#whump with good storytelling | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

whumpypepsigal · 4 months ago

Text

@deepwoundsandfadedscars this is AMAZING! 🥰🥰🥰 ✨whumperflies✨

Find my sun in the dark side of my shadow

Fandom: Once Upon A Witchlight (Legends of Avantris) Words: 4753 Warnings: Descriptions of blood and injury, this is a whump fic Description: Torbek has a nightmare and winds up lashing out, injuring Gideon and Kremy fears for the worst

Read on Ao3

---

It's a peaceful night when Gideon wakes. For a few moments he lays there, staring up at the branches of the tall trees surrounding the small clearing where they had set up camp, faintly illuminated by the low glow of the embers of the campfire in the center as he tries to figure out what has awoken him.

He holds his breath, listening for any sign of movement and slowly scans his eyes across the clearing. Kremy sleeps in his usual spot, positioned between him and the campfire for maximum warmth. To the left of the campfire he sees Hootsie, wrapped around Gricko so only his feet are visible from underneath her fluff and feathers. To the right, Frost sleeps with his head propped on his backpack, arms folded tight across his chest with his robe draped over him.

Everyone seems to be deeply asleep, undisturbed by whatever had awoken him. It's odd. For years now he's been a heavy sleeper, especially since Carnival Lecroux, where he felt safe and secure amongst friends, and nothing short of a horn blown directly in his ear could wake him. What could have awoken him tonight?

He’s just about ready to settle back into sleep again when a noise from the opposite side of the campfire draws his attention, something shifting in the dirt with a distressed keening noise as he bolts upright.

He feels a stab of guilt as he realizes he has once again forgotten about Torbek. The bugbear is fidgeting in his sleep, his brow furrowed in distress as his lip peels back into a snarl. His fingers claw against the ground, as though he is weakly trying to drag himself across the ground in his sleep.

Gideon carefully pushes himself up, moving quietly to not disturbed anyone else as he makes his way around the campfire, dropping to his knees beside Torbek.

“Torbek? Come on man, wake up, you're having a nightmare,” he says gently. As he speaks, Torbeks movement only gets more frantic, his breath becoming heavy. Gideon reaches out a hand and places it on Torbeks shoulder, wary of the canisters on his back that start to hiss and bubble with magenta witchlight.

“Gid, be careful.”

Gideon glances over his shoulder to see Kremy sitting partly upright, balanced on his elbow as he rubs at one eye with his free hand.

“He's having a nightmare, Krem, I gotta try to get him out of it–”

He can't finish the thought as searing pain shoots through his torso, his breath knocked completely out of him with a groan as he's caught so completely off guard. He sees Kremy staring at him, his eyes wide as he stares at Gideons chest. Gideon slowly turns back towards Torbek, whose eyes are open and staring at him with glowing magenta and malice.

Gideons eyes drop and he stares down at Torbeks hand, where his fingers and claws have elongated and brutally stabbed into Gideons stomach. He drops his hand from Torbeks shoulder to his wrist, weakly gripping onto him as he looks back up at Torbeks face.

He faintly hears Kremy yell, though it sounds like he's miles away as he feels his energy draining. His vision starts to dim, but he sees the glow from Torbeks eyes flicker, a look of confusion crosses his face as the glow fades and he takes in what has happened, looks at his fingers embedded just under Gideons ribs, before the confusion turns to horror and panic.

“Torbek–” Gideon chokes out, trying to keep his grip on Torbeks wrist as the bugbear starts to pull against him, wrenching his blood drenched hand free before he turns and scrambles across the ground and off into the forest. Gideons hands fall to his sides, unable to even staunch the blood he can feel soaking into his shirt and down his stomach.

The last thing Gideon is aware of is collapsing backwards, feeling Kremys arms catching him across his shoulders, and the terrified looks of the rest of his companions above him as he loses consciousness.

Kremy almost immediately notices when Gideon gets up and moves away, the loss of such a strong heat source enough to rouse him from his sleep. He rolls towards the low burning campfire, not as comfortable as Gids warmth, but better than sleeping in just the open air until he comes back to sleep.

He's just about to close his eyes again as he sees Gideon kneel down and speak quietly to Torbek, goading him to wake up from his fitful sleep.

“Gid, be careful,” he warns, partially pushing himself up. He knows that Gideon knows exactly how bad of an idea it is to wake someone from a nightmare, especially someone who has been through what Torbek has.

Gideon is in the process of responding to him when Kremy sees Torbeks eyes snap open, light pouring out of them as the bugbear sits upright, and faster than Kremy can even comprehend, sinks his claws deep into Gideon’s lower chest. He can see the points of Torbeks claws poking through the back of Gideons shirt, glinting in red.

“NO!!” Kremy yells, unable to tear his eyes from Gideon’s, who blankly stares back at him. “Torbek, no!”

His yell immediately rouses the rest of the crew, snapping awake with a jolt, but he can't tear his eyes from Gideon or Torbek. The glow of Torbeks eyes flickers before eventually dimming and a look of distress crosses his face as he starts struggling to get out of Gideons grip, wrenching his hand free with a spurt of blood.

And then Torbek is gone, and Gideon is wavering on his knees, his hands dropping to the ground. Kremy scrambles across the campsite and manages to wrap his arms around Gideons shoulders just as he collapses, catching him against his chest. Gideons head lolls against his shoulder and he stares up at Kremy for a moment before his eyes roll back in his head and he goes limp in Kremys arms.

“Gid! No, come on man, you gotta stay with me,” he babbles, lightly slapping his cheeks. “Don't you dare leave me alone with these freaks, I need you, Gid!”

Frost falls to his knees on Gideon's other side, making quick work of his shirt, tearing the front of the thin shirt open with a claw. The wounds exposed made Kremy’s stomach roll, the blood seeping out was thin, flowing easier than it should’ve, with a slight magenta glow to it. Gideons chest rises and falls rapidly, gasping with a horrible wheeze from deep within.

“Gricko! Where are those fucking bananya’s,” he demands.

When he tears his eyes away from Gideon he can see Gricko is already going through the motions to summon the healing items, his hands suddenly overflowing with small bananas that he quickly mashes into a messy poultice.

“Krem-”

He snaps his attention back to Gideon as he wheezes out his name. “Gid! Oh my gods, hold on, we’re going to get you fixed up, okay? Just don’t move.”

The instructions come too late, as Gideon is already trying to raise his hand towards the wounds. Frost catches his wrist in a soft grip, keeping his hand away long enough that he can wipe the blood from the wounds. Gricko follows closely behind, smearing the poultice across them, pressing it into the torn flesh as much as he can. Gideon gasps as the two of them handle the wounds, his face twisting into a grimace as he throws his head back, pressing hard into Kremy’s shoulder, eyes clenched tight.

