#i don't usually post excerpts on here and i might delete this i just. felt compelled to make this for some reason

[gothiclit]

the physics of sorrow, georgi gospodinov (tr. angela rodel)

[multi-lefaiye]

2, 3, 7, 8 for the ask game? you don't have to answer them all if that's too much!

Nah you're good, thank you for the ask! :D

2. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

Y'know, I've really wanted to try my hand at a story about a character living some kind of double life that their closest loved ones (whether they be romantic partners or otherwise) are unaware of. I'm talking something extreme, like one character being a serial killer or something. I'm aware that that's a recipe for disaster, but I think it'd be interesting to explore a conflict like that--it just doesn't work with the WIPs I'm focusing on rn.

(I did try to write a fic like this when I was still into YB, but tbh I might delete that fic because I'm trying to avoid that fandom now)

... Now that I think about it, this conflict is at the heart of Femurs and Feelings, but I want to explore it More and In Other Fun Ways.

3. Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?

Okay I finally thought of a trope I actively hate aside from ones that are just blatantly offensive- anyway I don't think I'd ever want to write a hanahaki fic. I'm sure that there are many amazing stories featuring it, but honestly it just makes me uncomfortable nine times out of ten when I see it. I don't mean this as a diss to those who like it!

However, personal experience with a person guilt-tripping me about me not reciprocating romantic feelings just makes the whole concept of "this person will literally die if their crush doesn't return their feelings" not sit right with me personally. Again, no judgments to those who feel differently! You do you! It's just not for me!

(I'm aware that this isn't all there is to the trope and I apologize for oversimplifying it, but honestly I just don't like how it's been done whenever I've seen it and I just... no, I'm good, thank you.)

7. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

OOOH THANK YOU,,,, bragging time- (I'm kidding)

Anyway one of my favorite pieces of prose that I've ever written comes from Femurs and Feelings, a collab fanfic that my friend Spoods and I have been writing since... oh god since my sophomore year of college wait-

Anyway the excerpt I want to share is from one of my chapters that I have posted on here somewhere but I don't feel like digging up the link to that <3 Also, don't worry about the fact that one of the characters here is named Xavier. He's not a self-insert or anything, it's a fun coincidence <3 He's my friend's OC.

This excerpt is violent so I'm gonna put it under the cut actually- But I'll say that what I like about it is that I think I did a good job here portraying how Addison's trauma throughout their life has affected them and continues to affect them even long after the events happened. As we all probably know, writing about the long-reaching impact of trauma is MY SHIT.

But, yeah, if you're not comfortable reading a description of a character being choked to death (in a nightmare, but still), tread lightly!

At first, they saw Jackson’s face, screwed up in a snarl and bleeding from several scratches. Then it morphed into the face of the scarred parts pirate, smirking as though he was enjoying every second of choking the life out of them. Then, the eyes turned a bright emerald green, and the scars faded away to reveal Xavier.

Xavier, who was looking at them completely impassively, as though this was simply business as usual. He was unaffected by their frantic thrashing, and at most they saw a flash of annoyance in his eyes. As though they were a burdensome pest, an annoyance that he was glad to be rid of.

He seemed to grow bored of Addison’s struggles, then, and turned their head sharply at an angle. Addison felt it as their neck snapped, and they let out one last strangled gasp for air as the life bled out of them and onto the cold concrete.

That was when they’d woken up, screaming and clutching their throat as if that would stop the phantom hands from strangling the life out of them.

Man I really wanna talk about this more now whoops-

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

Okay I was going to share some dialogue from Femurs and Feelings or Twelve Years, but honestly I think this dialogue from a different fic I wrote and never posted is one of my favorite bits I've written.

The context being that one character is attempting some necromancy <3

"Why are you doing this, again? You know he was an outlaw, right? Like. A murderer."

"Well, we all have our flaws. And I wanna see if I can do it."

"And, like, wouldn’t it be rude to bring him back to life? What if he was enjoying the afterlife or whatever?”

“First of all, there are multiple afterlives. You have to be more specific. Second of all, he’s not going to remember whichever one he ended up in.”

“And, I gotta ask, why do you have to do this in my apartment?”

“Because my landlady doesn’t like it when I do rituals inside.”

I like this dialogue because I think it introduces the characters' personalities and dynamic pretty well? And also it very quickly establishes a bit of worldbuilding for this story without going into too much unnecessary detail. I might go back to this one at some point actually-