#not a fic though like original fiction hahaha

[liarsandthieves22]

Hiya there! I’m on like my 7th reread (no exaggeration) of How a Resurrection Really Feels, and I’m wondering - what’s your process to get from a premise to a plot, especially ones as long as that and It’s Good to See You Back in a Bar Band, Baby? It’s always the part I’ve struggled with the most, and you mentioned along the way in the notes for Resurrection that it started as just the dead kid support group and grew from that, so I’m hoping you have some insight!

Thanks, and don’t worry if you take a while to get to this - the average time of an ask in my inbox is weeks lol

-Cyrene

haha omg well i'm very touched you've re-read it so many times!

my writing process is sort of a weird frankenstein of plotting things out meticulously and writing by the seat of my pants to be totally transparent. with resurrection i started with the very bare bones idea of "dead kids support group" and then sort of worked my way back to the beginning from there -- what could happen logically in canon to make everyone come back? that's where the timeline re-setting came from. then i wrote, like, the first five chapters, started to get a feel for where the plot was going and that i liked writing the main cast too much to just focus on the dead kids, and began writing down the major plot points i knew i wanted in bullet points. but i changed the plot a lot as i wrote -- fun fact, initially the phone call that interrupted steve and eddie's kiss was going to be billy coming back, and steve was going to leave to go confront him with max, but then that scene felt so needless and clunky so i changed it.

in fact, as an example of how much i change plot as i write, here' the original bullet point chapter breakdown of bar band which a bunch of minor detail stuff that i ultimately did not do:

so you can see where the major story beats stayed the same -- the mark story, the photos breaking, murray showing up -- but i changed a lot of stuff around it (steve breaking his phone felt like anger that came out of nowhere, nancy showing up meant i couldn't find a space for jonathan or barb in the story). there's a whole draft of bar band where chrissy and barb are both dead, but that bummed me out too much to stick with, so i scrapped it.

my premises usually have a very clear beginning and end -- we start here and we end here -- and then i just sort of have to work out the middle, which i tend to do by writing the scenes i like and know i want to happen first, and then pulling the rest of them together around those scenes. for me, those tend to be the scenes with the broad comedy moments or the scenes with the big emotional beats -- you know, the juicy stuff! (scenes i wrote first for resurrection include: steve's present tense demodog dream, jonathan's "stop being an asshole, man," line, and the first dead kids support group scene. scenes i wrote first for bar band were steve and robin's starcourt story, eddie's story about chrissy, steve's monologue about loneliness, the chiquitita dance scene, the mark story, and steve's dad showing up to practice. and then i built the fic around those emotional beats!)

all that said: truthfully i have so so many ideas that never make it past premise stage. i think i said in the author notes of resurrection that it's the first writing project i've finished in years; it was the first one where i really could see the plot happen in front of me in a way that made sense and didn't frustrate me so much i quit. which is something i'm trying to be better at! part of my currently sort of long fic hiatus is that i'm having trouble getting the middles done of some other ideas i have; the question is really if i like them enough to put the effort in.

so, basically: i'd be charitable to yourself! write the scenes that seem the most fun, or the scenes that come to you as you're, like, about to to go to bed or shower (why is it always then, seriously) and then you can build the rest of the plot and the big emotional beats around those moments. writing this way means that i have to kill my darlings a lot, but it also keeps me in the story because i'm writing the parts i want to write, so it feels less like work. and also, transparently, this super might not work for you! everyone's process is different, but i find a mini-road map is the best to keep me going, especially if i know i can detour down the line.

[moonspirit]

May be asking a bit too ahead of time, though I am interested to hear if there's any answer to this. Whenever VBEOW ends, do you plan to make more content about Aruani in general? No worries if you cannot answer this.

Hello!

Well, when VBEOW ends... (Thank god it's a long time away, I can't honestly bear the thought hahahah 🥲🥲) I do plan to write more for AruAni, yes. I have a few ideas that *could* span more than one chapter, but they are all still very rudimentary atm.

I do have an Eremika multichapter fic I've been thinking about tho! I don't know when I'll ever develop it enough to write a solid outline for it, but... The premise is based on an original piece of fiction I wanted to write something like 10 years ago hahaha xD Still very dear to me. We'll see how it goes!

Aruani will always be the light in my life tho :3

[cheollipop]

helloo! i love the 'love you goodbye' seonghwa fic so much 😭 i was wondering if you would be comfortable in making a part 2? i can't handle sad endings and the fic has the potential to have a part 2 with a happy ending HAHAHA + to be 100% honest, this fic just reminded me of how i recently let go of my 3 best friends of 8 years for personal reasons and since its really the reality, i cant fully control what happens next while basically everything in the fic can be fully controlled sooo i just wanted a happy ending for seonghwa and (y/n),,, since i love seonghwa so much HHWEHWHEHHWE

so maybe like; a timeskip (of how many years/months/days you want) and seonghwa is trying to convince himself that he is over (y/n) but deep down inside, he misses them so much and he is really desperate to see them again since they have dated for so long and he really saw them as the one for him. then he somehow managed to get a long day-off from work and he immediately absolutely flings himself at the opportunity to see (y/n) again so he books a flight to whatever country he and (y/n) lived in, hoping that they still live at their apartment/house. so after his flight, he visits the apartment/house and knocks on the door, hoping (y/n) was inside. then they open the door, seeing seonghwa there. so seonghwa explains that he really really misses them and he hopes to be together with them again. (y/n) admits that they also miss him (also if you want, maybe you can add some flashback from the day seonghwa first left when (y/n) wakes up and realizes seonghwa is already gone) and they agree to dating again. this time, they both have a honest conversation on how they will handle the long distance relationship. so its up to you on what they do to handle their relationship, but please make it a happy ending and the fic in general is really fluffy HAHAHA LITERALLY LIKE genres: fluff, fluff, fluff, angst if you squint 😭😭😭

hi anon!! I promise i wasn't ignoring your ask, I just wanted to sit down and answer it properly :))

ahh it makes me so happy that you enjoyed reading 'love you goodbye' <33 the angst just flooded out of me once I got into it (I had originally planned for this fic to be less than 1k words but... I got a bit derailed bahaha). I definitely plan on doing a part two soon -- maybe sometime within the next month once I'm done with finals :"" I'm sorry about your friends! I totally understand that actually; i just hope you know that sometimes letting go of people is for the best, and it'll make way for better days <33

about that part two though.... you won't like what I'm about to say but... I'm afraid it's highly unlikely I'll end this fic with a happy ending. while I enjoy the idea of being able to do whatever I want to do with fics since it's fiction, I do love a realistic ending :"" for this fic specifically, I just don't think there's hope for seonghwa and reader - seonghwa chose his profession over them, and reader accepted that they'd have to let go of him.

that being said, thank you so much for taking the time to write this out!! this is beyond thoughtful and it made me smile like an idiot because someone liked my fic that much?? I think your idea is so cute and so fluffy ahhh ^^ I'm sorry part two won't be what you expect it to be, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless <33

thank you again, and I hope you're having a lovely day/night!

[mostlymaudlin]

Hi! For ao3 wrapped I’d love if you answered 5, 12, and 30 😊

5. What work of yours got more feedback than you expected?

this SHOULDN'T have surprised me, but bangable was my first outright smut piece for aftg, and i laughed when i woke up the next morning and my inbox was POPPIN. i feel like aftg fandom is usually p quiet in the comment section (or im just spoiled by the richness of simon snow fandom), but people were SO READY to talk about this blowjob hahahha.