Kremy places his hand on the side of Gideons head, gently rubbing circles against his temple with his thumb. He can't look down, he can't watch as Gricko works on Gideons injuries, so he focuses on his face instead. Seeing him in pain makes his stomach turn, but he feels like if he looks at the wounds, he might actually snap. When Gideons manages to open his eyes again, they are half lidded and barely focused, vaguely staring back at him when he can as his awareness ebbs and flows. Every so often when he blinks, his eyes stay closed a little longer as his consciousness fades and then returns. Kremy fears that any time he closes his eyes, it might be for the last time.

Which wouldn’t be the first time he had thought about what he would do if he lost Gideon. Hells, it wasn’t even the tenth time. But those had been thoughts, hypotheticals. What ifs. Worst case scenarios that should never come to be.

The what ifs were supposed to just be that little voice of anxiety that rattles around in the back of his mind, able to be squashed behind a front of confidence, thoughts that are unable to manifest anything into the world. If they ever came to be, it should be years down the line. Maybe after they start turning grey with age, not now in the prime of their lives.

And yet here he is, kneeling in a clearing by a dying campfire, holding Gideon in his arms as he slips in and out of consciousness, choking on his own breath as pain courses through him. Completely helpless.

Even now he can't get that image out of his head, of Torbeks claws stabbed completely through Gideons torso.

“His back.” His voice comes out as almost a whisper. Frost looks at him with that intense gaze.

“What did you say, Kremy?”

“His back!” He says louder this time, frantic panic growing in his chest again. “Torbeks claws, they went all the way through!”

Even before he finishes, Frost and Gricko are already dragging Gideon out of his arms, turning him onto his shoulder as they lay him on the ground. Frost has a hand pressed to a strip of fabric covering the poultice on Gideons chest as Gricko uses what little of the mix he has left to cover the wounds on either side of Gideons spine.

It feels wrong to have his arms empty, he desperately wants to pick him back up again, keep him close as he can, while he can. That anxiety creeps up in the back of his mind again, what if Gricko’s healing isn’t enough?

He still can’t look at what Gricko is doing, focusing only on Gideons face and running his hand through his hair. Gids eyes are closed, his face lax as his head rests against the dirt.

“Come on, Gid. I need you to wake up,” he finds himself whispering aloud. He's got both his hands tangled in Gideon's hair now as he leans over him, desperately begging him to wake up!!

Gideons brow tightens and he gasps as Gricko is now pushing another bandage against his back and Gideon blindly searches for something with his hand. Trying to shoo Gricko away, perhaps? Kremy catches Gideons hand in his and immediately Gideon is squeezing his hand as tightly as he can, pulling it towards his face where he presses the back of Kremy’s hand against his cheek.

He can feel dampness, tears that he hadn't noticed before at the corner of Gideons eye and tenderly wipes them away. Gideons breath catches in his throat as he groans and Kremy can almost feel the bones in his hand grinding against each other with how tightly Gideon clutches on to him.

“Gricko…” Kremy mutters, an unspoken warning in his voice.

“Trying me best here, Kremy.”

There’s a flash of light as Gricko claps his hands, the spirit image that had crouched over him dissipating as he sits back with a worried look on his face.

Gideon gasps, his eyes snapping open and he lurches upright, arms flailing. Kremy’s heart leaps into his throat as he jolts upright and begins to waver, his chest heaving. Frost gently pushes Gideon back and he lands in Kremy’s arms, immediately ensconced in his arms.

“Oh my god Gid, easy now.”

Gideon coughs and then groans as he lets himself slump against Kremy. “What in the hells just happened?”

“Quite literally poked a sleeping bear,” Frost said, sitting back and turning to look out into the forest.

“Where's Torbek?” Gideon immediately tries to sit up again, nearly bowling Gricko over as he tries to wrap Gideons wounds.

“Oi, easy there, Big Red,” Gricko says, trying to push him back down. “Need to get these wrapped up.”

Gideon relents, hissing as Gricko works to wind the bandage around his torso, but turns his attention to Kremy and Frost. “Where’s Torbek?”

“He ran away, off into the forest.” Frost says, still looking into the trees.

“Is he okay? Is the other guy still in control?”

Kremy shakes his head. “No, he looked like himself again before he freaked out and ran.”

Gricko finishes securing the end of the bandage and sits back, followed immediately by Gideon pushing himself to his feet, faster than any of them expect him to be able to move in this state. He wavers a bit and Kremy pops to his feet to support him.

“Take it easy, man,” he says.

“I can’t, I gotta go find him.”

“Gid, you need to rest, let someone else go find him,” Kremy insists, keeping a hand on Gideon's arm.

“I’m okay, Kremy.” He claps his own hand over Kremy’s, squeezing it reassuringly. “I need to show him I’m fine, and besides… I need to talk to him.”

Kremy nods, knowing what Gideon is thinking about and reluctantly lets go of him.

“I’ll make waffles for when you guys get back.”

It's not hard to follow where Torbek went, the panicked bugbear having left a trail of loping footprints and broken foliage through the forest. The walking and calling out his name makes Gideons chest ache, and he runs out of breath way sooner than usual, much to his annoyance.

After several minutes of walking he hears heavy panting and dirt being thrown around, and as he calls Torbeks name again he hears wailing in response.

“Has Mr. Gideon come to haunt Torbek, Torbek is so sorry, Torbek didn't mean to kill Mr. Gideon!” Torbeks voice is muffled as he cowers in the small hovel he has dug under the roots of a tree, which is nowhere near big enough to house his lanky stature. His back is exposed and Gideon can see that the canisters upon it are full again and not bubbling, and despite his hunched posture his limbs appear to be their normal length again.

“Torbek, it's me.” Gideon says, gingerly lowering himself to his knees next to the gnarled roots of the tree. “I'm okay, alright? I ain't dead.”

“Don’t lie to Torbek!” Torbek howls, covering his head with his hands, hiding his face.

“Torbek, stop!” Gideon grasps onto Torbek’s wrist, gently pulling his hand away from his face. Torbeks eyes are clenched tight, his face wet with tears, and his other hand moves to cover his eyes again before Gideon reaches out for that hand too. “Hey man, open your eyes. It’s just me, Torbek.”

Torbek sniffs loudly, but he doesn’t fight against Gideons grip on his hands. He tilts his head back, trying to control heavy sobfilled breaths that make his shoulders shake, his whole body trembling. Torbek slowly manages to pry one eye open and squints at him, and Gideon smiles at him with a lopsided grin that he hopes is reassuring.

