#tangentially related to that fic I mentioned recently

[liketwoswansinbalance]

Rhian: You really do push all my buttons. Rafal: I was looking for mute.

[booksandabeer]

Stucky, Fandom Longevity, and "Primacy Bias"

There’s this post that's been floating around the past few days about how the Stucky fandom in its heyday produced fic and art masterpieces like they were all collectively possessed by an unprecedented spirit of creative insanity. It’s a good, fun post and I agree with the person who wrote it. (not rb'ing because I didn't want to hijack their post with something that's only tangentially related).

It was indeed a magical time and the creative output in both quantity and quality in the two-year period following the release of CA:TWS is—with perhaps a few exceptions—unmatched by anything that I’ve seen before and since. However, going through the notes on that post, I noticed something that left me a little irritated and quite frankly sad since it is in congruence with, and to a certain extent the confirmation of something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.

For one thing, there are so many people in the notes expressing sentiments along the lines of “it was such a wonderful time; I wish I could go back; I miss these fics; I want to read these fics again,” etc., etc., you get it. And it feels a little silly pointing this out, but…you can just do that? Almost all of these fics are still right there, waiting for you to be (re)read. Yes, a lot of people left the fandom after The Great Devastation of 2019, but their stories didn’t just disappear. It's not like there is now a big, black hole where the Steve/Bucky tag used to be on AO3. So, if you miss these fics and you want to revisit them—just do it. Chances are the authors will be delighted that people are still finding and enjoying their stories all these years later. And—since apparently this needs saying, too, judging from the notes on that post: A lot of people seem to be very concerned with losing ‘coolness points’ for openly admitting that they still miss the ship and often feel tempted to dip their toes back into the Stucky pool. I don’t know how to tell you this, but if someone tries to shame you for simply enjoying or missing something, they are an asshole. Not to mention that all this is happening on tumble.com—'coolness' doesn't exactly live here. And that is a good thing, to be clear. Fandom is not about being cool. It’s about being as enthusiastic, as silly, as absolutely fucking unhinged about the things you love as you want to be. So, stop caring what other people think and enjoy yourself.

The other thing is that there seems to be a pretty widespread misconception that the Stucky fandom hasn’t produced any good fanworks after 2016.

First, that is patently and demonstrably untrue. There is so much incredibly good fanfiction and fanart still out there. Not as much as back in the day, sure, but it still exists. And more is being posted every day! Even some of the OG Big Names are still around. One of the most beloved Stucky series that started all the way back in 2014 was updated as recently as December of last year. The artist, who I believe the op is referring to as creating ‘baroque’ paintings, posted their latest Stucky art not even two months ago.

Second, I find this “primacy bias” more than just a little insulting to the many hardworking and incredibly talented people who are still putting their blood, sweat, and tears into creating for this community. And it’s one thing if people who have long left the fandom believe or say something like this, but it’s frankly irritating when I see people who are still very much active—and therefore definitely should know better—feed into that same false myth. Yes, it sucks that the Stucky ship isn’t as big as it used to be, but that doesn't mean there isn't any 'fresh talent' to be found anymore. I’m also not saying we shouldn’t still celebrate and recommend older works—I do it all the time! And it sure as hell doesn't mean everyone has to reblog absolutely everything all the time, either. Your blog, your rules.

But maybe we should put a little more focus on the good things, on the creators and the community we have now, especially if we want that community to still exist in another ten years. I mean, imagine you’re a person who’s just gotten into the fandom (because yes, there are indeed still new people discovering Stucky all the time) and one of the first things you’re being told is “eh, nice that you're here, but you’re about 7 years late; the big party is already over.” Does that seem like a fun space to hang out in to you?

So. Let’s all—and I do not exclude myself from this because God knows, I love to complain—spend a little less time mourning the ‘good old days’ that are never coming back anyway, and instead focus our attention on enjoying and appreciating both the incredible treasure chest of an archive we have AND the wealth of high-quality art and fic that is still being created by this wonderful community every single day. With this in mind:

🥳🎊Happy Stucky Week 2023!!! 🎊🥳

*I want to make it very clear that this is a general thing that’s been on my mind lately and that I’m trying to work through here—probably not very coherently. I'm not trying to tell anybody 'how to do fandom' and I’m most definitely not vagueposting about any particular incident, person, or group in this fandom. This isn’t a callout post. It’s an I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this and I don’t know what else do with them post.

