#tbh i know im writing for a very niche part of the fandom and im ok with it :')

[elialys]

you should post “these lines etched in sand” on wattpad so more ppl see it!!

I'll admit I never got around to using Wattpad! Do I sound like the millennial that I am if I admit I didn't think it was really used to post fics? I always thought it was more for original stuff 😅

[ofmermaidstories]

Bad day for nosy people who need to know what old fandom is 👀👀

lmao, i’m trying to talk myself out of it so that i don’t turn my current WIP list upside down on itself but. 🥹 i fear it has very powerful claws. 🦞 i’ve been mulling over like, why it ([Old Fandom]) is so attractive to me right now and i think it’s a combination of a few things!! like, one is the fact that i never originally left it by choice—real life kinda forced me away from my hobbies, and by the time i could circle back again, the fandom had died (i find it really interesting that so many modern fandoms don’t have staying power, but that’s a different discussion) and i was interested in different things. but now it’s seeing a revival and i’m remembering how much i loved it and how i never really… got closure for it, LOL, as silly as that sounds. 🥹 i never finished any of my ideas. 🥺 i went back into my old account actually, like a couple of weeks ago, and went through my fic drafts i had at the time and it—idk. i guess it just made me nostalgic. 🥹 it’s different, tonally, to what we do here in the bnha/x reader niche!! and it makes me itchy. 🥹😩 god!! so itchy. i wanna dig my fingers into it and move things around. dig it up from the garden. perform necromancy on the lover that doesn’t even know they’re dead, and blinks and finds themselves sitting in the same old kitchen with a cup of coffee in their hand. 🥹🥹🥹 i’m better equipped now—i know how to keep myself interested in long-term projects, how to finish them and, most importantly, what i like.

there’s a lot of stuff i like to write that i just don’t, here in our niche. either because it doesn’t fit in with the bnha world or just doesn’t like… suit the x reader POV. and that’s on me LOL, a better (or maybe more determined) writer could make all those things work, but part of what i like about bnha and x reader and [old fandom] is that they’re distinct—they all feel different. i wrote a lot before i got here!! i wrote so much. i wrote so much that i like, kinda burnt myself out on it LMAOO. there were tropes i liked and settings and tricks i used all the time that after a while they got boring to me. 🥹 and now after a million years of doing something different, i’ve realised—oh. i really liked all that. 🥹 i really like it, still.

idk!! idk. part of not naming the fandom is also because i haven’t decided if i wanna jump back in or not lmao. do i do it, knowing it’ll slow everything up even more? we tell ourselves all the time here in fandom circles that it’s just fanfic/fanart! you’re here to have fun! if it gets hard or boring or you wanna try something new—drop it! do it! you don’t owe anybody anything!! which is all very true yes sure. except i, me, mermie, want to finish things. i want the satisfaction of finishing the IAL series. im actually very proud of the fics, and while i know i will finish shouto’s (barring being kidnapped by pirates or aliens or death himself ig 💀), i also know im a slow writer, and that letting myself deviate off path into a completely different fandom will make me slower. 🥹 so idk. i guess ive just been ruminating on fiddly details like that LOL. also i don’t have a solid plot in mind yet (even tho i have a general gist of what i want) so that’s also probably the main leash rn LMAOOO. tbh if i get one im going in swinging, fist first, so let’s all hope that i remain idealess on that front lest the demons take me. 🥹🙏🏽

[frankiistein]

which is the better webcomic to you homestuck or breadavota?

i mean im like the one man fandom of bread but hs has the advantage (or disadvantage) of being finished, breadavota still has the potential to majorly fuck itself up the way hs did after act 3

imma try 2 break my opinion down in detail

characters:

ok so i will say that hs characters r based on american subcultures and im not american so theres probably some emotional appeal 2 its mostly american audience that i dont relate 2, so i think most of its audience will find them more relatable or deep than i do

anyway i think breadavotas characters r generally more well-developed but hs wins by diversity, even tho admittedly the majority of the hs cast r one-off characters made as jokes (looking at u dancestors)

i said this in a previous post but rpp mostly writes just One Type Of Guy: vaguely schizophrenic assholes

but w/e jacques and bien r fucking winning at being vaguely schizophrenic assholes and u gotta respect jacques for being a character with an actual schizoid personality disorder diagnosis instead of just "coded mentally ill"

johns more interesting than bread is so far tho

worldbuilding:

with hs i think the worldbuilding that rly fleshed out the hs universe didnt rly happen in hs but happens in the other stuff (friendsims, hiveswap, etc) so idk if that counts

hs definitely does portraying alternias culture in a way that promotes the transformative/interactive nature its aiming at: its easy to imagine making ur own trollsona/oc bcuz u can imagine alternia as a place

maldevara is barely a "place" and is more like. a state of being. or a vibe. like there r bits and pieces of its physical culture but most of what we know about it is the sociopolitical philosophy of the maldevarans

idk what the word for it is, ig hs is a more "fun" story and breadavota while not exactly a "serious" story just feels more.... "thinky" and philosophical, its engaging as a thought exercise but isnt the most appealing as a "story" per se

weird-ass aliens:

i like the marginals better but they rly do appeal to a very particular niche ig. the trolls undeniably have better appeal and relatability

the thing with the marginals is that the "depth" of their character building doesnt have as strong as an impact unless u relate 2 the specific Mental Illnesss Experience they embody

both of them have the "4 some reason this super foreign alien species essentially just look like humans bcuz of obvious author appeal" but ig breadavota kinda gets away w/ that bcuz the marginals r more-or-less implied to be part human..... or smthng (at least media is)

the hemosystem of the trolls gives it an edge in diversity (all the marginals on the other hand just seem vaguely The Same Guy and even if it makes sense narratively 4 them 2 be like that it still makes it feel like theres no point in caring about anybody that isnt The Marginal Trademark Symbol Media) altho i do hate how the hemosystem eventually turned the first 12 trolls into archetypes that every other troll was an expy of so idk

