#and i haven't written a lot of angst in general... also the scene just came to me

[just-another-wren]

The twins from No Fun in Fungus in cabin 1 offer binoculars!

HA, looks like there was something on them! You’ve got blue marks on your eyes! Funny, right?

…..Right?

Something is laughing, at least.

@tmnt-fandom-family-reunion

Casey Junior seems a little skeptical... "I don't see why I would need binoculars... but okay?"

He looks through the binoculars for a moment, then flinches away, feeling the odd substance on the rims. He reaches up with one hand, rubbing a bit of the blue off on his fingers. He cracks a half-smile, huffing a laugh.

Wait for it...

"Oh- I see what you did there, nice one." He hands back the binoculars, waving as you walk away. Before he can wipe the rest of it off, though- he jolts.

The burning feeling, the looks of fear, the near failure...

It all comes back at once, and Junior drops to his knees, realizing what's happening. His breathing is heavy, but he manages to pull his phone out of his pocket and call someone.

"Junior? I'm a little busy right now- are you okay?" Mikey’s voice rings out.

"The- stupid spores bullshit... help," CJ manages to spout, desperately trying to wipe the spores off from around his eyes- he hisses, some of it actually getting in his eyes.

Mikey pops in out of nowhere- his Mikey. He reaches for CJ, and he crawls backwards a little as Mikey shatters to light again in front of him. "No, no no no..."

"It's me- I'm here."

Junior shakes his head, snapping back to reality. Mikey’s kneeling in front of him, a mystic bubble containing any and all fear spores in his hand. "You back with me, Case?"

He tears up, locking Mikey in a hug. He hugs back, letting the spores-bubble just float nearby. Space Tour Leon and their Donnie could wait, he's sure...

[scrunglepaws]

Tried to fit all my fic ideas on one page, but I still forgot some because they're like... scrawled on random pieces of paper all over my house/in different notebooks/ect. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I tried!

The little branchy-offy things are prequels/sequels of that particular series. Bleeped out things I thought might be spoiler-y to ongoing series. Things with * are super WIP-y titles because I dunno what to call them.

More ramblings under the cut! (Nothing spoilery for the ongoing series; just vague things!)

No Heroes Zone // - I have a lot more generalized worldbuilding, character notes, ect than actual stories. The story ideas are mostly vague/short... Though, I suppose I could stand to write some super short fics. - The exception is an angsty sonighty fic that's basically done, but I just have to fill in all the inbetween, connecty bits. And decide how sonighty-y I really want to go with it. That ship came outta nowhere, I tell ya. - NHZ is really mostly Tails (and Metal) angst, tho. The other day I was thinking about how he tries to latch onto Shadow and even Metal in the absence of having Sonic and was like "Wow, Tails, clingy much? What are you, Nine???" then I felt really bad. T-T; He just misses his brother...!

Kaleidoscope // - The name of this fic is based on an art piece I've been wanting to do for forever: A kaleidoscope of Tails/Nine/Mangey, looking at each other and seeing them each from their own perspective. Because that's the theme of the whole story, funky scifi weirdness aside. But uh, 1) didn't have a decent digital art program for a bit and 2) I'm not good enough at drawing the subtle differences in their appearances to really make it hit how I wanted. Also 3) Tails looks basically the same to all three of them, lmao. - "Mangey Remembers" is Mangey's backstory and "Loneliness*" is... Less of a backstory for Nine, more of a brief showcase of his character in general. Because we already know Nine's whole deal from canon. Same reason Tails doesn't have a backstory- he's supposed to be canon Tails. - "Starless Sky" and "Ruination*" are both poteeeential sequels, but I'm not set on doing them. Ruination would just be a short, noncanon "what if?" bad ending for the heck of it.

Someplace AU (Aquarius) // - Also halfway calling it Aquarius for now because I ended up continuing the first part of the story under that fic name.

- It was originally more focused on Sails, hence Someplace being a play on No Place. But now it's about equally Kit and Sails. I ended up getting SO MANY effing ideas for these dudes, man. ;w;

- "Hollow Existence*" isn't a specific story, but just a sprinkling of scenes/backstory bits that detail why Kit is the way he is. Mostly his relationship with Surge growing up.

