreklesbian]

5, 8, and 20 for the fandom asks?

5. what is your favorite overused trope?

FOUND FAMILY! is that i trope? yeah i think it is. anyway found family is the best, i could watch 100 movies and shows about it

8. do you prefer happy, bittersweet, or sad endings?

i prefer happy endings most of the time but depending on the story sometimes only bittersweet or sad endings fit or make sense and then i’m totally fine with it. i only hate sad endings when they’re totally unnecessary and only for shock value

20. name a song that reminds you heavily of a specific fandom or character

there’s a fanvideo about aos jim kirk with the song i’ll be good by jaymes young and idk but since then it’s basically one of my theme songs for him

20 fandom asks

[markcampbells]

I posted 373 times in 2022

26 posts created (7%)

347 posts reblogged (93%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@excavatinglizard

@tiberiusmulder

@nadja-antipaxos

@mrsmunsons

@starcitysirens

I tagged 372 of my posts in 2022

#about me - 50 posts

#<3 - 42 posts

#series: star trek - 33 posts

#the magnus archives - 26 posts

#leonard mccoy - 24 posts

#queer art - 21 posts

#series: star wars - 21 posts

#jim kirk - 20 posts

#mckirk - 19 posts

#legends of tomorrow - 18 posts

Longest Tag: 120 characters

#(also i'm always weirdly happy when people associate me with my flag? it's that late in life queer moment i guess lmfao)

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

WHAT KIND OF LOSER ALMOST MISSES HER OWN MCKIRKAVERSARY (this one I am that loser)

It has been one entire year since I posted absolution, my first official McKirk fic. I dreamed this baby up on a weekend morning and started writing, after years of admiring the folks in the fandom from afar. I am so, so grateful I did.

to @afterthenovels and @malionnes -- Anna gave me the prompt that became the fic, and Cait asked me the OTP meme questions that sparked me thinking about my own vision. Thank you both for getting me started.

To the USS McKirk folks: thank you for taking me into the fold. You are all so special to me. To mention just a handful of you:

@aishahiwatari and @demerite; best mods ever!

@aroacebones, for being the best partner in angst and never minding a 5 AM DM or fifty.

@lokilenchen and @excavatinglizard, both of whom surprised me with art for my later fic, both of whose talents amaze me every single day.

@better-late-than-nevah for understanding my desperate love for comments 😂

@spockats, my partner in word games, provider of medical knowledge!

@trek-tracks for the humor that keeps me going, and the sweetest words of praise a girl could want.

@sagesiren for loving Jewish Jim as much as I do!

@jenjiy for having the other half of the brain cell 😂

And to @fireinmywoods, thank you so much for giving us SIEL, a light in a dark year and the best communal experience I could have asked for so soon after officially joining the fandom!

I've said it before and I'll say it again: McKirk people best people. I'm so glad I fell in with you all. Let's keep it going a bunch more years. 💛💙

13 notes - Posted February 1, 2022

#4

"I'm Jim. … Which friend is this a favor for? I've been coming here for months."

“Christine. These shifts interfere with her nightlife, you see, and as she saw fit to remind me, I have none, so better I be the one to molder away in an underground transfusion center.”

“I liked Christine. But if she sees fit to abandon me to the whims of a grouchy Southerner, I might displace her in my estimation.”

A vampire and a necromancer have a chat at a blood transfusion center.

(Trektober 2022, Day Two: Vampire AU)

content warnings: Jim was turned into a vampire against his will by an intimate partner; there is a brief description.

14 notes - Posted October 2, 2022

#3

"I saw a girl this morning who looked like my mother. It's strange--I haven't thought about my mother in decades, but after I wrote about her, she appeared before me. Part of me wanted to speak to her, this girl who seemed like my mother, but I didn't know what I would say. That I turned out to be so much more than she expected of me? And so much less? That I'm sorry I spent the better part of sixty years barely acknowledging her existence? That I don't remember exactly when she died? "Of course, it doesn't matter at all what I would say to my mother if I saw her again, because I didn't. It was just a girl with the same copper hair."

You Feel It Just Below the Ribs, Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson.

16 notes - Posted June 3, 2022

#2

How little we know of ourselves at any moment; how distinctly human that is. There is such little grace given to the perfect messiness of desire. Even queers feel pressure to homogenize the experience into catchy slogans. The 'born this way' narrative, while politically expedient, has done untold damage to narratives of the queer experience, implying any number of horrible ideas: that you cannot move toward desire without some genetic component urging you to do so, that experimentation is inherently problematic, that you have to know your truest and deepest self to act on something. There were times in my adolescence where people asked me if I was gay and I said no, not out of a sense of self-preservation but because I truly believed it to be so. You can be a stranger to yourself; you almost certainly will be, at some point or another. It is inevitable, as inevitable as the moment of rupture that sends you hurtling toward the self you were always going to be.

from "Both Ways" by Carmen Maria Machado, her essay on Jennifer's Body in It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror (ed. Joe Vallese).

25 notes - Posted October 4, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

desire to learn how to draw, if not well: losing

years of memories of art teachers telling me how bad at art i was: winning

30 notes - Posted January 6, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[trek-tracks]

CMO. Leonard McCoy. Hot.

[fireinmywoods]

fic: the polished surface of our being [1/3]

“Where the hell are you?”

“Kinda busy right now,” Jim says, his voice tinny over the comm channel, crackling with static. “Can we save the yelling for later? Pretty sure it’ll keep till after none of us are being hunted for sport.”

The moments that never happened. Teen, ~5k.

MAJOR, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR SMOKE IN EVERY LANE. Please read the main story first.

[read on AO3]

[handwrittenhello]

another illustrated scene! this one from palimpsest, by @fireinmywoods. read it and then read it again because holy shit, guys!

[xeldablade]

A summary of me reading palimpsest by @fireinmywoods

(Reviews weren’t enough, so I want to convey to you my true feelings in the best way I know how: Memes)

Me reading chapters 1-7

Me getting ready to read chapter 8

Me right at the beginning of chapter 8

Me after reading a few sentences

Me starting to realize things

Me halfway though

(I WAS SEARCHING FOR GIFS AND THIS ONE CAME UP KLJHGLDK AND IT FITS, I TOO WAS SURPRISED LIKE JIM HERE)

Me finishing the story

Me starting to reread the story

Thank you again for writing this story. It has been a true blessing for me. (Currently on ch 3 and oh yeah, i’m dying alright)

[goingknowherewastaken]

Chapters: 4/8 Fandom: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: James T. Kirk/Leonard "Bones" McCoy Characters: Leonard "Bones" McCoy, James T. Kirk, Hikaru Sulu, Spock (Star Trek), Christine Chapel Summary:

“Skip to the point, Jim. The sooner you spit it out, the sooner I can refuse and get back to work.”

“It’s really no big deal,” Jim says as the door slides closed behind them. “I just need you to come down to Hearth with us…as my husband.”

The Enterprise has been sent to negotiate reaccession to the Federation with an isolationist religious group known as the Kindred. While there, Jim notices that some of the children seem to be gravely ill. The problem is, the Kindred practice faith healing and refuse to allow a doctor to be brought in. So Jim does what he does best: he improvises.

If you like the fake marriage trope then boy have I found the fic for you!