Both eyes pop open and Torbek pulls his wrists out of Gideons grasp and reaches for his shoulders, as thought to verify that this image in front of him is a corporeal form, solid and able to be touched. “M-mr. Gideon?”

“In the flesh-” Gideons words turn into a groan as Torbek suddenly grabs him into a hug, squeezing him tightly and jostling his wounds. “Ow! Easy, big guy, still a little tender here.”

Torbek quickly lets go and scampers back a few paces, babbling as he goes. “Torbek is so sorry, Torbek didn't mean to hurt Gideon, Torbek didn't know what was happening!”

Gideon places a hand over the tender wounds and sits down on a fallen tree nearby, patting the space next to him. “I know you didn't mean to, Torbek. Come sit down.”

Torbek folds into himself as he hunches his back, his head nearly sinks into his shoulders as he makes himself as small as possible, carefully making his way to the tree and sits down with a space between them.

“Torbek had a nightmare,” he says as he settles on the log. As hunched over and folded into himself as he is, he still looks ready to bolt at any moment.

Gideon nods. “I figured that's what happened. I've been there too, man. What was it about?”

“Torbek…” Torbek looks down at the grassy forest floor, shuffling his feet as he searches for the words. “Torbek can’t really explain what Torbek was dreaming about. Torbek was in pain, it was so bright, there were people who didn't have faces, and there were needles,” Torbek groans as he looks down at his hands. Gideon can still see some of the blood on his hands, though most of it is coated in dirt and wood splinters now. “And then suddenly Torbek was awake and Torbek had hurt Mr. Gideon and Torbek was so scared!”

Gideon reflexively puts a hand on Torbeks shoulder, making sure the anxious bugbear doesn’t bolt again. Torbek sways a bit, as though internally fighting with himself over sitting still or running off into the forest.

“I’ve been in your position before, Torbek. We don’t talk about it anymore ‘cause there hasn’t been a need to, but I’ve hurt a dear friend during a nightmare like that too.”

Torbek looks at Gideon, his eyes wide. “R-really?”

Gideon lets go of Torbeks shoulder and looks off into the trees as he starts to speak.

“I still remember the dream very clearly. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget it. It’d only been a few weeks since I escaped from the train- hells, I still had wounds of my own still healing from my escape,” Gideon gestures to the scars on his arms and shoulders, visible through the open front of his torn shirt. Torbek follows the gesture and cringes into himself as he looks down at the bandages around Gideons torso and averts his eyes.

“But in my dream I was stuck back in that engine, deep in the heart of the furnace. The chains were anchored into the walls and I was stuck, just like I had been for years. When I looked up, the hatch at the top was open and I could see those damn hobgoblins looking down at me, taunting me. Must not have been much for entertainment on the train, cause they sure loved doing that.

“The faces were getting closer to me, sorta floating in the air around me and they were prodding me with their weapons, grabbing at me with their hands. I was pulling on the chains, hoping that maybe this time I’d be strong enough to rip those damn anchors out of the wall. I felt one of their hands touch my chest and it was like ten years worth of rage just imploded and I ripped those anchors out like nothing. I whipped my chains,” he mimicks flinging the chains out in an arc around him, making a whip crack noise with his mouth, “and wrapped them around that fuckers throat and dragged him down so I could watch the life drain out of his eyes.”

He pauses and takes as deep of a breath as he can comfortably take. He grabs a tiny twig of a branch and snaps it off of the fallen tree the two of them are sitting on, twirling it between his fingers. “As I’m strangling this guy, in the back of my head I heard a voice that said ‘would you kindly let go of me.’

“And suddenly I was awake, and the face in front of me wasn’t that goddamn hobgoblin. It was Kremy, and the chains were glowing hot around his throat, so tight that he couldn’t breath.

“That was the first time he ever used his abilities on me, and he only barely managed to do it with what little air he had left. It scared the hell out of me, the way his eyes rolled back and he crumpled when I got the chains off of his throat, I was sure I had killed him too.” The twig snaps in two in his hands and he quickly snaps them into four smaller pieces before flinging them into the underbrush. “I didn’t know what to do, all I could do was get the chains off and shake him until he took a breath on his own, which thank fuck that that worked, ‘cause if it hadn’t… I don’t know what I would’ve done if it hadn’t. I don’t know anything about healing, so I was useless to him there. And I don’t know if I’d even be alive today if it weren’t for him.

“He couldn’t speak for three days after that, and the heat from the chains burned his neck pretty bad. For the most part, it healed, but I know he still has some scars under his shirt collar. I still feel terrible about it, but we've talked about it and worked through it, and he has never held it against me.”

He claps a hand onto Torbeks shoulder again, startling him. “So what I’m trying to say is that it’s alright, Torbek. I’ve been where you are, and I know I should’ve been more careful. I know you were scared and you didn’t mean to hurt me, just like I never meant to hurt Kremy.”

Torbek clenches his fists and presses them against his head as he shakes it, his face twisted in despair. “Torbek would never dream of hurting Gideon, Torbek would never want to hurt any of his friends.”

Gideon gently grasps his wrist, pulling his hands away from his head as the bugbear starts squeezing his own head. “Hey man, don’t beat yourself up about it.” He spreads his arms wide, as if to display himself. “Look, I’m alright! A couple new scars ain’t gonna kill me, hell it just makes me look even more badass.”

Torbek shrugs, looking sheepish. “Scars are pretty cool.”

Gideon throws his head back with a laugh, to which Torbek gives a sad smile. “Torbek just wishes that Torbek didn’t give you the scars.”

Gideon manages to contain his laughter, once again clapping Torbek on the shoulder. “Just as I wish I’d never given Kremy his scar either, man. The both of us have gone through some shit, and we can't control our nightmares. I knew it was risky to get close while you were having one, so if anyone's to blame for tonight, it's on me, okay? This isn't your fault.”

Torbek makes a face, expressing his doubt. “It sorta is Torbeks fault though…”

Gideon pushes Torbeks shoulder so he twists to look at Gideon, his face serious. “No. It's not, Torbek. I don’t think it was even you in control when this happened. I think the other guy woke up first and he was the one that did this.”

Torbek’s ears flattened back and he sunk even further into himself with a groan.

“So it really isn’t your fault, Torbek.”

“Torbek doesn’t like the other guy.”

“Yeah, he’s kinda an asshole,” Gideon laughs. “Which is why we’re going to figure this out, okay? We’ll figure out what his deal is and see if we can get him outta ya. And in the meantime, we’ll just have to… I don’t know, stay out of reach if you’re having a nightmare.”

