Literary canon (in particular, British literary canon) often plays an important role in my writing process. Not just in terms of references and allusions, but also in other aspects of my stories, serving as inspiration for certain scenes, descriptions, and chapter titles. While I plan to discuss some of these specific influences in more depth in separate posts, I wanted to create a masterlist of all the literary works that are alluded to or that I have used as inspiration.
This list will be updated as I post more fics.
Sorrow & Mercy:
Jane Eyre â Charlotte BrontĂ«
The Doctor and Student â St. Germain
Commentaries on the Laws of England â Sir William Blackstone
Sonnet 97 â William Shakespeare
Barbara Allen (folk song)
The Hound of the Baskervilles â Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Pride and Prejudice â Jane Austen
Love in Excess â Eliza Fowler Haywood
She Walks in Beauty â Lord Byron
Bonus/Modern work: The Boys in the Trees â Mary Swan. This book is not alluded to in the story, as it falls far out of the scope of the time period, however it did serve as inspiration for a specific scene.
Ryutaroâs London Adventure:
Frankenstein â Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Twelfth Night â Shakespeare
As You Like It â Shakespeare
The Merchant of Venice â Shakespeare
Macbeth â Shakespeare
Jane Eyre â Charlotte BrontĂ«
Blade of Justice:
Dracula â Bram Stoker
Toll for the Brave â William Cowper (folk song)
Beauty of Every Kind:
Pride and Prejudice â Jane Austen
Emma â Jane Austen
Dracula â Bram Stoker (the storyâs title actually comes from a line in this novel)
Echo â Christina Rossetti
Bleak House â Charles Dickens
Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798 â William Wordsworth
is there a chance we'll see anymore barosusa from you in the future? i've absolutely adored sorrow and mercy and reread it multiple times, and while i'm planning my own big barosusa AU one day, i would love to see more from you! it's a shame there's not much for this ship
Dearest Anon,
Pray forgive the discourtesy for being two years late in responding to your message!
I can hardly believe it's been four years since I posted my stories. Time has gone by so swiftly and so much has happened in my personal life. I had a moment of nostalgia and decided to check this account and seeing your message both made me smile and rather sad, especially since I never replied. Until now.
I hope you are writing! Whether you've shared it with others or kept it to yourself, it makes me happy to know you wanted to write a BaroSusa story of your own. And I hope, even if you didn't, that you have tried writing something else. Writing is so much fun.
I'm sad to say that I actually had a lot of stories planned. Many were BaroSusa stories, but I did also intend to write some other DGS stories. I had oneshots and multi-chapter stories, comedies, and AUs of all sorts in the works (some outlined extensively), as well as more of the reminiscences series. I had a few stories I had completed and was editing, but never had the chance to finish polishing up and post, and others I had started writing chapters for.
I have some I still plan to chip away at when time permits, although I am unsure if I'll ever return to posting them online. And finding any time to write has been exceptionally challenging for me, due to some major changes in my life's circumstances (both painful and wonderful).
I don't know if you'll read this, Anon, but I just wanted to say: thank you. It warmed my heart to see your message, and I really hope you are doing well in life.
binge read All of your ao3 works! i loved them all so much. the way you write is so endearing and made me feel as if i was in the story itself. i laughed, i cried, i felt so many emotions from your writing. you captured everyoneâs character so wonderfully and so accurately too. i couldnât help but to bookmark each one as my ultimate favorite. you are one of my favorite writers! <3
Hello Anon!
Wow, thank you so much! I can't tell you how much your kind message means to me. It's so encouraging and truly made me smile.
I hope I can continue to write stories that you enjoy (and I am working on some new fics! But haven't had much time to write as of late. I hope you will like those as well, if you decide to read them!). Truly, thank you for reading my writing and for taking the time to send such a kind message. It means so much.
[ID: Official art of Susato Mikotoba and Kazuma Asougi from The Great Ace Attorney when they were both young children. They are both wearing cloaks as they squat on the ground together building a small snowman. Susato holds one hand to her mouth and looks at the snowman with wide eyes as she places a small red bead into its face for an eye. Asougi smiles calmly as he sticks two thin green leaves into the snowman's head. Snow falls around them. "Happy New Year/ 2023" is written in Japanese above and below them. In the background a young Ryuunosuke is visible slipping and falling backwards as his boot flies off his foot and the dango he was carrying slides off of its stick and onto his face. To the side another small snowman is visible; one of its arms is a dango stick with the dango still on it. Nuri's signature is in the bottom right. End ID]
In keeping with the season, here's Klint and Kazuma's Christmas Orange Showdown from Beauty of Every Kind (AU). Merry Christmas! đđ
By the time their meal ended, a blanket of white had settled over the world. Barok stared through the drawing room window. If only it had snowed earlier in the week and gathered in a greater volume. He could have taken Iris out of doors to build a snowman. Perhaps even to toss snowballs at one another.