"game" mechanics:

both hs and breadavota use the videogamey mechanics for their magic/reality systems so its worth comparing

hs has better mechanics imo but abandoned them halfway thru the story and sburb was kinda forgotten by act 6, which is a shame bcuz u can rly see how hussie used that computer science knowledge and translated it to the hs world mechanics

breadavotas mechanics r harder to grasp and feel less "logical" imo but if the story actually keeps up their relevance it might be easier 2 get used 2 over time

time travel shenanigans:

hs was rly good at handling its time travel shenanigans ill give hussie a point for that one

breadavota has some leniency again bcuz the story isnt that far into it yet but theres not enough "altline" stuff and tbh idk how rpp plans on handling the whole "it isnt real/its all just a dream" trope implied with the alternate timeline doomed to undo itself in a way that doesnt make u think "well what the fuck was the point of all of that then"

visuals:

would u believe me if i said homestuck. lmfao

rpp is a good artist and a good writer but its clear to me that they were never a comic artist before and has trouble portraying a story with pictures

idk how 2 explain it exactly but i think the thing is rpp as an artist draws very "literally" and the way they write is veryyyy abstract, and this is rly most evident in the prose stories that completely lack visuals. rpp has always relied alot on narration (and all the prose stories are either majority narration or even just narration), and they cant do that with the comics bcuz the comics need dialogue

hs mostly has simple visuals but the dialogue format makes it so they feel more integrated

also the hs flashes are just masterworks imo

ofc as a diehard breadavota stannie ill defend breadavota as being a mostly one-person endeavor made by a chronically ill person and the hs flashes had multiple artists so yeah

hussie has always been an artist and hs isnt their first work so they had a lot of experience under their belt. i do respect breadavota for what it is considering its the first thing rpp has ever made

music:

homestuck wins bro it has toby fox. ig breadavota doesnt "need" a musician but rpp obviously likes putting music in the story so it would be a bonus

(i know rpp made like one instrumental song which wasnt a bad song but they obviously r not a musician)

pacing:

they both fucking suck but hs got away with it better

hs dragged itself out way 2 long only to rush itself near the end but hussie updating astronomically fast when it was running made the slowness feel negligible

breadavotas pacing could use a lot of slowing down if ur an archive reader but bcuz it takes like one update every million years to progress it feels excruciatingly slow. like in the four years the story has existed its only been two days in the comic

tbh i think breadavota updates fast enough for a webcomic, at least it feels on par w/ other webcomic updates. most regular webcomics done by single artists updates one page a week so all things considered breadavota has a good amount of content especially considering that rpp doesnt have as much time as ppl whose job it is is to draw their comics

hussie was just exceptionally fast even when considering that its bcuz hs has overall less visuals and recycled sprites

at the very least the new website fixed the most annoying issue the old website for bread had where having every minor update in between the major ones was distracting

conclusion:

tbh i think hs has a lot of mass appeal and rly strikes being so weird and unique w/o being as "off putting" and even tho hussie kinda fumbled the bag over the years the popularity hs has feels well-deserved

im biased 2 breadavota but i can say it does feel very inclined towards a specific type of audience bcuz the entire story is structured around a specific type of experience. like its a very "alienated 4 being mentally ill" story but w/o the usual "but we find found family and community in fellow alienated ppl" that u would usually expect/want in this type of story and like its intentional bcuz the story is about that but i understand it makes it hard 4 most ppl to latch on to

the pop culture references of hs and diversity of character "tropes" can make it broadly relatable and while i dont think u need to "relate" to characters or stories 2 find value in them i think the thing is if u dont exactly see where breadavota is coming from the "point" of it doesnt rly hit

i think what i like abt breadavota is that it portrays certain experiences that nothing else ive seen rly does, but its a rly "thinky" sort of comic that makes it less "fun" as just a story (even if it does still work as a story) for ppl who dont care for or see what its getting at

also since breadavota rly appeals to a specific person on top of already being obscure it means practically everyone engaged w/ the comic interprets it a similar way. i think what made hs get as big as it did was that people werent just engaged with hs alone, they engaged w/ the fandom and saw alot of different theories and analysis

hussie and rpp have both always been "weird" and that reflects in their story but their "brand" of weirdness uhhh reflects in their story. for how polarized hussie is in the fandom ultimately theyve always been more for interactivity: hs started as reader-led, they already had an audience and connections from being an artist for a long time and hussie clearly has a broad collection of interests and inspirations to draw from which makes hs feel "well rounded" and the recognition of inspirations a bonus to some

rpp is an insular person even among the ppl they know, they dont talk 2 ppl, they dont read books, they dont play games, they dont watch tv, etc. homestuck is an inspiration for breadavota not just bcuz "rpp rly likes homestuck" but bcuz they dont rly know a lot of stories to use as an inspiration and their overall reclusiveness makes their character writing feel particular in a way that can be offputting 2 other ppl bcuz first of all they dont know how normal ppl act and secondly since rpp is a "clasically" intelligent person they seem unable to write characters who arent all somewhat intellectual. bien is an "idiot" but lbr... he is not an idiot lmfaooooo. the "thinky"-ness that permeates everything they make can make the story intimidating and it has high expectations for the overall "intelligence" of its audience. and like thats not a bad thing, 2 many stories treat their readers like idiots, but it does make it a story that feels very all or nothing. u either gotta be autistic abt it or u dgaf

breadavota sorta has no choice but 2 draw from author experience bcuz rpp doesnt rly have the means to draw it from anything else. they dont know pop culture, they arent part of communities and they dont engage in fandoms, and that makes breadavota as a story have an interesting and candid perspective that does make it stand out even among other self identified MSPFA type stories but it also makes it both broadly unrelatable and inevitably tinged with the Schizoisms in a way homestuck for all its "craziness" was never so hardcore abt

[quicktimeeventfull]