[bebx]

So I don't know if you heard, but Victor recently became Sorcerer Supreme in comics, and it made me think about Reed, who staunchly doesn't believe in magic at all and only sees it as science he doesn't understand yet, and I thought about how Victor could (and would) use some of that weakness to magic and his inability to face it against him, either by teasing by performing spells and forcing him to come up with logical explanations for it, or by using his magic to attack, overpower and ultimately force ("force") submission in him. Just a fun little idea I thought I'd share, hope you have a nice day :) only tangentially related, read your DoomReed/Poolverine fic and I wasn't sure about it reading the description, but I ended up really loving it, I love how the possession really jumps out and grabs them.

I may not be an expert when it comes to comicverse, but I did hear about this and also how Reed didn’t (doesn’t) believe in the concept of magic at all. and yes, Victor could and would use his magic to his advantage and — now that you’ve mentioned it — force Reed to surrender. I’ve actually been wanting to write something about this for a while now (something about Victor using his magic and Reed being skeptical about it); it probably won’t be that much canonically accurate since I’m still not that familiar with comicverse as of now, except that Victor has magic that’s just as strong as Doctor Strange’s, if not stronger, and that Reed doesn’t believe in magic at all. (I did read bits and pieces of the comics so far, but there are still so much I haven’t explored yet, and I’m looking forward to finally reading more of them when I can). so I may or may not write something about this in the future. I mean, I wouldn’t want to make any promises, but I really want to. the concept of Victor taunting Reed with his magic and using that magic to force Reed to surrender? chef’s kiss. so I guess we’ll see.

and thank you for finding my DoomReed/Poolverine fic enjoyable. that means so much to me. (possessive Victor is everything) 🥹💗

[amazing-spiderling]

I noticed in Issue #4, Volume #1 of Spider-Gwen, after Gwen looks at Aunt May’s scrapbook on Spider-Women, a close-up of what looks like Murderdock’s face shows up. While it’s likely a nod to the audience as to the importance of Murdock’s role in the story, I’ve been wondering what the in-universe reason, your thoughts?

Hello, friend! Thanks for the ask! It took me a hot minute to get to this one because I had to think on it for a bit (not to mention put the finishing touches on my DDE fics), because this takes us into the

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚EARTH-65 HEADCANONS˚୨୧⋆｡˚⋆

For everyone playing along at home that doesn't constantly have a stack of Spider-Gwen comics by your side, this is the page in question:

As you can see, there isn't a lot here that is useful information, or anything we don't already know about Gwen's history at this point. The main purpose of this page is to show how she is affected by being confronted not only by the evidence of what she considers her fault in Peter's death, but the fact that May is still holding on to all of these clippings, hinting at the unhealed pain from the loss of her nephew.

But none of what we see here points to what Matt Murdock is doing here. As of yet he has no known connection to Spider-Woman or Peter Parker, so his reason for being here is unknowable. But because you're the kind of person who chose to ask and I'm the kind of person who cares, let's make an educated guess!

May explains the aftermath of Peter's death, and the way Jameson pushed his own narrative about the chain of events. She also tells Gwen that this scrapbook is not something she started on her own, rather than one she continued after Peter's death, even without knowing the reason why. It was only after the fact that she started to put together a pattern revealing Spider-Woman's true intent and character.

I included these panels because I think it's important to know that May is not collecting these clippings out of a need for vengeance. She's not trying to use them to profile Spider-Woman in order to learn her identity so she can bring Peter's killer to justice. In fact, many of the clippings in the book seem to be in Spider-Woman's favor. But May does collect everything, no matter how minute. So if something is even tangentially related to Spider-Woman, she likely has it in her book.

Now, as for what Gwen actually saw when she opened the album? I'm going to take some clues from these panels, where Gwen is sitting down at the Parkers' table. We see a new copy of the Bugle with a headline about her altercation with the Vulture. Likely, it is just a summary of the fight itself, but since it's the Bugle, which is known for just as much fear mongering and gossip as actual news, I think it's safe to assume there's plenty of wild speculation and reaching for straws in here as well.

So, if the clipping with Matt's picture is indeed from this recent Bugle story, what reason would they have for making mention of him at all? This is where the real guesswork comes in, and I've come up with one logical and one slightly more fun explanation.

