#i know nothing about coffee shops but its one of the au tropes i've wanted to do

[h0n3yk1tt3n]

7 8 10

Ahhh the joys of reblogging multiple ask games with numbered questions within a day and not being able to tell which one is the current subject <3 (this just means you're getting the answers to six questions instead of three! Plus I'm bored and I don't mind lol)

7. Share a line or paragraph that you don't think will ever actually be posted in anything! (Or, if you don't hoard cut sentences and paragraphs like I do, share anything you want that has yet to see the light of day!)

Prefacing this by saying I know that Jake is implicitly an only child in canon. Counter argument, shut up /j oldest child syndrome made worse by absent parents. My defense:

Alana kept her voice as level as she could, despite her frustration. "Can you be an adult for just a couple minutes, please?"

A fist hit the table. "I've had to be the adult since I was thirteen!"

Alana startled at the harsh constriction in Jake's voice, his once casual and flippant demeanor turning so fast that it just about gave her whiplash.

A mirthless laugh choked Jake as he threw a hand out. "Criminal parents fucking off to who knows where all the time meant that someone needed to grow up! Someone needed to be responsible and make sure that the kids were happy and safe! And sometimes-"

His voice wavered, breath shaking as he looked off at the wall instead of at Alana.

"Maybe sometimes I just wanna be a kid. Get excited about Kiddie Land. Go down a Giant Slide. Just," he gave a hopeless shrug, "pretend things aren't so fucked up, at least for a little while. Long enough to not... burn out on being the adult, right when I really need to be."

—Tales From the Lagniappe

This is really rough atm but hopefully it gets the point across dbdjebdh

8. Is there a story idea that you would love if it could appear fully realized but that you do not think you'll ever write yourself?

Halo au would be fun. I say, as if I have a real Story in mind for it besides a couple scenes and Vibes lmao. I have so many Concept stories that I just never actually touch in any meaningful way, hell it's a miracle if I ever doodle anything for them.

10. If you could banish a single trope to live at the bottom of the ocean, never to be seen by any human eyes (or at least your own), which trope would that be?

The simple fact that I don't know by virtue of not reading super often goes to show that I don't feel strong negative emotions about any particular trope (and that im not adventurous lmao /hj.) Anything can be executed beautifully or terribly.

I once criticized coffee shop and adjacent aus for being nothing burgers by (generally, i can think of at least one exception) ending after character A gives B their number, but like? I don't have enough vitriol to cast such aus into the ocean lol, they can stay

7. A fic of yours you think is underrated?

Besides my 4 year old coping-with-quarantine project that spiraled into almost 330k words of length and became So Personal, probably Joyride. I blame its lack of attention on the fact that I just shat out a one-sentence summary and assumed that would be enough for those that had already read Weakness lol (hi becca)

8. What's the best summary you've come up with?

The fact that the L2C summary was so long that it wouldn't fit into ao3's character limit (but that it wasn't long enough/was too summarizey to be its own chapter or part of the prologue) and had to be broken into the summary and beginning notes goes to show how much I cared about making it Perfect™️ lol

10. Do you read your own fics for fun?

Not super often but yeah! Usually as a post-upload riding the high ya know? Swallow Up Your Heart of Gold actually keeps popping into my brain and I gotta get a hit of that sweet sweet hurt/comfort <3

In fact I would often reread rps that a friend and I did so get that same hit

I'm lonely and touch starved I bet you couldn't tell

[wooahaes]

dino soulmate au !! i don't have a specific trope in mind, but im curious to see which one you think fits him best :D

hii <3 hmm... technically dino was where i left off on my soulmate series (which is currently paused until i finish either sweet night (more likely) or under the sun (unlikely lol), then i'll try to finish out those fics before i start a new series), so i'll avoid what i've got planned for him there

(death tw, will tag the post w this as well)

ill play around w a lil bit of angst. reader has lost the soulmate that they were dating ever since they met in high school bc (insert cause of death here). not even minutes after he's dead, the name lee chan writes itself across the back of their hand. out of resentment for the universe immediately pairing you up right after you lose the love of your life, you resolve to keep the stupid name covered as much as you can and never meet this lee chan the universe is replacing your soulmate with.

elsewhere, chan realizes that there's a name written up his forearm that he didn't have before. a certain percentage of ppl are born w/o soulmates, and chan always thought he was one of them until now. he probably excitedly shows it off to his friends (only abt half of which have soulmates imo bc i like having a mixed bag there), and they promise to let him know if they happen to run into someone w his own name on them.