Hi I noticed you have been in the deathnote fandom for a long time. Do you know some changes the fandom/ships went through? I already know that the misogyny towards misa used to be terrible

hi! absolutely! for context i got into death note around 2006 and have spent most of my time on livejournal, deviantart, youtube, gaiaonline and then of course tumblr; i've used LJ, deviantart, quizilla, ao3, fanfiction.net and independent websites/forums for fic. i have been involved more broadly in anime/manga fandom since 2001. i say all this because people's fandom experiences will vary dramatically based on their platform of choice. broadly speaking: death note was a HUGE phenomenon with massive international popularity, and was very critically acclaimed -- it was often discussed as the most accessible series for beginners due to its high quality and its lack of fanservice. it was generally seen as being very somber. it was also well-known for being difficult to write for on account of its dialogue-heavy nature. for the most part i think the ships themselves have remained stable -- lawlight has always been the most popular by a large margin, and mello/near and matt/mello followed behind. there were a lot more fans in general, though, so mello/near and matt/mello were massive - 25% of 100 000 is a lot more than 25% of 100. the way people ship has changed dramatically, however. people used to care a lot about whether or not something was canonically viable, so there'd be loads of posts proving that lawlight was 'real.' ship wars ime used to be a lot more aggressive but were also less moralistic. people also cared a LOT about who was the seme/uke in a relationship. this was of course partially because of the lack of awareness around how real queer couples function, but it was also because of the relative popularity of doujinshi; seme/uke indicated a character's personality, not just their position. (i should say this was not at all universal, and there's plenty of content from that era which does not follow these conventions, as well as a myriad of queer people who objected to this.) because algorithmic content distribution was nonexistent and sites explicitly for fic (ff.net, ao3) hadn't yet taken over, fic rec lists were a HUGE part of the fic economy. personally i think they should come back; they're great for niche content and lesser-known artists, and they foster community. you will often notice older fans using names like raito, mero, or nia. these are holdovers from scanlations, as the official english spellings weren't available until late in the series (for mello and near) or the official translations (for light) as a point of note, you'll sometimes see people saying that 'eru' was the name used for L, but this just isn't true; L's name was spelt with the roman character even in original japanese. early scanlations are still widely available, so you can see all this (plus tonal changes re: the dialogue) for yourself. tbh i don't actually think the misogyny towards misa is worse; i think the language surrounding it has just gotten more intellectualized. i feel this way about a lot of problems in fandom. also ok here's some linguistic trivia i find very interesting but which got long enough that i decided to put it at the end, please ofc feel free to skip this:

ships used to be tagged with / \ | or & to indicate the type of relationship. how they worked were: / and \ were for slash ships, | was for het ships, and & was for platonic ships. why do all this? partially it was because it was much easier to scan if you're on a site that displays only titles. it was also used to avoid censorship on sites that cracked down on gay or sexual relationships, as the terms were less obvious and also wouldn't get picked up by automods. \ | in particular were useful in roleplaying context where users wished to request straight or gay rps; since fic and rp often involves the same people, there's crossover in the terminology. / and \ were used to indicate seme vs. uke. for example: L/light means L is the seme, and L\light means L is the uke. (the idea was that the slash pointed to the receiver.) you could also show seme vs. uke by ordering the characters. in this case, L/light indicates that L is the seme and light/L indicates that light is the seme. the \/ distinction was already falling out of popularity by the time death note hit its stride, so the latter was the much more common way of doing things. eventually we got sites with tagging systems which required consistent ship names, so the whole top/bottom naming distinction fell away, and combined ship names (ex. lawlight) became more popular. seme vs. uke were then explicitly indicated via bang paths. (seme!light.) this kind of happened concurrently with the shift from seme/uke to top/bottom. if you have an interest in early fandoms, i would highly recommend both 'everything i need i get from you' by katitlyn tiffany and 'because internet' by gretchen mcculloch. 'everything i need i get from you' focuses largely on the social and technical factors behind fandom, and 'because internet' is about linguistics.

[gilears]

for you my darling jamie: 3, 9, 19, 21, 22 (👀), 28, 29, and 33!! <3

THANK U MY DARLING SAV!!!!!!

3. How would you describe your writing style?

all over the place tbh!!!!!! i feel like i can very much be a writing style chameleon based on what the vibe of a piece needs, but i def gravitate to either silly goofy writing with lots of unnecessary asides (like lola fic or my reddie fake married disaster fic) OR like. insane ominous overly verbose dread hours (like o&t<3)

9. Thoughts on cliffhangers.

harrowing!!!!! what if the author never updates again???? i dont ever post chapter fics until ive finished or almost finished the entire thing for this reason, i dont want anyone to hurt the way ive been hurt

19. Share a snippet from a wip without giving any context for it.

“Ah, it’s rather smoky—Kristen, did you make cheese crackers? Is that why you—” He cuts himself off, looking genuinely touched at the idea that Kristen would go out of her way to make him his favourite snack, just the way he likes it (burnt).

She’s not sure how she feels about crushing the hopes of a man who’s had his hopes crushed so many times before, so she decides to just rip off the bandaid. “No, your kitchen’s on fire.”

Gilear’s eyes widen, and he takes one more step out of the hallway to where he can see the kitchen, the yells, “Ahhhh! My kitchen is on fire!”

“Great listening skills,” Riz mutters under his breath.

21. Can you accurately predict how long your fics are going to be? If you can, what’s your secret?

yeah for the most part i can! ive been writing fic for 8 years now (omg) so ive kinda just developed a sense for how long a particular idea will take me. i think it helps a lot that im a pretty heavy outliner, and i typically dont start writing something unless ive got most of the plot figured out

but whenever im wrong about a wc its always that i end up being way over. i have cant shut up disease and its terminal

22. What is it about watching the same two idiots falling in love over and over again?

djkglhbsdlj;ghsdfg woowwww i wonder what ship that eyes emoji is for sav!!!! tbh idk if i have a solid answer for this question! sometimes a dynamic just Grips you and youre like holy shit i have to read and think about these people interacting for the next 5-10 business days straight. when i figure it out ill let you know

