#please send your ideas. I wanna hear all the niche stuff and ideas. I wanna go nuts over it

[indigo-flightly-falls]

ATTENTION HERMITBLR

If you see this you are obligated to reblog and put your niche AUs in either the tags or as text.

And by 'niche' I mean something like a show many people don't watch or a random book from the library or something. Basically something that as far as you can tell, hasn't been created before.

I have hand selected three of my personal collection, but I have many more rattling around the brain. Under the cut because I love to ramble :)

Jinxed: This is based off the book 'Jinxed', which is set in a world where little animal robots replace phones called bakus. There are at least 4 tiers to these robots, although there might be more because I haven't read the second book yet- The current idea I have is that the Hermits are a friend group from one of the schools, and the traffic gang are sneaking out to take part in illegal baku fighting. That's it I haven't fleshed this out but robot animals and cool technology and maybe some angst. The angst comes in the form of the Watchers who run the fights slowly manipulating the kids.

Children of Stardust: This is based off a random book I grabbed off the library shelf. It's so good. It takes part in a galaxy that gives away powers in the from of kobastickers. The reason it's on the list is because the Saba guild the main character belongs to gives off Hermitcraft energy. The kids gathered so many lawsuits and the one in charge of them just does not care. There's also this place called the City of Children, where all the adults just vanished and now it's run by kids. Idk cool space adventures filled with chaos.

Skyborn: This one is based off the book series Skyborn! It's a three part series that takes place in a universe where everyone is a bird hybrid. Fellow bird/avian likers come get your dream universe. This one you could pretty much either just use the given universe or filled in the canon characters! If we're going with filling in canon characters here's some ideas: Ellie - Gem. A sparrow who wants to join the elite guard and when she doesn't she joins a band of thieves? I feel like Gem would be a great Ellie :) Gussie - Mumbo. I have nothing to say except vibes. And also the fact that Gussie was from the high clans but then ran away to work on inventions. This role was made for Mumbo. Twig is Bdubs I will not explain. It is simply the vibes. Nox... is harder to place. Etho might work, but that interferes with another idea I had. Basically to get a Nox grab a traumatized guy who would be a crow hybrid and is bad at feelings. Scar and Grian are that that prince and guard that might be in love. You can take this a /r or /p but they'd be great. Anyone else I'd say are background characters or cameos! There are a lot of possibilities! This universe is filled with potential angst and fluff, with so much cool world building! I'd also recommend checking out the books if you don't mind them being targeted for kids!

[ladyfl4me]

A,E,F,G,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z ;o

Okay *cracks knuckles* let’s go! F, M, and S have already been taken from this list, so feel free to send in... B, C, D, or H, I guess. Yeehaw. This is really fucking long.

A: How did you come up with the title to [TMWCIFTC]? -- It started, as many things do, as a bad pun. The novel The Spy who Came In from the Cold was a cold-war spy thriller, about a British spy who goes over to East Germany as an apparent defect, except he’s actually there to spread misinformation and fuck shit up. He falls in love, becomes disillusioned with his superiors, and is shot dead over the corpse of his lover after climbing over to the east side of the wall. Needless to say, this is nowhere close to what happens in TMWCIFTC. I chose it early on because of the literal meaning: there’s a moth(man), he’s coming in from the cold WV weather, boom shaka laka, we have a title. Over time, though, it’s evolved into another meaning. Indrid himself is coming in from an isolated, lonely existence: he’s rejoining the family that cut ties with him, he’s in love, he’s warm and safe. The moth sure did come in from the cold, and hopefully he stays that way.

E: If you wrote a sequel to [TMWCIFTC], what would it be about? -- Hm. Considering my entire TAZ fic career is a tangled hairball of sequels and prequels, I kind of have this base covered. At the moment, TCOS - aka The Children of Sylvain, the sequel to TMWCIFTC - is about three things: a Pine Guard road trip race against time and the feds, the Spanish Sylvan Inquisition That Nobody Expected (least of all Jake and Hollis, who have to set aside their differences and past conflicts to save Kepler - and who knows, maybe they’ll fall in love along the way), and Alexandra the Interpreter getting woke to Sylvan politics and doing what she can from the inside to change them. In other words, it’s going to be a massive sequel that is the finale of the Amnesty alternate universe I’ve created. It’s this series’ Endgame. (That reminds me, I need an actual title for this collection of stories I’m writing. The “Tin Cinematic Universe” doesn’t quite have the ring to it that I’d like.)

