#ask greyennui

[greyennui]

Hey !

I’m an artist and a big fan of “Don’t Commit.” Your story really speaks to me, and I’d love to create some character art for it.

Could you share some character details with me? I want to make sure my art captures your vision perfectly. Also, is there a way I can show you some of my work? Maybe through email or another platform you prefer?

Thanks for considering! Excited about the chance to collaborate.

alright so this ask looks incredibly sus, and I'll explain why.

"Your story speaks to me" is extremely generic and could be said about any fic.

"I'd love to create some character art" is also generic. If you actually wanted to make art for one of my characters, surely you'd know which one you wanted to do?

"Could you share some character details with me? I want to make sure my art captures your vision perfectly." This straight up sounds like you want to feed these details into an AI art prompter. Besides which, if you'd actually read my fic, you would know those character details without me telling you.

Asking this with anonymous turned on is ESPECIALLY sus when you're offering to "collaborate." Why hide who you are in that case? How am I supposed to get in touch with you?

I'm writing this off as some new scam to get AI art prompts from fic writers, which, ew, and also posting this as a warning for my fellow fic writers to look out for shit like this now, apparently.

If you sent me this ask, and none of what I said above is true, then feel free to try again with anon turned off. (:

[sincosma]

Well, in case we needed anymore proof that asking me about fics helps me fight executive dysfunction and write more……..I finished writing chapter 6 of Sanctuary.

It is now in the generous and capable hands of @greyennui for beta purposes (thanks in advance for dealing with my very silly mistakes). 🙏🏻

[greyennui]

I'm a big fan of Don't Commit (been reading the updates obsessively) and i LOVE Zelda conlangs so I was wondering: would you ever write up a guide to the Sheikah language to post? Also, are you okay with people using your Sheikah language in their fics/comics/rps/etc? I just got done reading yesterday's chapter and got excited by all the new words that got dropped : 3c

would you ever write up a guide to the Sheikah language to post?

YES. I'm actually filling out a massive spreadsheet with all the Shaak'han words I have so far as well as pronunciation, conjugation, etc., and I intend to include a general "how to speak" guide with it. It probably won't be done until I'm finished with Don't Commit, but I fully intend to share it with anyone who wants to use it. Which brings me to--

Also, are you okay with people using your Sheikah language in their fics/comics/rps/etc?

ABSOLUTELY. Please do. I always see Gerudo conlangs in fics, and even Zonai, but I have never seen a Sheikah conlang, so I really wanted to make one for people to use, but also because I'm just a fuckin' nerd. I put a ridiculous amount of research into it, and I'd love for people to use it once I release it into the world lol.

also, there will be more Shaak'han in the next Deleted Scene this week, so keep an eye out for that ;)

[greyennui]

Oh dear, I finally found you here! You cannot imagine how happy you two make me every time you post a new chapter of "Anger is But Passion…", it's becoming one of my favourites part of the week and helping me a lot to cope lately ^^; anyway, thanks thanks thanks ily <333

from GreyEnnui: I'm so glad it's bringing joy!! it started as something very silly (and it still very much is at times), but it's great to know how genuinely loved it is.

I hope things get better for you soon ♥

from @waterho-writes: thank you for sharing! It’s amazing how we can find community in the strangest of places 🥰

[greyennui]

How do you approach writing? Do you have one process you use for every work, or does it differ for each project?

What's your favorite work you've written/are working on?

Got any fic ideas/project ideas stuck in your brain that you're excited about, but haven't put out there yet? If yes, would you want to share them?

Congrats on reaching 100!

1. How do you approach writing? Do you have one process you use for every work, or does it differ for each project?

I am a pantser through and through, and let me tell you—it is very hard for me to be any kind of plotter. (For those not in the know, a pantser is a writer who writes "by the seat of their pants," meaning they just start writing without a set plan in place.)

