#ahiddenpath

[citrus-cactus]

For the fanfic ask game, I want to know more about your projects :D

1 or 2 (you pick), 3, 9, 15. Or pick among them if that's too many! Thanks! <3

YAYYYY THANKS HIDDEN! Ok, I’m using this as hype to talk about my WIPs and the two things I’m sososo close to publishing! AAAAH!

1). Summarize the fic in 3-5 sentences.

Oh hmmm! 3-5 sentences is a lot for a short story! But, for some context: these are all for a show called Gargoyles, which was an action-adventure cartoon that Disney was airing in the mid-nineties. It’s also classified as urban fantasy, with strong Beauty and the Beast vibes for its main characters. It utilizes medieval Scottish history, as well as mythology and folklore from around the world, as a springboard for several of its plots, characters, and storytelling. Finally (and, most uniquely), it also includes characters and allusions to characters from a handful of plays by Shakespeare(!).

Mostly, my fanfic has been centered around one of those aspects: medieval Scottish history. There are MANY flashbacks in the series to 10th and 11th century Scotland, but there are a lot of gaps that fanfiction can play around in, particularly in fleshing out minor characters!! Shakespeare (or at least, Shakespearean tragedy) also comes into play because ✨The Character✨ that I’m obsessed with the most is a fictional representation of a *real* Scottish king that Shakespeare just so happened to write a play about. Yes, we’re talking about Macbeth, baybee!! In the Gargoyles universe, Macbeth and another character were coerced convinced to become allies by three witches via a pact sealed by magic. As a result, the two of them share each other’s pain. They’re also immortal, UNLESS one of them kills the other. This was a great for them for 17 years until a misunderstanding occurred, and now they’re two immortals who completely hate each others’ guts. He wants to die, she wants to live, so they’re at an stalemate, and every time they come to blows, they STILL feel the other’s pain. Oh yeah, and they’re both presented as villians. They’re soulmates (derogatory), disaster twins, and also the most divorced couple of all time. *CHEF’S KISS*

Anyway!!! Some fic descriptions:

“Dissonance:” A retelling of a certain episode (“High Noon”) from Macbeth’s POV. This episode is interesting (to me) because he and his magical-pact partner-turned-nemesis are working together to cause problems, and everyone’s like, “wha??” Turns out it’s only because they’ve been placed under another magic spell by a third party (SPOILER ALERT: it’s those darn witches again!), and neither of them are aware that this happened. TRAGIC!!!! They both realize Something Is Wrong and snap out of it at the last second… right before the witches whisk them away for purposes unknown (aka other machinations for another episode). So it’s a fic about realizing Something Is Wrong but not knowing what, gaining agency only to lose it again, and not being able to trust your own thoughts. It’s been VERY fun to write, because I like putting him in the torment nexus >:)

“Son of Life:” So! Macbeth had a wife and son back in 11th century Scotland! Who aged naturally while he did not! He had to walk away from them and his life as king for their own good because he was accused of witchcraft (and also, a witness saw him “die”). But ultimately, this self-imposed exile didn’t save either of the people he loved. Which SUCKS FOR HIM!!! SO BAD!!! :C So this fic is about him finding out about their deaths (which is loosely based on real historical information). I got to make up some OCs for this one, and I’m reasonably happy with them, even though they’re mostly just a vehicle for exposition.

“Woven Together in Friendship:” AKA the friendship bracelet fic! In the recent comic book series that serves as a prologue to the TV show, a human girl named Alesand and a gargoyle girl named Antiope (who is the sister of three of the main TV show characters) are introduced, and the two of them become friends. This fic is a snapshot of their lives a few years later: with a whole castle to explore and a royal wedding to look forward to, what sort of situations will a pair of inquisitive and enthusiastic best friends get up to? I’m writing this fic for my 12-year-old self, who always wanted to write stories about girls (I guess princesses?) in castles having adventures, but now I’m much more historically informed and, I daresay, a better storyteller :3

Ok, maybe 3-5 sentences was not actually enough, rotfl!

3). What was the inspiration behind this fic?

For “Dissonance,” my inspiration was that this episode is my FAVORITE EPISODE IN THE SERIES and I wanted to spend more time with it :)

For “Son of Life,” I’ve been toying with the idea of doing some historical snapshots of Macbeth’s life from 1057 CE to present, and this seemed like a logical place to start. Not sure if it’ll be a series yet, but it might!

For “WTiF,” I have been CRAVING more positive relationships between female characters in this show since FOREVER. I was over the moon when these two were introduced, and I immediately knew I had to think up more medieval adventures for them to go on together, rotfl. Also, I have been pondering gargoyle cultural questions and possible practices around clothes-making (which never comes up in the show), and needed a place to put those thoughts. Clothes-making and the people who do it (which, historically, has mostly been women) is HUGELY important to societies! I need it to not only be addressed, but respected in this universe!!

