#officially making one of my new year's resolutions to interact with fics/ fic writers more and really let them know when i like their stuff

[maipreciation]

a comprehensive list of my WIPs hopefully to be worked on in 2021, sorted by priority.  had to add a read more because the list is embarrassingly long.  any snippets I’ve posted of these stories/ asks I’ve answered about them are also linked below!

fics that should’ve been finished, like, yesterday

watching you watching me ch 5: the final chapter of the zukka fic I started over the summer during what was probably the peak of the atla renaissance.  have I lost interest in this?  yeah, a little.  am I still gonna finish it?  absolutely.  x

the world laid out before you: second person pov highlighting some of the ladies of atla and impactful moments in their lives (including more detailed backstories I’ve made up for characters like song, jin, and smellerbee).  katara and azula’s sections are just about done, but I still have eight more people to write.  x

with every breath: an exploration of aang’s grief throughout the series in five parts (with maybe a bonus part 6 somewhere down the road).  one of those fics where I have such a strong idea of the vibe I want to convey that I’ve procrastinated actually writing it out of fear that I won’t be able to measure up to my own expectations. x x

fics I’m excited for (and will definitely work on) but not entirely sure where they’re going

the first five years: a series of moments from zuko’s early reign as firelord.  fifteen chapters planned and counting, probably won’t start posting until at least a few sections are done.  x

swallow this valley whole: exploration of azula, mai, and ty lee’s relationships with food, femininity, ambition, and power.  x

treacherous (i like it): mailee moments we did and didn’t see throughout the series from first meeting/ friendship to end of the war/ beginnings of a relationship.  x x

hanging in the balance: a bunch of unrelated potential aus about how the night of azulon’s death/ ursa’s disappearance/ ozai’s ascension to the throne could have gone.  x

vignettes: tiny moments in mai and zuko’s lives from the fountain incident when they were kids through adulthood/ old age

uncle: the impact uncles can have on their nieces and nephews- mai and the warden and zuko and iroh.  x x

three people: three people mai kisses, three she does not, and one she kisses again.  eventual maiko but with some diversions along the way.  x

mutually generative elements: zuko’s understanding of the elements grows far beyond anything iroh could’ve taught him.  begins at the western air temple and continues through the ember island players, though doesn’t rehash each episode- it’s more like moments that could’ve happened between zuko and members of the gaang as they slowly warm up to each other

like a sparrowhawk singing: season 2-ish timeframe?  early on their hunt for the avatar, mai and ty lee get separated from azula and run into the freedom fighters.  not knowing that these two formidable young women are fire nation, jet tries to recruit them.  mai and ty lee discuss loyalty, honor, obligation, and what freedom means to them.  eventual mailee?

love like a brother: ursa’s second pregnancy is a difficult one.  azula is born frighteningly premature- her lungs aren’t fully developed and ozai writes off her potential for firebending as nonexistent (he’s wrong ofc, he’s wrong about most things lmao).  greatly weakened from the birth, ursa falls ill and dies after months of struggle.  meanwhile azula survives against the odds and is mainly raised by her brother- resulting in an unshakable loyalty between them.  basically zuko still gets banished but this time has azula on his side- not with him physically but back in the fire nation playing the ‘perfect daughter’ to ozai’s face while working behind the scenes with mai and ty lee to help zuko (and eventually, once zuko switches sides, the avatar)

the last eight years: the story of zuko and mai’s relationship, told in the style of the musical ‘the last five years.’  (alternating povs, mai tells the story backwards- beginning with them breaking up after the war, zuko tells the story in order- beginning with them meeting for the first time as kids, with one scene in the middle where they overlap)

fics I already know I’m not gonna work on (but they’re going on the list anyway for the sake of completeness)

all night i’ll riot with you: just read this post.  I may actually end up writing this, who knows.