12. How many WIP’s do you have in your docs for next year?

oh man LOL. theres a short answer and a long answer and im gonna go for long bc maybe talking abt it all will hold me accountable for finishing stuff.

ok so like technically i have 1 million wips. jk. technically technically i have 41 aftg wips (and ENDLESS more simon snow wips), but most of those google docs are resting in peace in my "wip graveyard" folder. they may be resurrected one day but who knows.

so more accurately i am currently sitting on four wips! all aftg.

my hs au We Can Live Forever... which i actually completed the next chapter for! but i dont want to post it until i finish the one after bc i kind of leave it off on a mean note. i might post it anyway so that people get mad at me and motivate me to keep writing though...

what i have dubbed "slut au," in which our favorite resident ace neil explores sex. its sitting at 20k rn, about halfway thru the plot. very messy atm. about 60% smut.

my secret aftg winter exchange fic

my (NEW AS OF A FEW HOURS AGO) secret aftg mixtape exchange fic

im also p much always playing w flash fics, AAAAND i have been thinking abt revisiting this old au i was working on last spring where neil works at a froyo shop. i actually wrote an entire first draft for that -- i think its sitting at like 12k but its a complete mess. i think of her tho... the found family vibes were v good...

OH and i am seriously considering doing a magnum opus andrew POV fic. i need to move into my own apartment in order to accomplish this because i want to like. really go ham analyzing the books and scaffolding that plot bc if i do it im going to tell the same story but with a very different structure i think. and i cannot do this in my current living situation. so that would probs be my Fic of 2023 if true.

30. Biggest surprise while writing this year?

cheesy. but more than anything i think i've come to know myself as a fiction writer this year. ive always written fiction in bits and pieces, and ive done a shit ton of professional nonfiction writing. writing snowbaz last year felt good in that i was finally writing regularly, but switching fandoms upped my confidence because thats when i could finally prove to myself that i wasn't just copying rainbow rowell hahaha. WHICH LIKE she definitely continues to influence my writing but i think ive developed my style in a way where its more my own now -- i don't lean on the style of aftg the way i did for simon snow fics. and while andrew is undeniably NOT my character, ive done a lot of work around the way i write his POV that im proud of. and this makes me think that if i wanted to write original stories i could... even tho i havent rly come up with a story i want to tell on my own just yet!

from this ask meme!

[instructionsnotincluded]

how do you feel about changing characters cannon sexualities for fics? like i always see kiara written as bi or lesbian for obx fics but in the show she’s straight and i’m curious if you ever thought about doing that (not specifically w kie, just in general) idk if this made sense, hopefully you know what i mean haha

We know Kiara likes men in the series, since she had a brief thing with John B, then Pope, and finally JJ, but we don't know for sure that she isn't also attracted to women. I only point that out, because I originally had Kiara as bisexual in my story as well, but then decided against it for now since I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with her just yet. There's a few scenes in the real season one (before she had a thing with Pope and JJ, and after she turned down John B) where it kinda felt like she mayyyy have had feelings for Sarah. Maybe a little crush...I don't know, that's kinda the vibe I got from them when they were stranded on the boat together and working through their issues. Could be completely making it up, though. But it seemed like maybe the writers were hinting at something and then pulled back after everyone fell in love with Sarah and John B.

I'm personally not super into changing a character's sexuality from what they're said to be in canon unless it's important to my story. However, they don't ever explicitly say that JJ is straight or Pope is straight or Cleo is straight, or that Curt and Benny are straight, so I think if someone wanted to change that up, that's totally up to them and their vision/idea. That's the beauty of fan fiction! It's whatever you want it to be! Hahaha!

For example, Sandra in MOTA is assumed to be at least straight, since she has an affair with Crosby, but I'm considering her with one of my female OCs, which would, in theory, alter her assumed canon sexuality.

I hope this answered your question! tl;dr: I think in the world of fan fiction, you can do anything you want! :)

[kcrabb88]

10 and 11 for the writing meme?

10. Answered!

11. Three tropes that are fine but overrated.

Hmmm let's see:

Enemies-to-lovers, though I swear I'm seeing this more in original fiction than fic these days, even though people treat it a lot like a fic thing. Like, 85% of the time it's really more like annoyed-to-lovers and when it IS actual enemies there's never enough development. Either they aren't enemies enough for my taste, or they jump from enemies to lovers too fast.

Fake dating just ??? Does not compel me?? I know people love it but don't care all that much. I don't hate it! I just don't engage with it often.

Coffee shop AUs are probably the last one. A lot of my fandoms are fairly high-intensity plot wise, lives at stake, that sort of thing, so while I do enjoy fluff (and you all know I love a fix-it, though people usually have to suffer to get there hahaha) I still want it in the context of the canon, and lowering the stakes too much doesn't interest me.

[grogusmum]

Tumblr Writer Q&A

for tagging me 💚 Thank you@oonajaeadira

1) How many complete fics/one-shots do you have that you have not published (yet)? None. I only sat on one that was really close to being finished, because I wasn't sure if I'd ever share it... but I post them when they are "done".

2) How many WIPS do you have right now? I have 4 open series that have varying stages of next chapter progress... and I have a Frankie one-shot and a first attempt at a Whiskey "one-shot" (in quotes because invariably they all become a series) sitting in my docs so... 6... no, 7 sort of. *sighs

3) Do you take writing requests or write original ideas, or both? Original ideas, I got one idea given to me from a friend, so it wasn't much of a request, as OH YOU KNOW WHAT YOU SHOULD WRITE ABOUT... (it was Grogus's first day at preschool and a favorite of mine so, thank you Jessie!!) I'm open to requests and have done some milestone celebrations that have offered requests. No takers.

4) If you do take requests, how many do you currently have? 0

5) How many fandoms do you write for? One, it's all Pedro Pascal characters with an offshoot of it, Grogu pov fics

6) Are there any fandoms you wrote for in the past that you no longer write for? I've never really written fic before starting a year ago. As close as I get, is what I guess at the time I called parody (maybe some would define it as fic) it was a mash up of time/dimension travelers with Jack Skellington, it was a 100-page novella, for a themed Halloween party invitation ... the other was an OC insert, Indiana Jones short film script. one was a million years ago the other was a gazillion years ago.

7) Do you write for ships, reader inserts or other? Reader inserts. The occasional OC.

8) Niche fandoms/characters you write for? I'm not sure... like I write a fair amount of fantastical characters like selkies, merlings, hedge witches... if that's what that means...

9) Do you read fics as well as write them? You bet!

10) What is your favorite genre to write for? Romance, hurt/comfort, ffflllloooofff, is the internal monologue of nonverbal characters a genre?

11) What is your favorite trope (to read/write)? I write lots of idiots in love... is that a trope? For reading though, my favorite is fluffy slow burn friends to lovers...

Here I will basically cheat off Adira's homework because same) BUT against my will, I've become a fan of sex pollen, a/b/o, monsterfucking...

Yall know who you are!! Making me fall for your monster maxes, your minotaur jacks, naga oberyns, oh and the Alpha Dins and Frankies and wookies, and I do not know what all is next!

12) What do you do to get motivated to write? Watching the source material mostly. I have music and sometimes I put moodboards together

13) Is there a trope/genre you like to read, but not write? (here again, I'm just going to cheat of Adira's paper)The aforementioned a/b/o, sex pollen, and monsterfucking for sure. I leave the smut in far more capable hands. (that last bit is not from Adira's homework because she can bring the spice!!)

