#I've had a band au planned for a while but it got scrapped a few months back

[zombified-hoglin]

In a soft mood this morning

Sure Etho knows that Xisuma can play a couple different instruments, he's seen him play at the occasional late night hangout with the other hermits when Ren or another musician decided that they needed a background tune

But there's something different about Xisuma playing in front of him only for him

It's not quite a serenade but it feels that way, they're at Xisuma's base talking about minigames when the topic of instruments comes up somehow and Xisuma offers to play for him

Etho doesn't recognize the song but likes it all the same, it's nice, it's a soft song that he wouldn't be surprised if it was some sort of love song

He's right about it being a love song but he wasn't expecting it to be written for him

[momochizoey]

Thank you for tagging me @celinou !!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 

I've got 12 on my AO3! 9 ATLA/TLOK fics, and 3 Wednesday fics.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 

46,759 words in total! Most of it is one shots so that tracks tbh, though I'm actually pretty impressed with how much that actually is, especially cause it doesn't count how much I've written for WIPs.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? 

#1) Scrapped Scenes, a Wenclair fic, at 1,632 kudos (which is frankly insane, I hadn't realized it got that much)

#2) Crying Wolf, another Wenclair fic, at 759 kudos

#3) And Iphigenia Felt Rage, a Yuezula fic, at 225 kudos

#4) The Future Looks Brighter Together, a Sokkla fic, at 163 kudos

And at #5) Yours In Body And Soul, another Sokkla fic, at 154 kudos

I'm not surprised the two Wenclair fics are on top by such a wide margin, I wrote those when the show had only just come out so the fandom was at its peak. Very glad that many people liked what I wrote though! Since most of the other fandoms I've written for (on ao3 or here) are a lot less active, it was a new experience!

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? 

I usually do, but I do have to admit I've been struggling a bit with it recently 😅. I read them all, and I'm so grateful for them, but especially on fics that I had huge plans for still, and which are in no way close to progressing, I have this feeling like I should have a new chapter to offer when I do answer them. I'm blaming it on my social anxiety 😬

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Ooh, that's a hard one cause I definitely tend to go in a more fluffy, feel-good direction. But I'd have to say it's Keep Your Fire On A Leash (Let The Ashes Bring You Peace). It's a June/Azula oneshot, mainly focused on Azula dealing with the pyromania she developed in captivity (as a need to reclaim complete control over at least this aspect of her life). She tries to manage it a little by working in pottery, where continuous, constant temperature control is crucial to porcelain quality, but it's not perfect. It's not angsty per-se, but it's definitely more ambiguously neutral.

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

Oooh, I'd say it's a toss up between two of my fics:

The first is Not Alone, a TyZula band AU fic about Azula recovering from bottom surgery. I wrote it while I myself was still recovering from bottom surgery, and I wanted to explore a facet of trans characters journeys that isn't often discussed? It's a bit more niche, and I only recently made it open to anyone, not just ao3 users, so it's one of my less popular fics for sure, but it's very hopeful portrayal of a trans experience.

And the second is Yours In Body And Soul, a Sokkla soulmates AU, where soulmates bodyswap at night when either of them has had a bad day, in order to try to cheer them up. I got the idea from a korrasami fic called Paralyzed I read a while back, and changed the mechanics a little bit to make it work. It's definitely a more traditional happy ending, romantic getting together included (up to a point, they are still kids in the timeline so just an excited hug).

8. Do you get hate on fics? 

I don't! Sometimes people disagree on one interpretation of something, but never disrespectful or anything, so I'm pretty happy!

9. Do you write smut? 

I've tried it before in private, got some good feedback. But no, never anything that I'd share.

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

I'm not sure if ATLA/TLOK counts😂. I've had some ideas for crossovers though, and written a few draft snippets, I think it was a TLT/ATLA one, an ATLA/Shang-Chi, and a Naruto/ATLA one that I've actually posted a few snippets from on here if I remember correctly.