28. Any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing?

yes! i think you should write whatever makes you happy to write because that will make you love writing more, which will make you write more, which will make you be a better writer. early 2021 i decided i wanted to write more stupid goofy shit and i had SUCH a blast writing it it made me wanna write more stupid goofy shit and i had so much fun writing stupid goofy shit i stopped caring about what would get the most hits/kudos/attention/whatever

also i think the secret to not giving a shit is having friends that are also writers. all my closest friends in fandom have been writers and when u can have people to go to who will Get and celebrate your work no matter what? game changer!!!!! opens up a whole world of possibilities like, "hey, what if i wrote this niche rarepair fic with my friend but its in second person and also the ship only has like 2 fics in their tag and also what if we wrote it in one night?" and then u have SO much doing it and dont even bother to check stats bc u already feel so fulfilled for having created it!!!! and also u and ur friend are so much closer now for it!!!

tldr put on some fun music, do a little dance, tell urself "who give a shit" and write whatever the fuck makes u happy

29. What’s the hardest thing about writing?

writing 💔

33. Give your writing a compliment.

aw this one is cute. mmmm i think im pretty good at capturing specific character voices/cadences/vocabulary in dialogue!!! 🥰

send a number for fic writer asks!

[tema-makes-art-sometimes]

Just saw your vent post and I think diving into your self indulgent stuff might help. For me personally, when working on original stuff, that's when I'll think about things like appealing to others/marketability/etc, but when it comes to fandom stuff, the only audience I care to pander to is Me, Myself, and I. Other people sometimes end up liking it, mostly it just goes ignored, maybe a like by a mutual if they see it. I prefer it this way, since worrying about appealing to more people when writing fanfic makes it feel too much like Writing I Do For Work, and I even never use betas for that same reason, it makes it feel too much like Work Writing, when fandom is Fun Writing.

I'm not sure what you do outside of fandom, but you have so much creativity, I've kinda assumed you've either been doing creative work or are studying to go into it--I can see you in a character design shop tbh, I can see Pin being a villain people would just eat up and love or love to hate.

If you're in a creative field, I feel like it's just good practice to go into Work Creative Space and Fandom Creative Space with different intents, if anything for the sake of mental health, as I've been in a very similar place, where silence on my fandom work would make me rethink what I'm doing, make me want to retcon WIPs, thinking "Maybe if I change this to that or this ship to that ship or change this character to be closer to fanon, more people will want to read/will comment/whatever".

You sound like you already very well know this isn't a healthy mindset, so I'm not going to go into that. I'll just say dive into that self indulgence, whether or not you're doing original creative work in the background as a job/part of study. You have great stuff, but audiences can get burned out just like creatives do. Sometimes it's because they're also creatives. Sometimes it's just burn out from seeing so much art/writing/media ALL THE TIME.

Something a professor told me was that if you got to go to an art museum, and you tried to really appreciate each piece, you'd end up exhausted before finishing even one section of the museum. This can lead to the 'mindless scrolling' a lot of the time. Fandom is becoming a large part of a lot of people's lives, but for most people, it's secondary or even tertiary media, and they're already putting a lot of energy into enjoying and appreciating the media they're in fandoms for. (Yes, there are some people who 'set fire to canon' and are in the center area of a fandom, but most people are closer to the sides, occasionally popping in from time to time but not setting up tents, if that makes sense.) So many of those people just don't have the energy to really get involved with a lot of media produced my fan creators, especially if they follow a lot of them and can only comment or otherwise get involved with a few posts/creators at a time. This can be what often leads to some 'visiting' the same 3-4 creators more often than they may go to another creator.

Setting up a place and waiting for more people to filter in can feel exhausting all by itself, especially when you're trying to create more to fill more of that space and hopefully entice more people to pop in and see what's going on.

When you focus on self indulgence for a while, you're not always looking at the door, since you usually don't expect people to walk in (at least, I never expect it), so when people actually do come in and tap you on the shoulder to see what you're working on and if they can see, it can really help offer that extra boost you need.

I really don't think you're doing anything wrong. A lot of artists who don't do what those "How to get more followers" tips still find an audience, sometimes due to the niche, sometimes starting out niche but expanding as more ideas get tossed in. Some artists who by the book, seem to do everything right, don't get nearly as much. There's really not a right or wrong way to create or share your creations. There are just a /lot/ of creators, so a lot of times, it boils down to how people find your door.

These are all really good points so I am going to share. Honestly a lot of my GerCanMano stuff is pure self indulgence but you're honestly right I think I'm probably gonna focus on some self indulgent shinanigans for a bit, and stop worrying as much about getting things out on time and making it perfect

but I do wanna point out this cause it hit me;

I'm not sure what you do outside of fandom, but you have so much creativity, I've kinda assumed you've either been doing creative work or are studying to go into it--I can see you in a character design shop tbh, I can see Pin being a villain people would just eat up and love or love to hate.

I was in school, but I never declared my major so I had to stop temporarily because I honestly don't know what major to be. There's so many things I like to do, but I don't know if I want to make a career out of them if that makes sense.

Like art, I love art and video games, I'd love to do things like animation or graphic design or be my own indie developer, but I worry if thinking about a game like a business slash whats making me money will ruin the creative process. It wont be making things for the joy of making things, it would be for my job because I had to, and idk- that just isn't as fun. Im worried about that mentality sinking in. I like them but idk if I wanna have to take them full on seriously as a career.

I'm trying to get a minimum wage job right now but its hard to find a job right now in the US job climate, especially with the fact that I have to find job willing to cater to a disability I have currently offrecord because my doctor wouldnt listen to me. Which is even harder because Ive had to walk away from jobs before because they wouldnt give me accomedations without doctors recommendation.

I am planning to set up a Etsy shop right now actually. I need to get a printer, but otherwise hopefully soon I will have a store up with stickers and preorders for keychains. One day I plan to get a button press and make my own buttons. I have hetalia merch planned, as well as my ocs. I'd love and have designs for all sorts of stuff, custom tshirt designs- like subtle hetalia fan stuff like pockets on the chest witht he character "sticking out" with familiar hetalia patterns. I have miraculous ladybug stuff planned. My friend gave me the idea of aster's heart as a friendship necklace and I love it, I could imagine all sorts of needle and thread themed pin merch I have a lot of ideas its just designing and making them and seeing if people would buy them.