Right after Toomes and Spider-Woman have their fight, the police question Fisk about his possible involvement. They suspect that he might be bankrolling Spider-Woman or is somehow otherwise involved in his activities, but he shuts this down. In this same conversation, Matt gets on the phone and repeats for them that Fisk has been a model prisoner in solitary confinement and has nothing to do with Spider-Woman.

Later on, after Matt and Toomes have their rooftop crow-murdering chat, Toomes turns himself in, and Murdock signs on as his attorney. Since the Bugle article we saw on May's table was about the fight between Spider-Woman and the Vulture, it is most likely that somewhere the article mentioned this or, even that Matt made a statement to the press regarding Toomes' case. Or possibly, since Jameson is the type to try and grasp at straws for a story, this could be Matt making a statement to the press that Fisk had no involvement. Either way, I imagine it's in regards to this specific incident and he was speaking as an attorney on behalf of his client.

The more fun (if you IDK wanted ideas to play around with for a fic or art or something) but less likely version...

I don't think this is nearly as likely, but I wanted to see if I could some up with any other possible explanations. The first time we see Matt, he's talking to Alexsei, and he's talking about how he's trying to remove some of the obstacles from Spider-Woman's life, namely the police officer assigned to her case. At this point, they haven't met face to face and I don't think we have any indication that Matt knows her identity just yet. (He would of course know it immediately when they meet face to face at the concert later on.)

Depending on how much he wanted to show his hand (again, typically not at all) when the first stories about Spider-Woman came out, I could see him making a statement to the press about being willing to represent her in court. Maybe he thought she'd see that and then come running to him, and help kick-start his plans by putting her in his debt. Again, I don't think it's likely because Murdock likes to play the long game, but he does make a big deal of talking about how they should be friendly to each other when they first meet, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility.

[lostinfantasies38]

Fic Writer Meme

Name

Fandoms

Most popular oneshot

Most popular multichapter

Actual worst part of writing

How you choose your titles

Do you outline

Ideas I probably won’t get around to, but wouldn’t it be nice?

Callouts @ Me

Best writing traits

Spicy Tangential Opinion

Name: Jordie is what everyone calls me and my username on Tumblr and AO3 is Lostinfantasies38, so I’m easy to track down

Fandoms: Over the years there have been many fandoms I’ve held dear, but my recent work is in Dragon Age and Dear Evan Hansen. I have temporarily left DA for some fresh air in DEH and have been doing very well there. 

Most Popular Oneshot: I actually have a tie for this one and surprisingly, they are from separate fandoms. 

Permanent Ink from DA: Origins, featuring Alistair and my male Warden OC Zane Cousland is quite spicy and tender. If you like pining bi-Alistair and schmexy love interests, this one is for you. 

For You I Could Be was my very first DEH fic and it’s taken the fandom by storm, which still shocks the pants off me. It’s a deviation from canon and focuses on Evan and Connor realizing they have feelings for each other. Read the tags though since triggering content is mentioned. 

Most Popular Multichapter: I’m sure you’re all tired of hearing about Sun Touched and Find Me Well Within Your Grace, but they are tied yet again. Sun Touched is my Dwarven Warden novelization of DA: Origins with Sirra Brosca and Alistair. Find Me Well is a head-canon fueled prequel of DA featuring young Cullistair at the abbey.  

I won’t bore you all with the details, but I am very proud of both fics. I hope to come back and finish them once I’m the right head-space to devote the time to them that they deserve. 

Actual Worst Part of Writing: The plot and staying on target. I tend to get side tracked by character development at times and that can derail an entire story if I’m not careful. I’m also incredibly careful to not lose a character’s voice while trying to flesh out a whole new side of them in my work. It’s a delicate balance. I want to do them justice, so while playing with them in AUs is fun, I still want them to sound like “them” and not caricatures. 

How You Choose Your Titles: Through blood, sweat, and typically numerous tears and hair pulling sessions. I like my titles to reflect the story, but not sound too fucking cheesy, and sometimes that feels like an impossible task. I try to avoid using song lyrics personally, but I have done it once or twice in a pinch, I won’t lie.

