#If I am going to be the sole artist for my rarepair - So be it.

[blackpeachy]

Almost...what, four years difference? Did i do a good enough job? I hope so!!! The boys were waiting their time to shine. ｡⁠.ﾟ⁠+Twitter｡⁠.ﾟ⁠+⁠ ⁠⟵⁠(⁠｡⁠･⁠ω⁠･⁠)

[heathtrash]

When you're working on TWW fanfic, how do you get like new inspiration or even just the motivation to keep going?

(p.s. thank you for keeping the fandom alive!!)

inspiration/ideas are something i almost never have a problem with. i come up with new scenarios for these gays almost constantly and it's everything in me to not just constantly begin new wips and crossovers and aus that have never been explored! and there's so much media to draw from with tww with all eight books, the shows, the movie, the spinoffs - idk but even like vanilla 2017 or 1998 stuff is always giving me life, maybe because i'm an insatiable multishipper with no chill and an adoration of rarepairs.

i also make sure i "read around" tww. i watch things or listen to audiobooks with a related genre or vibe, especially if i'm exploring au or want to go for a specific tone. keeping your brain active and making connections like this helps so much with inspiration and plot. it's like going on a silly little mental health walk, but instead of nature or whatever, you're opening your brain up to new possibilities. even something completely unrelated can spark something! it makes the worlds you write feel a bit richer as you're writing them.

motivation is something different, because i struggle with a lot of self-confidence in my own writing (lol, cptsd. i'm in therapy). comments on my works do really help with that. but these days people seem to feel weird about leaving comments on works that aren't like a week old??? bruh people still talk about books that are decades or centuries old. and we have some lovely people still in the fandom who are willing to read some of my work, and that is amazing to me!!

but of course, there are fics i've started that i am not sure will ever see the light of day because i feel like they're not good enough, or works that i've put up that very few people were interested in (rip to pippa university years my beloved. never escaped single digits on the kudos for 10k of fic). those embarrassments and failures hold me back so much because they confirm my own negative thoughts about my writing and make me not want to put my energy into this. i have a full plan of chapter 13 of a clock with no hands, but i keep giving myself imposter syndrome over my ability to write it well enough. idk. rationally, i know that the types of story i write are sometimes not what people want to read. i think it's important to talk about (please i am NOT fishing) because i'm sure there are many people who feel the same way. some people even look up to me as a writer?? but i cannot emphasise enough that it's a miracle that anything goes online with my mental health being how it is.

anyway, enough about me! mostly i try to think primarily of the fandom and what's best for us right now. that's why i'm running the drabble exchange, which i think will be a really fun way to get little sparks of inspiration going for everyone, as well as hopefully providing a chance for new writers to dip their toe into whatever ship they like! please sign up to join in - this is the last weekend before i close sign-ups!

i'm certainly not solely responsible for keeping the fandom alive though!!! there are some incredible artists who are doing a much better job of that than me with the recent influx of art - as well as all those who are writing new fics that are providing after the slump we had with the conclusion of the 2017 series. it was really hard to recover the fandom after s3, and i know i've had a small part to play in that with the twitter group chat evolving into reviving the discord. but i couldn't have done any of that if no one else was around to join in!

(also side note - general invitation extended to anyone who wants to join the discord!)

[fiendishfyre]

Artists/Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics/artworks that you've made, then pass on to at least five other writers/artists. Let’s spread the self-love! ❤️

This is a tough one, cuz I don't think I like my stuff enough but I'll try! 1) I like this james and sirius artwork I did here. James nose is cute and that's my fav part! 2) I like this Sirius Black I drew because he looks actually decent and like a guy (I am not the best at drawing guys) Even his face looks good! Here. 3) My deerhunter (Orion/James, OJ, OrangeJuice XD) fic! It's such a rarepair but I am proud of it and just happy I wrote it even if it's only for a very small, niche audience, I can enjoy it for myself. Here. 4) My Snack/Snirius fic! I love that ship so much, even if lately I haven't been on the biggest Sev brainrot. Sirius dethroned him (for now, I go back and forth) but this ship is gold and I liked the fic I wrote of it, soulmates au, they weren't too pleased with being soulmates. Hahhahaa. Here. 5) This Blackcest/Starcest fic with orion/Regulus/Sirius solely because I got myself to write an ot3 which I hate cuz too many limbs. Ugh. Here. Thank you for this! Loving what you make is tough. I am finding that picking bits helps, maybe you don't like the whole thing but there are aspects that you can feel good about and that's worth it.