Generally speaking, my writing process is: get an idea that usually comes in the form of a single scene or event, write that scene or event, mull over whether that could turn into a full story, come up with more scenarios/conflicts and write those too, try to put those scenes in an order that makes sense. This is how I've been writing Don't Commit and it's... kind of a struggle tbh. I did try plotting for Gan Doesn't Die At the End, and that has certainly helped, though my outline is still pretty vague. @waterho-writes and I have completely plotted out Anger is but Passion together, but she honestly did most of the heavy lifting there, which I'm very grateful for. Having that outline to write from is hugely helpful.

Once I finish Don't Commit, I'm going to do my best to plot everything else I write because I know I'll be less stressed for it. Filling in the gaps between what I have posted and the ending (which is pretty much fully written) has been quite the struggle for me, and I'd rather not do that for any other long fics in the future tbh.

2. What's your favorite work you've written/are working on?

I think I have to say Don't Commit is my current favorite. Though it isn't the first fic idea I had, it's the first one I really started writing seriously, and I've put my entire soul into it. Sheik is a self-insert in a lot of ways, and including the world building I've put into this fic, there's a lot for me to be proud of.

3. Got any fic ideas/project ideas stuck in your brain that you're excited about, but haven't put out there yet? If yes, would you want to share them?

Oh I have SO MANY ideas for fics. I have a lot of docs that are just like, one scene or one chapter that are waiting for me to get started on. Of course, there's only so much I can work on at once lol.

One idea that really gets me going is my Fierce Deity/Ghirahim concept. I posted My Hero, My God, which is my Fierce Deity origin headcanon and the very beginning of this fic idea, but I intend to fully flesh it out at some point. I've always been interested in what the Surface is like pre- and post-Skyward Sword, especially what happens between the Demon War and our beloved Link going on an adventure to save his best friend. I haven't yet decided whether I want the fic to be short and spicy or long and slow burn-y. Whatever the case, it's going to involve a hefty amount of world building and lore exploring, which is something I especially love doing in the Zelda universe.

Thanks for the congrats and the Qs!

[greyennui]

Hi! It's me from the comments on your fic. As a fellow language person (though with limited knowledge of Japanese): Shaak'han. Spill.

Since I know Latin and Latin is another subject-object-verb language, does Shaak'han have punctuation marks, or do verbs serve as punctuation? And then, unrelated: does it have grammatical gender and/or gendered first person pronouns?

Also I get the impression so far from your fic that the Sheikah had more gender diversity and that part of their identity was suppressed through assimilation. What would that have been like in their pre-banishment society?

I'M SO READY TO SPILL OKAY

does Shaak'han have punctuation marks, or do verbs serve as punctuation?

To be for fucking real, I haven't come up with the script for Shaak'han yet, but it is definitely on my to-do list. You may have already noticed a healthy use of apostrophes (') in the romanized text, which is another attribute I picked up from the English localization of the Sheikah monks' names. How this will end up being transliterated in my to-be-decided script, I can't say yet.

As far as, like, end-of-sentence punctuation, there will be some. While Shaak'han has tonal indicators for questions, that can't exist in written form without punctuation. For example, the past conjugation for the verb eat would be ishemev, and if you wanted to ask someone if they've eaten, you would just say ishemev with the pitch rising at the end to indicate a question. Orally, this context is easy to glean, but textually, there would need to be some sort of question indicator. TBD!

does it have grammatical gender and/or gendered first person pronouns?

Shaak'han is not a gendered language. I'm assuming you're thinking in terms of Latin for comparison (and therefore the modern Romance languages), but Shaak'han doesn't have such rules. There are, of course, gendered terms rooted more in biological sex than anything (man, woman, mother, father), but nouns unrelated to gender do not have their own gender (like "book" being masculine in the Romance languages).

First person pronouns are also gender-neutral, and in fact there's really just the one: ya. It's the same word for both subject and object, and is used in the possessive form (meya).