cardigan: modern au zukka, a coming of age/ rekindling of friendship type fic that just barely turns towards romance later on.  x

the tea shop: modern university au where iroh franchised the jasmine dragon and zuko, mai, and ty lee work at the location on their campus, make friends, struggle through their degrees, and also develop crushes on some of their frequent customers along the way lmao.  featuring zukka, tysuki and jetmai; past sukka, maiko, and (non-toxic) jetko.  takes place in what’s basically my fictionalized version of nanyang tech in singapore

roommates: modern au zukka where sokka has been in love with his oblivious roommate for years, only to realize in the end that he’s been the oblivious one this whole time.  cheesy and cliché, I wrote one funny scene where zuko says the phrase ‘compulsory heterosexuality’ and then got bored with the whole fic

being neighborly: yet another modern au zukka fic, this time with sokka and zuko living across the hall from each other at university.  sokka is a mechanical engineering major with a drawing minor, zuko is polisci with a dramatic arts minor.  nothing much happens

miscalculation: starts beginning of season 3 when azula and zuko return to the fire nation.  ozai somehow learns the avatar is still alive after azula claims zuko killed him in ba sing se, and this revelation causes him to re-evaluate his daughter’s loyalties.  ozai reveals his knowledge on the day of the eclipse and confronts his daughter; zuko saves azula from their father’s wrath and takes her with him when he leaves

in a strange land: tales of ba sing se- azula, mai, and ty lee edition.  featuring azula vs one very stubborn joo dee, mai’s solo adventure in the lower ring in which she chases a certain person in a blue spirit mask, and ty lee visiting ba sing se university’s libraries/ allusions to her great grandmother being an air nomad

lu ten lives/ vigilante cousins au: exactly what the title says- lu ten is secretly alive and goes with zuko on his banishment.  a lot of stuff happens but I’m pretty sure I’m never gonna actually write it out in full

[yellingaboutmasseffect]

7, 14, 20, 23?

7. You can undo three canon deaths in the series. Which ones do you pick, and why? What futures do you see for these characters in the version of canon where they lived?

Emily Wong- while I find the how they wrote her death compelling (gets caught up in the initial Reaper invasion and sacrifices herself to save others). The fact that this was done on TWITTER and not even something referenced in game is awful. I would have loved Emily Wong in Diana Allers’ role as the Normandy’s embedded news correspondent and it almost feels like that may have been the intention at one point. In my fic, I actually plan on keeping her death canon and having it be Khalisah who becomes the embedded correspondent but she opines that Emily was the natural reporter who should be here.

Nyreen Kandros- Nyreen because it’s more interesting if she lived and she and Aria actually have to deal with their unresolved issues. Also, I will unbury Bioware’s gays. I don’t fully know if Nyreen and Aria could truly be co-queens if Omega but even Nyreen and the Talons acting as a way to keep Aria honest about her promise to protect Omega and its people is a better resolution to her arc than her just dying. Also, I love Sumalee Montano, her voice actress a lot.

Gianna Parasini- my beloved. Okay she’s not dead by any official means but the fact she doesn’t show up in ME3 is a crime. She should show up as a war asset or have a quick mission where you uncover a Cerberus mole leaking information to them from Noveria that then nets you those resources for the crucible. I would trade Conrad Verner’s quest for that any day.

I feel Thane’s death absolutely should have been handled better to make more sense and given the weight of Mordin’s and Legion’s deaths. So far that’s the plan for my fic. Not saying that Thane living isn’t a valid choice too because as I would also prefer he live personally but as someone crafting a story that’s currently not in the cards for him 8/

14. Are there two squadmates you wish had been allowed to interact with each other more? How do you picture their interactions?

Going to cheat here and do two. Technically, Thane and Ashley/Kaidan do interact but the fact that THIS IS NEVER ELABORATED ON OR ASHLEY/KAIDAN DON'T GO TO HIS FUNERAL IS A CRIME.