enter jeonghan, currently going through practicum to become a licensed therapist. enter, you on a summer day without a bandage on the back of your hand and his friend's name contrasting your skin in neat lettering. also enter the fact that jeonghan can't say/do anything about giving out your information because of violations, so he's stuck trying to figure out how he can lead you or chan to one another.

ultimately, he figures out a way: you mumble one day a week or two later that your favorite coffee shop is closed for renovations because you'd always treat yourself with something sweet from there, jeonghan asks if he can make a suggestion, and he pushes you toward one of chan's favorite places before immediately getting both seungkwan and vernon on the task of getting chan there. you end up sitting in the corner to kinda just people watch and chill post-therapy session and wait on your drink. your name gets called out, and you notice the way another guy's head snaps up immediately. you retreat to your corner with your drink, only to hear the name lee chan read out soon enough and you aren't taking any chances. you get up to leave, and immediately the guy tails you out and asks for you to stop before rolling his jacket sleeve back to reveal where your name is boldly written along his arm.

you tell him you aren't interested. he's immediately heartbroken by that kind of talk, but asks for your number anyway because he'd at least like to be your friend if nothing else. you give it to him after making it clear you aren't looking for a new lover, and then leave.

and idk insert more stuff abt you and chan getting closer until you finally open up and mention tht ur in grief counseling bc of ur soulmate dying and that you'd always hated chan (as a concept--you like him now as a person) because it wasn't even five minutes before his name appeared on you. he apologizes, you tell him not to bc its not his fault, and the two of you agree to take ur friendship slow.

insert chan feeling guilty as he falls for you. insert u feeling guiltier because you fell harder after that and you try to push him away again. fic culminates in you admitting to him or to a friend that you're terrified of losing another soulmate. maybe its w a family member of deceased soulmate who reassures you that he would want you to be happy before asking if it had been you, wouldn't you want him to move on one day? it ends w you crying on them and apologizing because you feel like ur betraying ur first soulmate, but accepting that its okay to move on.

its just a lot of talk abt grief and whatnot lol with a side of chan helping you heal because he wants to be there for you, romantic feelings or not. you confess to him that you've fallen for him and ask to take things slow now and the fic ends off with the two of you going to get coffee together or something

[twistedrunes]

Just getting some thoughts out of my head about people's vague posting about other people 'stealing' their ideas for fic. Because I gotta say my anxiety is off the scale. Warning: unfiltered rambling below the cut.

I'm going to be vague here because this isn't a call-out post. I don't want to start any drama; people are entitled to feel how they feel. But, I need to get this out.

As anyone who follows me for my writing (if you are, I'm so, so sorry) knows, I haven't put anything out there for ages. But I have still been writing lots of different things. I just haven't shared any of it publicly. Some of what I've been writing has been for one of a particular actor's characters; I even have 2 fics where OC has the same job! But they are, to my mind, very different stories (this will be relevant in a bit).

Part of the reason I haven't shared is because I don't want to let people down by not finishing a fic again (I'm not saying that I'll never finish George, but I also acknowledge it's been a LONG time since I updated). But also because I've noticed the rise of people criticising other people for 'stealing ideas' and honestly, I'm scared of putting anything out there that may bring a bunch of angry fandom peeps raining down on me if I inadvertently 'steal' an idea of one of the fandom darlings. I have way too much other shit happening in my life for my escape to be turned into something I want to avoid.

Over the last few days, I've seen someone (Let's call them VP1) vague posting about other people 'stealing' fic ideas. This person (and many of their mutuals) writes for a particular actor rather than for particular shows/movies/etc. It has come to light today that this person is upset because they posted about a specific au/trope (pervasive generally, but I don't think I've seen a single character this actor has played not subjected to this trope) and a specific character. VP1's post was a couple of pics of the character and a comment that the image made them want to explore this trope. Apparently, someone (let's go with SO1), posted a fic with said character and trope not long after. VP1 is pissed and has gone from vague posting to reposting SO1's fic with a link to the post of 'their' idea.

Now look, I can understand being a bit hurt or miffed, if you think perhaps someone has done something you wanted to do. But, like, my anxiety is going off. Because how on gods green earth does one avoid 'stealing' ideas if it means not writing about anything anyone has ever considered ever?? Especially when that idea is a common trope. How does VP1 know that this fic hasn't been bumping abound in SO1's WIPs for ages. How do they know the person ever saw their post. Or maybe they did see the post and remember that dusty old fic in the WIPs folder. But even if not, does a single post give you the right to stop anyone else from writing about that at all? I mean shit we, could all get a kick up the ass for writing fanfic if that's the case. It's one of the most common criticisms of the genre. Additionally, there is absolutely nothing to say that VP1 can't still write their fic and put it out into the world. I'm sure no-one will complain (two cakes and all that!).