I dont quite know what you mean by character design shop if thats something different or not, but yes.

Ill save a ramble about pin for a seperate post this ask is long and so is my response so Ill stop

[shrinkthisviolet]

Author Interview Tag!

Tagged by @maipreciation, thanks for thinking of me! This looks really fun :D

(Note: I’m keeping this as a running list, so if you’re ever wondering what fics im working on/brainstorming, make sure to check here! Last update was on 12/12/2020)

Name: Lavi! As of 12/5, I’m no longer going by my real name (see this post)

Fandoms: so many 😂 check my bio, I think I have them all listed. I’ve posted fic for Hamilton and ATLA, and then there was a huge Inktober compilation I posted last year with a whole host of fandoms. Currently, my major fandom is ATLA, and probably Kipo as I’m starting to move through S1

Where you post: I have an AO3 (lavi0123)! I used to have an FFN and a Wattpad, but I don’t use either of those anymore :/ tbh, I’m embarrassed of anything I still have up there 😂

Most popular one-shot: Most definitely we’ll give the world to you (and you’ll blow us all away), one of my contributions to Maiko Week! I’m not surprised it’s an ATLA fic, but I find it interesting that a fic with Izumi in it blew up so quickly. But hey, if y’all want more Izumi content, you won’t be disappointed 😉

Most popular multi-chapter fic: ...I’m really embarrassed to say because I don’t think I’ll ever finish it...but En Hamilton Heights is the only multichap fic I’ve published so it’s gotta be that one 😂 hopefully soon I’ll have another fic to add to that, since I’m working on one (sorry EHH fans but it’s been too long and tbh I don’t remember where I was going with it :/ I’m thinking I might orphan it)

Favorite story you’ve written so far: you think this world is a dream come true (but you’re wrong) for sure! It’s super niche but it’s something I wrote out of love for a movie I discovered this Halloween and absolutely love. Though all you’ve got to do is want something (and then let yourself have it) is a close second. Basically, anything I write that sounds absolutely bonkers as a concept is one that I love 😂 (and it’s no coincidence that both fics are Mai-centric! I love all my Mai-centric fics nearly equally)

Fic you were nervous to post: Is there an “all of the above” option? 😂 I’m always nervous to post. But in particular, I was nervous for if you ran away (come back home), because it was Mai-centric and longer than any one-shot I’d written thus far, and also you think this world is a dream come true (but you’re wrong), because it’s Mai-centric and a Coraline AU, which makes it BONKERS as an idea

Why was I nervous to post Mai-centric fics, you ask? Two reasons: 1) Mai is very different from who I am as a person (I vibe a lot more with Aang and Ty Lee, sometimes Katara and Sokka), so I didn’t want to upset the Mai stans by writing her incorrectly. 2) Mai is generally not well-liked in the fandom at large, so I especially didn’t want to attract antis who would accuse me of writing Mai as too emotional and loving (which is why I tried to justify that in my tags). Luckily, my comments have all been lovely, and I’m far less afraid to post fics about her now that I’ve written three fics with her as the focus! And the shoutout from @nonbinary-crafter-aang praising my portrayal of her?? I was touched 🥺 still am

How you choose your titles: Song lyrics or movie/book lines that speak to me, occasionally a pun. Remember that post I rb’d about how authors title their works? My tags pretty much say it all 😂

Do you outline: Ehh...define outlining 😂 for my one-shots, nope. But for my upcoming multichap works (see below) and Nanowrimo work (original fiction, so I won’t talk about it on here, but send an ask if you’re curious), YES ABSOLUTELY!

For my Nanowrimo work and one of my upcoming AUs (a Soulmate AU), the worldbuilding is so complex that it’s an absolute necessity. For the other upcoming AU (a time travel AU), there are just too many things that need to happen at certain times so as not to interfere with canon events, and things I want to change from canon and things I want to keep...I think you get the idea 😂

Complete: Basically my entire maiko halloweek series! Check it out if you want some fics about the most underrated canon ATLA couple :)

In-progress: ...En Hamilton Heights again...but not for long, sadly. Still trying to decide between a quick conclusion and just flat-out orphaning it. Still haven’t made up my mind, but either way, it won’t be what I originally planned, unfortunately.

I’m also counting my ATLA Soulmate AU on the basis of forever in my mind (only you), which has the worldbuilding and fits into the AU without much problem (the AU is going to be a series of one-shots, not a multichap fic, because there won’t be enough deviations from canon imo to justify multiple chapters. And one-shots are just less pressure for me 😂)

[EDIT 12/12/2020: added another fic because I’m an idiot and forgot about this too 🤦‍♀️😂 it’s a year-old idea that I started writing but I’m picking it back up thanks to the Heist banter in MatPat’s St Jude stream!]

-A fic series combining Escape the Night and Who Killed Markiplier (Heist and Date are part of it too, but only tangentially at the moment. Depends on how involved I want DA Y/N to be). Tentatively titled A Heavy Cost, and definitely won’t happen in any of Mark’s projects, but in a way that’s actually for the best 😂 the canonicity for me stops at ETN S3 (with some S4), then it’s canon divergence

Coming soon/not yet started: OOOH YESSS HERE WE GO

Okay okay sooo we’ve got two main things:

–An ATLA Soulmate AU, featuring platonic and romantic soulmates! I know I called it in-progress, and I stand by that even though I haven’t actually set up the series on AO3 yet, but this AU is about to be SO MUCH MORE than just a few Maiko moments. Because...drum roll...it’s gonna be entirely Aang-centric (with maybe one or two exceptions)! Like Mai, Aang is a character that doesn’t get as many -centric fics as he should (and being an Aang stan also isn’t unanimous for some reason??), so I’m gonna fix that. Plus I want to dive further into his mind, and I think I’m more equipped to do that than I was with Mai, since Aang and I are very similar in attitude.