Garrus and Thane I feel would get along really well stemming from a mutual admiration of each other’s skills. I also see Garrus’s brand of humor being a good match for Thane’s drier sense of humor. You do get Garrus’s line at Thane’s funeral where he calls him a friend and I wish we had ME3 style of Normandy where squad mates could wander the ship in ME2 because I could easily see the two of them having a few scenes together. Honestly just more ME2 era squad mates interacting

20. Is there a character you feel you're more invested in the idea of, rather than the way the character is actually written in the games?

This hurts me deeply but I feel like Ashley sort of falls in this category. I adore Ashley in ME1. I think she is one of the best written squadmates in that game and she asks questions that really let you flesh out who your Shepard is. Then ME3, her writer left after ME2 and it really shows. I recently found out that Kaidan has a scene where he plays poker at that card table, talks about how he trained a unit, etc but Ashley really doesn’t leave her area of the Normandy and has what feels like much less to say. I really do feel like I fill in a lot of the gaps with headcanons but I am very much attached to her and those headcanons

23. What's one piece of character or species lore that never made sense to you? How would you fix it?

Can I offer you my Krogan pre-genophage birth rates don’t make sense rant in this trying time. The stuff that EDI tells us about their birth rates are literally as if someone threw some scary numbers at the wall without thinking about how Krogans had to manage not to overpopulate Tuchanka before the Salarian intervened if each krogan female can apparently produce 1000 young in a year. It also flies in the face of what we see with longer lived species that exist in real life unless they are super preyed upon. While Tuchanka is dangerous, the Krogan were essentially the apex species so such high birth rates of 1000 young per year are wild! If each Krogan female could produce a clutch the equivalent to the size of a litter of puppies in a year that would also be incredibly prolific (and what I would go with) but I am sure whoever wrote that dialogue wanted a scary number to make you question the genophage cure but it always takes me out of the moment

[walkingshcdow-a]

Longtime follower, big time fan! I love your writing and I wanted to know what you would suggest or have any tips or recommend about how to start writing a book? I want to (and have a bit of an idea) but I don't know where to begin?? Thank you!!

I want to start this ask, first with thanks and then with a disclaimer. Firstly, thank you so much for following me and for reading/enjoying my stuff! I really appreciate it and it makes me feel very warm-and-fuzzy to know that someone on the other end of the internet reached out to me and thought highly enough of my writing to ask for advice. Secondly, I am a writing teacher. I teach high school creative writing and have degrees in English and Secondary English Education. I have written numerous short stories and one day hope to get a PhD in English or an MFA in creative writing. On the one hand, I am Supremely Qualified to answer your question. On the other, I’m... not. I am not a published author (yet) and most of my writing energy goes towards roleplay and fanfiction. The longest finished work I’ve created as an adult is my “Wooden Overcoats” fanfiction “The Greatest Undertaking”, which doesn’t “officially” crack novel length (50,000 words, give or take). When you say you seek advice on writing advice, I’m going to tell you something I’d never tell my students: you don’t have to take my advice. If something else works better for you (this part I do usually tell them), do that. I am not and no writer is the font of all writing knowledge. Anyone who says they are is trying to sell you something, usually, a book on how to write, written by an author you’ve never read or heard of. 

Okay, now that that’s out of the way... let’s talk about what helps me in hopes that some of it helps you!

Don’t be afraid to start. People will make you feel like your idea isn’t worth pursuing. Most of them are doing it on accident and would be horrified to know that their thoughtless comments are holding you back. For years, I did not write characters who had parents because when I was eleven, my mom read a fanfiction I wrote and the main character was critical of her parents and my mom asked me, “Is this how you feel?” If a circumstance hit too close to home, I didn’t write it even if my mom wasn’t going to read it. Thankfully, I’m past that. People won’t be the only thing that will hold you back. Time, fear of failure, impostor syndrome... all sorts of insidious things will give you excuses not to start. Do not let them win. 