- "Sails' Tales" is likewise a collection of random Sails backstory bits. I have a lot more specific/fleshed out things for him, though. BUDDY, did I have fun with the No Place lore. Also, his relationships with Catfish and Black Rose are so cute... ;A;

- The bits to the right are basically going to be chapters in Aquarius. They're vague enough not to be spoilery (other than the blipped ones...)

- "=D?" is a sequel that I'm very excited about. Probably shouldn't say much beyond that.

Everything Else // - CaveTails is a Journey to the Center of the Earth-esque silly, silly thing. That could maybe become a bit more serious? BAsically, I was thinking "Huh, kind of weird that my main kittails fic is with Sails. That'd be funny if I did ones with Nine and Mangey, too. Just for the lulz. Especially the Mangey one." This is the Mangey one. xD Except he's sort of like... Tails AND Mangey at the same time, character-wise? So? :? Also, potentially some wholesome Sonic+Tails moments because I weirdly haven't written any of those yet.

- "Kids" is just a continuation of that goofy Tails Doll+Cream oneshot. Just small ideas for another chapter or two. Cute friendship, fluff, and lots of comfort to make up for the hurt in the first chapter. :3;;

- "Alien*" is what it says on the tin. I have a couple different ideas for how it could go. One of them boots out Silver entirely and had Metal in his place. xD But I might have enough material to write an alien Silver AND alien Metal fic. We'll see whenever I get around to it. :3

- "Nine's Shadow*" is something I've wanted to write ever since I made that joke oc, Stales the Fox aka Zombie Tails variant from the Grim. Probably just a oneshot (or a few short chapters) fic that mostly focuses on Nine being "all alone" after the ending of Sonic Prime.

- "Why is Babies?*" is the second idea I had for a fic. It's just Shadow being awkward and not knowing how to look after a chunk of the main cast that are suddenly tots for unknown reasons. It's very lighthearted, comedic, and cute. Originally a Shadow+Metal fic until I learned more about Eclipse and just HAD to include him. Dude is literally a struggling single parent in canon, how could I not include him in a story about his brother going through something similar? xD Also, I might call this fic "Rascals" as a reference to that one Star Trek episode with a similar premise. Because! Star Trek. 8D

- "The Fifth Element" ... I have put off posting anything about this fic idea for so long because I'm EMBARRASSED IT'S SO STUPID AND CORNY DON'T LOOK AT ME,,, In case you're totally lost, the 1997 film of the same name is my. Favorite movie. So naturally, this was my first idea for a fic. It's so all-over-the-place tonally, though. Obviously, got a LOT of silly, especially the parts that follow the movie almost exactly. But I also added a lot of original bits that help flesh out the characters' relationships. The protag is Shadow, who is very, very soft and introspective in it. Which, like, how did that happen??? But I love it. Metal is his co-lead and is mostly goofy because he's a fish out of water. Sonic is VERY, VERY goofy like goddamn (he's Ruby Rod- if you know, you know). Then there's just the silliest shit ever like Silver. Silver is Shadow's cat. It's stupid, but it's also fun, and maybe even matters to the plot. You don't know. Blaze is the president. Dr. Starline, Surge, Eggman, and The End are in it. Tails has the smallest part of any of my fics, but I think I cast him well. I need to stop now or I never will. Don't look at me. xDD

~

But yeah, as I said, I forgot a lot of other ideas. A few more (still forgetting some, I'm sure): - "Creature from the Black Lagoon" ft. kittails - Steam Powered Giraffe-vibes 50's thing w/ Tails, Cream, and automatons of Kit, Surge, Metal, Belle, Gemerl, ect - Tails Doll trying to be a Real Boy(tm) - Kittails-focused folklore AU with Kit as a kelpie and Tails as a normal mobian. Bunch of other people as fae creatures and villagers, including Starline as the main villain. - Maybe a whispangle oneshot from the above au (Tangle is a mobian, Whisper is. basically a magic wolf? xD) - Knuckles/Tails role-swap

[itsybitsybluesy]