Do you outline: FUCK NO. I have tried and I can’t stick to them. I’m also the type that once I write it out, even in an outline, I lose interest in that particular piece. I need the scenes to be fresh and literally banging on the door of my brain so they flow properly. Everything is fixed/cleaned up in editing, but if the emotion is missing in the initial draft it takes a monumental effort later to keep it from ringing hollow. Sometimes the drafts can’t be saved, period, after outlining and I’ve scraped entire stories/chapters because of it.

Ideas I probably won’t get around to, but wouldn’t it be nice: I have an entire folder of shelved DA stories in the wings that I’m not sure will ever see the light of day now. I’m hesitant to say “never,” but truthfully the more time passes the more likely that word becomes. 

They include: (1) a modern carta/cop AU ft. Sirra/Alistair, (2) part 2 and 3 planned continuations of Find Me Well following Alistair and Cullen through DAI, (3) Varric/Charise Trevelyan DAI story full of intrigue and the House of Repose, (4) world weary veteran Grey Warden Alistair/Rylie Trevelyan DAI, chock full of dashing heroics and a swooning damsel in distress, (5) Cullen/Eryka Cadash DAI with lots of tension/angst due to the Carta & Commander angle causing friction [interpret that how you will, lol!] (6) a modern color soulmate AU with a unique twist ft. Cullen/Alistair (7) a Siren!AU ft. Sirra/Alistair and a cutthroat island of traitorous bitches (8) and finishing my incomplete DA stories. As a bonus, (9) there is a football AU for DEH that I started during NaNo, but it may end up in the scrap pile, too. I’m still picking at it, but meh, we’ll see.

Callouts at Me: Guilt. 

Honestly, I know we do this for free and we have no obligation to write/complete these stories, but we all do it because we love it. Yet with each incomplete story, coupled with my rather abrupt departure from the DA fandom, my guilt has grown exponentially. 

However, I can’t allow it to hold me back and continue to eat away at my soul. It keeps me from being productive and having a hope and a prayer of finishing what I started. If this means that I play in a new fandom for a while, then so be it. I wish I had more familiar faces to follow me there, but I understand it’s not for everyone and I would never make demands. Though, that doesn’t mean I don’t miss my usual readers and the comments I looked forward to, but I have relocated and I have to accept that. Just know that I still love you all and miss the fuck out of you. 

Best Writing Traits: Emotionally evocative prose and creating realistically flawed characters are what I’m best at. My characters are not perfect, because who the fuck can relate to perfection? Who would want to? They are flawed, broken, dealing with a shit ton of trauma as best as they can, and generally bumbling through life. Yes, they may have a LI, but they are not “cured” by love. They are supported by an equally flawed person as they continue to stumble through life, though with fewer face plants than before because they have someone to (hopefully) catch them whenever they aren’t overwhelmed with their own crises. And making all the pain and growth as lyrical as possible is my favorite part.

Sometimes I nail dialogue, too, but more often than not that’s simply luck after hours of talking to myself and laughing/crying so hard I had to include it in a fic.

Spicy Tangential Opinion: Every single kudo, like, reblog, or comment is special. I know it’s easy to focus on the “quantity” of them - but each one represents a real person that one of my stories has emotionally resonated with. Every day we write and post we’re affecting real people behind our stats, which means we can treasure every single one. Talking about the numbers and engagement erases that fact, and I wish more people treasured every individual interaction for the meaningful gesture about their work it is. Each one is a little spark of ‘you are loved’ in the world. {Keeping this Manka because you summed it up beautifully! Bravo!}

Throwing this out into the world! Tag list below (authors only this time, sorry my lovely artist friends) but feel no obligation to do so! Also sorry if you already got tagged!

@kittimau @jennserr @jellysharkbat @fandomn00blr @bigfan-fanfic @blarfkey@darlingrutherford @herald-divine-hell @cassandra-pentughasst @c-e-c-r-o-p-i-a @river-of-asgard @giraffesanddietpepsi @pikapeppa @simper-fi

[chaoskirin]

I want to talk a bit about the Thing Going On With AO3.

I think people don’t understand why any censorship is bad, and immediately see a post like this and go “YOU ARE DEFENDING _________.” In this case, you all know what it is, but because tumblr actually engages censoring, if I posted the topic, this post would be censored from searches.

That SHOULD be enough for you all to see the inherent problem in censorship. In an attempt to get rid of the bad, you end up getting rid of any discussion or awareness around it, which in turn can enable Bad People to hide. For example, in tumblr’s case, if there’s a bad website out there with certain bad things on it, there’s no way to warn the tumblr’s userbase without your post being censored and hid from view. And if you censor your own post, then it’s not searchable. The only thing you can rely on is reblogs, which don’t always catch on.