G: Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order? -- eh, it kind of depends. It’s like a buffering bar on Youtube videos. I outline what I can until I run out of ideas, then start writing, then add outlines to the end, until the outline is complete and I just have to keep writing.

I: Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)? -- I don’t have one for reading, but for writing, I fucking love structuring chapters around songs. Classical or otherwise, I love music. All my stories play in my head like a movie screen, and I just do my best to describe what I’m seeing in my head with an accompanying score. It’s not so much a guilty pleasure as it is a writing process. Frankly, I don’t think I actually have a guilty pleasure; the act of writing itself is all the happiness I need.

J: Write or describe an alternative ending to [insert fic]. -- An alternate ending for The Devil Went Down To Georgia would be... interesting. It ended with Boyd-as-Jersey-Devil scaring the pants off some poor broke college kid, who stole his worthless fiddle; then he changed back, and he and Ned went on their merry way to go break into Aubrey’s house and send everything down the drain. If there was one thing that I could change in there, it would be how fast Ned ran. If he ran a little faster, he would have seen the alley; he would have witnessed Boyd turning into the Jersey Devil, or at least turning back into himself; and he’d get a very rude awakening as to what Sylvans are and that his partner (in crime, and everything that mattered) was a fucking cryptid. God, that’d be a fun AU to write. Who knows, I might go do that someday.

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with? -- At the moment, the only angsty idea that I’m actually conceptualizing is a Hollis/Jake angsty breakup for TSG. (Spoilers, I guess.) I once wrote a very grimdark ending to TMWCIFTC where everyone fell through the ice and drowned. It wasn’t fun. I’ve also mentally killed off each Amnesty protagonist and NPC in various ways, but I never felt comfortable writing them down. I only write angst with a happy ending because those are the kinds of stories I need to hear.

L: How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting? -- 9 times out of 10, I just throw it into the void. I write as much as I can in big chunks, and then kind of hope for the best. TMWCIFTC, for example, is a completely unedited, unbetaed vomit draft. I usually do a quick reread of my oneshots to catch grammar and spelling errors, but other than that I just trust myself that it’s fine.

N: Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish) for you? -- Can I get some kind of resolution for To the Edge of Night? Can I please get some kind of resolution for To the Edge of Night??? I was 14 chapters into that bastard before I a) became a more casual MCU fan and b) discovered TAZ. It was such a niche fic with such a niche structure - LOTR as galactic Asgardian propaganda to cover up Odin’s mistakes - that at some point I lost interest in it. I just saw Endgame though, so now I might get some inspiration for stuff to bastardize.

O: How do you begin a story–with the plot, or the characters? -- Characters. When coming up with character backstories, I can usually find ways to slot their lives together that necessitate a plot. I love character-driven stories, where their actions actually do shit and their words actually mean something, in favor of getting dragged along behind the plot like tin cans behind a car.

P: Are you what George R. R. Martin would call an “architect” or a “gardener”? (How much do you plan in advance, versus letting the story unfold as you go?) -- I’m definitely an architect, but in a really messy way. My friends can attest that I do an insane amount of planning for each story - often in their DMs, sorry about that, Fae, Cro, Indy and Aline 😬 - and all that usually ends up in a stream-of-consciousness rant outline on Google Drive. Knowing where the story is going helps me a lot, but the planning I do is definitely just building flower beds in which to sow seeds. Or building a greenhouse. I plan the bare bones of a story, and things get really wild within it, but it does follow a logical plot structure.

Q: How do you feel about collaborations? -- I have a lot of respect for the people who can successfully pull it off, but idk if i’d ever want to do one myself. I get really possessive of my stories and ideas and like to be the one in charge of their execution. That being said, some collabs have produced amazing stories. I don’t mind reading collab fics, but actually being in a collab grates on me more than it should.

R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence? -- I’m definitely influenced heavily by Neil Gaiman. I read American Gods and Good Omens a lot while I was trying to write TMWCIFTC; not only was it a good brain break, but I was able to pick up a lot of tips on scene pacing, concise yet expressive language, and character interactions. My creative wriitng professors have always told us to read so we know what to steal - not in terms of content, but in execution. 