That last one was a Sakura reincarnated into Azula idea, to explore some interesting anti-imperialist ideals, because that's actually a blind spot Sakura has as well with Konoha. It's easy for her to fall into the same ideological fallacies as before, especially with the significantly lower usage of child soldiers in the Fire Nation making it seem like the epitome of peace and human rights to her. Like looking at the same problem in a different font, at a slightly different angle, it gives Sakura an opportunity for growth by maybe showing her some of the issues she had been ignoring or missing in Konoha, shaking some of her loyalty.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? 

Nope, not as far as I'm aware!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? 

Also nope, theoretically I could translate it in Dutch, but I'm a lot better at expressing myself in English I think, and almost every Dutch person can read English (especially on ao3), so I don't think it would add much. Maybe one day though!

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

I haven't, though it seems like it'd be very cool, I'd definitely be open to it!

14. What's your all time favorite ship? 

God, don't make me choose 😭😭 I guess it's probably Chasefield? I'm such a sucker for those two it's unreal. Otherwise maybe Yuezula, Maizula or Sokkla? They each have such interesting possible dynamics, in such varying ways.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? 

Again, that's a tough one cause I'm afraid I have a lot. I still have several half-written chapters of Getting Family Approval In Six Fool-Proof Steps (Cue The Fools, Sokka And Azula), as well as the start of a longer fic that continues on from And Iphigenia Felt Rage that I've fully outlined and would love to write someday but can't be sure I ever will. There's also Indelible Mark which I've been blocked on forever. As for WIPs that haven't even been partially published yet, I've got 11k for a Chasefield fic I've posted a scene or two for on here called Muse on My Mind, that I wish I could finish but I'm not confident I can manage any time soon. I've also got the start and the outline of a TLT griddlehark fic, where I'm absolutely in love with the premise and the twist I'm building it on, but which, again, I've not progressed much with in a good 6 months. There's a few others, but these are the ones I'd really like to finish at some point.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? 

I love reading it, writing it I could do Dutch or Google translate a different language, but much preferably I'd be able to check it with someone who actually speaks the language for accuracy. Best to use some of the more advanced ao3 html uses to make a translation appear when you hover over it though, unless not understanding it is an important part of the reading experience, in which case people can look it up later if they want to.

19. First fandom you wrote for? 

My very first fic was actually a The 100 song fic based on an opera song, which is too embarrassing so I won't share where it is🤐 I was like 17 so it's too embarrassing.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Tbh, it's either Muse on My Mind (the chasefield fic I mentioned that isn't posted anywhere except for 1 or 2 scenes on Tumblr), which is super fun because it's playing with the perspective of a character that just straight up doesn't understand half the plot happening in the background that is hinted at for the reader who does know. Oblivious characters too caught up in their own shit to pay attention are so so so much fun to write, especially when you have fun with it, implying things but never outright confirming it!

Otherwise it's Haunted By Runaway Ghosts. That one is a Sokkla fic that explores their past through flashbacks while Zuko and Katara are both grappling with the discovery of their niece and nephew they had no idea existed (or could exist). Which, not to brag, but from a technical standpoint I really think that one is probably one of the most skilled fics I've written and published, and it was so much fun to write and puzzle it all together; the slow build up and explanations slowly coming together to form the bigger picture, the hidden ties between locations in the show and events in the story and how they fit into each other perfectly - genuinely a joy to write (and if people are interested in reading it please do, imo it's on par with And Iphigenia Felt Rage, if in a pretty different style, definitely something I'd love for more people to enjoy the way I did writing it).

Thanks again for tagging me @celinou, this was very fun to do! I see you've already tagged @sourrind, who I'd have tagged as well, so next I'll tag @dawnsiren @ly0nstea and @likeadragonfruit , and of course whoever else wants to do it!