“Torbek gives Gideon permission to throw something at Torbek to wake him up next time.” Torbek winks at Gideon, his lips peeling back into a toothy grin.

Gideon laughs and wraps an arm around Torbek, pulling him into a jovial side hug. “Well, I just hope you don't have any more nightmares, okay? But if it comes to that, I'll make sure it's something soft.”

“Torbek appreciates that.”

Gideon feels Torbek relax into the hug and holds him there for a few moments. He squeezes Torbek tightly one more time before releasing him and pushing himself to his feet.

His vision spins when he stands and suddenly Torbek is there, bending his lanky posture to duck under Gideons arm to support him until the dizziness passes.

“Alright, that's about enough of that,” Gideon mutters, blinking his eyes rapidly as he tries to focus on their surroundings. “I feel like I'll need your help getting back there Torbek, but a little birdie told me there's waffles waiting for us at the campsite.”

Torbeks ears flick up, his eyes widen, and he emits an excited hum, almost entirely lifting Gideon off the ground as he straightens up and all but carries Gideon back to the clearing.

It isn’t until he hears Gideons laugh just a few paces away that Kremy realizes just how much he had been holding his breath, waiting for him to return. Though his sigh of relief turns to distress again as he looks up from his cooking and sees Torbek supporting almost all of Gideons weight as they exit the tree line.

Gideon looks terrible still, his brow tight despite the grin on his lips, and his shirt hanging off of him in tatters. His face twists into a grimace as Torbek moves his arm off his shoulders and shuffles away, slinking into a crouch by the fire that Gricko is pushing another log into.

Gideon makes his way over to Kremy, moving stiffly as he lowers himself to the ground next to the stump Kremy is sitting on. Once seated he groans, placing both hands over the bandages and slowly allows himself to flop back onto the dirt, almost in the same spot he had been sleeping before the night's interruption, and closes his eyes.

“How are you feeling?” Kremy asks, using his foot to nudge Gids' satchel-turned-pillow against his shoulder.

In response, Gideon raises one hand in a thumbs up before letting it flop into the dirt, absolutely exhausted. He lifts his head to shove the satchel under it and once he’s settled, opens his eyes to look up at Kremy with a soft smile.

“Feel like I could sleep for a week right now.”

“Don’t blame ya at all.”

Gideon yawns so widely that Kremy hears his jaw click and he winces at the sound. He turns back to the fire, checking the waffle iron buried in the logs, and then looking around at the rest of the group. Frost has Torbek holding out his hands, using a towel and one of his water skins to wash the blood and dirt off of them. Gricko is yammering away, telling some wild Goblin story that Torbek seems to be enthralled by, laughing loudly when Gricko says something in a language only the two of them understand. Hootsie is laying on the ground next to Torbek, leaning against him as she slaps at her fly-pad.

Kremy pulls the iron out of the fire and deposits the fluffy golden waffle onto one of the small plates he carries with him, quickly refills the iron and shoves it back into the fire before getting up to move over to Torbek, presenting the plate to him.

Torbek looks up at him in surprise before gratefully accepting it. “Thank you, Mr. Kremy. Torbek is really sorry for hurting Gideon and scaring Mr. Kremy.”

“We’re all good, Torbek.” Kremy says, patting him on the shoulder with a small smile and then moving back to his stump.

“You want one of these, Gid?” He’s barely finished asking the question when a loud snore rends the air and he looks down at Gideon, splayed out on the ground and completely out for the count.

Seeing him sleeping so peacefully again makes Kremy’s heart flutter, a far cry from how he felt only an hour ago when he thought he would lose this man. He’s okay, everythings going to be okay, he tells that little voice of anxiety in the back of his mind.

“You probably need to sleep more than you need food right now, so I’ll make you one in the morning, you big idiot,” he says, smiling fondly at the sleeping form beside him.

#okay this is so good my friend!#you have such an incredible talent in storytelling #i rarely get whumperflies from characters i don’t know but this fic gave me the good warm ✨whumperflies✨ feeling #🥰🥰🥰#whump fanfic #whump fics #legends of avantris #once upon a witchlight #ouaw fanfic #gideon coal #kremy lecroux #torbek #gonna save it to re-read as many times as possible <3

61 notes · View notes

suzannahnatters · 1 year ago

Text

A while back I realised that there's one specific fictional thing that is catnip to me, and that is vulnerability. People accuse me of liking dire things in stories, but it's not so much that I love it when fictional people are suffering. It's that I kind of crave vulnerability in my protagonists.

I would define vulnerability as the opposite of agency. At its core, it involves a denial or a willing sacrifice of agency, and while writers talk about agency a lot, I don't think we spend anywhere near enough time discussing vulnerability.

Vulnerability is incredibly powerful in building empathy with a character, but it also forces the character into dire choices that reveal their true nature, and it makes the antagonistic forces seem a lot more powerful and scary. Vulnerability is why whump is appealing. It's one of the reasons we all care so much about out good fried Jonathan Harker, utterly at Dracula's mercy. It's why the myth of the voluntarily dying god is so powerful, even if you aren't a Christian.

More recently, I've been thinking a whole lot about how important vulnerability is in constructing a believable romance. In a believable romance, the characters will be emotionally vulnerable to, and on behalf of, one another. The "if you dare touch her" trope where the love interest comes unhinged at the sight of a loved one's suffering is vulnerability. Enemies to lovers is delicious because it asks what might happen if the person to whom you're most vulnerable was also the one with the greatest interest in exploiting that vulnerability. As I've written before, romance is about trust; and the corollary is that no romance can live without that heartstopping moment when one character takes the risk of putting themselves helplessly into the power of the other.

But I think that a lot of storytellers these days are prioritising agency at the cost of vulnerability. Disney's attempts at feminism are a great example of this. While the animated MULAN is outed as a woman in a moment of vulnerability that was the most powerful thing in the movie for me, in the live action Mulan's unmasking becomes a expression of agency that in my opinion guts the story of feeling. On the other hand, in the cdrama I'm currently watching (GOODBYE, MY PRINCESS) the male lead is SO averse to letting himself be vulnerable in any way at all that I simply can't find any romance in his interactions with the heroine. I love to see stories that foreground marginalised people, but too often those stories focus on giving the protagonist agency at the cost of letting the antagonist land any hits at all. The result, imo, is a perfectly soulless story.

Of course, agency is a sine qua non of a good protagonist. But so is vulnerability, and there are so many amazing stories you can write about a vulnerable protagonist. W R Gingell's CITY BETWEEN series, for instance, is the story of a desperately vulnerable protagonist fighting to claim some agency in her own life and it's GLORIOUS. And beyond that, I would say that moments of vulnerability are indispensable even to very strong protagonists. One of the reasons FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST worked so gorgeously as a story for me, for instance, was the gutpunch moments of vulnerability that happened both at the very start and then with increasing tempo toward the end.