20 Questions for Writers tag game!

thanks for tagging @foundress0fnothing 🥰

1. How many works do you have on AO3? ONE!!!! and what a beautiful baby it is!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 33,793

3. What fandoms do you write for? i've only written for ACOTAR so far because in some ways i believe ACOTAR is the ultimate fic reader bait

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? again just have the one baby, but here she is: Open Water (Explicit)

5. Do you respond to comments? YES, i try to because i love to make friends and meet creators!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? i like to imagine lucien still has a lot of angst at the end of OW. sometimes getting the girl means you then have to prove to yourself you're worth loving. and maybe repair your relationship with your half-brother while you're at it.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? as someone who was long-distance with my now-husband for a few years and found a way to our own happy ending, i think that lucien and elain taking it week by week and staying together after a summer romance is a VERY happy ending and as long as they are honest with each other they will not regret taking that chance!

8. Do you get hate on fics? not popular enough for this honestly lmao

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? yeah, i generally like writing porn with plot! i literally sat down to write a one-shot this week that i was going to try to make short and sweet and it evolved in my mind into like 6 different scenes and then i got overwhelmed

10. Do you write crossovers? i probably wouldn't, tbh!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? no, but when i was a child on a horse-themed online rpg my account was once stolen. lmao

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? no, i literally only recently found out this was a thing lmao

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? no but it would be 🥹

14. What is your all-time favorite ship? i've fallen hard for elucien this year, probably also because i'm looking forward to seeing some kind of future development in canon. i think the fandom's own collective vision of their two journeys is really beautiful and i'm so happy that even if SJM doesn't deliver i'll have so many lovely versions of canon to turn back to!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? i had started a fic on my old laptop about the IC getting stuck in contemporary NYC due to some sort of magical curse shenanigans. they also had no idea they were from prythian, almost trapped in a dream / trapped in the matrix type beat. my two OCs were sisters who fell in love with rhys and with mor and then had to figure out what to do because, like, they also probably should help the acotar gang get back to their own universe. but like, at what cost? (after getting to sleep with rhysand himself?)

16. What are your writing strengths? i like to think i'm good at fluff. i grew up reading into silly romance type work with my besties and even at one point writing and reading fanfic about ourselves x our crushes. it was all about just yearning and heartache and that feeling that makes you giggle and kick your heels in delight - that's why i still love fanfic.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? DIALOGUE. everyone sounds the same. also, i can tell when i get tired and just try to force through a particular scene because the writing gets shitty and forced.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? i haven't done this with fanfic, but i've had it mixed in before. i think it kind of depends, could be a cool thing to use, could be sort of gratuitous.

19. First fandom you wrote for? wayyyyy back on FF.net i wrote a bunch of fics for an anime fandom - the show was called Ultra Maniac and my cousins and i were super obsessed with it. looking back, they were pretty blatant self-inserts.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? so far? my new baby Open Water, aka my return to fic writing after over a decade. it just sort of came out of me after months of ingesting wonderful elucien fics. i don't think it'll be that easy again any time soon though lol.

---

this was fun!!! tagging @temperedink if she isn't already :)

[the-invisible-queer]

questions for fic writers: 3, 10, 44 :)

3. What are some tropes or details that you think are very characteristic of your fics?

That's a good fucking question! I'm a slut for writing two clueless dorks in love but neither realize the other has feelings but EVERYONE ELSE can clearly see they're in love with each other.

Also recently have been writing a lot of friends with benefits turned lovers.

10. How do you decide what to write?

All depends on inspiration and how much I enjoyed the subject. But also I don't have control over it all the time.

The inspiration for Strike Zone came in a conversation I was having with @lklvz after she watched an Adam Rodriguez role where he played a baseball player and I had a pic of Danny in a baseball uniform and now it's a full fic. Plus the episode of CM where Spencer and Derek play baseball added to it.

I did not choose to write my Joe fic in 2007 or now. I just can't deal with the scenes ruminating in my brain so I HAVE to write them so I stop thinking about them. And now I've written 60k words.

