#ofc this doesn't apply to my friends and the ppl i follow . if i follow u i like u

[chrisbangs]

omg the one good thing abt being a nobody on here is that i don't get insane hate asks anymore .. like .. smtimes i miss it cause u guys make me laugh but also 💗 no mental damage included... so it's a win i think

[tantai-jin]

fic writer meme!

thank u rachel @fruitdaze for the tag!!! <3333333

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

23 since 2016 lmao,, i don't remember exactly how many i posted on lj from 2012-2015 but it wasn't a ton, probably 10-15 that were like 50k altogether

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

124,765

3. What fandoms do you write for?

it's been all over the place since 2020 lol but p much only chinese media like danmei novels, movies, cdramas. used to write kpop rpf but prob won't return to that even tho i still like and follow many groups

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

给你给你 (yunfei)

换一世身份姓名; heaven to myself (canglan)

not-that-small talk (tell me honestly) (bts yoonkook LOL)

새벽 rush hour (yellow light, slow) (bts taegi LOL)

捡一个梦; reach for a dream (canglan)

5. Do you respond to comments?

i usually do, although i'm often quite late LOL i have a couple fics where i didn't reply to all the comments after a certain point and then i just stopped 😭 or if they are a guest user or only leave emojis as a comment then i don't reply? but ofc i see every comment

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

uhh i feel like the only thing i wrote that is complete and has an angsty ending is 捡一个梦; reach for a dream bc it was a missing scene from an angsty arc of the show. or lol jk same scenario applies to 余光 (remnants of light) bc it takes place before the end of yuwu and not in one of the happier moments

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

either 给你给你 or 换一世身份姓名; heaven to myself bc they're both disgustingly sweet and affectionate at the end

8. Do you get hate on fics?

nope! either i am writing for tiny ass fandoms or like, my fics don't get enough traction to attract haters LMAO

9. Do you write smut?

not a lot... the incomplete bingqiu au i posted has the most explicit scenes so far but i am still too shy writing it. i have to practice so that i can write more than 3 sentences of sex in a single day and actually finish the wips i started 😭

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

i have before! nothing crazy tho bc it was just kpop rpf and it would be like, two idols from the same company that have interacted multiple times! lmao. sometimes i think abt crossovers for cdramas that are relatively tame such as: two actors that have been in the same drama multiple times are reincaranted and those 2+ dramas are their different lives... but it's so niche in eng speaking fandom and i haven't fully written one out yet. also does it count as a crossover if u put characters from story A into the setting/setup for story B bc i do that a lot but i think that is fairly common at least for ppl to imagine

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

i don't think so... again, my fics do not get a lot of traction so i don't think it's likely lmaooo

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

i think there was an exo one translated into russian a long time ago but i don't even remember which one lolllll it might have been on my livejournal

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

not a whole fic yet but ive brainrotted a plethora of aus with friends before such as but not limited to mingqian actors au with lianzi (very intricate with multiple variations) and a Bunch of cdrama and yuwu stuff with another friend :')

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

i cannotttttt pick only one but ummm in the last yr-ish it's been a rotation of tantai jin/li susu + mingye/sang jiu from cyjm, mingqian from liu yao, xilian from yuwu (🤪)..... bingqiu from sv (always).... i should stop for now that's Tew Many. but i think once i finish spl, changgu will also be up there

15. What is a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

i feel like i'm cursing myself by typing this out but perhaps the bingqiu i posted one chapter of..... even if i could write all the p With p parts that i wanted to include, i was also a little stuck on the ending and idk if i would be able to write it in a way that doesn't feel like a cop out or just weak in general 😢 but i do like that au and i think my writing for it so far was p decent... so who knows...!

16. What are your writing strengths?

i think i am pretty good at dialogue that sounds 1. natural and 2. true to the characters! i try really hard to make imagery sound original(ish) and evocative, and to make a character's Yearning palpable

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

intricate plot, action, sex (takes me forever to write and haven't done it in as much detail as i would like to tbh)

18. Thoughts of writing dialogue in another language in fics?

i love it! i did it a little in my yunfei fic and instead of directly translating the line of chinese right there i just included the meaning in the next line of dialogue, like "what do you mean [thing they just said]" + i did it like that bc the tone of it just felt so much more natural to me in mandarin for that specific convo. not that it was something untranslatable (it wasn't) but it just felt comfier to me. i also like the thing ppl do where you can hover over the text and it will show the translation but idk how that html works HAHA someday i would like to give it a go

19. First fandom you wrote for?

exo.......... lmao

20. Favorite fic you have written?

overall i think it would be typhoon season (my incomplete but not abandoned cisswap girls ximang in hk) ! i had it fermenting in my brain for like 8 months before i wrote it, which meant i had figured a lot of the stuff for the beginning out and it was much easier to write than normal since i was not deliberating so much in the moment. i think the pacing for it was good and the reveals of backstory were placed well, and i think i adapted the characters well too even if it's only a first chapter and they haven't done a lot yet. i wanna write them again but it's been rly hard for me to think abt that specific au for many months lol. i also think my recent yzy gegedidi fic had a lot of yummy scenes even if i see some flaws in some parts of the fic's progression... but i spent enough time on it already so i will not go and fix it anymore 😌 peace

i think all my writer friends were tagged already...... this tagline (like a bloodline) will end with me

[kimikoyukiart]

Hey! Idk if you remember, I'd talked to you about making your aymeric x estinien housing art into ffxiv housing. Ever since then, I have really fallen in love with your art style! I am also a noob artist and opened comms recently, but I haven't gotten any yet haha do you have any advice and tips for me to help gain an audience and commissioners? Thank you and goodluck with your shop!