14) Any characters/fandoms you want to write for that are never requested? Again I dont get requests. I have the very beginning of a Jack Daniels fic, and I want to write a Javi Gutierrez fic... I can see me falling into the Dieter pit too

15) How long have you been writing fan fiction? A year on March 16th.

16) Did you read fan fiction before you started writing? Like a month before hahaha (I still don't really know how all this happened)

17) Do you only post on Tumblr, or any other sites as well? Only tumblr

18) What do you personally consider the word counts of "Drabble", "One shots" and "fics"? Drabbles are around 500-700 words. One-shots are anything that isn’t multi-chapter and can include drabbles. Fic is all. (Again cheating off Adira)

19) Which do you prefer to write more? HC, drabbles, oneshots/fics, multi chapter stories, other? um... a lot of my one shots grow. I think I should probably stick with one shots though.

20) Are there any stories you have discontinued? If so, why? No. If they haven't been updated I may be stuck but they are not abandoned.

21) What is one of your main "pet-peeves" as a writer on Tumblr? The anon hate for sure, and non-smut struggling for space at least it's a problem in this fandom (Reminder as previously mentioned, I read smut, I like it very much.) Some of the anon hate is directed at writers who don't write smut telling them there's no point to their fics without it... smh

22) Do you write a particular time of day? Anytime the mood strikes really, but early morning is pretty quiet at my house so that is when I will write.

23) Do you listen to music, ambiance/noise, etc to write or do you need silence? Quiet is good, but I do have playlists for some of my fics to set the right vibe. Sometimes nature sounds like the ocean etc.

24) Do you outline your fics at all before writing? Hahaha that implies planning! Bold as brass!

25) Do you post your writing as soon as you finish it, or do you schedule it to come out at a specific time/day? Nope, those babies get pushed out of the nest as soon as they are ready.

tagging (with no pressure a request to start a new post if you partake💚) @seasonschange-butpeopledont @firstofficerwiggles @jessie-writes-things @quica-quica-quica @whistlingbirdie @scribbledghost @radiowallet @ezras-channel-rat

(if you want to play, join in and tag me so I can read it!)

[titan-fodder]

Ahh! I'm giddy at your response 🤩

Ah plz I'm obsessed with Prima Vista! I've been raving about it to my (adult) friends. I've evsn summarized updates for them on Snapchat because they don't have the time/attention span to read the chapters.

They miss out on the 🌶 & slow burn, their loss 🤷🏽‍♀️ they love the plot and we all hate monke. I was honestly, physically upset when Zeke showed up.

I started noticing the little things MC/Lara did around Zeke (e.g. not telling that dirty joke, trying to be interesting enough, and the hoodie punishment 😤 makes me stabby 🗡). She's just a plaything to him, he's amused by her, much like a predator who plays with its prey first. Really well done! Reminds me of a podcast- Something Was Wrong.

Your style of writing is how I write (original work, not FF). I too close my eyes, imagine the "scene" and write it out. You've given me some Inspo to write again.

I appreciate the hard work that goes into writing believeable banter, realistic body language, dialog, and characterization. I could keep going. Brava! 👏🏽

BFKDBFJF stop you’re making ME giddy!

omg you’re giving your friends the abridged version 😅 that’s fantastic. There’s so much spice in that fic it’s like 40% I feel like lol

Zeke is definitely manipulative and reader definitely falls for it. I wanted to make it subtle but like enough to pick up on just cause I didn’t want there to be an over abundance of zeke foolishness when the fic isn’t for him hahaha

I was actually working on original stuff before getting back into fan fiction! I think I mostly have the same “voice” writing both. Just some character differences.

I’m so glad you’re getting inspired, though. That’s one of my favorite things to hear ❤️

[inkykeiji]

I was wondering, do you already know how your stories are going to end? Like with BMB and the Touya-nii series? Because if so I wanted to ask your opinion - I'm not the best at thinking of endings but I got this story idea recently for a Dabi fic where my character ends up as his slave, but I'm not sure where to go from there. Do you have a process when a fic idea comes to you? <3

i do! i’ve known the ending for bmb since i posted part one (which was also written to function as a fully contained short story, since my blog was only a week old and i wasn’t sure anyone would want more parts to it!). originally bmb was only supposed to be two parts, but it grew and it grew and it grew and now it is a monster that consumes me wholeheartedly (affectionate) everyday hahaha <3 but regardless of that fact, the ending has ALWAYS stayed the same. for touya-nii, the entire series came to me while i was listening to save that shit by lil peep! the same thing happened for the tag you’re it series; all of my super main plot points came to me while listening to tag you’re it by melanie martinez! i’ve had all three parts mapped out in my journal since november!

for advice (and pls beware this is long!):

generally, you should always be writing with your ending in mind, or else your story just flounders and you end up with a lot of unnecessary scenes that don’t move the plot forward, or it feels very disjointed because the story itself has no idea where it’s going, since it’s creator has no idea where it’s going, either!

as such, my advice to you is to create some sort of bare bones outline of the most important plot points/scenes within your fic before you begin writing. this may (and often does) change as you write; there will be things you add or things you take out, ideas that will come to you as you write, but having a solid outline like this with a good grasp on where you want to go will help you immensely! but it’s never gospel! you can change and revise it at any time! it just helps give you a solid direction.

i have a question for you, though! when you say she ends up his slave, do you mean that’s the ending of the fic and you’re unsure how she gets to that point??? if so, welcome! that happens to most of us, and it is a GOOD thing. you want to know your ending as soon as possible! i kind of touch on this in the post i linked below, but obviously creativity is rarely linear; sometimes you come up with the ending first, sometimes you come up with a very specific scene and build an entire story around it, sometimes the plot points come to you out of order etc etc etc.

for me, for example, the ending of bmb came to me first, in conjunction with knowing i wanted to write a bodyguard love triangle. then i sat down and hashed out the most important plot points (aka how i was going to GET to that ending, how i was going to achieve that ending; a roadmap, more or less). as i said, it grew, mostly because i realized the story i wanted to tell would be better if told in five parts instead of two hehe <3

throughout that growth as i plotted it, and throughout creating, the finer details of each part came to me. after deciding it would be five parts (plus an epilogue ehehe), i knew that part three would be the tipping point; the point where the entire story begins to flip, twist, crack. i knew part three would be crucial to tomura’s story in particular, and i knew he’d be having a major mental breakdown. i also knew that in part four, there would be some very specific plot points relating to hawks (which unfortunately i cannot disclose to you just yet as they’re spoilers!) and that these HAD to be present for the story to progress the way i want it to, and i knew part five would be short and move at an incredibly fast pace (literally a breakneck pace hahaha it’s like BAMBAMBAMBAM).

so those are all bigger plot points necessary to move my story forward, right? but i was unsure of the finer details; i didn’t know exactly how tomura’s breakdown was going to turn out until i began working on part three, just that a breakdown at the hotel would be present, that he’d most likely hurt himself greatly in the process, that i definitely, definitely wanted the “careful, baby, stay back,” line to slip from dabi’s lips in an automatic nature, and that i wanted reader + dabi to find him at the tail end of his destruction.

my point with all of this is that you don’t need to know every single little detail; many of those things will come to you as you write, and as you live, (and, to get a lil sappy, that’s one of the most beautiful aspects of creating to me; that your piece grows and evolves the more you work on it and exercise your creative muscle <3) but having a general, solid roadmap of your major plot points before you begin writing is super beneficial.

as to how to arrive at those finer details, i cannot tell you, as you and i most likely have very different creative processes and inspirations! for instance, most of my ideas come to me while i’m running. i’ll throw on the playlist i made for the fic, clear my mind and then ONLY think about my plot as i’m running.

i described my writing process in this post right here! <333 i know it is very chaotic but that’s just how i work and how i’ve always worked, both with writing for fiction and writing for academia.