–Bumizumi time travel AU, which can be read as platonic until the last couple chapters (it’ll be multichap) but definitely has a romantic agenda throughout. So just. Be warned if you don’t ship them. It’s gonna be chock full of comedy and antics! Also A LOT of platonic affection between Izumi and teen Zuko (and just between Izumi, Bumi, and the Gaang in general), because platonic affection is underrated and also I can :D I’m also probably gonna make fun of how some elements of affection have become solely romantic territory, because...um, no, hugging and holding hands and cuddling can be done between friends, thanks! (Maybe it’s the ace in me talking. But regardless)

There are also vague concepts I’m spitballing, like:

-Zukaang telepathy AU (Platonic Zukaang, the only romance I’ll ever write in ATLA is for the canon ships, prompted by a dream because apparently ATLA lives in my head rent-free forever now 😂)

-Evil Zuko AU (Azula doesn’t exist, mostly prompted after watching Aang make fun of Zhao and realizing that if Zuko had been in any position of power during the War...the Gaang would have stood no chance at all)

-Bumizumi Arranged Marriage AU (Bumi and Izumi both think the other is hotheaded/reckless (Izumi @ Bumi) or uptight (Bumi @ Izumi). So Kataang and Maiko (along with Sukka, Ty Lee, and Toph because...duh) set them up in an arranged marriage, with the presented reasoning being that they already know each other’s families, it’ll be a great symbol of unity, and this way Izumi doesn’t have to worry about suitors. They both agree to it (it’s arranged, not forced), and over time, they warm up to each other...and maybe even...fall in love?? Prompted because we need more arranged marriage fics! On that note, I’m gonna plug shadows and steel by @dearestpartnerofgreatness because arranged marriage needs more rep and this fic does it and with Maiko to boot!)

-Zukaang as Brothers AU (I saw a fic about this, but it wasn’t complete. If it’s not done by the time I get to this concept, I’m gonna write it, because just...imagine the possibilities! Zuko and Aang are already basically brothers in canon anyway, this is just making them brothers in blood as well as in their hearts. This is especially vague because I have no concept of how this is gonna work 🤷‍♀️ I’ll get to it eventually)

(Can you tell I’m obsessed with Zuko and Aang’s friendship? Because I am!)

[EDIT 11/25/2020: I’m adding two more because I forgot these have been swirling around in my head too 😂]

-A fix-it fic based on May You Always Be Satisfied, a backstory fic for Who Killed Markiplier by @blackaquokat! I recently reread it and remembered that I was gonna write a fix-it for that fic. Not because the fic sucks, it’s actually amazing! I’m just a sucker for the main (requited unrequited) pairing, and there’s at least five ways to make that pairing canon and avoid the mess of Who Killed Markiplier. And THEY ALL DESERVE TO BE HAPPY OKAY

-A Finnrey fix-it for the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy (this one is especially vague, and I probably won’t write it since a bunch of these already exist, but it’s fun to think about. Maybe if I ever run out of WIPs 🤷‍♀️)

Upcoming story that you’re most excited to write: I’m equally excited for the Soulmate AU and the Bumizumi Time Travel AU! I’m also excited for my Nanowrimo work to be finished, but that’s more so in-progress than upcoming

Tagging:

@nonbinary-crafter-aang @dearestpartnerofgreatness @ohsalamanders @blackaquokat (no pressure ofc, only if you want to! But please tag me if you do, I’d love to see it!)

[leoxxii]

fic writer interview

tagged by - @frill-shark !! I WAS TAGGED IN JANUARY BUT I COMPLETELY FORGOT TO DO IT SO UM. OOPS AKDBKABRWJ

name - hi hello im leo!! i also go by hawk & spooky! hawk is my fursona's name and i used to use spooky a lot while playing among us and got attached to the nickname :o

fandoms - uhh usually i don't write for that many fandoms bc my hyperfixations come and go akbflabrkw but currently i write a lot of subnautica and warrior cats! i also used to write a bit of dbh but uh. my interest in that game dropped HARD i cant even force myself to play it let alone write it anymore so akrhkavrkwhr

where you post - just ao3 😔✊ i usually post links to my writings on tumblr but other than that yeah just a03 :o

most popular oneshot - a jerry-centric dbh thing i wrote like 3 years ago now? it has about 500 hits! its the oldest thing on my ao3 besides my warriors stuff and a03 is not a v popular source of warriors content akfnksbrowbr

most popular multi-chapter - my subnautica: survivors au! first thing since my wattpad days that ive felt genuinely happy with and im glad that other ppl enjoyed my niche little au so much!!

fics you were nervous to post - LITERALLY ALL OF THEM TBH. im always kinda nervous to post content but ive gotten a lot better at being less concerned with it recently! although if i had to choose one uneven odds brought me a lot of trouble bc its That specifically catered to myself. i rewrote it like 3 times just to try to get rid of all the embarrassing parts and i refuse to re-read at all KABDOABROABE

how do you choose your titles - i dont i just close my eyes and spin a roulette wheel and see what happens. FR THOUGH i dont rlly know i just kinda.. choose a phrase or word i like (survivors, the last warriors) or sometimes i use song lyrics (uneven odds, a world alone)

do you outline - yes but im awful at it sjfblavrowvriw. i write very VERY vague outlines that are half shitposty and completely useless as an outline to anybody except for me. i often stray wayyy off the outline too and the story almost always ends up no longer following the outline and i free-write by like half way through 😔✊

favorite story ive written so far - as i mentioned above, red survivors!! the entire series is currently at over 125k words altogether and its been so much fun to write and talk about with its readers. its the first multi-chap fic ive finished in YEARS and im so happy ive stuck with it bc it means so much to me, these characters and their world and interactions make me so emo all the time

complete - out of the 6 i have on a03, 4 are finished! granted 3 of those 4 are oneshots bc im typically not that good at finishing multi-chaptered ones. and this number only includes the fics ive finished enough to get a single chap at least out so um. LABDKABDKBA

in progress - i usually only work on 1 fic at a time so i don't forget about one over the other so im only rlly working on a world alone rn! i am planning a remake of my old warriors story so that's technically in progress ive just been really really slow with it,,, oops

coming soon - ok ok actually i have another subnautica themed thing planned where its like a collection of one-shots of characters on the aurora! i rlly want to further explore and expand the survivors au characters and ive been thinking of a few different scenarios that i could write about,,, might never get finished but im hoping to start writing it once awa is completed! sometime this year if all goes well 👀

prompts - i used to take prompts all the time omg, now i never rlly get any :( but i mean hey, ill try to do something for most prompts if anyone is interested… 👀👀

tagging - uhhh idk how many ppl i know are writers buttttt lets see um @ryttu3k @io-wall @stellar-starryy @flamefoxcat @warriorofkungfu !! no pressure to actually do this tho y'all!!!! i honestly have no idea if some of u write at all but ur all cool ass ppl so yeah!! thabk you for reading ilu all have a good day im embarressed over talking so much byeee !!!!

