Hayy hope ur doing well(: Big fan of ur work on FF/AO3. I don't mean to bother you I'm sure you get asked tons, but do you plan on continuing/finishing Burn? It's absolutely beautiful.
Hi! Thanks for your sweet message.
I definitely would love to finish Burn, but as I've gotten older it's been a challenge trying to make the time to write, and my passion for the project has definitely waned some in the last few years, for a few reasons, if I'm honest, but most notably because I think I allowed myself to get a bit burnt out, given the amount of time and effort I had poured into the last few chapters of Burn specifically.
On a more personal note, I've found myself really struggling with the darkness of the fic itself, in a way that never really affected me before. That's not to say the topics never bothered me or I was immune to the tragedies that are constantly unfolding around Taylor--on the contrary, I felt them as if they were happening to me personally.
But there's some other emotion I struggle with now; I don't really know how to say this without sounding like I am full of regret over the things I have written (I assure you, that is definitely not the case) but in this political climate we are in right now, with everything that is transpiring within the Department of Justice, the lack of transparency with the Epstein files, Pam Bondi's mishandling of them, and the disgusting effort to hide the powerful names of all the corrupt individuals involved... I have found it increasingly difficult to write about the topics that Burn is centered around--which, you don't need me to tell you what they are.
Burn used to be a form of escape, in a way, but what is becoming apparent to me now is that it is mirroring real life in ways that absolutely horrify me. And that was always kind of the appeal, right? For something that is based entirely off fantasy (the Batman universe) the story feels so real because it is real, and these terrible tragedies in the story are things that are actually happening in the world around us. Burn is very grounded in that way, in a way that a lot of superhero stories can't be. But it destroys me to see how so many powerful men (and women) have been protected from their crimes. The amount of names that have come up (some of them shocking) and to see just how depraved people really are... it makes me so sick to my stomach to see how people can so easily put on this facade of being a good person, only to find out all these terrible depravities of the things they have done behind closed doors.
I think the bleakness of the current state of the world is really just--it's just getting to me. I need to find a way to tap back into the joy that writing once brought me and not feel bogged down by the cruelty in this world.
I wholeheartedly believe there is purpose in what I am writing and in the things I have to say--even though it's often tragic, and terrible, and depraved. Burn is easily my most poignant work--not for what it means to my readers, but for me personally and the emotional bonds that fuse me to everything in it, especially Taylor. To see her overcome her adversities (and, sometimes, to succumb to them) is truly the most beautiful aspect of the story, because it's so real, even though sometimes it hurts to read. I want to see her come out on top, at the end. I think what any of us wants in situations like this, is justice.
I just hope--when all is said and done--we can see justice mirrored in the real world, too.
To conclude, please know you're never a bother. It's a joy to receive messages, especially about my work. I really appreciate it, and I hope you are well. <3
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