On the fanfic side, @miamaroo is a huge inspiration for me. I’ve been reading Northern Migration a lot recently, and I love how its canon divergence is so worldshaking and so complex, but is still familiar in nostalgic yet terrifying ways. I read it back in October, went, “Huh, I wanna do something that wild. And if miamaroo can do it then I sure as fuck can too,” and I started planning TMWCIFTC during that one month dead zone the McElroys took last year. Northern Migration is one of the best, most coherent, most stunning, and most incredibly written TAZ Balance AUs I’ve ever read, and if I hadn’t read it, I wouldn’t have been inspired to take the fuckall huge plunge into TMWCIFTC.

S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist? -- Bed sharing and cuddling, hand kissing, wrist kissing, whump, sympathetic villains. Canon divergent AUs are my absolute favorite things to both read and write. Anything that would turn me into Charlie Kelly slamming his finger on a bulletin board screaming, “CAROL,” is a fic I would give my life for. 

T: Any fandom tropes you can’t stand? -- Not a fan of a) woobification and b) flat villain characterization, to the point where the story is riding on villain tropes instead of an actual person or plot. Character nuance is always something I look for when I read. I don’t usually get bitter about tropes, though; some stuff, when subverted, works really well. I fully subscribe to don’t like, don’t read, don’t write, which is why I don’t write anything that warrants AO3 content warning tags or an Explicit rating, in favor of focusing on plot. Every author has a reason for what they write and how - be it their level of experience, personal preference, or simply the joy of writing something and getting it out there - and I respect that. Within reason, of course.

U: Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much. -- 

@miamaroo, for reasons I’ve already discussed. My favorite TAZ Balance author hands down. Read Northern Migration and give it the love it deserves, or I’m replacing all the faucets in your house with silly straws.

@transagentstern. Fae has a bunch of absolutely incredible fics and an amazing grasp on characterization. We come from the same place with AUs, in that canon is but the bare planks on which we put the drywall of our plot an characterization. They structure AUs and character backstories from the ground up in believable and emotionally raw ways. Also they have great music taste. I especially like their interpretation of Indrid in Moth to the Flame; he, like all the other characters in the story, is far from perfect, and his character arc is explored in relatable ways that I love to read. 

@keplersheetz. Aline - theneonpineapple on AO3 - researches like a motherfucker and has a wealth of knowledge/experience/viewpoints to draw on, making author-author interactions with her an absolute delight. She’s also doing the lord’s work with rarepairs. Spin a wheel, find a ship, and she’s probably written for it or at least conceptualized it. Reading her character studies and stories of the old Pine Guard - aka Mama’s original crew, before the current PCs joined - is always a delight. I’ve also hashed out a lot of details for The Children of Sylvain, especially for Mr. Boyd Mosche, guilt-wracked Jersey Devil extraordinaire, with her help. 

V: If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose? -- Not gonna lie, I’m fine with a lot of stuff that’s out there right now. It’s been a hot few months since I’ve actually stopped to read fic, but from what I recall, most of the fics I’ve read have done a good job of keeping things intact.

W: Do you like more general prompts, or more specific ones? -- The vaguer, the better. With really specific prompts, it usually feels as if the story’s been written for me already; with vague, general prompts, I have more agency to explore my own ideas. Some accompanying detail is usually nice, though. For example, the coffee shop/college/flower shop AUs that @transagentstern​ wrote are my ideal prompt for drabbles: premise, a little bit of open-ended detail, clear explanation of what’s going to happen while leaving the rest up to the imagination. Good stuff. If it’s for a long-form piece, though, I prefer full agency, or even just some time to lie facedown in the dirt and wait for an idea to strike me.

X: A character you enjoy making suffer. -- Yes.

Y: A character you want to protect. -- Tim.

Z: Major character death–do you ever write/read it? Is there a character whose death you can’t tolerate? -- I do read lots of major character death, yeah, though not always for TAZ. There’s something cathartic about seeing a character die, but sometimes it sits wrong with me in ways that I don’t like. As for writing, I’d rather kill a character for a reason rather than for shock value/for the Feels, though said Feels can accompany the reason. 

[mypoorfaves]

Positivity Post! :D

Okay so this here is a (freaking long) list of blogs and people that I love, both within my community and outside. Although I understand a lot of people in said community want to remain as anonymous as possible so I’m putting all of the more…um…niche blogs…under the cut! Please enjoy my contribution to this spread of positivity brought about by @wiseinnerwhispers!

@12thdoctorwhomst: You are a great friend. To say so is an understatement. You’re actually one of my best friends. Thanks for always being there :)

@berks-dragon-trainer: We don’t talk much but in see you in my notifs a lot. Also wanna say I’m proud of you for working hard and getting into shape! That takes serious dedication and I wish I could do that myself.

@sellsoulstome: Your space aesthetic is…well, aesthetic! Very calming and I love it so much! I’m sorry life sucks sometimes, but your space children always love and support you :)

@katsukipanya: You are one of my favourite blogs that I’ve had the pleasure of discovering! I can’t get over how CUTE of an idea you bakery AU is! It’s so original and I can’t wait until you get super popular because that WILL happen! I can feel it! I eagerly await each new post from you!

@alexadooodle: Your doodles are so freaking amazing and your content is so creative! I’m sorry idiots have to gall to steal your art. I would actually slap them across the face if I could, I stg. I love our talks and wish nothing but the best for you in life. Keep on fighting, I believe in you :)

@iruutciv: Your Victuuri kissing gifs and art are quite possibly one of the most beautiful things to ever bless this fandom! I love fangirling about yoi with you! Also thanks for introducing me to the beauty that is victuuri smut!

@makeroomfornyoom: Thank you for making my icon! I love it! I also love our chats on discord! I still need to get in Final Fantasy so we can fangirl/fanboy about it together!

@joey-wingster: Thanks for sending me asks, and also for posting that fanfic and gifting it to me! And also saying my writing style is cute! Just so much love for you! Thanks so much!

～～～

@feverflushed: My first and best tumblr friend, and also now my pen-pal! Thanks for being the first person to talk to me in this community. You really encouraged me to open up and talk to more people. My blog and life here on tumblr honestly wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for you. So thank you. I love our convos! Also thanks for always being my first set of eyes for all of my fics!

@whoareurl: Your writing is amazing! You are quite possibly my fave yoi sickfic writer. All of your descriptions are so vivid and perfect! So immersive, like you can really feel what the characters are feeling. I love seeing you on my dash!

@kittensnz / @kotyonoksnz: Your art is freaking amazing! We are blessed as a yoi fandom and especially as a sickblr fandom to have your talent among us. Also you’re just such a great person to talk to! I love seeing your art on my dash. I can’t even put it into words how skilled you are. Like it was either your sick Victor or your Yuuritto comics that originally led me to the sickblr community in the first place. So thank you so much for that. This community is honestly the best thing to have happened to me, and I have you to thank for helping me discover it.

@my-so-called-trash-blog: I love your yoi fics! I used to re-read them constantly while I was still a lurker lol. (I still do re-read them a lot now too!) Just amazing stuff!

@nnatto: Another blog I used to lurk on! I may not be into sneeze, but your yoi fics are still amazing! I am still not over You Know I Can’t Let That Happen. Thanks for always doing a great job on the drabble prompts I and everyone else send in, thanks for helping me out with that one sick Victor fic I wrote for sickdays 3.0, and thanks for many fun chats on discord! Also your tags when you reblog my fics always make me super duper happy! I look forward to running our contagion event together!

@graceless-fever: Oh man your prompt for fevered Yuuri crying when Yurio snaps at him in his usual Yurio way; I’m still so in love with that prompt. The fic that came from that scenario is by far my most popular fic so I have you to thank for helping bring the idea into existence. All of your prompts, and your fics, are all so good!

@dont-look-so-good: We don’t talk too much but I see you a lot on my dash. You’re a cool person! I’m sorry you had to deal with that drama and I hope it’s resolved now!

@illnessandinjury: Your blog is great, you’re such a sweet person and also hella cute! My poor bi heart can hardly handle it!

@ya-nurse: Another blog I don’t talk to much, but you draw SUCH CUTE DOODLES OMG! Also thanks for always congratulating me on my milestones!

@like-me-a-little-whump: Ayee you post such great whump stuff! Keep it up!

@hothedgie: Thanks for talking to me that one time forever ago when I couldn’t sleep. It meant (still does mean) the world to me. That aside, your prompts always wind up creating some of my fave fics so thanks for that!

@taylor-tut: Omg there’s so much to say. I’m not super into Voltron tbh but the influence you have on the Voltron whump community is astounding. You take such good care of your space-sewer-beef-lump-yeet children. You write such great fics and I love how you’re always willing to take birthday fics and always reblog people’s fics to boost them. Also I love the stories you share from work. You’re just an adorable and hella cute ball of sunshine and I’m so glad to be your friend!

@feverhalo: My lovely plant friend! One of my first tumblr friends! We bonded over plants and we screamed about yoi after I brought you over to the Gay Side. I’m still unspeakably flattered that me writing a fic managed to convince you to start watching!! It’s such an unbelievable honour and just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy that my writing has that kind of influence. I’m so glad we’re friends!

@sitruksista: I love your yoi fics and I love our chats on the yoi whump discord! You’re awesome!

@docjamie: Thanks so much for all of the art you always draw! Especially my requests! Also thanks for talking to me that one time I couldn’t sleep. It means a lot. I enjoy our talks a lot! I’m looking forward to doing that collab-thing (whenever we get around to it lol)!

@fluffyllamas22: Yet another amazing friend who helped keep me sane when I couldn’t sleep. And from there we easily became such good friends! You’re such a ball of happiness and just so easy to talk to. Your writing is great and it keeps getting better, whether it’s yoi or voltron, or your oc’s! You just always seem so positive and I constantly see you in the inboxes of people on my dash (and also in my inbox too)! You’re just an absolute joy to consider a friend! Also I love our chats on discord!

@just-another-sickfic-blog: Another one of my first tumblr friends! Such a joy to talk to! Thanks for always beta-ing my stuff, and also for letting my beta some of your fics too! I know we have fallen a bit out of touch lately but I still consider you one of my closest friends on here and I hope you are doing well!

@the-whump-sidelines: Oh man we clicked instantly! Our talk, well talks, just discussing fevers. Absolutely perfect! You post some freaking amazing prompts and I’m so glad to hear you like my fics even if you haven’t seen yoi. If you ever wanna fanfgirl about fevers, my inbox is always open!

@sneezehq: Bunny you are so amazing! I love your posts about your horses and also just your life in general! I love your fics and I love how you are always in my notifs and always say the nicest things about the stuff you reblog! Keep being awesome!

@fevers-and-flus and flus: You have good prompts/fics and i see you in my notifs a lot, so thanks for that!

@bigbadsnez: Okay I don’t have a sneeze kink but your yoi fics are AMAZING! Like holy moly wow I’m in love!

@whumpapedia: Holy crap bless this blog and this incredible resource! For those of you who don’t know, this blog contains a database of all tv shows, video games, anime, music videos, etc that contain whump! It is far from complete, so if you lovely people have unlisted content, please let the mods know so they can add it!

@blessyoy-2u: Your art is amazing and thank you for the prompt that led to Gold is Cold! It’s one of my personal fave fics that I’ve written! Keep being awesome! Also I see you a lot in my notifs so thanks for that!

@snifflesnuff: YOU are amazing! A truly wonderful human being! I see you in my notifs ALL of the time! And you always scream in the tags when you reblog my stuff and it warms my heart in a way that I could not even begin to put into words, so thank you!!

@tsunderekushami: I love our chats and I love your oc’s! We need to talk more! I promise you won’t be bothering me if you message me! I’m just a mix of busy and forgetful lol.

@emeraldthread: I love talking to you! Your fics are great! And you always seem like such a ball of sunshine and positivity! Thanks for always liking and reblogging my stuff!

@siktornikiforov: Your yoi fics are great and I love your prompts and posts!

@sweetwhump: Okay I know you haven’t really set up your whump blog yet BUT SWEETV YOUR PROMPTS IN THE YOI WHUMP DISCORD END ME EACH AND EVERY TIME! AND I AM STILL NOT OVER YOUR FIC YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS! I look forward to interacting with your blog lots more!

@ambulancemcclain: You are freaking amazing! And I love it when you scream in the tags in response to my stuff. You are probably my most loud screamer lol. Thank you for that!

@wiseinnerwhispers: For the freaking amazing ficlet you submitted *fans self and tries not to faint from remembering* Also this amazing trend of positivity you’re spreading!

@toosicktoocare: We don’t talk but I really enjoy your stuff! Your fics in particular are great! Keep being awesome!

～

The following are people I don’t talk to much, but I see you lot in my inbox and/or notifs and it makes me super happy!

@nightswithoutcontrol, @totallyexhausted, @pie-for-everyone, @qbswhumpsideblog, @sniffleprincess, @seventeen-pennies, @babydollbucky, @katyaton, @thesassygrandmaster, @following-follower, @nightwalker6200, @kaycee003, @damenemo, @beloved-whumpage, @whump-dump, @tippysf