Vulnerability can be something a protagonist constantly struggles with, or something that unexpectedly blindsides someone who seemed to be invincible, or something a character does willingly for the sake of the people they love. It can be romantic, or not at all. But either way it's the interplay of agency and vulnerability that really MAKES a story for me. You HAVE to have both.

#writing #writing advice #writing tip #jonathan harker #dracula #mulan #disney remakes #the city between #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #goodbye my princess

204 notes · View notes

nshi-ao3 · 7 days ago

Note

Hello! I originally wrote this as a comment, and then the hypers fixated and it ended up being so comedically long that it didn’t come close to fitting tumblr’s comment character limit XD. So I’m sending it as an ask instead!

Also!! Spoilers for A Realm Reborn, the Stormblood patches, the Werlyt questline, and extremely vague spoilers for a region in Endwalker! Massive Writing Ramble (™️) ahead. You have been warned. >:D

Regarding your Wyvern AU: AGAHDBDJEDHWKDHWJFB?!???!!?!?!?

As both a whump-hurt/comfort enjoyer and a Maxima fan (I LOVE HIM. I LOVE HIM. I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT MAXIMA AS A CHARACTER OKAY) this au is incomprehensible shrieking noises.

I’m so interested in Ren and Gaius. From a storytelling perspective, I honestly really like Gaius, (liking a character and agreeing with their actions are two Very Different Things!!!!!!!) and I think his arc in the STB patches is SO good. He’s such an interesting character!! Our first intro to him is in ARR, as the pretty generic villain of the pretty generic Bad Empire™️ who wants to invade Eorzea (there are a host of reasons for that genericity, and the game absolutely adds complexity to Garlemald and Gaius later, but in ARR at least, they’re both pretty flat). He gives an iconic yet also very generic elevator pitch (literally), and then we don’t hear from him until STB. In that time, we hear much about him — namely that he treats his soldiers fairly, that he does genuinely seem to believe this is the best course of action for Eorzea, that he’s a guy with a lot of privilege and a lot of power and some Extremely misguided yet well-intentioned beliefs. He shut down Black Rose! He doesn’t want to destroy every Eorzean after he subjugates them! Big Yikes, but that in itself provides the opportunity for some REALLY interesting character growth. And we see that in the STB patches and Werlyt! That he’s dedicated his life to trying to atone. That he fucked up big-time, and he wants to try and put some good back in the world. That he survived Prae for a reason, and he’s going to hunt down Ascians so no others can follow the path he followed. Now, throwing Ren into the mix? Ren, who may have lost his memories and been badly tortured, but whose entire purpose before getting yeeted to Hydaelyn was destroying the concept of authority and fighting against oppression? Whose literal heart and soul are a conceptualization of rebellion?? Throwing THAT Ren, even without most of his memories, into Gaius’s path????? Knowing where Gaius eventually ends up (regarding both his goals for Prae and his later arc in the Burn) and that his current path is formed from some Very Very poor choices with at least not evil intentions??? ohohohohoho. OHOHOHOHO. Cackles in storyteller. That is FASCINATING. That’s SUCH an intriguing dynamic. Does something in Ren realize what it is he and Gaius are doing? Does something in Gaius? How do they interact? How do they read each others’ actions? How do they affect each other??? What could go differently if someone (Ren) were to step in before Gaius led the charge on Eorzea?????

SCREECHES. AWGRJWGDJG IT’S SO SO INTERESTING AND I LOVE THIS SO MUCH AND AGAGAGFJFEHFJGK coughs. haha

ANYWAYS. This AU is so damn good. I think that the intersection of Ren and Maxima as characters in this context is so interesting, and I love Ren having at least one little bright light in the form of that relationship in the midst of a Very Bad experience. I love that dynamic between him and Zenos?? It’s hilarious and so in character for both of them. And also like… man. The IMPLICATIONS!!!! Ren and Hydaelyn!!!! Ren and the Scions!!!! How would they feel about each other?? The dramatic irony too is SO *chef’s kiss.* We as the audience presumably are familiar with either or both FFXIV and P5, and also, considering we’re reading the post on your tumblr, with Stars in the Dark. So we know what could have happened, and seeing the characters and the differences in their relationships and the differences in particular with how Ren interacts with them is ough agh big feelings /pos. And even an eventual healing arc (if that’s in the cards for him) in this AU would be so. agh /pos. whump-hurt/comfort beloved fr fr

Obligatory disclaimer that all of the questions here are rhetorical and meant not as actual questions/demands directed at you, but more as conceptualizations of the different ways one could explore this dynamic and these changes!!

This au is so so cool!!!!!! :D

Haha! That's fine! I'm glad you had so much to say about it!

Maxima! Yeah Maxima's a great guy. Good to see some Maxima love. :) I love the idea of him being utterly horrified by what they're doing to this poor kid, but he hasn't had a chance to defect yet or anything so he's just... trying to sneakily make Amnesiac!Ren's life as comfortable as he can by dropping by the lab and doing nice things when no-one's looking. And Ren would be pretty fucking feral by this point, so I just imagine it'd be a bit like trying to look after an abused wild animal. "Okay, I'll just sneak him some nice food-- aaaaand he just tried to bite off my fingers. Swell!" At least Ren would come to appreciate it more once the experiments stop and he gets his head on a bit straighter and acts more human haha. :P

And Gaius! Yes, he's an extremely complicated and fascinating character, once the game finally gives him a chance to step outside his initial role. I agree, there is a lot of intriguing potential for the concept of him and Ren working as... psuedo-allies, kind of. Or at least forced on the same side, from the start. As I mentioned in a reply to a comment-- Wyvern would actually have 0 loyalty to the empire, since he'd just think of them as the fucks that tortured him. But he doesn't know what else to do (no memories at all! where's he gonna go??) and also he's obsessed with Zenos and being what Zenos wants and staying beside him in general, soooo... Imperialism it is, I guess??? (Not that Zenos is actually loyal to the empire either lol) But it would be very interesting if Wyvern prompts Gaius to start doubting everything he thought he knew... >:3 Add Zenos into the mix and we have the potential for... something, I dunno! But it's certainly exciting and probably very chaotic!

I wish I had more I could say about all that and the Wyvern AU in general, especially since you're so intrigued by it, but it's very half-baked at the moment since it was just an "OOH WHAT IF..." thought that got a bit out of hand lol. I still have, y'know... (gestures to the monolithic mountain of canon content) ALL OF THAT to get through first in the regular ol' timeline haha! But I really appreciate hearing your thoughts, since it does give me some very interesting ideas if I ever do plan on writing anything about it... >:3

I recently had to buy myself a new drawing tablet, so maybe I should break it in by drawing some stuff for this AU... hmmm!

