you already know i adore your writing and am constantly in awe of your storytelling, but out of curiosity how did you plan your fic 'ice & blades'? it has such a specific technical aspect (knowing figure skating, specifically pairs, and the sport and global competitions themselves), as well as your portrayal of marinette which requires so much in depth knowledge and care re: neurodivergent people, the abuse she experienced, and her chinese culture. it feels like there's a lot of research that went into this, or it's in depth personal knowledge, and i'm guessing you're a fan of figure skating. i am wondering how much work went into preparing to write this work, or what you did to accurately refer to these things?
What a cool questionnnn!!! Thanks for asking it genuinely! I definitely did have to do a bunch of research as I lack a decent amount of knowledge when it comes to the vast majority of things haha. There's certainly a lot of room for error when browsing the internet for information (and I'm totally positive that more or less of the figure skating content in my fic is riddled with errors). I've been a fan of figure skating ever since I watched the video of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's Moulin Rouge skate at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games (which for some reason was only last year, and is actually ice dance not pairs figure skating). When researching figure skating I usually stick to official guides about program requirements, personal blogs of other skaters/fans (usually to reference specific elements and training schedules), and documentaries/books.
Additional things (such as culture, food, and history) are mostly from my own personal knowledge (from friends, acquaintances, or things I've learned throughout schooling). I have done my VERY best to research (and have asked friends from China) Chinese culture, traditions, and holidays as that is something that I'm generally unaware of. Definitely find learning about that stuff INCREDIBLY interesting though, and I thoroughly enjoy it!
As for Marinette being neurodivergent, I have to say that a lot of it comes from what I already know and some of my own personal experience. It's also been very helpful to have others give their two cents as well. Of course, if there's something I'm unsure of I'll do some research online (though, I'm a bit hesitant to use 'medical-ish' websites, and like to stick to blogs with personal insights).
As for the abuse that Marinette has gone through, it's genuinely (and I'm sad that this is the case) not very hard to find stories of people who have gone through the same thing. Unfortunately, nowadays there can be a lot of opportunities for young athletes to be taken advantage of, especially young women. You see problem areas in gymnastics, ballet, and figure skating (lots of sports that women are traditionally associated with), and it's heartbreaking. I think that's important to acknowledge, and that not all abuse is as extreme as Marinette's, though I'm certain that any abuse is undoubtedly impactful.
Basically, I just wanted to write a story about love (Marinette's love for figure skating, the way she comes to understand her capabilities of loving others through that medium, and just how the way she sees the world can be changed by building connections that foster self-discovery) and am now stuck with a giant doc of timelines, research, character stuff, and figure skating jargon.
BUT YEAH! Big into learning and researching things on my own. Love sitting on a mountain of knowledge that I probably won't be able to bring up in conversation ever LOL.
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