Censorship has another problem, too, which we can actually see at the highest levels of government.

In the case of the recent problem on AO3, I can’t use the specific example (because, again, I’d be censored by tumblr), but let’s say AO3 made it a rule that you can no longer write any furries. This would actually be fairly popular, due to the backlash furries get. And this starts with “no stories where you turn characters into furries.” That’s the rule.

So there’s a lot of people out there who don’t like the furry genre at all. They see this rule and they do what’s called lobbying. They gain support for something tangentially related--for example, if turning characters into furries isn’t allowed, then no furries at all should be allowed. It’s in the rules (kinda!) after all!! And so they argue that the show Beastars shouldn’t be allowed to have fanfic on the site.

At first, people think this is ridiculous, but the point is, these are the very people who opened the door for the horse--er, the no furry rule--and they know what to do to change the rules now. If one thing is banned, then another thing should also be banned. Soon, this lobby has many people convinced that Beastars writing is against the AO3 TOS, and AO3 has a rash of people reporting any Beastars fic that appears. Soon AO3 has to delete stories first, listen to appeals later--because there are so many reports coming it that it’s easier to just ASSUME the reports are true and deal with the fallout when the author contacts them. Outside pressure is put on AO3 to again change the TOS, and soon a list appears in the rules: These IPs cannot feature on the site. Shows like Beastars are included.

Then people are like. OK. So if actual furry characters aren’t allowed, then THIS probably isn’t allowed, either. Eventually you have a blanket ban on werewolves, because werewolves are furries, too. Technically.

And if you’re saying this is ridiculous, that banning one DANGEROUS thing can’t lead to shit like this happening, then you really haven’t been taking those posts about what happened on Livejournal and Fanfiction.net seriously. Because that is exactly what happened. In Livejournal’s case, it’s almost a parallel to what people are trying to do on AO3. And yes, people did get banned for being close-but-outside-the-ballpark on that exact issue. 

I am sure there are people who are going to not get this, or what the implications of banning that might be on future stories. Or might not believe that one ban can lead to another. There’s no doubt that the thing people are trying to get banned is bad, and in a perfect world with perfect people, it would be a one-time blanket ban on that one thing, and that would be the end of the story.

But as I mentioned before, this is actually a thing that happens in political climates throughout the world, and regularly occurs in micro-political settings like AO3, as well. Look at what happened in Russia. Look at the Republican party in the United States. And, of course, look at Livejournal and FFNet.

I don’t have a solution to offer to this problem (and it is a problem.) All I can tell you is that unfortunately, censorship of a dangerous or offensive subject does not work, and cannot be properly maintained by any body of people. Everyone responsible for enforcing the rules will look at them/enforce them differently, and the demand to remove things that don’t even break the rules will overwhelm those whose job it is to screen those things.

[fanfictionloveletters]

i give to you by treescape (The Mandalorian Luke and Din)

Title: i give to you

Author: treescape @tree-scapes

Fandom:  The Mandalorian

Word Count:  1096

Ship:  Luke Skywalker and Din Djarin

Summary:  

“They’re lovely,” Luke said, and if the pleasure in his voice seemed genuine, his brow furrowed slightly in consternation. Din shrugged uncomfortably, because what was he supposed to do—bring a gift for the kids and nothing for their teacher?

Or, Din's been accidentally courting Luke.

Love Letter:

I read @tree-scapes all 👏the👏time👏. It started with to dream and to wake which @orientalld created art for. It was such a soft image I had to know the story. Treescape is an unstoppable writing force within the Star Wars Universe. I’ve never read her Obi and Anakin writing because I don’t care for Anakin in general, but the way @tree-scapes writes relationships, it's hard not to just nod along and go with the romance.   They are also an unstoppable creative force posting constantly.

I digress. As Always.

If you haven’t seen The Mandalorian, you may not know that Luke and Din meet for maybe ten minutes tops, but the way treescape presents the interactions, it makes perfect sense for them to gravitate together.  This fic is very sweet in it's presentation of how love sometimes grows not in the constant presence (like Nicky and Joe from the Old Guard), but in the spaces of absences. A pair of gloves to keep a hand warm and safe, (or is it to hide one that others might find shocking?) a blanket that reminds you of the lush world that person inhabits...it's sneaky this thing called love and seems to strike when you're not paying attention.

