#idk i've been seeing recent discussion on her given the new event so i wanted to give my own two cents here

[madocactus]

i guess i hold the opinion that nero’s portrayal is perfectly fine in fgo and that any poor impressions of her are largely bc her cameos are in either: comedy events or early-written chapters like septem. >w>;;

(and even in those events she’s still like. philosophizing like she does in extra. like i think a lot about her interactions with boudicca in the second summer event, or her 3rd interlude in fgo, or even some of the stuff in septem itself - early writing issues aside.)

i think a large part of why her portrayal might feel jarring is because... ccc isn’t localized fully in english. from what i know, ccc is like - the big transition point between her serious self and her silly self? 

she acts REALLY cutesy and goofy there so i think it was a big turning point for how type-moon wanted to handle her character. (whereas base extra was like... a proof of concept - and not everything had been set in stone. like - tamamo’s characterization wasn’t even finalized in base extra). i think extra record will probably determine how they’re gonna handle her now... 

i dunno. i am a firm believer of “nero is a woman of multitudes” and she can be goofy AND ALSO very intelligent and tragic. that’s why i find her fun to draw and write. 

i love seeing her be funny and a big positive force in fgo because she’s incredibly charismatic, and i also love it when she’s more quiet and contemplative and people realize how... sad she actually is as a character.

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

You have a lot of fics! What methods do you use to improve your writing the more you write? And how do you do characterization and make sure you have written the character's voices all distinctly and to what the characters would say?

I think it all depends on what fic it is. For multichapter fics I often have a plan in the beginning what I exactly want to do - but that plan often changes the more I write. For example, I had a whole other idea for my Violetta rewrite that I at this point have literally forgotten about, because there's been so many times when I've just gone "you know what? This should happen instead!" - this is often why the beginning chapters may take another kind of approach than the later chapters, because you yourself learn how to navigate it better and you end up maybe scrapping some ideas to replace them with something you think might work better.

I don't know if I have any "methods" for being better - I think what I do is maybe keep writing themes I like and then I'll just end up more comfortable with them and become better at writing those specific themes. For example, back when I primarily wrote asoue fics, I had a lot of childhood flashbacks - this was both because in the books, they randomly recalled events of their childhood so it fit when writing a fic, and because I thought it was fun to explore what might've happened to them as kids. And now, when I primarily write dcla fics, I also use a lot of childhood flashbacks, because I've become so used to it that it's fun to start exploring yet another character's childhood and see what they might've gone through to make them end up like they are today. That, or in the case of my Angie-Vilu oneshots, I just want Angie to be an aunt and guide little Vilu through her life. Or I want Violetta to end up causing trouble that she does not remember due to being a baby, and Angie having to clean up the mess x) Also, I am in general a sucker for wlw besties to lovers, it's... definitely a theme I've had with a lot of ships. And something wlw besties to lovers have a lot is... sleepovers. So, I wrote a lot of sleepovers, and then I just kinda... became a pro at writing sleepovers?? Idk? And that makes it easier and more fun every time I write a new dynamic having a sleepover, because then I can explore how they would handle it - "if this pairing reacted like this, how would this pairing react?"

And that leads me to characterization. I try to think how different characters would react to different scenarios, and to different people. Let's take Ramtteo for example, since I recently discussed them. When kissing each other, I think it would make perfect sense for Ramiro to start dancing and jump around as a reaction of the kiss. This is because the dude in canon literally does the worm in the middle of a crowded café, raps at every situation given and just has this supreme confidence that he does not acknowledge that he would do anything cringe ever. Matteo would not react to a kiss that way. He would more "play cool" and maybe laugh. But it also has to do with my interpretation and perception of the characters. For example, I am not really a fan of Matteo in general. That's why in fics I can often write him more obnoxious, or I'll tease him or simply don't have him get much screentime. However, when he is with Ramiro, I can give him more of a pass. Idk Matteo is tolerable when he is with other men but not as much with women.

Then it's also characters that barely interact in canon that I explore interacting in my fics. Two of my favorite SL characters are Ámbar and Yam. They barely interact in canon, but because I am such a big fan of both and love writing them, I've also let them interact more in my fics. This has lead to me both exploring a dynamic I wouldn't really see unless I thought about it, and learning how they would potentially interact if they were alone in the same space. And the way they interact are all based on how I see the characters - someone else with different perceptions than me would probably not write their interactions like that.

