#also I have a different zine idea cooking in my brain

[who-is-page]

It's so awesome to see someone wanting to do a directory of alterhumans who are into magic / spirituality / the occult / etc.

It made me think about all the folks I've spoken to or heard of who have these incredibly unique practices that are directly influenced by their alterhumanity. From folks who specifically recreate magical practices from the home of their fictomere, to archetropers who embody their tropetypes as a part of their spiritual practice, to alterhumans who venerate gods from totally different universes/realities/etc. (shoutout to all my Hircine worshippers out there), to otherkin and therians who talk about the important religions and cultural histories of their 'types and have that as a focal point in their spirituality... There are so many hundreds of wildly interesting lives that folks are fearlessly carving out for themselves in the way that fits and feels best, whether that's creating something brand-new from the ground-up or building off of pre-existing notions in fantastical ways in regards to their spiritual and magical practices and thoughts, and it's so goddamn cool and inspirational.

I wish there was a collection or zine of folks just talking about this.

[aughtpunk]

oo for the high qna! how many funfacts have you learned while doing research for your fics/personal stories? also do you have any scrapped ideas/concepts that didnt end up making it into the final cut of some of your stories for whatever reason? love ur work btw!

Oh gosh there's been so many things

I actually went to a gun range and learned how to shoot a gun for the sake of my writing.

I learned how to cook Korean Army Stew for a zine that never got published and now that's become my ultimate "it's cold and I feel horrible" meal during the bad months

I ate so many baked apples for my one Zelda fic and now I'm eating cinnamon rolls for the Heket POV

I have a certificate in Horticulture and I got to brush up on those old skills for my Leshycat fic so I could figure out how to unfuck the farmland

And oh boy did I put in a ton of research for the Kallamar POV fic. I had to research what the first microscopes were like, how penicillin was actually produced, how the first vaccines were done, like I did so much research that didn't even get into the fic at the end.

There's probably more stuff I've done for the sake of writing but that's all I can think of with my wiggle brain.

Scrapped content is rare for me because I am a big believer in recycling. A lot of stuff that gets cut out will end up in another story eventually. But I got a couple of things I've removed from stores.

For the fic Notes in a Line I had planned an entire laser gun battle at the convention Hana and Sombra meet at. It was going to be a massive battle between the Overwatch agents at the convention and end with Sombra and Hana at a standstill, guns pointed right at each other, neither of them willing to take the shot. It got cut after my four year hiatus because fuck I'm not writing that for a series I'm not really into anymore

Swords into Plowshares originally had Leshy and Lemmy bonding in a different way. Lemmy was going to find out that Leshy could identify any plant by eating it and Lemmy would just keep bringing Leshy more and more flowers to eat and identify. Then the sex update came out and I decided I liked them bonding over teaching and drinks better

Okay you know that scene in PNN where The Lamb brings out the record player for Shaun? My original plans had Kallamar showing up and him and Shaun awkwardly dancing together. It would turn out that Kallamar can't dance well (too many tendrils) and Shaun never learned so it ends up a complete disaster. It got cut because it messed up the pacing of the chapter. Sorry, no lamb and squid dancing.

[magnolia-sunrise]

raises my hand i have a quastion: how do your other interests affect/influence your ocs and storytelling?? :0 (also i hope the next month is much kinder to you!!)

waaaa wow thank you for a very interesting question as well as the well wishes <3 its been just kind of a sludge of bad times in our household but hopefully spring will bring better days soon!!

and i would say these days i let myself get influenced by my interests A LOT and its really fun :D i think outside of art my main interest is in films, books and experimental theatre and especially horror genre. i try to purposefully surround myself by interesting and different ideas and art because so often it inspires me with my own stories or characters. like buying random art books and zines, getting into comics and manga that people mention or recommend, going out to see the new indie movie whenever i can, following people who are so passionate about their own craft and stories that it makes me more passionate too. i think admitting to those influences and letting them clearly show is a form of expression and communication as well, like look reading all of Steel Ball Run deeply rewired my brain and im very happy about that and im happy to let my JJBA inspirations show!! or that time i travelled to see Hozier in the summer and the live performance of Eat Your Young was soooooo much, when i got home i had to paint that one vibrant pink and blue piece directly taking from the stage design of that tour!

for example Wolfgang was borne out of my frustration with mainstream android / robot media of the time (Westworld, Detroit Become Human, Blade Runner 2049) but also the history of the robot genre and its lack of accounting for transness in general, as well as my interest in neonoir genre and crime fiction/ detective archetypes and characters who don't fit into those archetypes neatly (thinking Twin Peaks and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). and then so much about how they present has come from my interest in high fashion. and many parts of their story and personality are influenced by music in some way or another as well, and their world has grown bigger feeding on different and newer inspirations etc etc

i'm not a writer primarily, and so i feel like developing characters and worldbuilding sometimes doesn't come easy to me or it's just kind of piece by piece of random arrangements so i try to open my mind to this strange organic process of letting things inspire and influence me and see how it affects what's cooking and rotating inside

i also always think of how Berserk so clearly started out influenced by predecessors and contemporaries like Fist of the North Star, JJBA, Rose of Versailles and Hellraiser and has become this absolute monument that has influenced so many other artists and creators. and if you're familiar with those other works, how interesting it is to read it and recognize the influences. it's like it's own type of language in a way, it's almost like you get to know a little bit more about the artist too if that makes sense