When treescape finally has Luke ask the meaning of the gifts, it's the most nonthreatening conversation for two people slowly beginning to explore the feelings between them. I am hoping that she continues to grow this relationship. She also has the art of missing Din Djarin which feels like a companion piece to this one and also the  that is sweet as well. I would be interested in reading in reading something similar from Din's perspective.

I recently read on treescape's end of the year tumblr post that they only started writing QuiObi ( perhaps fanfiction in general and I am remembering incorrectly) in February of this year. So there is a small chance I can catch up on everything they have wondering around their account.

Tangentially related, Is this considered a crack pairing by some people? I only ask because my partner, as I have mentioned before,  is a life long Star Wars and fan, and while stuck in traffic I mentioned this pairing to them. Their response was wonderful. They paused, tilting their head silently, and came up with, 'Well I always thought of Mando as asexual, but I think Luke might also be that...so maybe together they could have company and not be so lonely.' It's only in the last year or so that I've brought them in my world of fanfiction reading. They thought that Cobb Vanth would be a more popular choice to draw Din from his shell. I haven't read anything about Cobb and Din, but I'm not against it if anyone has a recommendation. I've just done a search...treescapes has at  least 2 mentions of Cobb. And the phone has just informed me that they just posted another Luke and Din fic called teach me (to know you) and a QuiObi one called  legends and stars . I told you they were an unstoppable force. Subscribe to this person. You won’t regret it. 

If you’ve enjoyed this fanfiction love letter, please feel free to reblog so that others might enjoy the talents of our fan communities. If you have read this fic and would like to share why you love it, please go to to their story to ensure they see your praise and appreciation. And of course, if this fanfiction love letter inspired you to read this fic, I’d love to know. Feel free to recommend any fic that you feel I might like or that needs a love letter.

[atlawintersolstice]

It is SO exciting to see so many of you interested in the exchange! Thank you so much for signal boosting.

Thank you also for nominating tags on AO3; we love to see it. Since a lot more Legend of Korra-canon characters have been nominated recently, I want to clarify the scope of the exchange. As it says in our AO3 profile and pinned tumblr post:

Some notes on the scope of this exchange: characters who appear in other Avatar works may be nominated if they are directly related to characters from the TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender (canon). For example, Izumi is eligible to be nominated, but Asami is not. Creations should feature any tangential characters in relation to the canon characters, and participants should not need to be familiar with other media, such as The Legend of Korra or the comics (though you may take inspiration from them) to understand your work.

Aang and Katara’s LoK-canon children and grandchildren have all been nominated. My thought is to approve the children (Bumi II, Kya II, and Tenzin), but not the grandchildren. Though they are directly related genetically to ATLA canon characters, I feel that once we’re at the point in the timeline that Aang has died, we move into fanworks for LoK rather than ATLA. I also think that there are likely ATLA fans creating kidfic, etc. using the names LoK provided without utilizing any other information from LoK. Similarly, relationships between various members of the three generations (Katara/Aang, their children, and their grandchildren) have been nominated. I plan to approve relationships between Katara or Aang and their kids, and between the siblings, but not relationships between Katara and her grandchildren. If you nominated any of the grandkids, or the relationship “Katara & Jinora,” and you have an idea or request for a work that A) is not dependent on LoK, and B) contains no spoilers for LoK, let me know, and we can discuss it further. Thank you!

Also, keep in mind - characters do *not* have to be in the tag set to *appear* in a work. They only have to be in the tag set in order to be the main focus. For example, if someone is matched on “Katara” and writes a Katara-centric fic for their recipient, Jinora can still be mentioned in that fic, even if “Jinora” is not in the tag set. That is, as long as Jinora (or LoK characters, kids, etc.) is not on the recipient’s Do Not Want list!

Thanks, all!

[squidbatts]

Ordinary (growing out of place)

Veronica McShell is fourteen years old. Her braids are a year old. These two things aren't so much related as they are tangential.

Or: on pain and hair care habits.

ZRS3 SPOILERS

((its real Emotional About Veronica hours so that means it’s time to Mega Project. in this fic’s canon, veronica is black and i mention this only because black hair is like, the basis of this fic. please enjoy!))