Same with the Brett Land (Goat) one-shot. I didn't EVER want to write smut about a Nick character but that idea hit me like a truck and I had to get it out of my system to write anything else.

MOST of the time the inspiration is so annoying I can't NOT write. Instead of me actually wanting to write a fic.

Because I WANT to write a Kingdom fic but I haven't had any solid inspiration. And I hate forcing myself to write.

44. If you take/write prompts: do you prefer dialogue or scenario/narrative prompts?

I don't have a preference in general. Because when I do use prompts it depends on the fandom/characters I'm writing for.

Also what I'm in the mood to write.

For example if someone asks me to write something specific I take whatever they give me and of course expand and see where inspiration takes me.

But if it's a day where I'm not coming up with anything on my own but I WANT to write something I choose whoever I'm thinking of the most and go to my prompts list. I do have a prompts list. All stolen from Tumblr posts and other writing resources.

On the days I use prompts I am in the mood for 3 options: angst, fluff, smut

And my prompt lists are separated as such - sometimes they're separated more specifically

[euphoricfilter]

🍈🍇🥭 and What’s your favorite underrated thing in your fandom? (A ship that only you seem to write for, a character there’s almost no fics about, a trope that criminally hasn’t been written yet, etc.)

I can't see the emoji for that last question lol I want to say that I want to see more agust d fics. The haegeum mv is a mafia au fic dream, but I haven't seen that many on here :/ (ok it hasn't been that long since it came out. But I'm so thirsty for it omg)

🍈 Who’s your blorbo and what are some of your favorite headcanons/ideas about them that repeatedly show up in your fics? Free pass to rant about blorbo opinions.

jungkook feels like a cop-out answer because he’s my bias. i really like writing tae just because he’s so eloquent to write about, like if you want romance then tae is the go to.

i love writing yoongi as this soft entity, because when i first joined the fandom everyone made it point to be like oh he’s so cold 😟 when really it’s like, he’s just a bit of an introvert and knows what he likes which i respect and seriously not cold or anything?? so i love writing him as this huge shy softie because whoever made the whole idea that he’s super cold, i hope they fall out of bed, because look at that man 🧍‍♀️

🍇 Is there a particular scene/episode/book/etc that you want to just write a million fics about, over and over? Which one?

in terms of bts not really. for just writing in general, there’s probably a few??

🥭 Rank from most enjoyable/fun to write to least: Fluff, Smut, Angst, Crack.

fluff, angst, smut, crack. but i never write crack so i don’t know how fun it actually is 😭

+++ underrated in the fandom

i think just fics in general are underrated honestly. or like looked down on just because it’s “not real writing”. but i see so many fic writers that could genuinely publish novels because their stuff is so good, who gives a fuck if it’s about bts. good writing is good writing no matter who the main cast is??

i also personally don’t see that many yoonmin fics? i don’t read on tumblr often just because it’s mostly x reader but even on ao3 i rarely ever see explicitly yoonmin

(i think a lot of people would say haegeum/ the whole agust d storyline just because there’s so much to unpack and all these different interpretations of the music videos!!)

[daintyduck99]

Emoji game! I can't find the shopping cart on my phone, but: shopping cart, 🤲, 🤯, 💔

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

Taylor Swift songs make their way into my fics a lot (yes this was the first thing that came to mind lol), mostly because I'm obsessed with her discography and it's fun to apply/explore the themes in her lyrics within a story. As far as scenes go: heart-to-heart scenes! Maybe because they're very character driven. I love writing them. There are so many that take place on Julie's bed. So many.

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

(Have a text exchange from the County Fair AU/Epistolary! It's one of the only bits you haven't seen already because it's new lol)

J: As if you aren’t the prettiest person I’ve ever seen

J: With the loveliest personality to match

R: NO NO NO 

R: You can’t reverse uno card me 

R: Don’t do this to me Jules I’m dying 

J: ACCEPT THE COMPLIMENTS 🔪

R: PLEASE HAVE MERCY 

J: No 💜

(Have another one from Kept On Climbing Til Our Stars Collided aka the OT4 fic because the texting snippet felt like cheating)

Reggie's angel sets her mug on the table and offers her hand. "I'm Julie." 