âProfessor van Zieks, you really like oranges, donât you?â Ryunosuke said, hopping out of the way as Klint walked by, a veritable mountain of oranges clasped in his arms. One toppled from the summit and bounced off Ryunosukeâs shirt before it hit the floor and rolled away.
âI certainly do!â Klint said brightly.
âYou cannot steal all the oranges, Klint!â Lady Baskerville shouted then sighed, her fingers pressed to her forehead. âThis manâŠâ
Kazuma picked up the fallen orange and bounced it lightly in his palm. âYou know, I used to eat so many mikan when I was a child I threw up juice.â
Eveline giggled beside him. âIs that really possible?â
âYou doubt the truth of my embarrassing story? How sad,â Kazuma said.
âI take it mikan is similar to an orange then,â Lady Baskerville said. âGood thing Klint could not get his hands on those as well. The man is obsessed with citrus.â
âNot all citrus. Just oranges. They are my favourite part of any Christmas meal,â Klint announced as he sat down and dropped the startling vast pile of oranges onto the table in front of him.
âI really liked the roast goose. That was impressive!â Ryunosuke said. âI donât think Iâve ever seen a bird that big in my life.â
âImagine how much bigger it was when it still had its head,â Eveline said with a laugh.
âYeah, kinda like âAnsom Will,â Gina said.
âWhâWhat happened to Hansom Will?â Ryunosuke said, sweat breaking out along his brow.
âAh, yes, indeed. This was a curious case that I solved most masterfully,â Sholmes declared with a smile.
âNo way! I solved that one,â Gregson said.
âYou flatter yourself, Inspector,â Sholmes said. âIf there is a matter of murder, it is obvious who actually resolved the case most artfully.â
âThe guy wot did it said âe did it to anyone wot would listen,â Gina said with a shrug.
âAnd you knew these people?â Eveline said, clearly disturbed.
âYeah. They were on me divinâ routes. One of âem once tripped anâ fell on the paper I was usinâ for me bed,â Gina said.
âOhâŠâ Eveline said, looking unsettled. âSorry for enquiring about something so painful!â
âIt werenât really painful. I wasnât sleepinâ on it at the time or anyfinâ,â Gina said.
Barok furrowed his brows.
âAnyway! Would you be so kind as to return my sweet orange to me?â Klint said.
Kazuma moved to return it. Abruptly, he halted and rolled his hand into a fist around the fruit in question. âI think I would rather not. After all, I do like these and you already have a whole pantryâs worth to yourself.â
âI am Lord of the Manor, need I remind you?â Klint said.
âAnd here I thought my father said the van Zieks were kind and obliging to their guests,â Kazuma said.
âYou are not my guest. You are essentially family. In which case, I am head of your household as well. So relent that orange into my ownership!â Klint said.
âI am an Asogi. I never back down,â Kazuma said, narrowing his eyes. âItâs not like you can eat all of those anyway.â
âYou want to stake a bet upon that, Mr. Asogi?â Klint said, arching a brow.
âThis will not end well,â Genshin muttered with a sigh.
âWill they need to be cut open if they gorge themselves too much?â Maria said.
Iris giggled. âSorry, Mr. Kazy. My Daddy has you beat. He eats an entire grove of oranges every winter.â
âAn entire grove? Isnât that wasteful? For one man alone to clear out an entire supply of fruits,â Susato said.
Barok looked at her quickly. He did not realise she was standing so near to him.
âOh, how wonderful. You have passed on your talent for ridiculous exaggeration to our darling daughter,â Lady Baskerville groaned.
âDonât worry, Susato-chan. Heâs nothing but hot wind, as all these nobles are. I could certainly eat more oranges than he could,â Kazuma said with mounting intensity.
âAre you challenging me?â Klint said, lifting both brows, a brazen grin on his face.
âMaybe I am,â Kazuma said, his own challenging smirk upon his lips.
Despite their differences in race and appearance, at that moment, the two bore a striking resemblance to one another.
âMr. Naruhodo! You will be our judge!â Klint declared.
Ryunosuke flinched. âWhy me again!?â
âI trust you to be partial,â Klint said.