{ao3}

Veronica McShell has had braids since the apocalypse started. Her mom had done them about a week before Z-Day because she wanted Veronica’s hair to look nice for the Girl Guide camping trip, and Veronica had almost admitted to quitting the Guides in order to get out of it.

She didn’t, of course -- because she had liked having the freedom to go to the museum and see the researchers, to converse and learn from the Professor -- but she had wanted to. 

The braids in and of themselves weren’t the problem; she disliked the beads her mom insisted on putting on the ends, mostly because they made her look younger than her thirteen years, but the real issue was how much time they took. Nine hours, nearly half the day, lost to sitting in between her mom’s legs and staying completely still while her mom slowly created tight, thin, perfect braids out of her curly hair, even going as far as to undo an hour’s work just because some small section of the braiding was uneven or otherwise flawed.

Veronica had tried to convince her mom to just let Veronica deal with her own hair, but her mom had only laughed.

“When I can count on you to actually take care of your hair,” She’d said with a smile as she washed Veronica’s hair in the kitchen sink, “Rather than ignore it to go do an experiment with your dad, you can choose how I do your hair. Until then...”

She’d trailed off and Veronica was too busy trying to keep soap out of her eyes to argue back -- though, even if she had said something, Veronica doubts that her mom would’ve changed her mind; if there’s something that Veronica’s sure that she got from her mom, it’s her tenacity.

When Abel catches up with her -- Or, more accurately, when Abel and New Canton send people in who kill her best chance at understanding zombie immunity, almost destroy her calming plants, and keep talking about her dad like they weren’t responsible-

Anyway.

By the time Abel finds her, it's been sixteen months and nine days since Z-Days, which makes it about sixteen months and fourteen days since her hair was braided; by now, her roots aren’t just overlong, but outright messy. Even with her tight curl pattern, eight inches of growth is not an insignificant addition, not to mention how the ends of nearly every braid have begun to come undone and how she only has five beads left, dirty and cracked as they are. Still, she hasn’t completely taken the braids out, despite the looks and comments the other treetop researchers had made. If anyone had outright asked her, she would probably say that she just hasn’t had the time to do it, or that it was a nonessential task that didn’t require her attention during the middle of the apocalypse, but in reality she doesn’t know why she can’t make herself undo them. Or, she does know why, she just can’t understand why it’s a problem for her.

Veronica McShell is not a sentimental person. She’s no good at it, or most emotional things, really. She owns exactly seven things, and five of them are clothing items. Before she got the note from her dad, she hadn’t even wanted to find any of her old stuff; if the old world was gone and they had to move forward, things from the past would only weigh them down. She knows that many people consider her coldness to be a character flaw, knows that people are off put by her intensity and devotion to science in a time when most people are still just crying about their lost love ones. However, she also knows that you can’t waste your time dwelling on the past; people that you should’ve said something different to, times that you could’ve done something better, good or bad choices that you made, it’s all gone and done with, and most of it doesn’t matter anymore anyway. It’s just not sustainable to put so much energy and emotion into things you can’t change. 

But she still thinks she hears her mom calling for her sometimes. She still walked around in a daze after spending over four days straight listening to and re-listening to her dad’s recordings, she still snaps at Sam Yao half the time he brings up her dad and talks about him like he was a superhero, like this is all a fun adventure RPG. 

Her hands still shake when whenever she tries to start taking out the braids

She knows that she’s being illogical and overemotional, that her dad is dead and her mom shares the same fate or a worse one. She never bought into religion, and recent events haven’t changed her mind, so it’s not like she thinks there’s some spiritual connection that exists between the three of them, especially not one that’s reliant on her hairstyle, but whenever she raises a hand to her braids, she...

Well.

Suffice to say, she leaves the braids, and glares at anyone who comments on them.

[theropodtheroblogs]

FANFIC WRITER INTERVIEW

Tagged by: Sunset and Kappa <3

Name: Thero

Fandoms: I’ve written for Transformers, Mindcrack, Thrilling Intent, DSMP, and sometimes others with oneshots in the past.

Two-shot: My most recent and probably only twoshot would be the Digital Justice duo. I love it to bits, but as always the single piece of smut I posted far outstripped them and reminded me why I wrote smo much smut in the last mcyt fandom I was in. Validation I guess.

