#therentyoupay asks da-awesom-one

[da-awesom-one]

what are your favorite things about jelsa? ✨

Ah, it’s kinda hard for me to put on into words, actually.

First and foremost, the AESTHETIC, because my goodness, do they look good in the snow, not to mention how infinitely romantic those backdrops are.

But I think overall what I love is just the characterization. How often I can just imagine them getting into scenarios and adventures, and just how easily it MAKES SENSE. And how it makes sense for them to be able to complement each other because their experiences. Especially the angsty ones, because DRAMA, but also because just imagining them overcome and thrive just reminds me what it means to be human. Which is ironic coming from two super humans.

The deeper I dig into this hole, the more it feels to me - despite reality and corporate shenanigans saying otherwise - that they fit together like a puzzle you didn’t know existed.

[therentyoupay]

Hello, Kris! I think I might’ve already gotten the gist of it, but it’s been some time. What exactly IS Academia Mode? Are you still in school, or is this your actual job, and it just happens to be involved in the education system?

Many thanks!

hahah no worries!!! that is a good question 🤣😭😭🙏 for me, academia mode is currently finishing the 5th and final year of my doctoral program and includes (but is not limited to lol):

data collection, analysis, write-ups

writing python programs to support my data cleaning, data coding, stats, and data analysis/visualizations

applying for GRANT MONEYYYY

submitting abstract proposals to conferences (and applying for MORE GRANT MONEYYYY)

reporting research findings (writing journal article manuscripts, preparing conference slides)

writing my actual dissertation manuscript lol

supporting and instructing my research assistants

sharing my research with mainstream public audiences

writing my non-fiction book based on my ongoing dissertation research

teaching classes, grading papers, holding office hours, fielding emails, writing letters of recommendation for all sorts of students' fellowships/grad admissions/grant applications, teaching students how to strategize their personal statements, grant purpose letters, and other aspects of apps, etc.

peer-reviewing others' journal manuscripts, providing feedback to colleagues (blind review or not)

assisting with my advisor's research and textbook manuscripts (proofreading, copy-editing, internet sleuthing, finding more up-to-date citations, occasionally writing rough drafts)

writing chapters for edited volumes on various topics

READING. all the time. reading new literature and research articles constantly. ALL THE TIME. writing 1-pagers and mini-annotated bibs for future lit review use, etc.

WRITING. all the time. professional-speak, academic-speak, insructor-speak.

getting paid to travel to conferences to present my research (GRANT MONEYYYYYY)

by may 2025, i'll be a Ph.D.!!!!!! [screams]

academia mode! ✨🤣🤣🤣😭🤣💕 every day, i think about how lucky i am that i get paid to do what i do 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 hope you are having a magnificent day, and thank you for the ask!!

[da-awesom-one]

hi! ✨ how goes the fic writing?!?

*Remembers that receiving asks are a thing after not getting one for so long* 😭😭😭

It’s going, thank you for asking. Took a bit of a pause to play some games that came out and are on my backlog, but still always planning and thinking about my works and how to approach them.

I actually made a playlist for the songs of the series of for my Jelsa universe fics, so that definitely keeps the inspo up. That and for my other works, of course.

Thanks so much for asking, Kris! Hope you’re doing well with your real life work stuffs!

[therentyoupay]

20. Jelsa.

"Come on," he had urged her, gently pulling her by the wrist down to the docks, down to the sailboat he'd assured her was safe, promising an adventure, a sunset, an evening of respite before her bodyguards inevitably swept her away, and—something she'd admittedly not known she'd wanted, even as it now thrummed, foreign and once-familiar, in her veins—fun... even if only until the sun finally set.