EDIT: Oh! But I can say that Wyvern would probably make an initial impression among the Eorzeans (and the Scions) as being the Empire's scary new human weapon. THEIR ULTIMA WEAPON, IF YOU WILL. HAW HAW. (it even eats Primals!)

#ask

18 notes · View notes

they-reap-what-we-sow · 5 months ago

Text

20 questions for writers

thank you for the tag @fanfictiongreenirises I finally managed to finish a tag game!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

168- with 44 podfics and the rest are regular fics!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

346,848. unfathomable number who is she where did she come from

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Batman (Batfam) my love my life, but 9-1-1 is a close second with one-offs for a lot of my other passing interests.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Floppy Bird - crack fic that was meant to be an angst fic that I never understood why people liked so much asfhjs

cocoa on a cold night - a classic timby holiday fic that I wrote in the middle of summer, talk about environmental storytelling

secrets un(revealed) - the only purposeful long fic I've ever written, and also the most trope mashing I've ever done with reverse robins, magical realism au, and delicious delicious miscommunications (in my head the only fic that deserves to be in the top five :wheeze: )

Eggshells - vent fic alert !! very embarrassing that people like this I try not to think about it ":)

taking the blade (for you and yours) - a round robin fic written with the server and CHOCK full of Damian suffering.

5. Do you respond to comments?

NO PICTURES. NO COMMENT. I DONT KNOW HOW TO READ.

no jk jk I really really try to but once I start getting behind it's just a whole spiral. these days I have a better chance of replying to a comment on an old fic than a brand new one because I dont want leave them half replied

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

any of my death fics probably? I think with DC a death is a little more inconsequential than other fandoms just because of how often it's unpermanent, so as a concrete answer, I'll say for you (i would cross the line). nothing quite like parental grief.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

happy ending wink-wonk or XD

probably Who The Hell Is Red Hood? - I've done things there with growth and healing that DC HQ would shudder to imagine

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not regularly, thank everything, but the one controversial three-some I posted needed comment regulation lmao

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes and uh, the kinky kind? idk take a look for yourselves I guess

10. Do you write crossovers?

Yes, and they're ALWAYS unserious- Buck from 9-1-1 dating Emma from Friends (yes Ross and Rachel's kid) anyone?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Uh, not by a person? as far as I know? but I have found my fic on those like, document websites??? which is weird lmao just read them on your phones guys not everything needs to be uploaded

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

weee yes! round robin my beloved, and also every fic @canonicallyshort and I have written in our threads. those count. to me. emotionally.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I WILL GO DOWN WITH MY MULTISHIP (which really means I'm never going down at all) but really I dont think I will ever get over Merthur... or Buddie... or- you see what I mean?

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

oh god I have so many wip that I am holding out hope for but my biggest WIP is an unpublished hellhole affectionately entitled "Death Pit" by everyone who is working on it- most notably because it features a literal Death Pit, every horror, angst, whump, and trauma trope you can think of, and a cast of characters and a plot thread so long we have 20+ page outline documents that aren't even fully updated... I shudder to think what will become of it one day, I imagine sentience isn't very far off

16. What are your writing strengths?

why is this an interview question. I dont know my strengths really?? um. I have good ideas, that one I'll say. execution is a different story (likely one that will never get told. like the rest of my good ideas)

I also think I do fairly well with scene descriptors. I really like to set a scene because I'm seeing a movie in my head and you all should too!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I'm down to clown globally! I dont like to use google translate though, so if im writing in another language it's only because SOMEONE on the server is a native speaker and can vouch for my text.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

oh god one direction. head in hands. it was an 'adopted by 1d' fic that I made my mom beta, and turned it in to my 6th grade English teacher as my creative writing assignment. then I made a poem about it. then I wrote a song about it. thankfully it never got published and is trapped in the cursed purple file folder it was 'hidden' in since 7th grade. my first published fic was almost 7 years later with a Gomens fic!

20. Favourite fic you've written?

AHh um. favorite child scene here, but top contenders include: lithium + 5 for its graphic design and medical accuracy, fiery veins on speechless days for its emotional whump that makes me hurt every time I reread it, [PODFIC] wither on the shore which is not a fic I wrote but one of my favorite podfics of @silk-scarlet-ribbons 's works.

tagging (if you wish to participate!) @canonicallyshort @silverandsunflowers @selkienight60 @crows-murder

#thanks for tagging me iris!#gen win ly felt like I was doing an interview lmao quite fun #tag game #fanfic #911 show #batman #batfam #buddie #dick grayson #evan buckley #eddie diaz #ao3 fanfic #krowabbey

20 notes · View notes

wickjump · 5 months ago

Note

okay so, I know I could just google it and get a good enough answer or look around harder n find it r something, but I like to ask people who like the thing bc then i usually get a flavored, more interesting answer. And if you wanna ramble, please, be my guest. I'm fine w/ whatever. Now, my quesiton:

What is a whump? whumpee?? whumper,, help /lh/gen

all i do is like, draw, look at art, whats going on. Its been all over my dash, I'm not complainin though, I'm very intrigued

whump is a genre of storytelling (typically through writing, and especially fanfiction) that typically involves one character (the story’s whumpee) going through torment, torture, conditioning, or anything that classifies as ‘a lot more intense than average angst’.

when this is inflicted on the whumpee (victim) by another character, which it most often is, the aggressor is called the whumper, aka the person that tortures or torments the whumpee.

sometimes whump involves a caretaker, which is a family member, friend, lover, or stranger by chance who takes care of the whumpee and helps them heal. for example, let’s go with my cross whump story.

cross is our whumpee. his whump story is going through conditioning and abuse which results in intense dehumanization. his whumper, let’s say, is xgaster. the caretakers following the whump is mtt + epic (often there’s only one caretaker, but there can be more). the mtt + epic help cross recover from the abuse xgaster inflicted. whump is essentially hurt/comfort but HEAVY on the hurt.

#whump #whumper #whumpee #fanfiction #fic tropes

19 notes · View notes

inevitably-johnlocked · 9 months ago

Text

Five Fics Friday: March 15/24

It's already the Ides of March! Where is time going?!?! BAH Anyway, if you're not able to make the annual Caesaring, why not check out these fantastic fics recently added to my Marked for Later list?? Enjoy!