AAAAAH anon my sweetpea i hope this helps at least a little!!! creativity is such a complex and deeply personal process, and i think it’s incredibly difficult to fully describe it, but if you have any other questions i’ll try my best to answer them!! best of luck to you & your fic bb!! <333

[criticallyacclaimedstranger]

Tumblr writer tag

Tagged by sweet @floraandfrost

1) How many complete fics/one shots do you have that you have not published (yet)? I post everything when I finish it.

2) How many WIPS do you have right now? 11, some of them being worked on more actively than others.

3) Do you take writing requests or write original ideas, or both? Anyone is welcome to ask me for stuff at any point. I might say no but so far I've said yes.

4) If you do take requests, how many do you currently have? Don't have any at the moment.

5) How many fandoms do you write for? Pedro Pascal characters, mostly Frankie Morales.

6) Are there any fandoms you wrote for in the past that you no longer write for? Yes, I've been writing fanfic since before I knew what it was, or before I knew what the internet was. My first fandom that I wrote for was The X-files. Only a friend of mine read those.

7) Do you write for ships, reader inserts or other? I don't think I've ever written an established ship, canon or fanon? It's mostly reader inserts and OFCs. I'm good at OFCs.

8) Niche fandoms/characters you write for? I clearly have a thing for ex military OFCs...

9) Do you read fics as well as write them? Not really, no.

10) What is your favorite genre to write for? I don't think about genres, I just write?

11) What is your favorite trope (to read/write)? I haven't really thought about tropes when writing. I only recently realized Frankie x Lady is friends to lovers? I don't know, I just write. I'm sure my writing is riddled with tropes, but I don't actively choose them?

12) What do you do to get motivated to write? If I want to write, I sit down and write, even if it's just 30 minutes and what I write is a bunch of bollocks. Writing is a lot of revision. If I don't feel like writing, I do something else.

13) Is there a trope/genre you like to read, but not write? I'd like to write something in the style of Isabel Allende, or Donna Haraway.

14) Any characters/fandoms you want to write for that are never requested? I rarely get requests so I haven't had this problem.

15) How long have you been writing fanfiction? Some 25 years, off and on.

16) Did you read fan fiction before you started writing? Nope, wrote it first. Did read a lot of fanfic earlier, though.

17) Do you only post on Tumblr, or any other sites as well? I cross post on Ao3, not everything, but almost.

18) What do you personally consider the word counts of “Drabble”, “One shots” and “fics”? Aren't there inofficial rules about this? Isn't a drabble supposed to be exactly 100 words? And I thought a "one shot" was a standalone fic that's not part of series? HAHAHA OMG I've been using the term wrong for my whole time here. That's embarrassing.

19) Which do you prefer to write more? Oh, that varies. I'm always game for more Frankie x Lady, though. It's like revisiting a familiar old threesome.

20) Are there any stories you have discontinued? If so, why? The Instructor was at a stand-still for a long time, and I didn't really feel like finishing it. I think it was because Marcus Moreno was an early PP character for me, and I fell for him, but then discovered more characters that, to be honest, were better written and also not from a cringey kids movie. But I always felt bad about not finishing it. Now I am (I hope)!

21) What is one of your main “pet-peeves” as a writer on Tumblr? Lack of reader interaction. That's one (of a few) reasons I quit my previous fandoms, so I'm no stranger to doing it again. Sure, I write because I want to, but if I wrote for myself only, I wouldn't be here posting and wanting to talk about my fics, would I?

22) Do you write at a particular time of day? Mainly morning hours. Something during work hours, because my job is hella inconsistent, so sometimes I have nothing to do for hours.

23) Do you listen to music, ambiance/noise, etc to write or do you need silence? Mostly silence. When writing Misty I listen to Kate Bush's 50 Words For Snow album.

24) Do you outline your fics at all before writing? Never! I sometimes feel I should. No, it all starts with one single scene, or maybe just a line.

25) Do you post your writing as soon as you finish it, or do you schedule it to come out at a specific time/day? I always want to post asap but I've learned that, sadly, the time of the day seems to play a very large part of how much attention fics get, so I try to schedule them for the American mornings.

Too tired to tag anyone but feel free to snatch this if you want to!

[perkynurples]

Thank you for the tag @maderilien :D

How many works do you have on AO3?

32!

What’s your total AO3 word count?

1,355,735........ BRO

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Six so far! Most of them are for The Hobbit ofc, followed by The Untamed, then Overwatch, and I've got one each for Legend of Korra, Word of Honor, and a stray unfinished one for Star Wars OTL

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Nothing Gold Can Stay is first, then First Impressions (still surprised by the reception that one got over the years lol), you lick your lips (you taste like years of being alone) (god what a throwback), Love-In-Idleness my beloved, and For The Ages Of A Day

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Oh my god I try my damnedest, and I respond to everything the first couple of days after a fic or a chapter is published, and then I get sort of overwhelmed and don't respond to the later ones........ But god do I love them all and keep coming back to them all the time <3

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I legitimately don't think I'm capable of writing an angsty ending at this point (even though I often dream of it lol), but judging by readers' reactions, probably The Ghost and Mr Baggins

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I've never written a crossover in my life, but I DO love me a good wildly-divorced-from-original-reality-and-setting AU

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Man fortunately not that I can recall.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I write it kinda rarely, when the fancy strikes me, and as to what... kind? I mean, the explicit kind? And happy, I guess, always happy.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Fortunately not

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, so many AMAZING people graced my stories with their incredibly hard work, namely NGCS and Love-In-Idleness, it's been a great honor every time

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

nope but I'm definitely not against the idea!

What’s your all time favourite ship?

Boy this is a difficult question. Bagginshield has been with me the longest, and I produced the most works for it, but I'd be lying if I said I still had the same amount of passion for it now as I did years ago... It's an ever-shifting thing honestly, but just for the sheer amount of inspiration it provided me with, Bagginshield has got to be it, followed now by Wangxian for sure.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Thinking about my WIPs makes me stare at a wall and question myself a lot, so I don't tend to do that often. The ones I really want to finish, I know I'm capable of finishing, if that makes sense - I'm not gonna cross any of them off just yet.

What are your writing strengths?

Like I once said, idiots to lovers. Definitely introspection, people have a good long think about their feelings lol. Also characterization, and absolutely taking the source material, and making the characters/stories believable in a wildly different AU. That's like my favorite pastime. I really enjoy writing dialogues, too.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Action scenes lmao, and moving the story along, not getting stuck on descriptions, and the aforementioned introspection. Actually just complicated plots in general.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Hm, well, in the fandom I'm currently in, it's kind of par for the course, but I always make doubly, triply sure I'm not fucking anything up. I also had a long stint with Khuzdul back in my NGCS days, and that was immense fun, just sort of coming up with a fictional language on the fly... Altogether I'm not against it.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

HAHAHA definitely Naruto and/or Discworld, back when I would fill notebook after massive, thick notebook with scribbled short scene after scene. So much fun, still have some of the notebooks.