[drnucleus]

Since I'm planning to spend my night re-reading BH, I thought I could send you a couple of questions right away. I'd like to know if there is a certain process of creating a playlist that you adopted for this fic. I use Spotify to listen to it while reading each chapter and I've got to tell you, your choice of songs hits me at all the right spots.😂 Your incredible attention to detail makes the story come to life and it's so vivid that it catches me by surprise.

Hi love, these are great questions!

So I’m a bit of a music nerd. My first bachelors degree is in journalism yes specifically media analysis and criticism and I minored in photojournalism and music history. I had at the time in my naive early twenties wanted to be a music journalist. However in journalism you don’t get to write soft news until you’ve paid your dues with the hard news. And tbh I hate investigative journalism. I hated doing it. And I hated my life of living off of meager freelance fees.

Which is why I turned to science and voila here I am in graduate school.

I grew up playing violin, piano, and singing so music has been a HUGE part of my life. I always wanted to learn the cello and am super jelly that my real life bestie is proficient in the instrument.

(Which all this musician talk makes me want to write a Mozart in the Jungle AU - excellent show on Amazon Prime if you haven’t seen it).

What comes first is the outline for the chapter. I have a rough scene by scene outline for all 30 planned chapters of BH currently. It’s sitting open on my desktop right now as I type this and think about how I want to execute ch 15. Once I know what emotional beats I want to hit in the fic then it’s time to design the chapter playlist. I have an expansive music library on my itunes that is ever growing.

Legit that is a screenshot of my itunes library content. I’m a slut for scores, and have the ENTIRE score layout for each SW movie, including a playlist that has each song in order of appearance from ep 1-8 including rogue one. I need to download the Solo OST next.

I scroll through my library, knowing certain bands will probably have a song I’m interested in for a particular chapter. I usually go by title first and listen, while the lyrics are pulled up on my google chrome. If it fits a particular scene, feeling or tone I want to strike it gets put into a playlist usually with the chapter number associated with the abbreviated title.

I do this until I have at least one song per scene selected usually 1-5 songs. Then I arrange them in scene order and listen through the playlist a couple of times to get the flow of it. 

Song selection for me is important, lyrics, plus tone/tempo, and overall feeling I get when I’m listening is the true magic of how I select the playlists. 

For instance on chapter 15 the song Slow Hands by Interpol has been in my head since the beginning of writing BH. Even in the planning stages that song was there particularly because of this lyric that teases ya’ll a bit for what’s happening...

I submit my incentive is romance...

Little things like this can really spark interest in a song for me for going on the playlist. Other songs like Two Week by FKA Twigs is going to be seen a few times throughout BH because for me it is the quintessential BDSM scene song for them. Other songs like God is a Woman by Ariana Grande are not only chapter specific but story specific. Because indeed when they’re done he’ll believe God is a woman.

I’m really glad you’re loving the playlist on spotify and I keep adding to it on there. It’s crazy. There’s so many songs that encompass the Reylo dynamic and also embody this particular fic for me. 

But to answer your question in a tl;dr is that yes there’s a specific process, and each song is carefully selected to evoke particular mood or tone or align with the characterization or plot development in each chapter. It’s gotten to the point where I do the following in order:

1. Flesh out the Outline of the chapter  - usually with extensive discussion with @27vampyresinhermind and @nite0wl29 about ideas and their thoughts on the matter.

2. Playlist creation - usually a few hours here or there where I sit down and scrolllllllll through my library, and also my reylo playlist which has everything you see on spotify to find the songs that I’m looking for in particular.

3. Moodboard creation - in canva

4. Writing time. Often this means writing, hating it and scrapping it. Or rewriting or fleshing out bad sections. A lot of frustration goes on in here but once I get into the writing groove a 12k chapter like ch 14 took me approximately 4hrs to write - when I finally stopped procrastinating and sat down and did it. I write really well really late at night when no one is awake. I don’t know why but it seems to work for me.

Anyways that’s the general process of playlist selection going into the writing process! Thanks for the ask my dear!