RECENT MFLs

Pretty Paper by stopthat (G, 2,581 w., 2 Ch. || Post-TRF, Reunions, POV Sherlock, Idiots in Love, Friends to Lovers, Christmas/New Year's, Hugs, Emotional Hurt / Comfort, First Kiss, Cuddling / Snuggling, Conversations) – It isn't even Christmas. “Come home with me.” For good, he means, but he does not say it.

Body Of Years by LipstickDaddy (T, 3,815+ w., 3/? Ch. || WiP || TEH Fix It, Violence, Blood and Injury, Sherlock Whump, Mutual Pining, Angst with Happy Ending) – Sherlock has been dead for two years, fighting to stay alive each day to see John again. So, when he comes back to London and sees John about to close the door on their life together, he reaches a breaking point.

An Erotic Sail by justacookieofacumberbatch (E, 4,533 w., 2 Ch. || Sugar Daddy AU || Age Difference, Sugar Daddy John, Yacht Daddy John, Praise Kink, Porn Without Plot, Boat Sex) – Sherlock, fresh off a Semester at Sea ship in Crete, sees a gorgeous older man, and I'm sure you can guess what happens next.

All Our Gifts At Once, or, the Young Sea-man by tiltedsyllogism (T, 48,119 w., 9 Ch. || Victorian Little Mermaid AU || Sacrifice, Pining, Angst, Realistic Fairy Tale, Bittersweet, Botany, Gardens) – John Watson, storyteller and shipwright's son, walks way from his entire life in Portsmouth to follow the mysterious Sherlock Holmes to London.

Damnatio Memoriae by lovetincture (E, 55,098 w., 20 Ch. || Psychopathology, Sociopathy, Sadism) – Sherlock Holmes is a sociopath and a sadist, and he’s in love with John Watson. He also wants to torture him. John is surprisingly okay with this, with one caveat: He doesn’t want to remember any of it. A loving, healthy relationship, with the occasional torture session courtesy of dubiously legal pharmaceuticals. It’s all fine. Or, it would be fine, if an old enemy didn't have designs of his own on the both of them. Did it really happen if you don’t remember? Part 1 of Damnatio Memoriae

#five fics friday #my fic recs #johnlock fic recs

32 notes · View notes

floral-comet-whump · 2 months ago

Text

hello!!! my name is shavit, and I'm a whump blog!

my pronouns: they/she/star

my age: 17!!

if you have minors dni on a post and see I have liked or reposted it, it was probably an accident. I'd be a little sad if I get blocked because I'm sensitive, but I won't take offense to accounts doing so

a fun fact about me: my name, shavit, is pronounced sha like shush and vit like bit (down), but the B is a V

things I hope to be known for: being an interactive fan, having unnecessarily intricate character designs, and having good takes (I rlly hope I have good takes, I am trying)

whump tropes I like:

conditioning (both the process and the result. I think the main reason I'm into whump (other than just sadism towards fictional characters bjkbbidb) is the fascination I find in storytelling where characters are broken and reshaped), whipping, stress positions (very illustrative!), begging, fantasy whump/magic whump, magical exhaustion and magical euphoria, institutionalized whump + living weapon whump, bad caretaking, carewhumping, branding, secretly defiant whumpee/liar whumpee. I made this post about them and I'm really proud because a post of mine hasn't attracted attention since I was like... 12 and made a gacha life series

original whump writing

Daffodil Academy is a boarding school taking in talented youths which belong to... less fortunate backgrounds. Throughout history, this institution has consistently nurtured what most would think are children beyond saving into dutiful, competent servants of the kingdom.

contents: minor whump, magic/fantasy whump, institutionalized whump, living weapon whump, multiple whumpees, multiple whumpers, parental carewhumpers, conditioning, non-sexual/non-romantic grooming, generational trauma

post where I ramble about this as a concept

“Kill him.” | Featuring: Walenty

Hurt or be Hurt | Featuring: Walenty

I currently don't have plain writings that don't belong to any particular setting soz </3

Original whump art

just some doodles and references for walenty! no whump, just placed here for convenience's sake

singular kid walenty doodle with thoughts and rambles in tags

KID walenty taking an L (shit doodle edition)

#whump #whumpblr #whump community #whump intro #writers on tumblr #secretly defiant whumpee #living weapon whumpee #fantasy whump #magic whump #institutionalized whump #conditioned whumpee #cold whumper #daffodil academy

19 notes · View notes

kandisheek · 6 months ago

Text

FIC REC WEEK 22 – MCU

Can't start a fire without a spark by gottalovev

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 36,493 Tags: Medical Issues, Pining, Threesome F/M/M

Summary: The Avengers might be reunited, but they are holding together with a Band-Aid and a severe case of Tony pretending nothing happened. The superficial truce is shattered the day Steve takes control of Tony's suit and forces him to go to medical in a tense situation. When Tony is ordered to take a vacation, Steve volunteers to go with him.

Reasons why I love it: Who doesn't love an angsty road trip to fix a strained relationship? The entire plot is great, but especially the way Steve and Tony eventually tumble into bed together. The steps that lead them there feel so natural, it's really impressive storytelling. Plus, the smut is scorchingly hot. In unrelated news, emotional support Bucky is fantastic. And there are some really cute comic panels interspersed through the fic that I adore. So yeah, I love this fic, and I highly encourage you to read it!

Good For You by youcancallmearrow

Pairing: Steve/Tony, Clint/Bruce Rating: T Words: 41,616 Tags: Angst with a Happy Ending, Tony Stark Defense Squad, Hurt/Comfort

Summary: Steve doesn't understand why Tony dates people who treat him poorly. Tony doesn't understand why Steve cares. The rest is bad choices, good choices, rehab, milkshakes, paintball, YouTube videos, couples therapy and learning to put the past in the past. Or: How Tony finds his happy ending.

Reasons why I love it: This fic is incredibly well-written. I love the friendship between Steve, Natasha and Clint, and how Steve isn't afraid to show everyone that he's a person with opinions that might not fit the goody-two-shoes Captain America persona. And Steve getting initiated into the Tony Stark Protection Squad is so great. We don't get enough of Steve in cahoots with Pepper and Rhodey in this fandom, so I'm really happy that it's included here. Plus, the recovery arc towards the end of the fic is incredibly satisfying after all the angst. It makes me tear up in a few places every time I read it. I adore this fic, and I bet you will too!

Out of Many Waters by Arukou

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: T Words: 43,904 Tags: PTSD, Hurt Tony, Getting Together

Summary: A freak accident sends Tony and Steve hurtling onto an alien planet. They've only each other for survival, and both have an unfortunate tendency towards monumentally stupid self-sacrifice.