What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

Man probably Love-In-Idleness, that always comes up when someone asks me this. I just had so much unadulterated FUN with that one, and it felt like such a breath of fresh air after finishing the juggernaut that was NGCS.

[dramionecommentfest]

Reader Profile: Kiwi05622

The Dramione Comment Fest is the fest where readers take center stage! We’re excited to feature profiles of some of our readers throughout the course of the fest. First up, we have the most delightful and lovely @kiwi05622​!

Location: Middle East Hogwarts House: Slytherin Pronouns: she/her When did you start reading Dramione? How did you originally find fics to read?  I started reading in 2017… I think. Or was it 18? I'm not sure anymore. But one of those years lol! So yes, I'm still relatively new to the fandom. But I have devoured so much that it's come to the point where all the stories I've read have started to mingle with each other, and I can't tell you which story is which unless it had a massive impression on me and stood out. How did I find fics? I had this friend of mine, who was a closeted fic reader (I will never forgive her for not introducing me to this world sooner) that kept on dropping these obscure hints my way whenever Harry Potter would come up in our discussions, which was often. She would call me and ask what I'm doing, and my answer would either be, I'm reading HP, or watching one of the movies. She never once judged me or asked me why I'm spending so much time re-reading and rewatching, and I love her for that. One night, she got a little frustrated with me when I whined about NEEDING MORE of it, and she snapped. She was like KIWI JUST GIVE ME TWO CHARACTERS THAT YOU LOVE, and I shyly replied Hermione and Draco? She had the audacity to sigh (she is not a Dramione lover by any means). She sent me a link to Ao3 with a message "Welcome to my life, and I wish you luck stepping foot inside this black hole. Bye.” because I didn't know better. I didn't know what I was getting myself into, I clicked on the FIRST link I found, and this is how Bleak Manor by Pushthebutton became the first story that made me -surprisingly- fall in love with Dramione and fan fiction.  How have you gotten more involved in the Dramione community? What platforms/websites have you participated in, and which do you like? I'm not VERY involved in the fandom, if I'm honest. I'm an introvert by nature. Even though I started reading years ago, I only started joining Facebook groups last year. From there, I stumbled onto Tumblr (which was the weirdest platform I've ever been on, but now I LOVE IT), which then led me to Discord. This is where I'm currently stationed. I'm not as active as I used to be on Facebook. I also reached out to many people on Discord and found friends that I no longer call "internet friends," and I find it easier to communicate to authors over there.

Tell us about any reading preferences or practices!  Okay, I won't talk about my past habits, because looking back, it was really unhealthy. But I remember I used to read at every waking hour; I would only *sleep* to generate energy to keep ongoing: Goodbye food and social life. However, now, I dedicate time to reading, and it's usually 2 hours before I sleep. So I'll have dinner, and then open up my kindle and read until my eyes can't stay open. My days are usually spent talking to friends and doing many things that need to get done. I started off reading with my laptop until my boyfriend got annoyed by the bright lights emanating from my screen (honestly I didn't even think about reading from my phone). He later suggested reading from the iPad, and I stuck to that for a fair bit, until one night, I ran out of battery, and I couldn’t find the charger, so I reluctantly read from my phone, which I later obviously loved. I could read on the train, while making dinner, taking a walk (because we all need to exercise at some point). Then, after my boyfriend was SURE this wasn't just a phase, and I'll probably be reading for the rest of my life, he surprised me with a kindle, and the rest is history.  

Do you like to leave comments? If so, what is your advice for leaving comments?  If I'm completely honest with you, sometimes. I'm guilty of moving on from a chapter to chapter without taking a moment to comment. Telling myself that I'll go back and let the author know how much I enjoyed this part or that part. But I forget. Once I'm done with a story, I want to MOVE ON to the next one. However, in the past year, I've made an active effort to write down everything I feel on my phone while I read on my kindle, so I can go back and paste my review. That’s the other thing, I read SO much from my kindle, that it makes it so easy to forget to go back online and submit a review. And with Discord, I usually read with my friends, and sometimes the author will be there while we talk, theorise and flail all over their work. It's a much more interactive experience. I think authors would prefer that over a thank you. This isn't to say that a thank you doesn't go a long way or isn't appreciative, but honestly, how many times can an author say you're welcome? Or thank you for reading? This takes me to the second part of your question. The one advice I would give is, don't expect a response back. Do it because you genuinely liked it. Suppose we keep expecting and wanting the author to respond, especially if a chapter gets SO MANY reviews. In that case, it might seem disheartening to the reviewer, and they're left feeling unseen or that their review was lacking, which isn't the case most of the time. Tell them how it made you feel, which parts did you love, which string of emotion was plucked and left vibrating in your chest. Tell them that. But also, saying a simple thank you is enough. Personally, I would go to the last chapter and tell the author how much I've enjoyed their story if it's a story that was posted years or months back. If it's a story published years ago and they seem inactive, I would slide into their DMs and flail all over the story. You'd be surprised how many actually respond.

What is your all-time favorite fic you’ve read?  ALL TIME FAVOURITE is such a difficult question to answer. So I’ll compromise and tell you which one I really really really LOVE but also list a few that I can't be parted with. If my room was caught on fire and I had all these stories in front of me and I had to only choose ONE I would say Risk Reward Ratio by @MissiAmphetamine and its sequel! Okay, I know I cheated, but *sigh* honestly I love it. And I’m not sorry about it either. It's not what you would typically hear because it's not really a fluffy story and there are some questionable actions, plots and let’s not start discussing their relationship. But you see, I enjoy a story that questions my morals sometimes, where I find myself asking “what would I do in this situation?” Plus, as you’ll see below, I have a thing for angst with a happy ending. That being said, I also love love love these stories and they each hold meaning to me, because I've read them at various stages of my life: 

Redemption by @anondracomalfoy (wonderfully written story and very enjoyable!!! It’s a memory trope mixed with some suspense)

Revert by SUPRNTRAL LVR (this is when I found out that I can actually cry while reading a story lol) 

Remain Nameless by @heyjude19-writing (I will FOREVER love this story and no one can taint it for me. If you ONLY knew how much this story means to me *cough* I spent every moment I wasn’t reading this making her moodboards that's how much it moved me *cough*)

The Art of Betrayal by @hathawaywrites

Across The Hall by @takingflight48 (this one just hold a special place in my heart)

Thirteenth Night by Nelpher (This is the story that changed my mind about memory loss trope which is my LEAST favourite)

Nightmares and Nocturnes by @olivieblake (one of the most creative and unique war stories ever written)

Hindsight by @floorcoaster (This changed my mind about T rated stories)

Broken by @inadaze22 (this taught me a lesson to READ THE TAGS, but the pain was worth it)

Sugar and Spice by @inlovewithforever (ummmm do I need to say more? This is one of the best triads I've ever read)

Looking Glass by @kyonomiko​ (Every time I'm in a rut I go back to THIS and it never fails to bring me back to life and remind me why I fell in love with these two. It's light hearted, funny and has my second OTP. it's a win-win for me)

Find Your Way Back by @willhavetheirtrinkets​ (Musyc) (I will forever rec this story to everyone)

Pound of Flesh by @pennilynnovus​ (HELLO STRIPPER DRACO! This one tore my heart out, I love it!)

Honestly, the list can go on and on and on. There are just SO many good ones out there that I haven't mentioned yet, but I wanted to list only a few that I will always go back and re-read. Also, just because I haven't mentioned the ones that we keep seeing everywhere, doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them or loved them! 