Hello again! Yes, I remember gosh thank you so much for enjoying my art! Also I'm always super happy to answer art stuff since I'm in love with it, but I will open with a disclaimer specifically for the growing audience bit cause for a long time I've primarily been an OC / original art artist and it wasn't till I became cripplingly obsessed with estimeric that I grew some semblance of a following so I'm a pretty small artist by most standards ;;; With that said, here are my tips and advice which I'll separate into 2 parts

Putting this under a read more cause it's LONG

Commissions (mostly about expectations, best practices, and organisation to make it easy on clients)

Have some kind of commission page (here's mine for example) to make it easy for your clients to be able to reference something and for you to direct new inquiries to. This can be anything from a website/carrd to even just a google doc/tumblr pg. Will there be clients who never read this? Absolutely. BUT it's also great for clients who are shy and/or who like coming prepared

Have a Terms of Service section!! In our current day and age of tech bros and assholes trying to exploit and scam creatives I cannot express enough how just having a TOS will deter these ppl! It shows you're serious and that you know what you're about, making you less of a target!

MOST IMPORTANT! Be kind to yourself!!! Opening commissions is exciting due to the prospect of making money from something you love and it can be very disappointing and demoralising when you don't get any! It's also a very "feast or famine" type of roller coaster, so don't feel bad if you don't get any, even super large artists struggle!

Building a following (from someone who's doesn't actually prioritise this so take it as you will!)

You've probably heard this before but fanart is definitely better at drawing a crowd than original art so I feel obligated to mention it. (I'm a pretty classic case study of this imo lol) And the reason for this is that there's already an established audience out there that loves the content you're making unlike original art where you're starting from ground zero. Does that mean you should give up making original art if you want followers? ABSOLUTELY NOT! And honestly most of my advise will be from the perspective of growing an audience via original art because you can apply the same principles to fanart so here we go!

Consistency is key. Being a constant presence on your existing followers' feed means having consistent chances for them to share/engage with a piece of your artwork, which means more chances for new eyes to see them which means more chances for followers etc etc. But what's the pace? Well that depends on how brutal you're interested in being with yourself unfortunately....if you die hard want to grow as fast as possible then once a day (i've seen some artist do more;;;) but it's something I would NOT recommend for all sorts of risks. (you can mitigate the risk ofc but that's like a whole thing in itself) I'd advice you to figure out a pace that works for you so that you maintain a healthy relationship with your art

Join events/zines/bandwagons. Whether it's things like drawtober, ffxiv art parties, or zines, engaging with community/communal activities (especially those with hashtags/promos) can help you engage with people who might not have found you otherwise. If you're a social person it's a great chance for you to make friends who have similar interests too! Making art related to a piece of media that just came out is also great way of engagement since people are probably looking for it (for example spidersonas or dressing OCs in outfits to watch the barbie movie)

Make it easy to find your art when someone visits your page. It doesn't necessarily have to be a full portfolio, but giving viewers a place to see only your art posts is crucial imo. Tumblr is great since it's tagging system is fantastic making this part easy but places like Twitter for example only have a single media tab; so making a thread for art post or keeping your media tab clean is ideal. (you've no idea have many artists i've chosen not to follow cause their media tab is 1 awesome piece of art then just 500 cursed memes/reaction images lol)

HARDEST BUT MOST IMPORTANT POINT! Make compelling art. I follow artists who post a piece of art maybe once every....I dunno 3 months if even that, but when they do they get thousands of notes, why? Because it is a compelling piece of art. Something that touches the heart or makes you gasp in awe or swoon from it's vision or die laughing. And this is the hardest point because what that looks like is completely unique to you. Basically it is your answer to the question of "Why do I make art?" which artists everywhere all around the world, regardless of genre or industry, are trying to answer themselves. The one thing you MUST REMEMBER while you try to figure this point out is that it must involve Love. That means loving the journey; the grueling failures, steep learning curves, and all, because if even you don't love what you're trying to create other won't either. And that's not to say you have to be happy about a piece of art not turning out right (I still cry from frustration myself all the time) but it does mean be kind to yourself when you fall so you can pick yourself up easier when you stand again

THAT WAS SUPER LONG WOW! With all that said tho those 1st 2 points for growing an audience is what I would recommend focusing on! The internet is all about engagement and you can't have that if there's nothing to engage with! Also because it just bears mentioning that sometimes it is just a skill thing and you just have to get better at drawing BUT that is not to say skillful=complex! Nonono take a look at webtoons like "My Giant Nerd Boyfriend" by fishball or "Sarah's Scribbles" by Sarah Andersen. Or illustrator's like loonpflug or mmeiccaa. It's not complex but it's some FKIN GOOD ART!