♡ image ♡ ♡ askbox meme

[therentyoupay]

So I’ve always wanted ask you this. What kind of points do you set for yourself that you have to do to portray Jack and Elsa respectively? Because your characterization is always spot on and consistent, and as someone writing their own Jelsa fic now, I’ve always wondered how you always nail them.

step 1:

JUST KIDDING. or am i

honestly, though, first of all: thank you so much!! 😭😭😭💕💕💕💕💕💕😭😭😭😭😭💕💕💕💕💕😭😭🙏🙏 and congrats on your foray into jelsa fic writing!!!!

second... i have been thinking about this question a lot over the last day or so, but i'm afraid my answer might be pretty disappointing 🥲 i don't have any specific points or benchmarks that i try to hit in terms of the portrayal of the characters—they are just jack and elsa. 🥲🥲🥲

although!! now that i think about it!! i suppose it is fair to say that across my stories i consistently incorporate (adapted, direct, referential, evocative) plot structures from the frozen/rotg movies, and jack and elsa often behave similarly in each contextual situation—despite the overt differences in settings/universes—depending on their current stage of character growth.

i'm grateful that you and i are just lucky that we both like my interpretations of them! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

BUT LET US OPEN UP THE THE DISCUSSION—any other jelsa readers or writers have any other recommendations or insights?? 💖💖💖💖💖

thank you for the ask!! ✨

[therentyoupay]

I have another one, though possibly a bit challenging for you.

9. Douxie Casperan from Tales of Arcadia, and Cassandra from Tangled the Series.

alaaaaaaaas, you're right, i don't know these characters or these fandoms, i'm so sorry 😭😭😭😭🙏🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

would anyone else be able to take a stab at this one??? reblog away!! 💕💕💕💕💕🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

[therentyoupay]

I have one question before you disappear into your real life work (though I have a feeling you’ll probably still check out Tumblr in moments of peace, but STILL.)

Have you read any of the Frozen novels that have been published?

yes!! i shall try to check in on tumblr every so often, especially since i have reconnected with so many people!!! (i missed the 2020 revitalization of tumblr and various ships and showed up three years late but, little by little, i am finding more people as they periodically log back onto ao3 or tumblr, and all of a sudden, we're like, "!!!! you're still here on this hell site!!!!!!!! me too!!!!!!") but yes, i have no idea how often i'll be online... 🥲 my lifestyle changes with the seasons and the academic calendar!!

i have not read any of the frozen novels or the guardians of childhood books! i likely will not read them at all. 🥲

right now, i am itching to reread the percy jackson series because i'm loving the show (re-signed up for a month of disney+ just so i could watch it, sigh) but i don't know if i will even have time for percy. 🥲

these days, i read academic journal articles, non-fiction books, and news/op-eds/opinion articles. my audible and kindle are just non-fic after non-fic after non-fic. 🥲 can you see why i was starving for fandom lmao

i have, however, read the snow queen by hans christian anderson (translation: h.b. paull)!

[therentyoupay]

I’m curious, how do you decide when to extend works, like with snow globe just recently for example?

i guess it depends on the fic!

at the center started as a collection of simple drabbles and ficlets, and then evolved into lengthier chapters with the occasional drabble interspersed throughout longer chapters, so there is a diverse range of chapter lengths across the 220+ chapters (some are <100 words, others are ~20,000 words)... so choices for when a chapter "should" end usually depends on whatever "feels right" for maintaining tension in the flow of the story (i.e., "which line would be the most devious cliffhanger?" 😂)

meanwhile, snow globe was only ever meant to be a two-shot of 20-30k words... but each chapter is now more or less 10-15k words?? 😂 and as i was writing part iii this past week, i started to reach 10k... and i realized, "oh dear, i think this story deserves another chapter after all."

in the case of snow globe, the final scene has been written since august, along with a few critical plot scenes (two of which now appear in part iii), but as i get nearer and nearer to those scenes, i realize that "more" is needed to lead up to it, or to come down from it, or prepare/post-process, etc., and the next thing you know, 8k more words have been added 😂��

in both cases, however, i had the final scenes already in mind before i started actually writing each fic! i reblogged a post like this a few days ago, but basically, my writing process for most fics is something along the lines of "having one scene in your head and then realizing that you need to write 20k, 50k, 100k of plot to get to that one scene" 😂🫠

similarly, sometimes when i get to the scenes, i look back at the unpublished stuff that comes before it, and i'm like "i don't need all this junk!!" and then i remove thousands and thousands of words and throw them all in a scrap file!