Some form of pre-planning is extremely useful! It’s not necessary. Most of my short stories have never been outlined. I just sit at the keyboard and type until I have a short story and then I edit later. But for my longer stories, I find an outline keeps me organized and on track. Currently, I’m writing a story called “Catch and Release”. “Catch and Release” has two separate outlines (I kept the original, even though I scrapped at least half of it), both about five pages long. The outlines, for me, include character summaries (who is this character, what did they do in the last story- “The Greatest Undertaking” - that is relevant, what is their goal now, how do they perceive themselves/others, how do others perceive them, what other details are important), and chapter summaries with bullet-point lists of what plot points and emotional beats need to happen in each chapter. I did this in Google Docs because it means I can access it anywhere (and often do) and so I can use the strikethrough function to cross off plot points and emotional beats I’ve hit in writing. This keeps me on track when I take breaks from writing. I haven’t worked on the writing since a little over a week ago, since real life has picked up. I opened Chapter Nine the other day and was like, “Why did I start with Sid Marlowe?” I checked my outline and remembered exactly where I left off. It’s nice. I wasn’t as thorough with “The Greatest Undertaking” and there was a point where I took a month-long hiatus from working on it (I was teaching remotely from a different city because of the pandemic) and when I picked up “The Greatest Undertaking”, I thought to myself “What would have made writing easier for me?” Your outline doesn’t have to be as detailed as mine. It could be more detailed. Just create a guidebook for yourself in case you get stuck or have to take a break from your work. 

Speaking of preplanning... Brainstorm! Keep a list of your ideas for future fics/stories/etc. Write little plot summaries to refer to later. I like to you the “[Somebody] wanted [goal], but [obstacle], so [climax], then [ending].” model when I’m too busy to write a detailed summary. I’d also recommend looking at and utilizing traditional outlines, like Freytag’s pyramid or the “four-act structure” a professor suggested to me at a Shakespeare conference if you want to push back against traditional storytelling that allows for a longer focus on the resolution/consequences as the characters establish a new normal. Something. Anything to make you know what ideas you have and what shape they might take. Pictures can be helpful!

Even though preplanning is useful, don’t get married to your outline. If you love your outline too much, you might spend all your time working on it instead of the story or you might not give yourself the flexibility you need and deserve to write the story of your dreams. I realized when I was writing “Catch and Release” that I needed the latitude to add in a scene between Chapman and Calliope and to have Chapman and Antigone interact at least once in the series, since they didn’t in “The Greatest Undertaking”. I was able to edit the outline easily enough to add a whole chapter (Chapter Nine, which I’m working on). I might have to add up to three more chapters to hit all of my bullet points and I know my ending has changed from the first outline. That’s okay! As long as I keep writing and preserve the emotional beats, I’ll be content. Some people would hate this edit-as-you-go approach and insist upon sticking to the outline. If that works for you, great. But I’m not going to commit myself to subplots that don’t serve the narrative. 

Decide if you’re a plot-driven or character-driven writer (or, rather, if your piece is plot-driven or character-driven). I’ve put so much emphasis on outlining plot in this thing because I’m character-driven. I am constantly thinking about “but why are they like that?” and “What motivates character X? What is their payoff if they act?” I think in terms of character relationships. This is great! Super helpful! But when it comes to getting my characters do things... I need to outline a plot otherwise they will sit around and talk about their feelings for 30,000 words and nothing will happen. I compensate by making sure my characters have goals outside their intimate relationships, other interests/hobbies/struggles, and lots of things to do. In “Catch and Release”, I had to think of an event that would allow my characters to act out their feelings, rather than think about them privately. If you’re more plot-driven, you will need to make character outlines to keep track of why your characters are doing things that they do and to keep them somewhat consistent in how they behave. People in real life are sometimes inconsistent. In fiction, readers are more likely to notice “out of character” behavior... especially if it isn’t tied to an important motivator. You might need to make character arcs instead of a plot event list. And that’s okay! Do what you need to do to make sure that whether you’re plot- or character-driven, the two tie nicely together. 