[lesbianralzarek]

Hey uh, what’s vtm? You’ve got me kinda interested in it but I’m scared to google in case I see spoilers cuz it’s pretty old right?

vtm is short for Vampire: the Masquerade, which is a personal horror tabletop role-playing game :) just in case you dont know what personal horror is (cant blame anyone on that front, its pretty niche), its a type of horror where the player is the bad guy and you have to learn to cope with your frightening power/nature. youre struggling to hold onto the last threads of your humanity (or you can go full-on “evil”) and avoid letting “the beast” take over. its called “the masquerade” because you hide your true nature from both the world (so they dont know vampires exist) and to yourself (because its scary to come to terms with the monster you are). its also called that because of a set of rules called “the masquerade” that keep the supernatural world a secret so you dont get the inquisition called on your ass. vampires are, and always have been since caine killed abel, the real puppeteers behind world politics. its a very philosophically intriguing game. one of the main themes is that wealth and power slowly dehumanize those who hold it. its full of lore and interesting mechanics and world-building and theres nothing else really like it tbh 

youre right about it being old, it was made in the early 90s, but that doesnt mean that it has a whole lot of spoilers. thats because its a tabletop game so you get to tell the story that you want. i guess you might be able to make the case that some of the lore can be spoilers for other parts of the lore? esp in the case of the video game that takes place in L.A.

BUT, after typing this out i realize you might be talking about the video game 

if you mean VTMB, thats Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines and its my second favorite game ever. it was made in 2004 and does have spoilers surrounding it because of its still-active cult following. thats not a huge problem imo because the game can easily be completed in 30 hours (i took 70 hours my first playthrough tho because im a slut for lore and details and i had to know EVERYTHING) so its pretty easy to just knock it all out and then join the fandom afterwards. dont worry about the length of one playthrough tho because its replayability is mad good. you can do a million different playthroughs and not experience everything. you really get out what you put in. its considered one of the quintessential rpgs that made the genre what it is today. it has so much choice and interactivity and atmosphere and great music and expressive faces and memorable characters and voice acting that gives you chills and my god the writing. the literally legendary writing applies not even just to dialogue and stuff but to the pacing and tempo and story and so many meticulously crafted metaphysical details 

.

if you wanna play vtmb tho i gotta warn you of a few things first

1) install the unofficial patch. its just.... if you listen to nothing else i say, INSTALL THE PATCH. its so crucial that if you buy it on gog, it automatically comes with the patch. theyve been patching this game for years because it was so janky when it came out. you know the patch is installed if you open up a new game and get the option to choose your clan, gender, and history 

2) malkavians are oracles and will spoil the game for you if you play them the first time around. nosferatu will add more content but also lock you out of a lot of content because you cant interact with humans because youre too ugly and they call the cops on your freak ass. please dont play these two the first time around 

3) dont be afraid to be the Bad Guy. its fun. im a bitch-ass sensitive wimp who cant tell off someone who punches her in the face but i still love being an “evil” vampire in some playthroughs

4) it was made in 2004 as a satirical piece and, as such, a lot can come off as offensive. yet again, im a bitch-ass sensitive wimp, but it still wasnt so much that it ruined anything for me. thought it might deserve a disclaimer anyway 

.

if you have any other questions about the tabletop rpg or video game rpg, feel free to ask more questions :) its a hyperfixation of mine and im always down to talk about it. if you end up playing it, hope you have the time of your unlife :):):) 

[sunnybimbo]

get to know the author

got tagged by mfin @grassepi like 10 days ago to do this!!!!!! /dab/

long ass post under the cut

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

i explain this so often man its a trip. ‘jam’ came from simlish in the sims 3 because of that one voice line that’s like ‘jambabedo?’. i had changed my name to that on skype but when i was VCing with @namerine she could only see ‘jam’ and it kinda just stuck. speaking of: the ‘dingus’ part also came from her so literally this name is all because of her and i love her *fingerguns*

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos).

by FAR my most popular fic is my collection of sickfics: In Sickness and Health

the only thing that it got beat in was comments from Close to the Heart, but that’s mostly just because it had so many mfin chapters

3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?

b a b y y o s h i

i literally cant remember how i found this picture or why i chose it as my icon but its my Brand now. yoshi jamthedingus is me

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

i literally have so many. there’s @space-peachx, @bears-again, @narwhalsarefalling, @ravenssama, and @miishiiwrites (for some reason it wasnt letting me tag ur main asldhasd) plus a SHIT ton of anon commentors who i love just as dearly!!! i have a lot more but these are the most common commenters and i love them sm i could literally die.