"Um...donât you mean that you trust me to be an impartial judge?" Ryunosuke said.
"Not at all!" Klint enthused.
"How quickly you forget...that Ryunosuke is my best friend. If anyone will be judged partially, it's me!â Kazuma stated.
"And how swiftly you forget that I am his superior and very admirable!" Klint said.
âYou are entirely mistaken. I am the personage who is truly admired in this room,â Sholmes said.
âOh yes!â Iris agreed.
ââŠBetrayed by my own daughter,â Klint muttered. âThat is it. I will bear no further insult! I am officially throwing down the gauntlet!â And Klint punctuated his sentence by removing one of his gloves and tossing it onto the floor by Kazumaâs feet.
Kazuma looked at Klint like he was either insane or unintelligent before breaking out into a grin. âI will show you the strength of a samuraiâs stomach!â
Then the two set themselves down on the couch and began to divide the oranges. Barok had a feeling this was not going to end well.
And he was right. Kazuma and Klint both ate with a feverish intensity, competing to the brink of discomfort, then pushing boldly past it until both had stinging mouths and straining lungs. Orange peels surrounded them, littered the ground morbidly, and their fingers were stained along the nails.
âUghhhâŠâ Klint groaned.
âWeak,â Kazuma said before his face twitched with pain.
Total fics written: 16 written to completion and posted (not counting Ryutaroâs London Adventure, which was written in 2021 and posted on ao3 in 2022). I have completed a draft of another story, but Iâm still revising it.
Word count:Â 519,733 - roughly. I did write the majority of Sorrow & Mercy at the end of 2021 (rewrote some chapters in 2022 before posting) and a chapter or two of A Heart Deeply Burdened in 2021, so the total might be closer to 400K. I havenât factored in word counts for incomplete/unposted works.
List of Fandoms: DGS
Most Kudos'd work: Sorrow & Mercy
Work you are most proud of:Â I think Beauty of Every Kind and Sorrow & Mercy. They took a lot of effort.
Favorite title: Honestly, probably the title of the fic Iâm currently working on (but wonât be finished any time soon!). As for fics completed in 2022, I think itâs a toss-up between With My Fondest Regards and Sorrow & Mercy.
Favorite Comment: I love every single comment I receive. It makes me happy to see people engaging with what Iâve written. I canât pick!
Work you enjoyed writing the most: I enjoyed writing all of my stories! But I think probably Beauty of Every Kind, Sorrow & Mercy (although at times it was really difficult!), Blade of Justice, At His Side, Hidden Heart, and the Reminiscences of Klint van Zieks.
What you hope to write in 2023: Goodness, I have a list! Iâm slowly chipping away at some comedy stories, a regency AU, and revising some other stories I wrote. I also have planned a number of multi-chapter AUs, a multi-chapter post-canon story, and multiple one-shots that I havenât been able to start yet. My life circumstances have changed, so itâs difficult to find time to write, but I hope I will be able to complete and post some of these this year.
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I'm also accepting tips and donations too!
A personal reason is that next summer, I will be continuing my Japanese language studies in Tokyo. So I can use all the support I can get so that I won't starve over there LOL.
Thank you so much for reading this and I hope you can support me!
In which Susato finally gets an honest answer from the worldâs worst witness (and gives Ryunosuke yet another reason to fear her). I think she should be allowed to throw a hallowed chalice just once. As a treat. (Also, my headcanon is that she and Barok can get away with this, but if Ryuu or Kazuma tried to throw a hallowed chalice into the candelabrum, it would be an instant penalty.)
A short follow-up to the post-game comic about day drinking during the trial that I posted the other day here. I posted this pic to Twitter but forgot to post it here as well.
(Image description:
A scene of Susato and Ryunosuke standing at the defenseâs bench, with Susato on the left. She is throwing her right hand out to the side, flinging a hallowed chalice toward the nearby candelabrum. The chalice has shattered and wine hovers in the air. She pounds the desk with her left as she says, âDid you or did you not see the defendant with the victim on the day in question?â A wavering speech bubble pointing off screen to represent the witness says, âI didnât!â
To Susatoâs left stands Ryunosuke, shoulders hunched up as he stares sideways at Susato with wide eyes. His left hand is pointed out as if he had been about to make a statement before Susatoâs outburst.)
Anyway! Small pause on weekly updates as I haven't had the time to do my final round of editing/revising for the stories I have lined up. All my free time is devoted to packing at the moment since I'm moving at the start of November :)