Now, I have read some fics in my time that seemed on the surface to be similar to stuff I had written. And yeah at first there is a bit of a sting. But, given that there are generally a limited number of options for introducing a character into a specific universe, similarities are to be expected. I don't generally write AU's myself, but I have read a million versions of coffee shop AU's often with the same characters by different authors! But most of the fics quickly divert off into a thing all its own. Hell, I've written fics that were based on the ideas, fuck even the worlds, of other members of fandom (looking squarely at you @whentommymetalfie - admittedly, I do acknowledge the person whose thought sent me off to write - if it's immediately apparent to me. If something bubbles up days or weeks later, I may not remember - sorry). And that's what I love about fandom; it's collective, really; we develop fanon, we goad each other on to hurt each other's feelings more and more, and we drag tropes and au's in a million directions to see where we get.

Now, part of the reason I mentioned my own writing earlier is that a particular character played by the actor in question inspired me into 'recycling' original fic ideas I wrote aeons ago (ok, like 2016). I have three fics for that character living rent-free in my brain right now. Two of them both have an OC with the same specific occupation. It relates to how they met Main Character. However, the stories are vastly different in regard to their focus, character development etc. etc. So am I 'stealing' my own ideas?? Am I being lazy by not coming up with completely new everything every time?

I don't know what the point of all this is. Maybe I'm just feeling old and tired. But I just need to get this out.

All I know is there are a limited number of stories to tell but infinite ways to tell them. What matters and what makes them different is how 'we' tell them. Each writer brings their own stuff to it. I mean, 'Person Encounters Alien' has produced everything from "Alien" to "Paul"; they are all different, interesting, unique and influenced by the people who wrote them.

I don't want fic to feel like work or a competition. I want to write stories and share them without fearing fandom wrath. I want to read a dozen versions of the same characters in the same AU and find joy in how each person made it different.

[inked-out-trees]

Bit belated on this but some questions for the writing ask meme:

Do you listen to music while you write? If so, share a song that’s been inspiring you lately.

Is there a trope you haven’t written yet but really want to?

In Bean's Beans, what is a happy, post-fic headcanon you have about Robert and Chris?

hi ho! always great to see you in the inbox. remind me to uno reverse the writing asks one of these days :)

Do you listen to music while you write?

often yes i do! during a wip it'll probably be the accompanying playlist (ttau does have one wink wonk) or perhaps something that matches the mood that i'm trying to get into. two songs NOT on the playlist but i've been using very specifically to write are the ocean grew hands to hold me by the wonder years (an attempt to describe its general sound and structure for a different, fictional song) and still though we should dance by radnor & lee (marriage and joy).

Is there a trope you haven't written yet but really want to?

well i am currently delighted to slip one of my favourite angst tropes into ttau, fulfilling a longtime desire to cause immeasurable grief and also be very evil. beyond that i don't know about tropes per se, but there are several au shapes i'd love to deal in if only my brain and hands were strong enough to write Everything At Once. recent "cool aus i'd write one day" include ghost hunting / paranormal, pirate (the lookouts infected me), space pirate (same can be said for firefly ngl), and other action/adventure fun cool stuff.

on a "totally unrelated" note, if anyone has some silly favourite action/adventure movie recommendations to share i would love to add some enrichment to my enclosure. bonus points if they have family feels.

Bean's Beans post-fic headcanon for Robert and Chris!

i think their journey back to friendship is a long and awkward process, not linear by any means, but once they talk about it in the daylight (when they're not trapped in a coffee shop together) and get a handle on maybe trying to learn each other again, things ease up a little bit. in between the still-numerous fights they have these moments of perfect synthesis, where they have the same reactions to things or insult someone simultaneously and it's just like. a little off-putting but also they look at each other with the same knowing look they used all those years ago and it almost does feel like nothing ever changed in the first place. (and then they both get boonked by it and panic and never speak about it again.)

[heartfulselkie]

Non-miraculous AU where Adrien works in a Cat cafe. He likes the post-covid mask policy since it make it less likely for anyone to recognise him.

All the kwamis are the cafe's cats, with Plagg being the sort of mascot. Mostly because he's the one with the "most personality" (i.e he's the biggest and loudest)