What fic gave you the most feels? Definitely “Risk Reward Ratio.” It gave me SO much feels. Some were good, and some were pretty bad. It took me on a wild roller coaster ride. I was happy, sad, angry, happy, sad, angry. I laughed hard in some places, I cried even harder in others, I wanted to pull my hair out MOST of the time, and some parts were oh so good the butterflies wouldn't settle the fuck down. But ehh I like what I like, and I'm unapologetic about it. :D

Who is your favorite side character from any Dramione fic? This one is easy! Theo-fucking-Nott! Without a shadow of a doubt. You want to make him the most awesome sidekick character, go right ahead. The best bro, be my guest. The one that has secret feelings for Hermione? GIVE ME THAT TRIAD!!!!! You dare to make him evil? FUCK YES! I'm SO here for it. Even if he is one, I will STILL love him. I always get slightly giddy when Theo makes an appearance, and I tend to enjoy the story that much more. He's an interesting character to me because he's ambiguous. Canon never gave us much about his personality and reading how everyone interprets him makes him one the most versatile characters in my humble opinion. :D

Last question: Do you really like kiwis?? Hahaha!!!! Yes, I really do. This name was given to me by the people who were worried I had a mild obsession with kiwis. You don't have to ask me what I need from the store, because my answer would always be “we've run out of kiwis, BRING ME SOME MORE.” However, let me just make it clear that I'm not a heathen and I don't eat them with their skin on (no judgment if you do).

Thank you so much, Kiwi, for sharing with us! The Dramione community is lucky to have you <3 

Don’t forget, sign ups for the Dramione Comment Fest close February 6, 2021. Check out the rules here and sign up for the fest here.

[ailec-12]

20 Questions, Writer's Edition!

I was tagged by @hklnvgl, thanks so much!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

14.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

269,196. 🤩

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Four: Harry Potter, Once Upon a Time, Marvel Cinematic Universe and Avatar: The Last Airbender.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

House Potter for Children in Need (HP, 1,463 ❤)

A Hotchpotch of Feelings (HP, 431 ❤)

Pocket-Sized (MCU, 178 ❤)

And I, You (MCU, 98 ❤)

Dear Tom, Who the Bloody Hell Are You? (HP, 78 ❤)

5. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Always! I love answering comments. Besides, if you take the time to leave a few words, I think you deserve to get something other than radio silence. And I also like it when other writers respond to mine, so that's why I make a habit of replying to every comment.

6. What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

That would be December, 17th. I challenged myself to write a Christmas story and that was the result.

7. What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

Of Forgiveness and Hope. 💚

8. Do you write crossovers? If so, what's the craziest one you've written?

I haven't written any, but I did imagine a pretty detailed Hogwarts AU with the Mills sisters once.

9. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yeah, though thankfully it's been rare and pretty mild.

10. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nope, but maybe I will someday.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope. Someone did offer once with one of my fics, but I declined because I didn't know them and didn't feel comfortable. I wouldn't mind allowing translations from people I know somewhat so that I can trust them to translate accurately and keep me posted, though.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I've got a WIP with @mariagvogel focused on Peggy Carter, but it's not posted anywhere.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

It's hard to choose just one, but mmm, let's say Outlaw Queen (Regina Mills x Robin Hood).

15. What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

A very ambitious fix-it of Marvel's Civil War. It's likely that I will finish it eventually, but I don't think it will have a big audience by then. xD

16. What are your writing strengths?

Conveying emotions! That's also my main goal: to tell stories that stirr something in the reader. Also, I'm very patient with my writing projects, so I can keep myself motivated to finish them after a long time.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Complex plots. I struggle to find clever solutions to plot conflicts and it's something I should honestly practise more, but since it's not a priority in fanfiction... Sometimes, I also feel like I'm unable to go straight to the point and produce short fiction.

18. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Depends on the source material, really. If for whatever reason a character usually says certain words/expression in a different language, I'd keep that in my fics. In general, I think it fits as long as there's a reason for it, like a character struggling with the language and inserting words in their native language. I'd "translate" full dialogues remarking in which language they're actually happening, though.

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

There was an early attempt based on a Spanish book, but I must agree with the person that told me it wasn't much of a fic, but rather an original story with the same setting, hahaha. My first actual fic was a one shot for OUAT —there was an unpublished attempt at writing Steggy fluff but I could swear it came later.

20. What's your favourite fic you've written?

I can't choose just one! I'm satisfied with most of my stories, so I can try to choose my top 5 (in no particular order):

OFaH

House Potter

Dear Tom

Lightning

December, 17th

Tagging @supermarketcrayons, @itslucyluna, @thatawfulsnapeboy, @mariagvogel and any other writer who sees this and wants to give it a try.

[redisaid]

Dunno if the ask thing is still going, but I'm curious about the first few fandoms you've ever been in and/or which you've first written fics for ! (All good to not mentions anything you'd rather keep for yourself of course hahaha)

Hah it goes as long as I still feel social!

I won't mention early specifics, as I am old as fuck and don't want to age myself that deeply, but my first fics ever were written for a handful of anime shows I was into in my very early teens. Then a few video games after that throughout highschool.

Then I just...didn't write for a good 10 years. College burnt me out with the amount I had to read and write for it. I didn't have any interest in fandom until 2013.

At the time, I was in a real rough patch, feeling pretty hopeless about the future. Feeling like life wasn't turning out like I wanted, even though I was already into my late twenties then. I was trying to work on original fiction stuff, but not getting much of anywhere. I signed up for Tumblr to see if I could create an audience for the original stuff there, and then discovered Adventure Time through that. I loved the show, and it still holds a special place in my heart as something that helped me through a rather hopeless time in my life.

That saw me slowly crawl back into fandom. I had no idea what I was doing anymore or what Ao3 was and I felt like a fucking dinosaur, but I couldn't stay away. Actual textual gay vibes in a show??? What?? I had to expound on this!

That led into a tiny bit of Legend of Korra stuff when that was popular, then Clexa, then Overwatch. I had been a long time Warcraft fan, having played retail WoW on and off since Vanilla and gone back to play Warcraft 3 purely to learn the lore, but had never considered Warcraft as being fic territory because of the ever-changing story and the fact that well, no one was officially gay.

But that had never stopped me before, and so here we are!

[ganymedesclock]

So... What do you think about revisiting Danny phantom in general? Revisiting the fandom I've noticed a lot of fanfic that have Danny's parents finding out his deal rather violently, or generally having more violence/angst than the original show..

I’m assuming you’re sending me this ask because of my recent burst of Danny Phantom art, so, it’s probably not a surprise to say I’m doing a certain amount of revisiting myself, and certainly not about to shame anyone else for it. It was a very dear cartoon to me in many ways and left some enduring hallmarks on my own writing, and I can absolutely understand people feeling the same way.

That said, as someone who’s been in this fandom for a while, albeit quietly- there certainly is a thread of macabre interest in fandom spaces, one I don’t always know that I agree with, especially when it comes to the Fentons.

My personal verdict on the Fenton parents specifically is I think they are not handled fairly by canon. This is a problem that Danny Phantom as a show shares with Fairly Odd Parents, though I would argue the Turner parents in FOP are quite a bit worse at this.