It's very easy to write the same thing over and over cause it's what you're used to, and it's not bad at all! But it's always fun and good to try to explore new things. You don't have to just completely write something new - for example, you can still write your favorite dynamic, but they are now doing something you have not seen them do before. Or maybe write your favorite trope or theme, but this time with characters you don't write as much for, to see how they would act in this scenario.

I don't know how to give a good answer to this question, and I don't know if I even answered it correctly. But I guess it's that I just both try to write what I know, but are not too afraid to try something new, whether it's a new dynamic or a new theme. And with characterization, well, we all interpret and percieve characters differently, so it's not really easy to say what is a correct characterization. I bet some other people think what I make characters say and do in my fics are stuff they don't agree the characters would ever say or do.

[harry-sussex]

You're lovely, and I enjoy seeing your blog on my dashboard. I'm sorry this has been such a difficult thing to process. It's always really difficult to rework an image of someone you once thought you knew. However I'd like to just put it out there - sometimes (I think the large majority of the time) news is presented in the most sensationalist way, such that nowadays I make a point of de-sensationalizing any news I read in my head. In the case of the whole Harry's memoir thing- I can sympathize with Harry as a person possibly just wanting to take back some control of the narrative for himself. Not just in the most recent events with family (that I tend to think are less horrifying than the fandom/Twitter sussex squad discusses it anyway), but in all aspects of his life. I do not at all think he's going to put his family on blast. I can easily imagine Meghan reigning that dialogue in; she has the tendency to think before she speaks that he seems to lack. And he loves his family. Similar to The Interview promos, I imagine the publishing house knew to increase the interest by implying it to be a tell all memoir. I think he's just done a lot of growing up that he didn't know he had to do over a short period of time, esp re: implicit bias/racism in the setting of media's blatant attack on someone he loves, and is disappointed by the institution's and his family's response to it. I think he's emerged a more introspective and aware human, albeit a disillusioned one. Yes it breaks my heart to think that Meghan won't get a break from the tabloids any time soon. If I were him I'd counsel him to write it & sit on it for a few yrs. But I don't want to give the media the power to destroy Meghan in my mind, and I pray she & Harry won't either. I think she'll be okay. She's a strong one, and I think he's able to draw that same link for himself and be thoughtful about what he does. No one likes being misunderstood/misinterpreted, and I wouldn't be surprised if Harry's especially triggered by that given his history with the press. Maybe this idea emerged from therapy, idk. I can empathize with that, even if I wouldn't do it myself. I hope and pray Meghan gets the support she needs from him and her loved ones in the meantime. I'm honestly not going to read it. I think the less attention I give the BRF the better off they are, unless they're doing something immoral/illegal (see: Woking pizza alibi). And I think at the end of the day, people will unfairly judge other people, especially public figures that have tragic pasts and are publically fighting with the media. A lot of it is going to be noise and I'm not going to give my energy into figuring it out. I like to think I've got a good sense of who they are as people - flawed but ultimately well meaning and earnest. I'm a huge admirer of Meghan and think Harry got really lucky with this one and I'm proud of him for choosing her in more ways than one. I believe Harry and Meghan are lovely people, and I 100% believe their interview. I believe that there are people in the palace with a lot of unchecked power who deliberately uncovered her and Archie from BRF protection for reasons of believed superiority over Meg & Arch. And they're figuring out how to deal with that as a couple and a family. And it's none of my business past that imo. I pray for them and hope it'll eventually end in peace for them all. Just wanted to add another perspective, and hopefully some levity. xx M

Hi, dear. First thing’s first, I really appreciate that this is off anon lol. I love it when people own their opinions, and it says a lot that you did. So thank you for that.

Second of all, I really appreciate the nuance and perspective that is in this message. I agree that the news is sensationalist, and my initial reaction was based off of that. I did watch the promotional clips of the interview and I believe it did sour my expectations going into it when I watched it nearly a week after it aired. I did my best to stay away from Tumblr because I didn’t want that to hinder my view, but it was impossible to separate the promotions that presented the information one way from what it actually was, and thank you for bringing that up with respect to the memoir because I hadn’t considered it. I will say that my knee jerk reaction is pretty on par with the way I still feel about it 24 hours later, especially since I got the news directly, not from Tumblr or Twitter or anywhere else, but you’re right that it could have soured my view from the very start.