Her hand is smooth and small in Bobby’s, but her grip is strong. He holds on for a beat too long, grappling for what to say. Nice to meet you tastes too sour in his mouth, like the last dregs of his coffee will if he lets it sit. 

He settles on, "How did you and Reggie meet?" 

🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer?

I have to go with drama. Every fic I've ever wanted to write that would veer into that territory doesn't get written because I'm so intimidated by it. Even the Hallmark AU intimidated me a bit (just where I wanted to put serious emphasis on Julie's grieving). There's something about--maybe the poignancy? that the genre tends to have which feels so masterful and unobtainable, if that makes sense.

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

I always doubt the impact of my angst but in addition to this answer, there were moments in Third Time's A Charm that broke my heart! Especially towards the end of Reggie's POV with the layered conversation (but also for Julie in general, what with her initial illusion of Luke getting shattered).

[zacs-of-rwby]

What is to your favorite scene you’ve written for any of your aus? Or like... a top five 😍

Ah! This was from like a day ago but I had to think really hard about it so I left it unanswered but not forgotten!!!!! Thank you for this ask, Julez, it's a wonderful question and I appreciate it 🤗 Imma cheat a little and go with my fave from each 😆

My Favorite Robot Dadpin Scene

Ok I'm cheating again because this one isn't really a scene it's just.... All the ideas everyone shares with me in general. It's what keeps me motivated to write this AU. Highlights from the things others have sent me definitely includes the tickle headcanon, the music headcanon, and Roboz's obsession with dogs 😂👍🏻

My Favorite Halfway House AU Scene

Oh! Oscar's Intake Interview scene came out better than I expected it tbh. It was a challenge to make it seem a little realistic while also getting the characters to do what I needed them too. It was great practice and super fun to write!

My Favorite Painful Reflection AU Scene

Ok, so I haven't actually written a lot of these although I do have a really cool outline for a scene from this AU for Ozqrow week I'm very excited for so instead I'll share my fav concept from this AU and it's honestly just.... All the Cloqwork angst 😆 there's so much of it, dear lord. Speaking of which, I still have to make the post I have planned explaining it in-depth 🤔

And, finally,

My Favorite Hard to Find... Scene

This one has the opposite problem because I've written so fucking much for this AU 😂 the answer to this one is easy tho; it's every part my brother helped me with. Mainly the dance chapter, the double date chapter, and the Christmas fic we wrote together 😌 we just went off, man haha 🤗

-----

Ask Me About My AUs!

[freakwiththeknifecollection]

also 11!!!!!!!!! and 12 and 13

11: who or what do you find yourself writing about most?

Who? I write about Dean the most. I was scrolling through my wips once and so many of them start with his name, it's nuts lmao. But yeah!! I love my boy and it shows

What? I definitely do be writing sleepy scenes a lot,,, also angst in general just as a genre. I have MANY high school au wips, most just little nuggets of dialogue or a tiny scene or idea. I have a little incomplete detention scene I like that I don't think you, Lydia, have ever seen HMMM 👀👀 I'll have to remedy that immediately

12: tell us about a WIP you're excited about

HOUSE OF MEMORIES!!! I'm SO excited about it I just have not been able to write for it lately which is a damn shame. But chapter 2 is SOOO good,,, you've read the beginning of it but like oh my gosh,,, it gets Real. It's RAW. I mean what else can you expect from a fic where Sam is dead (sorry Sam 😔 it's for the angst) but like,,, yeah. YEAH. There's messy history between them but it's like 3 (4?) years later and it's complicated. An excerpt from chapter 2 that I love, it's all so good you guys,,,

"Her stance on him was complex, to say the least. After he died and went to literal, actual Hell, she found herself stuck somewhere between grief and hate. She couldn't grieve because she hated him, but she couldn't hate him because she was grieving. Then he came back from the dead, only complicating her feelings further.

But seeing him in person today was different. He was different. She couldn't hate the man sitting beside her now because she didn't know him. The man she had been holding a grudge against had died a long time ago."

13: what fandom did you first start writing for?