Ok I will stop my ranting here GOOD LUCK AND DON'T FORGET TO BE KIND TO YOURSELF!! You are more than how many numbers you make on the internet and I hope that you always remember that 💖

[solibrie]

fe3h musings, spoilers for basically All of it ir2 byleth

my problem is that i like byleth a LOT. like i think their backstory is sooo fuckin cool and i love how it justifies their stoic personality. like, YES, byleth is a player insert. but the justification for it in-universe is very cool to me!!! like!!! YES!!! the fantasy pope (who is also sort of our grandmother) did a heart transplant on a newborn using the heart of her dead mother which was in our dead mother's chest!

and because sothis was dormant, byleth was dormant too. all of their emotions were locked behind what byleth could never understand. and i just, i really like that. esp in verdant wind where byleth smiles the most after their powers awaken.

im a big fan of twin byleth au's—im always into male/female versions of protagonists being made into siblings, and fe3h in particular has a LOT of sibling relationships that are integral to the plot. take it one step further and apply it to the protag!!! fyleth is the one i usually let keep the crest of flames, while myleth (who i call ayel, short for yomayel since yomayel, byleth, and sitri r three demons typically depicted in a triad) is like, just a normal dude.

in my brain byleth is the same as canon (or at least has the same backstory) while ayel has the crest of seiros from jeralt. the twins having totally different crests and both of them being major crests def gets them a lot of attention from ppl in the academy and all but cements to rhea that these mercs are the kids from that night.

like i dunno obviously the byleth in my brain is fanon but i think silent protagonists/blank slate characters are SO interesting for what they imply in-fiction.

and to touch briefly on few3h i think shez managing to secure a seat at garreg mach (in the golden deer, ofc, since they're from leicester + commoners have an easier time getting into the school thru the alliance + Verdant Wind Is The Best) is SO funny in the three houses timeline. like i might start a wip for that, or at least use it for my starting point in my vw rewrite

shez's whole Thing (vessel for the agarthans) is conceptually very cool but i think could be executed a bit better. idk how shez factors into a twin au though, because shez having a sibling is more complicated since their whole thing is that they were Alone, while byleth always had jeralt so adding ayel to the mix doesn't drastically alter her character. probs would do nonbinary shez to just mix them both while fyleth and myleth are separated into two distinct characters.

i also struggle a LOT with ships in fe3h because of byleth being a professor... like i DO like claudeleth but ONLY post-ts... most fics spend a lot of time in pre-ts which suuucks though. if i ever go through with my vw rewrite i 100% would do byleth/gatekeeper LOL. i think gatekeeper is so fun. i also think ayel/jeritza would be funny from a standpoint of getting jeritza out of el/twsitd's clutches. claude/petra is one of my favie claude ships though. lorenz/claude is also really fun, one of the only "enemy" to lovers ships i really care about. and dmcl i dont care about really but i think its so funny that its so popular. like it makes sense (two popular male characters + the AM mission) but it's still so funny to me.

if the vw rewrite goes anywhere i think i would do:

byleth/gatekeeper (i would name him, naturally)

ayel/jeritza

claude/petra OR claude/lorenz (not both tho. it also depends, thematically. i lean either way a LOT of the time)

marianne/hilda. of COURSE

lysithea/cyril. i can't help it. they're so cute and cyril deserves nice things

raphael/bernadetta. i loooove their supports and their ending is so cute esp in terms of bernie's character development <3

lin/caspar... sorry for liking childhood friends. as if i can help it. also because i think lin is a character who would be so easily recruitable in-fiction due to a fixation on byleth+ayel's crests, and where lin goes caspar follows :)

on that note i am always so conflicted ir2 the faerghus four. like sylvix and dimigrid are funny bcos i think they'd all be so miserable. ingrid/dorothea is fun BUT ingrid's dedue supports sour me sooo much she doesn't deserve dorothea. but also ingrid actually being confronted for her racism by dorothea is so interesting conceptually PLUS dorothea wants to marry for money but falling for ingrid, who hails from poor land, is rly good + ingrid who is meant to marry to pass down her crest falling in love w a woman is also rly good.

plus i acknowledge my hypocrisy a bit ir2 hilda and ingrid. but i think hilda's cyril and claude supports are a lot more indicative of her being initially closeminded but willing to learn while ingrid uses her trauma as an excuse to be awful.

ferdinand's flayn supports are also kind of cute. i don't love a lot of flayn's supports but hers with ferdie are so like... classically adorable im kinda obsessed w them. it's also interesting from a narrative standpoint where seteth remembers the aegir family from forever ago and sees where they've wound up and how he would react to flayn's entanglement with aegir's descendant.

anyway i know ships arent everything obvi but supports are the lifeblood of fe so it's kinda important LOL and not all of these would even get that much attention but i like to think about the recruitment feature a lot!!! the BE in vw all seem SOOOO genuinely recruitable. even ferdinand!

anyways i have so many thoughts. sorry for thinking about fire emblem.