(sometimes i end up using the scrapped scenes later on, in a way that ultimately makes more sense for the story at that eventual stage, and sometimes those scraps never see the light of day! 😂)

thank you for the ask!! 🙏💖✨

[therentyoupay]

Oooohoho, okay.

Let’s start with part iv. Almost certain it’s snow globe.

from this tag game!

part iv is indeed from snow globe! instead of answering with words or emojis, i shall send you to a collection of aesthetic edits 👀 one of them is for part iv!!

thank you for the ask!!! 💖

[therentyoupay]

The troll garden

from this tag game!

the troll garden is ch. 225 of at the center! i shall answer only in emojis!! 😂💖 (spoilers???? i doubt it, but under the cut, just in case!)

thank you for the ask!!! 💖

❄️🩵🧊

⏳🏔️🧌

🦷✨

���🎮

🖤🩸

[therentyoupay]

Good to see you’re still around! I was wondering if you’ve had a chance to watch Wish and/or listen to the soundtrack?

yes!! DisserLand is liberating but STILL SO BUSY 😂✨ the key thing, though, is that instead of being Busy With Required Classes, i am Busy With ✨MY Research✨ (so still just as busy, but HAPPIER 😂)

iiiiiiiiiiii have seen many tiktoks calling the soundtrack "disney's first AI-generated movie attempt" and i have not been impressed with the villain's song (word on the street is that the writers are pop songwriters rather than musical theater writers/composers?) but even though the main character's singing voice sounds glorious, i haven't listened to any of the full songs, and i don't have any plans to see the movie! 😬🙏 (i also heard that we were robbed of magic-star!boy for the sake of disney having an actual star, which, honestly, is probably a good thing for my dissertation because if magic-star!boy had been the case, i'd probably have fallen down that rabbit hole) (i also also heard we were robbed of a married!villain duo power couple) (i'm also getting tired of all the iterations of the awkwadorable-cutesy cookie-cutter princess personality 😪)

i hope anyone who saw it liked it! but i don't have any interest in seeing it 🥲👍 alas alas

disney give us more magic-star!boys pls and thank

[therentyoupay]

throwback 😂

Kris, oh my God. Apparently, according to William Joyce, author of the Guardians of Childhood, after Jack beat Pitch the first time, he can apparently manipulate he old he looks! It's from Word of God!!!

WAIT

wHAT

WHAT

!

SOURCE???? !?!

[therentyoupay]

How would ATC Jack react to what happens to Elsa? At the biggest pints for her in the movie?

haha, i love this question, but to answer it properly i would have to write a whole “divergent from ATC-‘fancanon’ AU” fic! 😂 it would take a whole other story ♥️♥️♥️ i have to focus on the ending for the ATC that i’ve been working on for 5ish years, but feel free to let me know what you think would happen! 😂♥️

[therentyoupay]

YO. YOU GOT MARRIED?!?! CONGRATS!!!

I DID!!! 

thank you!!

[therentyoupay]

Have you ever considered a Jelsa AU, where Jack and the Guardians are monster hunters?

[therentyoupay]

reblogging for reference for an ask that i hope to answer relatively soon! under the cut, i've copy/pasted some observations people have made in the replies!

laurakrivera said: For Elsa I feel you go for composed and regal, always planning before she acts while Jack is rougher around the edges and improvises his actions. You also have Jack joke around and be sarcastic with Elsa trying to hide that she finds him funny and coming up with witty responses whenever she finds a chance.

therentyoupay said: @da-awesom-one HAHA i don’t know about ‘natural’ in the sense that it’s 'easy’ but perhaps more so that my interpretations have had time to solidify!! remember that i’ve been writing them on and off for ten years!! as of 01/03/2024, i have written 29 stories (WIPs, two-shots, one-shots, drabbles, ficlets, etc.) for them! 😂 “at the center” alone is over 500k+ words! (CORRECTION lol: 300k+ words, wishful thinking 😂) so i have had time to get to “know” them haha!