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

there are like three fics like that and ofc im gonna list them all

hands down the fic i’ve reread the MOST in the shortest period of time is Sunset in Reverse by @demenior (who i cannot tag for some reason but i hope they know that i love their fic dearly)

there’s this i n c r e d i b l e sickfic by @bosstoaster that i just adore called Drown Out Your Mind that just breaks my heart all types of ways

and there’s this OTHER fic that also fucks me up called strength of the small by @nowweareunstoppable in which pidge is bad ass and also gets fucked up and i literally rec it to all my friends i love it so much

(also a special shoutout to been @velkynkarma‘s Whisper in the Dark. whenever i have the need for a good creepin’ out i LOVE to revisit this one because like... just the description of the Final Boss (tm) alone is enough to give me the willies)

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

oof

i have 449 bookmarks from like atleast 10 different fandoms, and about 411 fics i’m subscribed to, give or take a couple because Math. most of them are completed though, but i don’t go through and take them off because i’m a lazy hoe 

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

well i just looked up my ao3 and it says i have the most in ‘Alternate Universe - Video Game World’ asjdhsaldhsja aka my mmo au. but technically i think the au i write the most is Modern bc i’m but a simple farmer with a limited mindscape

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

i have 22 user subscriptions vs 199 work subscriptions + 383 bookmarks in total. nice nice nice

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

probably something with a more serious tone (compared to the fluffy wuffy fics i write) like, for example, fatphobia, suicide, and literally just conflict in general. i always feel like im trivializing all of it no matter how hard i try so i just... Give Up because i dont want the backlash ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

i really want to get better at writing conflicts, as stated above lajhdlsadhls. but also i want to be better at planning out stories because i usually give up near the 3/4ths point of literally every multi-chaptered thing i’ve written

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

definitely rarepairs. voltron is like the biggest fandom i’ve ever been in and my biggest ships are all hunk ships, and all of those are rarepairs OTL

12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

35!

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

ignoring the fics i’ve completed and posted on ao3, i have about 52. including the above equals 87!!! m a t h

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

i try to write them down but if i write down the thingy i really want to focus on in the fic then i won’t want to write it anymore because it’s out of my head. OTL its a complicated process.

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

literally never in my life. 

16. How did you discover AO3?

definitely tumblr. i was in the dragon age fandom and there was this fic called The Little Kadan which had fem!inquisitor/iron bull + a baby so like i was all over that asap. i’m too shy to tag the author but u can find them on tumblr at sickly-writes ,,,,,,

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3?

nah not at all. i’m pretty Niche

(i.e. if you love shunk and/or heith + cuddling, i’m your gal. but anything else is pretty rare OTL)

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

not in the SLIGHTEST. i call them all babes in my head bc i love them tho

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

i don’t know this @fenri personally but i love their writing so much. i admire their style a WHOLE TON and i think i may have sort of modeled my own after theirs? 

like i’m just thinking about it now but it’s definitely after i reread their fic (*ahem ahem* Like Crystal Guts) for about the fifth time that i started my whole ‘prose-y’ writing, which is very very recent aldjhsal

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

be confident in ur writing! if someone says they don’t like it, your work just isnt for them. just because one single person doesn’t like it doesn’t mean its bad!

r e r e a d what you wrote! i use fromtexttospeech.com to catch like... sentence structure/grammatical errors when my eyes are too tired and i find it helps a lot!

if you find a story you like, try figuring out w h y you like it so much. characterization? the way they describe things? because they use sentence structure you haven’t seen before? and then use that new knowledge to try to make your own writing style your favorite *fingerguns* 

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

i only started plotting fics since last november, which was when i participated in my first nanowrimo. i don’t plot for every single story, but if i’m lost or i want to expand a little, i slap down a bunch of ideas in an empty google doc and go from there! 

generally by then i’ve already written atleast a little bit, though.

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

i can’t even remember what it says exactly now since i deleted the fic after, but someone said my characterization was bad in a super old inuyasha fic. little like... 12 year old me was so sad ;w; 

i don’t think i’ve ever gotten a bad comment after that, though? which is NICE

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

DEFINITELY any action scene. i can’t make them long or drawn out or else i’ll just be struggling and sweating and generally craving death. i think i just need practice but o o o o f

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

i have a few hot n spicy prompts i need to finish that i probably won’t get to until next year salhdjsa

plus a few christmas presents! 

and also my pirate au, Wander, which only has maybe 2 chapters left before its complete!

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

*sweats loudly*

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

not in the slightest. generally, if i’m in a writing sprint or something, i’ll try to get over a 1000 for whatever it is, but that’s for the total and not for the session. 

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

definitely! even though i’m still shy, im a lot more open to constructive criticism (if it doesn’t come after my soul ;w;). I’m also getting better at being more descriptive, which is something i’ve always wanted! 

28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written?

i have two. don’t make me choose

the first is technically cheating because it’s part of a series, and the series is my favorite BUT I DIGRESS. The Witch and the Mage (which is... one of my less imaginative names) is an MMO AU in which shiro and hunk are in love and also i have a vague plot outlined somewhere in my drive that’s pretty wild if i do say so myself. i may never write it but its there and its my favorite and i love the imagery i used in it.

the SECOND is a heith cuddle fic, because that’s basically my brand as a writer. it’s called home and i wrote it when i was very tired and couldn’t get to sleep. i may have been craving human contact? who knows in this economy. even though i see a number of things i wish i could fix about it, it’s just very self-indulgent in more than one way and its very dear to my heart. 

29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written?

most of the fics i wrote earlier on are pretty bad imo, but i think the ones i hate the most are part of my You Are Beautiful series. it’s grossly out of character (mostly in keith’s case) but it was the first thing i’d written in about four years and i was so proud of it. so it has to stay up for posterity, tbh.

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

i really hope to still be writing by then. maybe with my own personal book in its planning stages atleast???  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) gotta be optimistic!!

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

dialogue? also describing rooms. i love just... randomly popping out something that describes the placement of a couch in relation to a door. 

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

i always always always get distracted when i’m trying to write. if i’m in the zone, someone in my family is definitely gonna try to get my attention. it’s sort of become habit for me to just interrupt myself first so that i won’t lose whatever train of thought i had LMAO

33. Why do you write?

i like the way my words sound when i string them together in the right (write... *badum ts*) way. it makes me Feel Good (tm). 

also i love giving characters (that mean something to me) attention, because it’s like i’m giving MYSELF attention. a two-for-one!

Tagging:

@sleepyhunk, @narwhalsarefalling, @space-peachx, @sammythemattressthief, @bears-again, @kurosakiami01, @maternalcube, @ace-pidge, @darlingmuses

+  if anyone i tagged earlier would like to, i would literally be honored if you would do this! but no pressure, ever <3