[brewing-radianite]

I just discovered you and i think im in love please bless us with more brim/sage/viper content m’lady.(i thought i was the only one who shipped this before i found you)

firstly, anon, you keep talking to me like that and i might start blushing... i might even kiss you 😳

secondly, i'm so glad you like the ship! i know sage/viper is like... decently popular? mid-popular fandom wise? like it isnt as big as say, reyge or nanobomb, but people have heard of it. brim/viper was actually introduced to me by @/ninadrawsstuff and @/silver-s-blog. sooo then my brain was like, "well, if you like sage/viper and you like brim/viper, and you already see sage and brim as the parents of the protocol, it only makes sense to put them together!" and thus, my first ot3 of valorant began. i dont have an official name or clever title for them; i just refer to them as the Tired Parent Trio. (if you have any better suggestions, by all means, feel free to use them though!)

more under the tag

in terms of content, this is like, genuinely one of my favorite and most consistent ships. each character is so interesting to me individually and their dynamics are awesome. i have a few more brim/sage/viper wips in my google docs (coincidentally, i was just working on one last night)!

i had thought about doing something multi-chaptered about them first falling in love or smth but idk. you should make content for yourself but the ship isnt popular and i also dont want to write like 20k+ words for like, maybe 5 people to end up liking it at most. maybe after i wrap up the current multi-chapter ones i have with the exception of my latest work, i may just. it's a ship brain rot and if i want content for a rarepair (raretrio?) i have to take matters into my own hands! and i definitely want to see more of them.

my only current ot3 work is, "Setting the Guidelines," which highlights their relationship and clashes with the, "no fraternization," rule. i am working on the 2nd chapter now. it was meant to be finished a month ago, but time got away from me and then i caught writer's block on it. i had over 2k words written for the 2nd chapter but it just... didn't feel right. i wasnt vibing with it. im doing it from scratch rn and hopefully making it smth better. here's a snippet of what i plan on using for its summary/teaser/advertising excerpt though:

"Haven has a unique beauty to it, all things considered.

Lush, lively green grass to crunch underneath the soles of boots and sneakers, ever-blooming branches of vibrant blossoms and leaves dangling overhead like mistletoe. Even with the abandoned, time-worn, and war-worn buildings set before backdrops of sizzling flames, peppery black smoke, and towering radianite that’d caused all this damage to begin with, nature still flourishes. Never stops for anyone. In a way, it was calming to see that no matter the damage men cause, the world will still keep breathing one way or another. 

Between the plants, buildings of crumbling debris and forgotten graffitis plastered on the walls sat still. Muted pinks and purples, silenced yellows, sullen blues from where an artist who had once seen a vision was forced to leave it all behind. They had soul, but no life anymore. Where the crisp air would refresh the mind and body at a time like this, only the tainted smell of smoke burns in the lungs and elicits a small, searing cough from the chest. Fallen specks of stone and cinder are crushed beneath their shoes as the team traverses onto each site; two on A, one on B, two on C, just as they’d planned. Just as they’d recited, and written, and marked up on the board in the debrief. Just as Brimstone had reminded them over their earpieces once they’d arrived and began to disperse into their established places. Things were easy when kept to simple plans, down to a T. 

They weren’t so easy anymore when plans went wrong.

 Brimstone hadn’t accounted for how much room he left for things to go wrong."

and i shall leave you with that! thank you for your ask and thank you for your hype for this ship! if you ever want like headcanons or smth on them, i'd be happy to provide those as well :)

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

Hi, I might be off base but I really like your fics and you give straight up answers to people, so I would like your take: What is the role of mediocre non-rarepair/non-Z.utara writers in ATLA fandom? (Not saying you are! I am, and I would like some clarity). I write sukka, kataang, and sometimes maiko. None of my stories really have impact. People read them i guess because they're there. I don't get on rec list. People don't do art of my stories. People don't beg me to update. (1/3)

firstly, im glad you like my fics! 💛

and now into the more serious parts of your ask.

