I think it’s odd how many canonically religious characters are head canoned with religious trauma. I understand people like to project onto their favorites, but sometimes I can’t help but think, “can someone please let this character be held by their faith instead of harmed by it for once?”
A while ago I made a post asking for advice as a Christian fic writer, and I wanted to give back some of the few things I’ve learned now that I’ve finished something myself:
Fic writing is an act of listening and thus of love. You get to call attention to small details, go looking for the underlying philosophy of the thing the way people do when they write essays; and then, like essay-writers, you get to elaborate and question and resist and make connections to the world outside the story you’re starting from.
Writing fics takes humility, of a sort that essay-writing doesn’t require. On the base level you’re meeting the original story where it is — in the world of story — not from up above, as literary critic. You are taking the story’s substance from a thing that already exists. You are freely admitting (or ought to be!) that it isn’t yours, that it rests on the things that came before. In a sense this is true of all our stories; they derive from the created world, what Tolkien called “sub-creation.” But here you are engaging in a sort of “sub-sub-creation” if one may coin the word.
I used to wonder, why write a second derivative if you could write a first? Isn’t original intrinsically better? What original is, is intrinsically different. Original is a wider conversation; fanfiction is a targeted conversation. The thing to keep in mind is that what is of eternal significance is people’s selves — their hearts, minds, souls, bodies. Stories matter as far as they impact these selves, whether readers’ or writers’.
If fanfic readers, as others have said, tend to be exhausted, then fanfic writing is an opportunity to minister to exhausted people. (Which we know Jesus cares deeply about, with his call to “all you who are weary and heavy laden.”) We have the unique honor and privilege of such an audience, one which wants the guide rails of a known world/characters/etc. but also wants something new; and we have the new wine of the Gospel. Whether that comes through in the writing itself, or in our conversations with readers or writers, the opportunities are there.
I have heard it said that the best way to encourage Christian themes in one’s writing is to not think about them and let them come naturally; which I think is partly true, but if you can’t help thinking about things (as I can’t), it’s not necessarily bad to do things intentionally either. What I think matters is the sort of intent. Fiction, including fanfic, is best at showing a story; people say to not worry about writing “Christianly” because they are advising you to avoid showing a set of answers instead. If you set out to write something that will show a story — letting people be wrong, as God lets you be wrong; working out some thinking of your own on the topic that you chose; finding things that will encourage yourself on your own journey with God — then if nothing else you will have all the work that God will do in you from exercising that patient form of love he so often uses, from going through Scripture in ways you hadn’t seen coming, from considering his ways and how they might be shown in a world that was not of your forming.
horse leaping gleefully in a field all four of the horses hooves are off the ground in joyful reverie a blue speech bubble comes from the horses raised head that says yippy which is an exclamation of happiness and excitement this horse is having a grand old time and is experiencing the joys of being alive
I just realized that I don't have to be done with my stupid character references in order to draw attacks. I can just draw other ocs until I unblock myself. Did anyone else know this???
Poem by Emily Dickinson! Found the quote in a "poetry or emo lyrics" buzzfeed quiz which I, in turn, found through a youtuber I watched in my dog water days of agnosticism
Long time no horse: therefore I humbly offer a little MS paint doodle based on the horse I excluded from the last post. The one that had only made it to sketch.
tldr; my house is broken. might be homeless soon. pray for us.
so…it’s the professional opinion of several plumbers, septic companies, and remediation teams that our house is pretty much a lost cause.
for those new to the saga or unaware bc I have been bad at updating people: my dad, the sole provider of our family, died in December.
the remaining members of our family have been living in a hotel for a month and a half bc my house started having serious plumbing issues and we have NO running water rn.
the septic guy who came out to our house said the thing is built in a bowl; everything around us drains directly toward us. our septic system is completely broken. it’s full of rainwater and everything that was inside of it is backing up underneath our house.
legally, a new septic system has to be a certain distance from the road, the neighbor’s house, the old system, etc.
that sweet spot probably doesn’t exist, and even if it did, WE’RE IN A BOWL and the new system wouldn’t work well.
aaaand if the county found out about the fact that our house is sitting on top of hundreds of gallons of human waste with a 95% chance of that issue not being fixable, they’d kick us out and condemn our house.
none of us (me, disabled mom, disabled brother, 17 yo sister) have been in the workforce for long enough to qualify for a mortgage on a new house or even an apartment.
andulkaphoto
baratheonpilled
snowghoul
yousharknotpass
tangentwithtanner
theartofmadeline