Practice writing and read a lot. There are two ways to become a better writer. The first is my favorite: write a lot. In between short story projects and novella/novel-length fics, I write my RP characters here. I experiment with style and voice and character development here all the time. This is my “take a break from writing” writing corner, lol. It’s made me a lot better and the partners with whom I write make me better. It keeps me in continual practice with both story craft and mechanics. The second way to improve as a writer is to read a lot. I’m going to say something my colleagues would probably hate: watching TV and listening to podcasts counts as reading, too. Study how the author or writers craft the book/episode/movie you’re consuming. Look at the dialogue and plot structure. Imitate the parts you like, mix and match pieces of media, use one author’s style to tackle another’s subject material. Decide what you think is good writing and what you think isn’t. I’m having my students do an activity from the book called “No Plot? No Problem!” by Chris Baty, the founder of National Novel Writing Month. It asks writers to list all their favorite tropes, conventions, stylistic choices, etc. and all their least favorites and then to only include things they listed as favorites and to avoid writing about things they hate. Writing is a self-betterment activity, but you don’t get better by punishing yourself. You want to enjoy writing, right? Don’t “write what you know”. Write what you know, what you love, and what you want to know more about! Imitating writers you admire is a good thing for both original and fanfiction. Practice, practice, practice!

Set goals for yourself. I have an app called Habitica to help with my to-do lists. I have three things that are writing-related on it right now: “Respond to writing prompt” (habit), “Work on creative project” (daily), and “Finish Catch and Release” (singular event). On Habitica, you rank the level of ease for each thing. “Respond to writing prompt” is “easy”. It can be a prompt here, working on a chapter of “Catch and Release”, or doing a separate writing prompt. “Work on creative project” is “medium” and can be any of the above... plus outlining or another artistic expression, because sometimes I forget to branch out. I can’t check “Catch and Release” off my list until I finish the actual story and that’s ranked as “difficult”. I get a different amount of points for doing the things I need to do and I lose points for not doing them. I also (unofficially) have a goal that all of my chapters must be between 2000 and 5000 words. There’s no formal system for that one. Either way, these keep me motivated to keep writing. Find a system of accountability for yourself. Some people do well if they reward themselves (I don’t. There’s nothing I want enough to work for except things that have intrinsic rewards, like... I get to keep my job if I do my job. Telling me that is more motivating than telling me I’ll get ice cream for finishing my lesson plans. I can get ice cream even if I don’t. I’m an adult with a modest amount of disposable income or I’ll decide I don’t want ice cream. The only times I’ve done this self-denial tactic and seen results I also dehydrated and deprived myself of sleep. I do not recommend that in the slightest). Others thrive on working competitively against friends, the clock, or themselves. Still others accomplish their goals only by having external people hold them accountable. I will admit: I sometimes need a shove from a friend which is why...

Enlist friends to get opinions from. I have the world’s best group chat on Discord. All three of them are writing partners here and familiar with my fandom (”Wooden Overcoats” in this instance; though at least two of them are familiar with “Phantom of the Opera”/Susan Kay’s “Phantom” and I’ve forced the whole group to know about my original characters). Each of them has a different perspective so I can ask their thoughts and brainstorm with them, throw ideas at them, etc. or just ask them to make sure I’m writing once a week or so. I have other friends who know nothing about my fandom or my stories but who are willing to listen objectively to look for plot holes. And then I have friends who are content to know I’m writing and never ask for more info. Writing is such a solitary activity that it’s important to find support and community where you can! 

Believe in yourself. You can have all the support in the world, but you have to remind yourself that your story is worth telling and that no one can tell it quite like you can. Get writing!

I wish you the absolute best of luck on your writing endeavors! If you ever want to talk or follow up, I’d love to hear how it’s going! Take care!