I appreciate that he wants to take back some of the narrative but I think that ship has sailed, tbh. He did that with the interview and now I just think it feels like information overload. At some point, people are going to get tired of hearing the wealthy, privileged, powerful Prince complain about his life while more than 4 million people have died due to a global pandemic in less than 2 years. Not to say that he doesn’t struggle - in the words of Roxane Gay, there is no oppression Olympics (and that can be extended to struggle Olympics) - but people view it that way and will get tired of it, if they haven’t already.

I also agree that Harry’s past with the press has tarnished the way he has handled the media and the public post-exit, when he’s finally in a position to strike back without being somewhat obliged to them as part of the circumstances of his birth. I understand and sympathize with him but I just don’t think the public does, and the public matters much, much more than the perspective of one single American fan, to whom he’s never been obliged, and I simply do not think the public will afford him that same understanding, sympathy, and leniency. The public and the media are critical to his humanitarian work - his mother never realized that towards the end of her life, and I truly don’t think she would have been the martyr/saint she is perceived to be now if she had lived, because she did not know how to meet the media in the middle and eventually that started to piss people off. He’s starting to piss people off now and if it doesn’t bother him personally (which it definitely does), I don’t want it to affect his causes. The Invictus Games, Sentebale, Walking with the Wounded, WellChild, Mayhew, Smartworks, Archewell, etc. deserve better than to suffer the wrath of the media and an apathetic public because their patrons simply will not shut up lol.

I guess my point is that they will be unfairly judged (regardless, but especially due to the way they’re handling things), and I think it would suit them better in the long run if they adopted a different strategy. I really sympathize with the fact that he feels frustrated with the narrative that has been manufactured but I really, really think the narrative will only get worse and worse as he continues to go on and on about how badly his life sucks, basically. Again, I don’t deny that he struggles - we all do, some more than others, especially when there are mental health issues - but the public, to me, simply does not care. My own therapist has told me to simply stop caring about the things that I discuss with him. Not to say that they’re not relevant, important, or worthy of discussion - they absolutely are - but his point is that you cannot change people and you are wasting your energy and struggling yourself because you want to change them so, so, so badly that you’re neglecting your own self care in the process. I hate that I do it to myself and I also hate that he appears to be doing it to himself. I’m sure a lot of this conversation has been brought up in his own therapy, and I’m no professional, but I’m doing my best to heed the advice of my own therapist - which is the opposite of what Harry is doing - and it’s done wonders for me, when I actually can do it.

If there’s anything I know from this whole thing, it’s that Harry is absolutely punching above his weight, love him as I may, and that he adores, adores, adores his wife. He has chosen her from the very second she came into his life and I couldn’t want anything more for him or from her. I’m not going to lie, I would have been in this thing for any wife that Harry chose, because I was here long before Meghan specifically came into his life. However, I am glad every day that he chose her, that he loves her, that he wants to protect her, that she loves him back, that he lives the life with her that he’s wanted as long as I (and I’m sure he) can remember. I love her because he loves her, and I would have no matter what, because at the end of the day, it’s his happiness and comfort that matters to me, that has mattered to me since I discovered him and how wonderful he can be more than 7 years ago. What more could I ask of Meghan? What more, as his fan to the end (annoy me as he may), could I want for him? Who could say anything about her in that regard? If there’s anything that has come of this mess, to me, it’s that Harry loves, loves, loves his wife. I will always be happy for him and I will always be proud of him for choosing her, even if I don’t always agree with the way he goes about it.

I’m looking forward to peace, too. I cannot wait for things to just die out, for them to work things out as a couple and as a family, and for everyone to move on. The family will still do their thing and the Sussexes can do theirs, but I cannot deal with this back and forth, tit for tat, petty nonsense anymore. They’re wonderful and flawed, like the rest of them (except Andrew), and I just hope that they can all come to some kind of agreement or terms that lets this die down. It’s exhausting for everyone - themselves included. If I’m this tired, I can only imagine how tired they all are.

Thanks for stopping by, and sorry for the essay (essays, these past 24 hours lol). I really appreciate your kindness in this message, your presence in my notifications (I do see them!), your nuanced perspective and like I said before, I really, really appreciate that you own it!