Also I get the impression so far from your fic that the Sheikah had more gender diversity and that part of their identity was suppressed through assimilation. What would that have been like in their pre-banishment society?

I love this question. In my particular AU of the First Calamity-era Hyrule, I see the Sheikah as being a very "it takes a village to raise a child" sort of society. Factoring in their "divine duty" to safeguard the royal bloodline, I imagine that any able-bodied Sheikah would have "enlisted", so to speak, regardless of gender or sex. Whoever remained in the city would have been the caretakers of the community—farmers, textile workers, hunters, child-rearers, etc. Because of this, the Sheikah didn't really have gender roles the way the Hylians did, because they instead had like... community roles.

Gender expression is a whole other thing, and likely would have confused many a Hylian with their rigid views of gender, but generally speaking the Sheikah just didn't have a concept of gender. This will sort of come up in Gan Doesn't Die at the End (whenever I can get my ass in gear and update it lol) because I do include a few enbies (or kivumtu) in that fic but I don't address it directly because it was so commonplace at that time for the Sheikah.

The term for enby itself, kivum, would have existed in the First Calamity era to refer to intersex individuals for medical purposes, as well as anyone whose gender expression didn't fit neatly into Hylian gender. Although, the gender-neutral use of kivum would have come more into use closer to modern-day Yiga society because Hylian gender roles are so prevalent. To blend in more easily during assignments, the Yiga military would have had to adhere to Hylian gender ideals, and some of that would undoubtedly bleed over into their home lives a little. Not to mention the Hylians that would have joined the Yiga for The Cause™ over the last several millennia adding to those ideas of gender. While the Yiga still don't really have gender roles, they've definitely come to appreciate gender expression in a looser sense than Hylians traditionally have, and they more often use gendered terms like kivum, kiva, and kiven as descriptors more than categorical identifiers. I hope that makes sense lol.

I've already hinted at this in Don't Commit as well, but part of the Sheikah healing from the post-schism assimilation after Sheik's return is Yuzo becoming more comfortable with being different in their gender. While it certainly won't be a focus, it's something they're working through off-screen, which we see hints of in their interactions with Sheik and Link. Knowing there's an actual word in their tribe's language for who they are is a big part of that journey for Yuzo.

anyway THANK YOU for asking these questions, and keep them coming if you have them lol. I could talk about Shaak'han and the pre-schism Sheikah (and post-schism Yiga) for days.

[greyennui]

UPDATE:

this was a legit ask from one of my regular readers, and we've since talked and worked out the miscommunication. leaving this up for posterity, though--it's always good to be wary of potential AI trolls, and, on the other side of it, if you're an artist reaching out with a serious (non-AI) request like this, it definitely helps to keep anon off in the ask 😅

Hey !

I’m an artist and a big fan of “Don’t Commit.” Your story really speaks to me, and I’d love to create some character art for it.

Could you share some character details with me? I want to make sure my art captures your vision perfectly. Also, is there a way I can show you some of my work? Maybe through email or another platform you prefer?

Thanks for considering! Excited about the chance to collaborate.

alright so this ask looks incredibly sus, and I'll explain why.

"Your story speaks to me" is extremely generic and could be said about any fic.

"I'd love to create some character art" is also generic. If you actually wanted to make art for one of my characters, surely you'd know which one you wanted to do?

"Could you share some character details with me? I want to make sure my art captures your vision perfectly." This straight up sounds like you want to feed these details into an AI art prompter. Besides which, if you'd actually read my fic, you would know those character details without me telling you.

Asking this with anonymous turned on is ESPECIALLY sus when you're offering to "collaborate." Why hide who you are in that case? How am I supposed to get in touch with you?

I'm writing this off as some new scam to get AI art prompts from fic writers, which, ew, and also posting this as a warning for my fellow fic writers to look out for shit like this now, apparently.

If you sent me this ask, and none of what I said above is true, then feel free to try again with anon turned off. (: