#seethesunny mailbox

[seethesunny]

Tell us about smoke signals!

smoke signals

Thank you for the ask! ❤️

I chose naming it as such because it's set in the winter section of the story, with Tess included ofc (I always loved imagining how it would've been like if she were there), and it's alluding to that one scene with Ellie when she burns down the building.

Also, because I'm predictable to use songs as fic titles and I'm a big Phoebe enthusiast, it's based on this song, too (it's my favorite of hers)

[seethesunny]

Prompt: Joel/Tess on a date but Sarah (knows Tess and adores her) doesn’t know yet that they’re dating, catches them at the movies or at the mall. Something innocent and adorable yet very smoochy!

It's been a while since I got this but this prompt was lovely! Happy belated birthday @bignosebushybrows and hopefully you had an amazing day ❤ and fingers crossed you like it:

When her uncle barged loudly inside their house, calling her downstairs and immediately showing her the keys of the car looped around his finger with a flashy grin, Sarah hadn’t thought much of it. Really, she would, over all things sacred, hate it if someone else had been entrusted to watch over her. 

But uncle Tommy was fun and, hopefully her daddy wouldn’t know if she lowered the voice inside her head just a little; Sarah liked going on with him because he let her do things on her own. 

Now, she did love her dad. More than she could try to put into words, more than she could ever describe, more than the countless stars that adorned the countryside sky when they visited the old ranch where they grew up. However, she was growing older, and there was so much freedom a girl of her age could get under the vigilance of her parents. And she had long gotten used to her daddy being overprotective, it was for her own good, and there was truth to it sometimes.

Tommy rolled the windows down and clicked on the radio, humming along, and she beamed on the passenger side.

Yet she liked this, and it wouldn’t do her harm. At the end of the day, there was someone supervising her, and Sarah understood her own limits and what risks she could encounter. 

“You gotta try the new arcade.” He said, messing up her hair, laughing at her scoff.

She couldn’t stop smiling, having talked long enough about that with her friends over the phone. 

“Sure will.” She agreed eagerly, wrinkling her nose at him playfully.

“And what are you gonna do while I’m nowhere to be seen? You aren’t gonna be scared, aren’t ya? ” He teased half-heartedly, earning a giggle out of her as he took a turn and drove through the park, a shortcut he always reminded her existed when they went this way. 

“I'm gonna use the money my daddy gave me, buy me some fries.” Sarah shrugged, playing with the bracelet around her wrist. “And you should take out Maria on a real date.” 

Tommy gave her a sidelong glare before staring ahead.

“Uncle, meeting her at the mall only is a disgrace to the Miller’s last name.” Not for the first time Sarah scolded, and Tommy almost put his hands up in surrender. 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He joked, elbowing her gently while she frowned, right as they approached the parking lot. “Listen, I promise this is the last time.” 

“It better be.” Sarah gave, that chiding tone the same one she brought out so similar to her dad’s, and then she remarked seriously, elbowing him back. “You should buy her something nice.” 

Maria was a cool, charismatic woman who worked at the cash register in one of the stores—she had forgotten the name now—and her uncle was infatuated. He would use the excuse of taking her to the mall for an ice cream or to shop around, but then he would flirt with her while Sarah looked around, and it became common. 

Right now, her daddy had no clue, and she had zipped her mouth shut. 

Once inside, Sarah counted her money twice as Tommy mocked her without malice, barely disguising his impatience.

Maria’s store popped into view when they took the escalator, and Tommy kissed her forehead to her light-hearted complaint.

“Don’t get too far, ‘kay? And if you need anythin’ you know where to find me. Go have fun, kid.” He squeezed her shoulders, trusting her and letting her acknowledge it as she nodded. 

“Please, bring up the date before we leave!” Sarah exclaimed, waving a hand in the air before disappearing into a bright, big H&M store on her left. 

She took a break at the food court when she got thirsty, all the walking and observing and trying on clothes tiring her some, so she sat close to the cinema entrance and ordered some cinnamon sugar pretzels after drinking her lemonade. Munching on them, Sarah squinted in the fluorescent lights above her head.

It couldn’t be him, right? 

Sarah was sure of one thing: she could recognize her daddy on a crowd, and he just stood out with his physique. And he wasn’t alone! His arm was banded around a woman’s shoulders, leaning on him, and when she saw a glimpse of her face- 

“Ish that Tesh?” She murmured around a mouthful of food, crumbs drizzling around her lips; Sarah brushed them aside, pretzels being set apart as she scanned them thoroughly, not being noticed.

Accidents happened, and she could mistake some random couple; nonetheless, some meters between them couldn’t fuzz out the truth. Sarah leaned on he elbows, attempting to capture more as her daddy whispered something on Tess’s ear, who in turn smacked him gently on the chest and pressed their lips together. Oh, oh, so it was something serious.

Tess had been a constant presence in her life whose encouraging words were always at the ready, who had figuratively taken her under her wing since the first day, who was confident and relaying both—she was friend of the family, had known her for so long. The past summer, she had spent so many hours at their home teaching her how to work with clay, starting with easy things since Sarah was a beginner.

Had she been so blinded by her own joy as to not notice the signs? Tess surely showed up more, and her daddy had been a bit weird, in the sense that he would act differently around her, and once Uncle Tommy picked at him because he called her during work hours… 

Her heart almost leaped out of her chest, the dawning realization sticky like the cinnamon on the pad of her fingers, a gasp spilling out of her lips as they walked towards her seat. 

Sarah froze as there was no way she was exiting without being noticed, clutching a napkin to clean her fingers anxiously and blinking repeatedly at the wait for the inevitable.  

Warm eyes spotted her, their conversation drowned before being completely shut down, and then it was their turn to still like a deer caught in headlights.

Tess’s hands were intertwined with his, and Sarah fixed on it before her gaze darted between them, chewing the inside of her cheek.

The first one to regain her composure was Tess, laughing nervously. “Hey, hi Sarah. Nice to see you here.” 

Sarah rubbed her palms, clasping them together as she locked eyes with her daddy, who looked as if he wanted the earth to swallow him whole. 

“Uh, baby girl.” He greeted gruffly, strained, but not dropping Tess’s hand at all. “How long have you-” 

“You have some explainin’ to do.” Is what Sarah opted to answer after chosing her words carefully, approaching them openly. 

Tess was the one who tilted her head and offered a relieving, small grin, offering her other hand. “Let’s go for a walk then.” 

Joel sighed heavily and scrubbed at his face with a hand, staring at them both afterward. “‘S a long story, Sarah.” 

“Got nowhere else to be, Daddy! I suspect we’ll be here for a long period of time.” She yelled to jab at them, who shared a quick, fleeting look, giving in easily. “At least you were in good hands.” 

A complicit wink at Tess—they both busted in giggles, he rolled his eyes, and urged them forward.

She wasn’t ready to go home yet.

[seethesunny]

🌹

Forgive the block of text I was in a mood :)

Who was Joel when they met on a random day? He had nothing. Nothing. And when that brother of his left, who gave the shell of a person another chance? To that brooding man who spent his time on the rundown bar, got himself in brutal street fights, and threw himself on the ring in Area 4? Sure, he’d earned his part most days, but having food on the table and a chance at surviving had been given by her own hand. She wanted to reclaim that back so badly she burned with the intensity of it, third-degree burns on her flesh. She wanted him to understand he was being an asshole and it was unfair. All the scars, all the pain, and the mistakes, she’d had to swallow them down and never bring them up again. She wasn’t stubborn like him. What good did it do?

for every "🌹" received in my inbox i'll post one random sentence of a random WIP i'm currently writing

[seethesunny]

Who is your favourite POV to write from?

Hi, it's nice to see you around Arien! Hope you’ve been doing well ❤️

Okay, so when I first got this ask, I was extra sleepy, and my first thought was to reply, "Usually, third person POV, of course!" But now that my brain is okay, I've come to realize I was in the wrong haha so things have settled down now, and I can reply 🫡

Tess! Hands down, Tess. I'm extremely biased, as you may have noticed previously with all the Tess love here 🫣

When I started, it used to be Ellie because she was 'easier' to write, in the sense that she’s way too similar to me and it came naturally and I still think so, but eventually that's why I drifted to other characters' POV. I wanted to explore other perspectives and expand on others.

So, my favorite is Tess not only because we've gotten so little of her in the whole tlou franchise which is extremely criminal and makes no sense and I needed to get more even if it were using imagination (shout-out to the other 10 Tess fans out there), it's also because there are already so many established ways in that she is a complex character even if we had her for a short time.

You see, Tess is a character whose first impression you get is that she's meant to fit in a survival world, right? Whether it's the game or the show. When she shows up us as the players/audience, witness that she's unfazed by her circumstances (she kills two dudes sent to kill her on her way home like it's nothing, escapes her torture and somehow gets out of jail after being mistaken for a firefly) and pulls Joel to follow suit and set everything in order, which is established as their routine, their day-to-day.

Okay, so in both, we understand that Tess is strong, smart, and resourceful, that she's made connections and isn't afraid to make herself be seen and heard, and of course she's the one calling the shots despite Joel being her partner. Because she is more severe than him, and that has gained her respect.

But we also get the idea that there's much more than what she lets on, or at least that she doesn't show up to the public, and that's what's fun to dig into! She's been officially described by ND as: "She leads her life as a hardened survivor with a dog-eat-dog mentality, but still she is a loyal, courageous, and selfless companion to Joel and Ellie", and that's something important to take into account. That duality that she possesses.

Who's the heart of tlou? At its core, Tess's selflessness in her last moments and her death wish is what sets the story in motion. You could argue that Joel could've done the same without her, but it was an explicit reaction to what Tess wanted, and her impact is something that needs to be highlighted more.

She has hardened as much as Joel. She's tough and rough, yet you also see that she also got jokes, and she could've wanted more (discussing laying low in the game), and ultimately, it is her desire of striving for hope and her view being shaken by a feasible cure (not because of the fireflies, but because there seems to be a need of redemption as the wheels turn inside her head) that makes her clash with Joel in their little trip to hand her to the fireflies.

We will never know if she would've done the same as Joel (though I would like to speculate that if it wouldn't have changed, probably would've just said the truth), but exploring her past and other outcomes in aus is what keeps us going even after years.

I've always found kinda sweet how the memory of Tess lives on in us and the other people who will want to know more about her.

Haha sorry for the ramble! She's one of my favorite characters ever.

[seethesunny]

Can ya tell me something 'bout "Let us outlive the wolves"??? That title is fire 🔥

- @adhdprincess

Fic titles ask game

Hello there, love! And sure! :)

Let Us Outlive The Wolves

This was a short thingy I wrote for the word prompts I did a while ago (I still take those, but I haven't done another round) that's set in canon. Tess and Joel deal with some unpleasant weather, it's almost the end of the year, and Joel sort of acknowledges he's still very much alive and thriving alongside Tess. I enjoy doing slice-of-life one-shots of these two, and writing this was part of their routine :)

So with those sorts of vibes of living despite their hardships, I remembered this poem from Rhiannon McGavin, titled "Prayer for the new year." That goes:

For the new year, I won’t count it down like a / uranium bomb. The last days / came as a plague ship over the horizon, I / know, so I’m swimming to meet it. Let the / desert bloom through ruins we can look out of, let us / outlive the wolves. Fresh air is the only kiss I / need and I will carry you like honey and / apples. Bless the body between / love and fear, bless who / dares the skyline, and who holds / thieves accountable from the lamp posts / as fireworks blaze into red dandelions, / and what’s the future except an / unfolded table cloth? / Midnight led by the shifting light / of wounds across white rose / petals? I / I will / I will see / I will see the moon and morning and hope.

I generally take inspiration from poems, and this was one of the many I borrowed a title from 🫶🏼

[seethesunny]

Ask game! Finish the sentence: RIP Joel. He would've loved [blank].

- @adhdprincess

Whoa idk how I missed this! Sorryyy

But RIP Joel. He would've loved busking 🙏🏼

[seethesunny]

For the top 5 ask: Top 5 places you want to visit!

Well, this is tricky because I'm not someone that goes out that often, and I don't enjoy traveling as much, but at the top of my head (and not as specific):

I would love to visit Italy, Brazil, Australia, Chile, and Costa Rica 🫡

[seethesunny]

21 and 36!

Hi Kayli! Hope you've been doing good :) ❤️

21. what’s your favorite dish to cook?

Mexican mole because I've learned my mom's recipe from scratch, and it ends up being delicious. Plus, you can make enchiladas with it, too, so it's a win in my book 🫡

36. do you have a place you go to when you feel stressed/sad?

Not really, because I rarely have the time to act on my stress/sadness (I know I'll take a break when I can), but the public library or the nearby park are good places to disconnect and breathe for a moment ❤️

[seethesunny]

14, 23, and 33? - @adhdprincess

Get to know your fic writer

Hello there! Thank you for sending these Mimi :)

how do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

Not to be that person because I swear I'm not projecting as much in my writing but yes, I tend to really get into the character's shoes to make is as faithful and expressive as I can and, like most things of my art, I borrow from my own personal experiences (whether good or bad).

As for writing them, I'm cautious of telling instead of showing, and I try to remember that people usually behave differently depending on the context lol that makes me sound like an alien but. When writing the emotional bits, that's easy, trying to get the characters in the scene without ruining the mood is complicated.

Does that make sense? I can build an emotional scene, keeping in mind what emotions are present and the context beforehand (and the aftermath), but involving the real characters can be a task 😅 and the dialogue. Oh that makes me suffer 10x times.

Best writing advice for other writers?

Don't be afraid to start something because you're not good enough or talented or skilled or whatever your brain is telling you. We all start somewhere, and if you keep the idea, you'll probably polish it more and more as you write.

If it takes you years, that's fine! It took me years to have a decent style of writing, and if I keep pursuing it, I'll improve even more. So, start the idea that's been roaming around in your brain.

Do you want to be published some day?

I don't think so! I haven't thought about doing original stuff in years, and honestly, I've never believed I could do something compelling enough lol

Is a no for me.

[seethesunny]

🩵🩵🩵💐 once you receive this lovely bouquet of flowers you have to mention five things you love, publicly, and send it to 10 of your favorite followers if you want. SPREAD POSITIVITY! ⛅️

5 more things that I love! Thank you for sending this ask btw, you're so nice :)

I love the sunset! I live in an Island and the most beautiful shades appear in the sky (I can brag about it) but it's something so vivid and beautiful to watch, I've painted it so many times and it's still my fav sight in the whole world. 🌅

I love loooove Mexican food and it's such a joy to be passed down the recipes from my family, you can tell habits and traditions from that alone.

I love listening to 70's music (my dad's fault), it was such a good period of time that I don't mind the genre. Shout-out to Fleetwood Mac btw.

I love stickers! Who doesn’t like stamping a bunch of stickers on something?? If I didn’t have the bad habit of buying and hoarding collecting them instead of actually putting them somewhere...

I love sharing my ideas with someone and being listened to, it feels nice. (Special dedication to Koku for being there to yell about Boston smugglers and the aus, and the sequels, and the headcanons, and canon pain).

[seethesunny]

I am very curious about “Idiots in love who try for a baby as friends au”

Good morning Ameera! 🫡❤️ this was the very first au @kokureno and me created back in April when we first met and our brainrot was so fresh, it's our firstborn 🫶🏼

Title is very straightforward, but for context, this all happened bc of a tessjoel Bones au that another user (goldlinings on ao3) was brainstorming on Twitter, and eventually, it strayed away from that idea until it devolved into our little au! I don't think it shares any resemblance anymore.

Tess and Joel are best friends and coworkers, Tess wants to be a mom and asks him for the favor but they do it the old-fashioned way bc they both agree it won't change their friendship (liars) and so lots of denial of feelings and mutual pining and everyone noticing how badly in love they are, but them. (Tommy and Maria are beyond tired). Eventually, they cross lines they hadn’t before until they can't deny it anymore, and it all becomes worse when Joel starts getting attached to the baby, too. It's a happy ending, though, so they do get together (to everyone's "I told you so") and they coparent the kid (even though Joel's mom nags at them to marry asap) and there's a little time skip epilogue 🫡

It's a multichapter meant to be a slow burn in the gran scheme of things, but it's not near done despite sitting on my drive for a year now uhhh we don't talk about that.

Anyway, I'm fully giving away the Doc with some of the excerpts. It's got smut in there so fair warning 🫶🏼

[seethesunny]

4 what is the plot bunny you've been carrying for the longest? optional bonus question: do you ever wonder why you haven't written it yet and experience deep existential dread?

33 do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

90 do you notice your own voice in your writing style?

Fanfic Writer Ask Game

Hey Ameera! Thanks for passing by :)

4. What's the plot bunny you've been carrying the longest? Do you ever wonder why you haven't written it yet and experience deep existential dread?

Okay so this is kinda tricky because I HAVE played with this concept before (it's one of my favorite things to write), but the "Ellie is Tess and Joel's bio kid who Tess gave away without telling Joel and things happen like canon requires au" Tess POV retelling fic has been a plot bunny of mine since ages and it's been in my head like a little parasite buuuuut nothing has come out of it? At least not being this /canon adjacent/, that's what I mean!

For starters that idea would be overdone by now (and I'm sure people more talented have tackled it well enough) plus mine was also a mix of a Tess origins fic; she's technically Anna in this, or at least that's what Marlene makes Ellie believe, and she's tied to the fireflies while this is all a secret to Joel and only Tommy is aware but he leaves anyway.

Both Joel and Ellie are clearly oblivious, but Joel connects the dots the farther they travel and Tommy confirms this when they reunite + Marlene was supposed to tell the truth in an attempt to get Ellie back and have the cure (you can't let Tess’s sacrifice be in vain, Joel) yet he doesn't spare her life. The last part is going to be recycled for a segment in whumptober, though.

So it hasn't been made and probably won't be made at this point, I can't promise it will 😅 if you want to be devastated the line: "She gave life to Ellie, and gave her life to save her." Is what Joel thinks while he carries her to the car, and he feels no remorse in keeping their daughter alive and safe.

Also you can have this thingy from a random note app between my grocery list and wifi password:

"You know about your parents, girl?" The teenager shakes her head, avoids her eyes, "Marlene never told you anything?"

"Anna." Tess is so confused, but doesn't need to ask when it clicks; a fake story, a lie just like her own reason to give this girl away. "She only told me my mom was named Anna."

They keep walking, Joel is still ahead of them. She sighs relieved.

They will never know.

It's a bit sad, but it's for the best.

33. Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

Characters first, then plot! If I have no idea what characters are doing and adding to the plot or how they're supposed to fit, then I can’t work at all haha this is why in my outlines I need to specify their importance to the story so it feels satisfying, you know? It's also that my stories are character centric and they're my main focus 🫠

90. Do you notice your own voice in your writing style?

Annoyingly so! Like I said previously, the more I write, the more I influence everything, and that's very distinct to who I am 🫡 I hope it doesn't come off as pretentious but sometimes you kinda notice those small details only after you've written it, and you understand it's very you.

[seethesunny]

For the WIP game: light

Hi and thank you! I've been working on this since forever, have a crumb:

After a light dinner Tess had gone to bed earlier than Ellie; she could tell Tess had been really anxious about Joel being outside of the settlement, even if he had gone out with the best chosen group for a scavenging trip, it had left her on edge. Ellie tried her best to calm her down, had even offered to 'keep guard' outside her bedroom as they washed the dishes, but she only laughed and dismissed her offer, saying you don't need to worry that much, kid with that smile she really liked to see on Tess.

[seethesunny]

Hi, lovely! Here’s some for the ask game. 🍓🥤🌻🪐

Hi friend, happy Saturday 🤲🏼❤ thank u lots for the ask! I always get bored haha

🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction? 

This is funny because I've always been a creative kid, so I would create my own stories inside my head and they eventually turned into some of the shows/books I liked- sometimes a mixture- and at the time I didn’t know that was called fanfiction! I have the vivid memory of snatching my mom's lavender Nokia cellphone to write in a notes app, that happened until I fell into the role-playing world for years and that only cemented my love for it, I fully got into writing seriously around five years since that but never posted, it was for that same group of friends only. So that's my backstory! I had given up on it for a number of reasons but I'm back in the fanfiction pit lol

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

Since I've been a tessjoel girlie from the beginning I'm pulling some of the hidden gems on FF dot net that some new fans may not know! These are all videogame tlou.

Starting with one of my favorite fics EVER (it is a habit to reread it monthly) written by Raff who is a legend and was a pioneer for them. This is an au that's technically canon compliant for the tone, a very straight-forward summary: Ellie is Tess and Joel's daughter, this is the little glimpses of how they raise her in the QZ:

@kokureno and I gush over this particular fic nonstop, college au with romcom elements, what's not to love?

This one is a curious case because while I read it previously, my mind was blown away when I finally read Dirt (also recommend it) then came back to it. Tess and Joel share a vulnerable moment and Tess realizes there is more to him than what she thought, pretty spot on character analysis:

This one is a Tess lives au AND a babyfic, and you know how hard it used to be to find babyfics for them specifically? Aside from signs (originally from FFnet), I wasn't that lucky and this was a blessing:

Someone said missing scene fic about a very necessary topic aka Joel and Ellie bringing up Tess during their journey? The old man HAS feelings??? Anyway, this is 100% canon to me:

This one is for those who are fans of Tess’s backstory in the old tlou storyline where she was the main antagonist/villain, which means she had a brother who was killed; in my heart this will always be her OG origin story honestly. Plus, Joel also opens up about his own loss:

Don't you love it when there's a recurring theme in your fic???? Tess and Joel's lives when they're running out of time, Tommy appears too, canon compliant:

Okay this one is on AO3 too, I get that, however I first found it here and anyway it has now been buried so! I'm showing it again. Tess's centered fic were a rarity so I know this one like the back of my hand, the most juicy gritty QZ life angst, it's also an origin story about her AND a character study, go wild:

Another one on AO3, but hear me out this IS them at their true core and a required reading for everyone to understand them and their dynamic perfectly, it's pretty sad and there's not much comfort but that's why it's so good. Also, the queen herself (amb) wrote it and this is my special dedication to her bc she cemented this Fandom alongside Raff and she's the best at pulling our heartstrings:

Those are some of my favs. I can't include every single one cause it would take me ages but there are so many more there that are worth a read. If you love them most at their ambiguous nature, the early fics filled the void and nurtured the mind.

🌻 ⇢ tag someone you appreciate but don't talk to on a regular basis

A really talented artist around here who's outstanding at what she does, ily chica @betweentwoceremonials

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

Last year I had an awful infection and it took me a while to get rid of it, but I did some medical analysis a few weeks ago and now I'm fine 🥳

This spot is for the people I love and love me in return, I never take it for granted!

Not to get too pessimistic bc I try to keep it light but I never thought I would reach my 20s and yet- I'm still here, and I'm proud of myself for it

[seethesunny]

👻, 🐇,🌻

- @adhdprincess

Fic Writer Ask Game

👻 What is your wildest headcanon?

Tess is alive

That Ellie is tessjoel's secret kid. And you can make fun of that because it does sound wild BUT but!!!!! at least when you follow video game logic, Ellie and Tess are identical, and we never saw how Anna looked, so I like to be delusional.

Plus the angst of Tess meeting her kid years later only for her to die a few hours later is exquisite. Watch it through those lenses to suffer. You're welcome:)

And if you do fall through the rabbit hole do it properly and read take me away by raff bc my own acceptance of it all started THERE years ago. Embrace insanity reject Canon.

🐇 Do you write for yourself, for others, or both?

For the voices in my head and @kokureno

Okay, in seriousness I've always written for me, and that will continue because there are ideas inside my brain that I need to write for me and me only, and I commented it here before that it is not for everyone and that's fine with me 🫶🏼

Even then I do enjoy gifting fics from time to time, as that's just my small way to celebrate the people around here, and that is genuine, and it comes from the bottom of my heart, but those are exceptions. Thanks to everyone who has ever given my writing a try 🥹

🌻 How often do you read your own fics?

It is crucial for me not to reread anything because then I want to erase it from existence unless it's a masterpiece, which hardly happens, so I don't tempt myself hehe I think I read them more when they're on my docs than when they're posted. It's kind of like... not the same. Also I only really reread to force myself to correct typos, you know? Maybe one day I'll know peace™️

[seethesunny]

For the ask game

🏷💛💌

Fanfic Writer Ask Game

Sorry I'm replying to these now. Life's been something else 😢

🏷 Is there a tag you like to search for when looking for fanfics to read?

Hurt/comfort, slow burn, and depending on how much I need it—a fix it AU. Sometimes I go searching down for baby fic, but, believe or not, it's not a hit lol I'm picky sometimes, but not hyperspecific with tags, I mostly try everything and see if I like it!

💛 What is the most impactful lesson you’ve learned about writing?

You're only ever gonna improve if you keep writing, which is the most important part of any hobby, really. I stopped writing/doing art some years ago because I was super bummed out after my art teacher rejected my stuff, and I decided to drop it, but I missed it.

I think something you have to keep in mind is that your creation has to be true to you first— really anything you think no matter how small/insignificant you think it is—then to the rest of the world, and that it won't be for anyone, because that's impossible. You need to have tough skin, no one is exempt from critique, and that's what can motivate someone to improve.

Also said it last time, I'll say it again, it might be trash but it's YOUR trash and that's what matters, and it'll be enough.

Stick to it, improve, there are days when you're gonna hate everything, and there will be a block, and you're gonna burn out probably, but you'll become better with time. We all learn, and that's okay.

💌 Is there a favorite trope you like to write?

Not sure if I employ tropes as often. But second chance love trope! After that, I think found family and secret baby/kid/children lol

I haven't posted the other ellie is tessjoel secret daughter full fic, though.