Roughly, I think how the Fenton parents are canonically depicted suffers from a phenomenon that affects many parts of the show: DP, as a series, has a bit of a sense of confused priorities between comedy and drama, and as a result, what’s 'real’ in-universe and what’s “just supposed to be a joke”. The kind of humor that DP tends to spring for is exaggerated or shocking behavior- it also tends to be a humor that hinges on the idea that other people are generally inconvenient to the main character. So humor-characterization is inconsistent here- Jack is negligent until it’s more inconvenient to depict him as overbearing (see: Girl’s Night Out and other cases he desperately wants to bond with Danny) he’s a recluse only loved by his wife until it’s more inconvenient to depict him as having an active social life (Masters Of All Time and that he and Maddie are going to a themed party so they’re dressed ‘weirdly’ in public)

A big victim of this is Jack’s sense that ghosts aren’t people and his desire to dissect them. Because here is the thing: it’s all talk, in the worst way. It hinges on the idea Jack- someone who knows enough of what he’s doing that along with Maddie and, in the past, Vlad- ripped two different holes in reality hard enough to permanently alter someone’s relation to undeath- has never seen a ghost before the series as he says in Mystery Meat.

The series has a big problem where it hinges on the Fentons’ inventions and expertise but also wants to treat them like idiots constantly. And if you notice how much I’m talking exclusively about Jack- that’s part of the problem. Maddie, in many ways, outside of episodes that throw her a bone, despite constantly being told by people she’s too good for Jack, is really treated as an extension of Jack. Masters Of All Time even suggests that her choosing Jack in the first place was just a path of least resistance between her two college friends, and she’d have married whichever one stuck around. 

The Fentons are not respected as experts, so Jack is given his ignorant line about dissecting a ghost. The Fentons need to remain exaggerated, ridiculous, an inconvenience to Danny- so they threaten his alter ego and point guns at him, but this is funny and not serious and not a reason to be worried about them as parents, because they are not on Danny’s level. Nobody is ever on Danny’s level. There is literally an episode called The Ultimate Enemy. The antagonist is an evil future Danny. The only person who could ever be Danny’s ultimate nemesis is Danny himself. 

And when the series stops milking the Fentons for jokes about how they’re so stupid and how Jack is an idiot and Maddie married that idiot but even she doesn’t respect him even though she loves him and dutifully follows him everywhere and god how can these people care about ghosts they’re so ignorant and out of their league- 

-then it kinda shuffles its feet awkwardly and goes, yeah. the Fentons love each other, and love their kids.

Yeah, Jack has framed photographs of Maddie, Jazz, and Danny on his personal workstation.

Yeah, in Mystery Meat Jack was seriously debating walking away from his lifework because it upset one of his kids. 

Yeah, every time in canon the Fentons find out Danny’s secret they’re immediately all in supporting him.

Yeah, even not knowing it’s Danny, Jack has an amiable conversation with him in Million Dollar Ghost and the ghost containment units designed by the Fentons get some jokes about that they’re a little cramped but they aren’t horrifying prisons of inhumanity- and as soon as Danny Phantom the ghost boy has a good point, Jack lets him go on purpose. 

Yeah, Jack is a competent ghost hunter who can take on Skulker and win as well as beat down the giant lake monster Skulker brought with him in Girls’ Night Out and would do this in a heartbeat, no jokes and no sidetracks, because that monster just chewed on his baby boy and nobody does that to his baby boy.

Yeah, Maternal Instinct is an entire episode of Maddie throwing hands with (or deceiving and manipulating) literally anything she thinks was responsible for getting Danny in this dangerous situation.

...And then the series says “but that’s not funny! Here, have jokes about the Fenton Stockades, that exist and have spikes and Jack wants to put his kids in them for time out, when the spikes apparently don’t hurt given Jack is not injured for being put in there. Here, have a joke about Jack attacking Jazz with a vacuum cleaner because he gets hellbent on the idea she’s possessed for no good reason. Here, have an uncomfortable joke about how badly Jack Fenton wants to vivisect a ghost while it screams. Funny funny funny. Why- why are you flinching?”

It basically creates a comedic situation where the show is constantly winding up like it’s gonna punch you- with the idea that the Fentons are bad parents and this has consequences for Danny and Jazz personally- and then laughs in your face if you flinch. It’ll never actually punch you- but it will sure keep swinging its hand really close to your face and laughing at your reactions.

This is, I’m just gonna say- one of the worst elements of the series, this weird relationship it has with “hahaha are we depicting an abusive family or not? ;)” where its actual point is that Jack Fenton is a person who should be shamed for being overzealous, for caring about this niche field, because nobody cares about ghosts! (unless the entire premise of the show does) Nobody wants to think about ghost science! That’s LAME! (unless Vlad does it)

So I think ultimately this creates a polarizing experience in the fandom. What part of this information do you take?

Do you take, say, my personal approach, which is: 

“Hey, so it’s pretty clear and consistent that the Fentons love their kids and wouldn’t hurt them. The Fentons are nice people. They can be obsessive or headstrong but there’s nuanced and salient ways to examine this in the basic framework that they care, both about their family specifically, and in general- and while I think they can have flaws or conflicts with their kids, and with ambient ghosts in the world, I really don’t think they’re in danger of torturing a sapient entity in their basement and it frustrates and annoys me that canon ‘makes a joke’ of them doing these things because it thinks they’re so incompetent that these things are not really malicious actions, when- whether or not you successfully shoot them, it takes a certain kind of person to point a weapon you know is dangerous at something that looks, and talks, like a fourteen-year-old, especially when you’re a parent who has probably at least once in your life worried about something happening to your kids, and the ghost of a teenager means something happened to someone’s kid, in a general sense.

So my end conclusion on the Fentons is I think they are being depicted in a kind of metatextual bad faith, that they are not cruel or malicious people, and in my personal take or understanding on the series, I’d massively dial down those elements, and if any remain, take them seriously as problems they have in their relationships with other people.”

Or do you take an approach more rooted in,

“If the Fentons are shown to be negligent parents they are negligent parents, I’m going to examine and depict them as that, and I find this very hard to forgive, so it’s going to have real and nasty consequences.”

Both are basically valid. The place where I tend to get a little uncomfortable is twofold:

First, I think sometimes people just really want some fictional tragedy to either create or consume, and to that end, you aren’t going to get much juicy drama out of the Fentons being reasonable people. This isn’t evil or unforgivable, but for me, it’s definitely my least favorite fannish content to create or consume. I’m no fan of angst for angst’s sake, and I feel like there’s enough misery and heartbreak in the world that I’m not interested in wallowing in it unless it’s got something interesting to say.

Second- and this is a point I’m gonna be saltier: A lot of abusive Fenton fics that refuse to forgive them for the poorer-taste jokes the series makes, simultaneously give Vlad a blank check, when he has done targetedly malicious things to Danny. 

Now- do I also have a more sympathetic read on Vlad, and feel like canon also gives him a bad rap? Yeah! But you can’t have it both ways. You can’t say, “I can’t forgive the Fentons for stuff that was tagged onto them because canon thought it was funny, but I’m gonna editorialize Vlad’s depiction to lionize him as the ideal parent figure for Danny to run into the arms of.”

And the main reason I get so worked up in this, is I feel like Jack in particular (when Maddie is characterized as subordinate to Jack, following his cues, etc., and that’s its own demon) is... characterized as kind of a mocking caricature of traits that I personally recognize as an autistic and ADHD person.

Because the reality is? In many practical ways, I am Jack Fenton.