This one!! I've been here for forever, or at least it feels like it sometimes lmao but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!!

I originally wrote Destiel fic way back in the day, 2014/2015ish. I don't feel I ever did them justice. Their story is very Epic and there's so much to unpack, and a LOT to compete with, it's very intimidating. Not that writing is a competition, that's not my motivation, but throwing your hat into the #1 pairing on AO3 is an undertaking. I also feel with there being so much, it's easy to get to get buried in the pages of AO3. It's just too much pressure for me lmao. I haven't written for them since.

I did write one gen fic that definitely has Destiel undertones, but it's not about them. Just a monster of the week. Which I originally had a really cool idea for back in 2015, and I never wrote that idea down so unfortunately it is forever incomplete. But you can read it here.

[seyaryminamoto]

I've been browsing your blog for Sokkla research as I feel like it has similarities to what I'm trying to write with Azula and Soren. I haven't begun tackling Gladiator yet, as it looks a little daunting, but I feel I should since I keep hearing so much. I am a little hesitant over accidentally using anything you wrote for my own story. I'd be proud if I could make it as long and epic as yours. It's very personal to me. What motivated you to write Gladiator and keep writing for so long?

Yeah, I saw your post about your crossover ship having potential similarities with Sokkla and I agree that it would, since Soren shares a few traits with Sokka, character-wise. Admittedly, Azula interacting with a character like Soren would present quite a lot of fun possibilities, so it seems to be an idea worth exploring :)

As for reading Gladiator and accidentally using similar tropes… well, I don’t know if it will ease your mind much, but there are several tropes that I’ve run into in many Sokkla fics, mine, other people’s, just… lots of them xD and it’s not really a problem. Storytelling can lead to similar places, but usually, every writer handles their tropes and character development differently.

My plan for a certain, poignant scene in Gladiator’s 96th chapter was set in stone in my head back when I started plotting the fic (like I said in that ask I answered yesterday). The scene in question is one I depicted in some artworks for Gladiator’s second anniversary: Sokka defeats Azula in combat for the first time, pins her down, aims his sword at her, and they just stare at each other before things take a pretty heated twist...

A few months after planning this, I read another fic where practically the same thing happened between them (it’s a Spanish fic, I hadn’t tried reading it yet because it was incomplete, sometimes I still scold the writer in question for never finishing it), only, rather than it happening when they could no longer resist the attraction between them, it happened when they were barely getting to know each other: Azula followed Sokka into a forest clearing, where he was training on his own. Upon noticing someone was hiding in the bushes, he leaps at her and pins her down, aiming his sword at her as well. Of course, he freaks out upon realizing it’s her, she isn’t very happy, and no heated things happen other than a lot of blushing, especially on her part xD

So, as you can see, even if the trope is “Sokka holds Azula down, at swordpoint”, the context was entirely different, the outcome was completely different and heck, the wording and even language we used was 100% different.  I came up with the idea for Gladiator before reading Majesty, later on I found out that someone had written a very similar scene already (and it was a close associate of mine, no less xD). As much as I didn’t feel like I was all that original anymore… I didn’t change my plans because of that. As long as I didn’t pull a Cassandra Clare and copy-pasted the whole scene my friend wrote into Gladiator, where was the harm in trying my own hand at it? I wrote the tropey situation in my own way, with my own words, and it’s completely my own thing.

There was something else that happened with Gladiator, another friend read it and thought I was taking inspiration for my portrayal of Sokka and Azula from a couple in a TV show she loved. Turns out I’d heard about the show, but I hadn’t watched it until she nudged me enough to do it (no regrets!), and after watching it I understood where the similarities were, but the context was all different. More than that, a certain situation (Sokka admitting his love for Azula for the first time, she asks him to say it again) was close enough to what happened between the main couple in said TV show…

… But I actually had been inspired by another couple, in ANOTHER TV show, that had a slightly similar exchange too xD

Therefore, tropes are tropes. I’ve recycled so many tropes in so many things I’ve written that people could probably psychoanalyze me and figure out all my brain chemistry damn easily if they did. I tend to have a very particular structure when writing, too (the original story I wrote and finished had 3 parts, Gladiator has 3 parts too, to name the most superficial similarity only), and I’ve frequently explored similar topics in them. It’s hardly a crime to do it again, but as long as you do it in a unique way, there’d be no harm in testing how some tropes would turn out with Soren and Azula. It could be worrisome if you portrayed Soren reacting to events exactly the same way Sokka does, but that’s not very likely to happen. As similar as they can be, they’re also different in several ways and in the post where you compared them you seemed to see those differences pretty clearly.