Most popular multichapter: Falling Star, a transformers fic which is never going to be finished and I feel bad about it but I legit wigged myself out of writing it. I shuld really stick a note in the summary at least about it.

Actual worst part of writing: Multichapter works. I suck I finishing them but I love writing longer stories. This big bang fic is more proof that if I actually make myself write all the chapters before hand and also have a hard deadline then I can actually finish things.

How you choose your titles: Sometimes it’s something from the fic which triggers a title idea, sometimes its a song, sometimes its staring at words, sometimes its crying on friends shoulders and begging for a title idea.

Do you outline: Yes. Even if its like two lines at the start of a oneshot in itallics, it’s helpful to have a guide of where I want to go. If I’d tried writing my bbfic without an outline I think my artists would have murdered me, for starters, but I’d have also murdered myself. I’m at the point where the chapter outlines for that at like 500+ words.

Ideas I probably won’t get around to but would’t it be nice: There were only like 3-4 chapters of Shadowfall ever posted. I would liked to have taken that neat little au idea and written it into something more unique and entirely own work, but I’m deeply afraid of it.

Callouts @ me: I don’t know if I actually do this or if its my imagination, but I feel like I’m overly pushy about my work. Someone mentions something tangentially related? Gotta bring it up. Feels bad man. Also not writing when I say I will. That’s a huge.

Best writing traits: I make people feel things and that makes me feel things. People legit telling me they’ve cried reading my works? That’s incredible.

Spicy tangental opinion: I genuinely thought we’d moved on past the point of mocking people for their fandoms but I guess not mutuals huh? Also if we could all stop reblogging out of date call out posts which have already been dealt with, that would be great.

No pressure tags: Idk :s you reading this, do it

[waveridden]

1, 2, 4, 14 fr the writing asks??

1. tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

i mean my first priority right now is catching up on the stuff from my writing slump - i have one more commission to wrap up, i got a couple charity commissions, i have a bunch of ask meme prompts that i never got to. things like that that i want to make sure get finished.

HOWEVER. at the moment my big project is outlining something for the d20 big bang. i have read a couple of mystery/thriller novels recently, which is not a genre i normally read, and i LOVE it. so now i’m trying to outline a mystery for the big bang. i’m hoping i can get a good, finished outline before signups so that i can prove To Myself that i can do this.

2. tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

i don’t actually know right now! like i said i am INCREDIBLY excited to try my hand at a mystery, but i’m not sure what’s up beyond that. i’m starting classes in like six weeks and i don’t know how that’s going to impact my writing. but i have a couple of drafts that i’d like to come back to, and also a couple of original anthology ideas that i always come back to whenever i just need Something to tool around with (i don’t know if anything will ever come of it, but it’s fun)

4. share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

oh man actually the second chapter of embodiment, the tma/counterweight fusion, has a lot of lines that i am SUPER happy with. i had a really hard time with that chapter because it took me forever to find the right voice - i went for a very tma-style serious voice for the first draft, and it wasn’t until the end of the draft that i threw in a joke and that unlocked everything. i rewrote the whole thing in 45 minutes flat with more character to it. anyways i like this line:

An earthquake is a disaster. But an earthquake under a reservoir? An earthquake underneath ground that’s eroded away, an earthquake that causes a flood? That’s a cataclysm. That’s a world washed clean. With any luck I’ll be remembered as the flood, but when have I ever been lucky?

because i think that, first of all, i found a good balance between austin walker and jonny sims, which is the Real challenge in writing this. and second of all, the erosion/earthquake metaphor was something i was happy with, but in my first draft i kept getting stuck on “sokrates isn’t either of those things, they’re what comes after” and i am not a terribly metaphorical person but i think this ended up being good

honorary mention: the “maybe i’m the impulse, maybe i’m the hand” line is something i’m really really happy with because i think it fits in with the web and the idea of manipulation/control

14. at what point in writing do you come up with a title?

there are two answers to this. i always have a title when i start; that is almost never the title that i publish with. a lot of the time it’s something that’s sort of tangentially related, normally a line from a song or a movie - my naddpod fic that ended up being five celebrations was originally “four weddings and a funeral,” because that was the right vibe. at some point, normally about 2/3 through a draft, i start thinking about titles, which nine times out of ten involves me just listing out song lyrics. normally i get a list of lyrics and then i narrow it down from there; if i’m really lost there’s a LOT of googling involved