I like a bunch of weird stuff people find unacceptable or gross, like bugs

I’m hyperlexic (that means I talk, a lot)

Scatterbrained, forget words or where I left something or, sometimes, to do something important

Passionate and excitable including and especially in situations where it’s not normal, or expected, to have this much energy

I absolutely can forget birthdays, even for people I love dearly that mean the world to me! It’s horrible! There’s almost nothing I can do about it! My brain refuses to hold onto this information reliably and no amount of caring fixes it.

And being this way, living like this? My worst nightmare has always been that people think I either don’t care or that I’m just too much of a stupid, flippant buffoon to get right.

The thing about Jack is he’s “a person like me” and he’s “a person like me” who was designed to be a joke. We’re clearly expected to view him as untrustworthy, stupid, just like a big dumb dog of a man who barks in the wrong directions, who sometimes, when it counts, fetches a stick like he’s supposed to. Good job, Lassie. You got little Timmy out of the well.

And I am going to say with certainty and confidence that feeling like this is how people see me is the most unbelievably crushing feeling I have ever experienced in my life. That my excitement and passion means I’m unprofessional, stupid, don’t know what I’m talking about. It’s nearly painful for me, as an adult, to watch Danny Phantom because the show can never get off Jack’s case. And the few times it does, he hauls overtime arduously to make a difference, to help, to build something that will protect others, to put his own life on the line to stop hostile ghosts.

And immediately, then he goes back to being stupid stupid dog man. ha ha. why does his wife love him? no wonder his kids don’t ever want to be seen with him. no wonder his best friend is trying to kill him and he doesn’t even know, the big idiot.

(never mind that we see a scenario where he does know. and admits he would’ve forgiven Vlad anyway. but he can’t forgive Vlad hurting Danny.)

So to rein in this wild tangent: I’m not saying all must love Jack Fenton and despair. I’m not even telling people to hide their angst. If I have a sincere request, it’s this:

If you’re inclined to thinking of Vlad as a cool, troubled, complex person (as I do!) and are haunted by the implications of The Ultimate Enemy specifically for Vlad, that when Danny lost everyone else in his life that Vlad really genuinely tried to help, and was not gloating and happy and victorious to have Danny as his protege, and when that went badly, he was haunted to the end of his days by not having been able to help-

-but immediately turn around and think Jack is just a rotten awful person who’d absolutely hurt his own kid in spite of canon to the contrary (when there’s just as much, if not more, canon of Vlad being willfully hostile)

It might be good to examine why you’re feeling this way, and if this might not come down to the fact that even when canon has people call Vlad a desperately lonely fruit loop, it has a lot more respect for him than it does for Jack, and this isn’t because it’s actually taking a stance against any of the qualities it gave Jack that someone might find disagreeable- it’s because Jack’s just “a big old fat idiot nobody likes, right?”

and that’s... not something comfy to buy into.

[grogusmum]

Tumblr Writers Q&A

Thanks for tagging me @chaoticgeminate 💚

I did this one about a month ago, but some answers are new so I'm gonna do it again!

1) How many complete fics/one-shots do you have that you have not published (yet)? None. I only sat on one that was really close to being finished, because I wasn't sure if I'd ever share it... but I post them when they are "done".

2) How many WIPS do you have right now? I have 2 open series that have varying stages of next chapter progress... and I have a Frankie one-shot and a first attempt at a Whiskey one-shot, a new Grogu In Which sitting in my docs so... 5

3) Do you take writing requests or write original ideas, or both? I would do both. I have twice since the last time I did a Q&A like this so thank you to @writeforfandoms and of course, you Kelly!! 💚but overall I don't get requests so really it's original ideas. I am open to them though.

4) If you do take requests, how many do you currently have? 0

5) How many fandoms do you write for? One, it's all Pedro Pascal characters with an offshoot of it, Grogu pov fics

6) Are there any fandoms you wrote for in the past that you no longer write for? I've never really written fic before starting a year ago. As close as I get, is what I guess at the time I called parody (maybe some would define it as fic) it was a mash-up of time/dimension travelers with Jack Skellington, it was a 100-page novella, for a themed Halloween party invitation ... the other was an OC insert, Indiana Jones short film script. one was a million years ago the other was a gazillion years ago.

7) Do you write for ships, reader inserts or other? Reader inserts. The occasional OC.

8) Niche fandoms/characters you write for? I'm not sure... like I write a fair amount of fantastical characters like selkies, merlings, hedge witches... if that's what that means...

9) Do you read fics as well as write them? You bet!

10) What is your favorite genre to write for? Romance, hurt/comfort, ffflllloooofff, is the internal monologue of nonverbal characters a genre?

11) What is your favorite trope (to read/write)? I write lots of idiots in love... is that a trope? For reading though, my favorite is fluffy slow burn friends to lovers... against my will, I've become a fan of sex pollen, a/b/o, monsterfucking... what have yall done to me? And you know who you are!! Making me fall for your monster maxes, your minotaur jacks, naga oberyns, oh and the Alpha Dins and Frankies and wookies, and I do not know what all is next! (by the way thank you and keep up the good work)

12) What do you do to get motivated to write? Watching the source material mostly. I have music and sometimes I put moodboards together

13) Is there a trope/genre you like to read, but not write? The aforementioned a/b/o, sex pollen, and monsterfucking for sure. I leave the smut in far more capable hands.

14) Any characters/fandoms you want to write for that are never requested? Again I don't get requests, really. I have the very beginning of a Jack Daniels fic, and I want to write a Javi Gutierrez fic... I can see myself falling into the Dieter pit too

15) How long have you been writing fanfiction? A year on March 16th.

16) Did you read fan fiction before you started writing? Like a month before hahaha (I still don't really know how all this happened)

17) Do you only post on Tumblr, or any other sites as well? Only tumblr

18) What do you personally consider the word counts of "Drabble", "One shots" and "fics"? Drabbles are around 500-700 words. One-shots are anything that isn’t multi-chapter and can include drabbles. Fic is all.

19) Which do you prefer to write more? HC, drabbles, oneshots/fics, multi chapter stories, other? um... a lot of my one-shots grow. I think I should probably stick with one-shots though.

20) Are there any stories you have discontinued? If so, why? No. If they haven't been updated I may be stuck but they are not abandoned.

21) What is one of your main "pet-peeves" as a writer on Tumblr? The anon hate for sure, and non-smut struggling for space at least it's a problem in this fandom (Reminder as previously mentioned, I read smut, I like it very much.) Some of the anon hate is directed at writers who don't write smut telling them there's no point to their fics without it... smh And although I know some people lurk or like for reasons, I do with there was more engagement, it's going way down and it is truly a bummer.

22) Do you write a particular time of day? Anytime the mood strikes really, but early morning is pretty quiet at my house so that is when I will write.

23) Do you listen to music, ambiance/noise, etc to write or do you need silence? Quiet is good, but I do have playlists for some of my fics to set the right vibe. Sometimes nature sounds like the ocean etc.

24) Do you outline your fics at all before writing? Hahaha that implies planning! Bold as brass!

25) Do you post your writing as soon as you finish it, or do you schedule it to come out at a specific time/day? Nope, those babies get pushed out of the nest as soon as they are ready.

~~~~~

let's see tagging with no pressure and a request to start a new post if you partake💚Also if you are a writer and you'd like a chance total about your writing and you haven't been tagged- TAG YOU'RE IT (and tag me so I can read it)

@insomniamamma @writeforfandoms @honestly-shite @katareyoudrilling @clydesducktape @novemberrain221 @sprout-fics