Therefore, I don’t think there’s any real harm in trying your hand at certain tropes and situations. If the context is different, if there’s logic to what you’re writing, and of course, as long as you write it yourself, there’s absolutely no need to worry about repeating things other people have done before.

That being said, don’t feel pressured to read Gladiator at all. I’m glad people have recommended it, but I understand if it feels not only daunting but that maybe you won’t be sure what to write if you see all the stuff I’ve done so far. Gladiator is many things, and one of them is my playground for testing Sokka and Azula’s relationship in just about every way I can xD it’s so long that I’ve been free to play with all sorts of possibilities with them, to fulfill all my shippiest wishes for these two. Therefore, if you’d rather be true to your own ideas and not get too influenced by it, it’s absolutely understandable not to read it until you feel comfortable about giving it a shot (presumably, once you’ve plotted plenty of own story and feel like you won’t be at risk of taking too much inspiration from it).

As for what motivates me… well, I guess there were many factors. One of them is that Gladiator was an idea worth digging into, with so much to explore that I was completely overwhelmed by the possibilities and I got completely caught up in it. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted the story to exist, so I decided I needed to make it happen. As it’s practically a full re-write of ATLA’s storyline, I had a chance to just… handle everything on my terms. And that meant the developments I didn’t like from the show could change: I could improve on things I thought needed improvements, I could add things that I felt the show needed, and so on and so forth. There were nearly no limits, really, and as I was absolutely lost in the beauty and glory of my OTP, I couldn’t help myself and I decided to dive right in.

It helps a lot that Gladiator’s kind of a multi-faceted thing: as I’ve been developing my art too, whenever I was bored in class I’d sketch things related to it and then, if I had a chance and the sketch was good enough, I’d finish the art digitally later. I have a lot of music that inspires me, so sometimes I just sit down, listen to it, and I let myself evoke scenes that I want to write or draw. Fact is, the whole fifth anniversary project was a mix of art and music: the songs that inspired many arcs of Part 1, along with images that referenced them.

Lastly, though… I generally know where Gladiator’s going, so I don’t usually reach a point where I’m like “Woah I have zero plans for what to do next”. I plot things for the story whenever I have nothing to do (when I’m traveling places, when I’m showering, when I’m waiting for something? Just, whenever, wherever). If an arc isn’t shaping up to be particularly fun, I try to figure out what to do to make it more interesting and appealing for me to write. Whenever I come up with something I’m hyped about writing, it helps me keep on writing until I get there. Sometimes that’s also a curse because I go overboard and write like… 12K in a single day because I am that hyped about whatever I’m doing :’D happened a couple of weeks ago xD

Anyways, always try to fulfill your own needs with your story, first and foremost. Sometimes your public won’t be 100% receptive to your ideas, but sometimes they’ll actually want exactly what you’re putting out there for them. The magic of fanfiction is that, if someone doesn’t like what they’re getting, there’s absolutely nothing to stop them from taking to writing a story they do want, right? So, why should we try to please other people instead of writing what we’d want to read?

Make your story something you can revisit and smile about, make your story something you can find value in, regardless of whoever tries to undermine it. Make it yours, make it everything you want it to be. Want humor? Set up humorous situations (I mean, your lead couple would be Azula and Soren, humor’s basically guaranteed xD). Want tragedy and angst? You can have it too. You really can do anything, as long as you make up your mind to get it done. Figure out what it really is you want to write, the key scenes, the development you’re looking for with your main characters, come up with plans on how to get them where you need them to be, and once you feel you’re in solid grounds for it, feel free to start writing and always keep on looking forward to the big things you’ve wanted to write for your fic.