my thoughts on the role of non-z.utara/non-rarepair writers (or pro-canon writers i guess we might call them?) are pretty simple: they are of the utmost importance. the richness of fandom is most apparent in its diversity, when you have a million different types of fics and authors and so much more that people can jump into and out of whatever, whenever they want. fandom needs all of its writers, regardless of what pairing (or lack thereof!) they're writing about. the atla fandom would be nowhere without it's canon and fanon lovers, plain and simple.

i understand your frustration. i have been on a rec list once for an mcu fic and nothing more. i've had fanart for one of my fics - one of my least popular ones, ironically - and i've only had one or two (but very lovely!) anons asking me about my wips (without me having sparked the discussion myself). it can absolutely be frustrating when you put your heart and soul into your work and sometimes it just doesn't get as much notice. your feelings are completely valid, and i think it's good you're addressing them (for me, personally, it is near-impossible to write when im holding a lot of frustration close to my chest; this may or may not be true for you, too, but either way it's always good to process emotions). sometimes you just gotta keep your chin up. simple, yes, but much easier said than done. and yet we persevere. i promise you, people don't just read your fics solely because they're there. people read them because they are interested in the stories you have to tell.

that person was definitely... callous. now, i don't think they would read your fic just because of a regular updating schedule (i've opened some fics that update regularly and realize it's not my cup of tea, so i leave and definitely don't go back even if they are updating weekly). the fact that they are coming back every week is a sign they're enjoying what you're putting out there! again, i think they did a pretty piss-poor job of wording it and your reaction is completely understandable (and i do not at all fault you for it), but i really do think the fact that they're continuing to read your fic is a good sign. they can claim it's your update schedule, but they must have a deeper emotional investment to your fic to keep coming back.

also, having a regular updating schedule is incredible. i know i sure as hell don't have one (except with one fic and that's bc it's already written lmao). so you should be proud of that, anon!

yes, i know, fandom tastes can be frustrating. it's true that beggars can't be choosers a lot of the time when it comes to rarepairs, and the absurd amount of attention that... well, basic z.utara fics often get compared to painstakingly researched moderately-popular pairings/relationships also drives me up the wall ("make out over a ham sandwich" is a hilarious example, btw, thank you for sharing it). sometimes you just gotta take a step back and think - hey. i cannot control fandom tastes. i cannot control what fandom likes and dislikes. all i can do is produce content i enjoy, and there are people like me who will eventually find my content and enjoy it, too.

anon, you're not a placeholder. and even if you were, aren't we all? aren't we all digging our own niche, holding our own place in a massive fandom? some people get luckier than others. that's how it works. people get lucky because they ship a juggernaut ship and they write a popular trope and boom - the fic may be a phenomenal piece of work or it may not be - 10k hits, 3000 kudos, 200 comments. it's luck! it really is.

my main advice is this: fanfiction is for you. it's for you to share. for you to connect with. for you to give to people who enjoy the same dynamics as you do. it should be fun! this isn't to say it won't get frustrating, especially because human instinct is to compare ourselves to others, but at the end of the day you should be writing fic (primarily) because you love doing it. and i promise you, anon, they are people who adore your fics and sit on the edge of their seat waiting for you to update. i promise. there are. i got a comment on chapter 20-something of one of my fics where they said they'd been reading since the beginning and absolutely loved my story but had been too nervous to comment. i have no doubt you have readers like that, too. and find your people, anon! i've enjoyed atla from the beginning, but recently i've made so many new friends who enjoy the same things i do (e.g. certain canon pairings) and we're able to gush over it with each other even when our comment sections are a little lackluster. fandom becomes much more enjoyable once you have a few people to freak out with.

in a more general sense, it's always okay to take a break from fic and writing if you need it, and im pretty sure you can turn off viewing story kudos and stuff on ao3 as well if you need a visual disconnect from that side of fandom.

i wish i had more advice or a perfect solution, but all i can tell you is to keep going. your work matters - it matters to you, it matters to your readers, and it matters to fandom as a whole. we are all wooden jenga blocks in a very, very precarious pile, and if even one person leaves, fandom collapses. we need every author, every artist, every consumer. and that includes you, anon. i hope that whatever you do, you continue to create in the manner that best fits you 💛