Reasons why I love it: Fuck, the Tony whump in this is excellent. The descriptions of his injuries and his inner monologue regarding them are so well-written that they make my skin crawl in the best way possible. And the reveal of where they actually are is so good, holy shit. Protective Steve is amazing too. This fic is wonderful, and if you haven't read it yet, you should get on that right now!

#marvel #stony #fanfic #a year in fanfic recs #fic rec #fanfic rec #fanfiction recommendation #MCU

22 notes · View notes

grubus · 2 months ago

Note

i've been following syonr for quite some time now (read: caught up and religiously check updates on mondays) and i actually don't remember if i ever left a comment or just repeated the words in my head enough times i forgot to say them. which is a shame, because you deserve many many warm words for the world you created.

the way you pace the story is SOO good. every arc has delicious hurt/comfort, just enough tension to make you sit on the edge of your seat and the characters???? can we just talk about how your characterization is THE characterization in this fandom? every single character is fleshed out and has a role, they! are! written! with! LOVE! and i love them with all my heart.

i think you were the one who made mu qingfang my comfort character. i really liked him, but you just planted him straight into my soul. he's my pookie now. the best man. should be in every fic for real. you can guess how much i loved when sy lived with him and i adore every scene with him. just thinking about it fill me with warmth. also i generally headcanon mqf as aroace, but here??? yes, he and wqw are a perfect match. no one does it like them ❣️

i have this weird thing where i can't fully imagine what i'm reading and it's like i don't see stuff in my head but more like i sense it? feel it? sometimes i read a fic and it's beautifully written, but i feel uncomfortable just because it feels tight and grimy even if the story itself is light.

but syonr feels spacious, like i can breath fully and what i imagine matches with what is actually happening in the scene. i might be anxious out of my mind but i still enjoy every bit of it. the places you describe fit perfectly into the story. that is to say, my favourite/comfort scenes are bright and sunny :D

i'm not gonna lie i enjoy sy whump. this guy can be in so many Situations and i'm here for it.

and i ADORE bingyuan. they are so sweet and cute and SAFE for each other. it's really interesting how their opinion on sqq changed bc they have each other. sy needing security and validation and binghe's cold disdain.

there actually should be like 10 hours video essay on every syonr character ii i- cant they are wonderful.

nyy my beloved treasured girl. you asked "who's going to make her shine?" and didn't wait for an answer. and shine she does!!!!!!! 🌟

wqw is a charming man, if he was an anime character i imagine him having a huuuuuge fanbase. he's just silly and hot like that.

off the top of my head lady jia's arc was the first one that made me go OH MY FUCKINGGGG GODDDD I'M SCARED AND IT'S ALSO SO COOL AND EXPLAINS SO MUCH AND AND AUGGGHJJHGGHJHJH!!! i just remember this anxiety so well it was great

the demon invasion is one of the arcs i've reread a few times. it's just... perfect. one might even say... you COOKED! i love it.

anyway. thank you for sharing with us your amazing story. it doesn't matter how much time you take to write an update or if you decide you don't wan't to write it anymore, because it already exists in our hearts. ...sometimes i want fics to never ever end at all, even if they are simply left unfinished.

and thank you for brightening my days : ) every new chapter make me squeak and do a happy little dance.

i wish you well 🌼💓

anon. I am crying a lil bit, thank you.

I almost didn't reply to this simply because I wanted to keep it safe in my inbox. I've since taken a screenshot onto my phone and also onto my pc. I've. Saved this comment in a few different places.

I just

;A;

ok ok imma. imma pull myself together and give every word the attention it deserves. *sniffles* I'm not the best at replying to comments in general, because I don't know how to accurately relay how much they mean to me. but. let's do this.

I'm so, so happy to hear all this.

syonr is definitely a love project at this point, for myself and aimed at svsss and also just storytelling in general. As someone who used to only write oneshots or shortfics, it's so fun to really, truly linger and dwell in this story as I explore it. It's freeing in a way that writing hasn't been for me in many years. And I'm so, so happy you think so too. Describing it as "spacious" is a compliment I didn't know I needed, and I love it.

MQF has been fun to explore, because he's a soft but firm character. The one in charge of keeping his sect siblings in some kind of good health- which is of course very difficult because cultivators are insane and they become more nuts the more powerful they are- and then I have had a fun time having him just. Being around SY as SY struggled with basically everything. I've also been delighted to figure out how to write WQW, as he barely says anything in canon, and I'm so happy you also agree he's a hottie. RIP to SY, but I will highfive MQF for getting the hottest man in his generation as his boyfriend. It is very funny to me that they're probably the healthiest relationship in syonr of all time, even as they keep giving SY jumpscares of the gay kind.

I also enjoy SY whump. This, uh, this might be obvious, considering what he has gone through so far. *looks at him* I planned the demon invasion for so long. Fucking up his hands was The Plan all along. Fucking up his self-esteem and confidence was also it. WHUMP!!!

But of course, angst and whump can only truly hit if you line it with fluff. BingYuan is fun to explore in this setting. I like having them be same age and all that comes with it. So much can change in a story if you just swap some things around! They're soft and gooey and idiots <3

When I first decided to let NYY play a bigger part in the story, I was nervous. Canon barely gives her anything, fanon goes in two very different directions with her and neither felt right. She's spoiled and sheltered, but always well-meaning, and I wanted very much to explore writing her in all her oblivious glory while also letting her be Pure Distilled Teenage Girl trying to figure herself out. I'm always, always so happy when people tell me they love her in syonr. It's very rewarding. Not letting her be part of the story was just not possible, either! I'm just glad people appreciate her so much.

Lady Jia... hehehehe :D she always seems to strike a nerve, as intended. And it was so much fun reading the comments for that arc, everyone trying to figure out wtf was happening! Very proud of it to this day.

Part of the thing I love writing in syonr is, indeed, relationships. I mean the entire fic is kind of a love letter to it, both bad and good. It's part of why there's different povs. SQQ's pov and SY's pov are both extremely unreliable when it comes to others, as are anyone else's. I don't think there's a single character in svsss that I dislike, which is also why it's so fun to figure out how other characters think about each other. YQY and SQQ has completely different views of SY, and we all know Binghe's pov is 99% Loving On SY.

I just. You truly made my day today, thank you so much. syonr is one of those stories I'm having fun exploring, a story I look forward to finishing but I'm in no hurry to do so. And also, I suspect, a story I will struggle to not write oneshots for once it's over. (or even before that. I do have plans for a MQF/WQW fic set in it...)

Thank you again, anon. I adore you <3

#syonr ask #*sobs into hands* AHHH MADE ME SO HAPPY #spent like two hours trying to figure out how to respond #im a mess thank u

13 notes · View notes