therentyoupay said: @laurakrivera ohhhhhhh YES GOOD POINT, that’s so true—that trend really solidified during the writing of “check the pipes for frost” i think… like, clearly the dynamic was first established for me in “the original (crossover) universe” in “at the center,” but for me to then find ways to “transfer” the personalities/behaviors/mannerisms/speech styles to a modern AU (and epistolary, no less!) was my first really solid challenge for characterization!!!! i had been 1/?

therentyoupay said: @laurakrivera word vomiting one-shots and drabbles and ficlets of jelsa universes all over the place as well, but you don’t always get to sink your TEETH into characterization with micro-fic the same way you might with a multi-chaptered fic… and then once jack and elsa settled into the “check the pipes for frost” world, i feel like they each became fully determined in my mind 😂 and then the fun came from transplanting THOSE characters into every universe i 2/3

therentyoupay said: @laurakrivera could think of!!! 😂 so those interpretations ended up in everything else: “snow globe,” “frosted sea glass,” “fifteen minutes,” “not in so many words,” lmao literally everything! GREAT OBSERVATION VERY TRUE, also now that i think of it, Masterday and i had a similar discussion in the comments on ch. 2 of “snow globe” on ao3 the other day!! and how i also really love leaning into the socioeconomic and social class divides dynamic (e.g., queen/peasant, ¾

therentyoupay said: @laurakrivera aristocrat/civilian, multi-millionaire/blue-collar) and how they both navigate the imbalances of social and financial currency! ✨ that’s one of my favorite places to explore with them, i think!!!! 4/4

callimara said: I raise you: Jack always has to be annoying and Elsa always has to be annoyed (lol CALLI NO)

laurakrivera said: @therentyoupay yes! I love how you play with the financial and social aspect of their dynamic. Usually in romances it’s always the guy who is rich, so seeing something different is refreshing and empowering. Also forgot to mention before…another thing you do is… you always have Elsa drinking tea. xD

therentyoupay said: @laurakrivera omg YES 😂 TEA, and DECAF COFFEE (and in the case of ‘check the pipes for frost’ decaf iced coffee lmao)!!! my friend who has chronic deep anxiety can quickly TELL when a barista has accidentally given her a caffeinated beverage instead of decaf, it has such an impact on her heart!!! once i wrote a modern au for jelsa i always had it in my head that elsa’s heart would be really sensitive to caffeine as well!

to be continued????? 👀✨

So I’ve always wanted ask you this. What kind of points do you set for yourself that you have to do to portray Jack and Elsa respectively? Because your characterization is always spot on and consistent, and as someone writing their own Jelsa fic now, I’ve always wondered how you always nail them.

step 1:

JUST KIDDING. or am i

honestly, though, first of all: thank you so much!! 😭😭😭💕💕💕💕💕💕😭😭😭😭😭💕💕💕💕💕😭😭🙏🙏 and congrats on your foray into jelsa fic writing!!!!

second... i have been thinking about this question a lot over the last day or so, but i'm afraid my answer might be pretty disappointing 🥲 i don't have any specific points or benchmarks that i try to hit in terms of the portrayal of the characters—they are just jack and elsa. 🥲🥲🥲

although!! now that i think about it!! i suppose it is fair to say that across my stories i consistently incorporate (adapted, direct, referential, evocative) plot structures from the frozen/rotg movies, and jack and elsa often behave similarly in each contextual situation—despite the overt differences in settings/universes—depending on their current stage of character growth.

i'm grateful that you and i are just lucky that we both like my interpretations of them! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

BUT LET US OPEN UP THE THE DISCUSSION—any other jelsa readers or writers have any other recommendations or insights?? 💖💖💖💖💖

thank you for the ask!! ✨