9). Was any particular scene extra fun to write?

I am having a lot of fun with first-person narration in “WTiF”! I think, not so much a scene, but introducing a character (Alesand) and her internal voice through the narrative trope of her writing down her memories as a story has been a really different approach to writing for me, and so far I’ve found this POV to be really enjoyable!

15). What element of the writing itself are you most proud of (e.g. dialogue, imagery, pacing, etc)?

Generally, I find myself proud of a lot of the imagery I came up with for these fics. “‘But…’ Iain continued, clearly determined to keep stirring the embers of the tale in an attempt to coax a happier ending from its ashes” is (I think) quite evocative.

Thanks again for the ask, and letting me blab!! :D :D :D

[theartistgirl]

Oh my goodness! I have done it! My Old copy of Love Comes Softly is now a hard cover! This is actually the fourth one I have bound however this is the first one that I really feel confident about my work.

Quixoticquark and A Hidden Path thank you so much for sharing your knowledge on this! Y'all rock!

[0hpotato]

I love your digimon art SO MUCH, thank you for sharing it with us! <3 <3

Thank you for your kinds words! And thank YOU and everyone for reblogging my stuff! Your support means a lot \(^v^)/

[wimzik]

@ahiddenpath I know it’s extremely late for the occasion, (sorry about that) but I had wanted to draw you something for your birthday. The project just ended up taking a lot longer than I expected. 😅 I hope you like them.

Tentomon wasn’t looking out for stray frosting, but not to worry. Gale is quick to save the day (and the cake) with one of her shields. Her expression seems to suggest that this might not be the first time something like this has happened, nor is it the last.

[spotty-bee]

 Some drawings I did for @ahiddenpath when they answered a question of mine! (hope you feel better soon!) First we have a few more of Izzy and his partner Labramon! I think their relationship is very strange, but still nice and friendly. Even if Labramon tires Izzy out! I do have a few headcannons for this that I thought up while drawing, but they aren’t 100% for real without ahiddenpath’s say!

Labramon Izzy Partners HC.

-Labramon is  (Or identifies)  as a girl. We never had a male human with a female digimon yet.

-Labramon doesn't speak. This teaches Izzy to learn to watch body langue and facial expressions. As well as read the tone of a room.

-Labramon is very protective of her boy! She tried to not give him too much computer time. She gets him to bed when he doesn't take himself. She plays with him and gets him exercise. She’s a good digimon! Its should also be noted that when Tai and Izzy start to fight, like when Kari gets sick, Labramon is ready to duke it out with Tai in Izzy’s place!

-Labramon also plays a sort of therapy animal roll in Izzy’s life, helping with anxiety. They do have a good relationship as partners. It just takes longer to grow and Izzy soo tired with a dog in the house...

____

Anywho!

We have a picture of Hackmon and Bearmon watching Tai and Matt fight. Bearmon shrugs and Hackmon is ready to balance the scales!

Then we have Sora. Who has a lion and a knife. - What? She defeated the dark masters all on her own already?! That was fast... One thing that bugged me about Sora was she went into Ikebana when she was so against it as a child. I know people grow and change, but I feel like Sora would have done better learning the way of the sword.

Damn show would have ended four episodes in though...

[tottwritesfanfic]

Hey, happy Friday! I'm sending you an ask for Fanfic Friday. Can you tell me which of your fics is your fave right now? What do you love about it?

Hoo boy. Hoooooooo boy. Thank you soo much for asking me this, and including me, but, well. Ya dun caught me. 

First off, I’m so sorry that even this ask has taken me an age to reply to! It most definitely is not Friday anymore, and it wasn’t even Friday when I first read this. If there is one truism about my life right now it is that Stuff. Is. Happening., and it just...it just won’t stop, y’know? Anyway, that’s besides the point. And the point is...gosh, I’m a bad writer. I’m a bad, bad writer, because how can I claim to have a favourite fic when I have neglected my poor babies for so darned long!  I am very, acutely aware that a lot of people have probably marked my works down as abandoned. I won’t lie, I’ve had that moment of “...do I call it?” on a couple of them. But the truth is, I still love them, and I still tinker, and I came so close to getting into the rhythm enough to put out an update recently. I will come closer in future, and actually reach the point where I am no longer inactive in this fandom, I swear it.  As for which of my poor neglected loves is my favourite... Oh gosh. It’s hard. I have a soft spot for Metanoia because it’s so weird. I love Unforeseen Consequences because I actually managed to finish it, what a wild ride.  But realistically, I think the answer is Hope’s Fire. It was always going to be Hope’s Fire, my first and most enduring, and most wildly out of hand fic. Did you know that when I planned this thing, I initially ballparked the length at 50k, start to finish?  Guess who was hecking wrong! 

Realistically, I would estimate that I’m a little shy of halfway done with the story at this point. It’s one of the reasons I really want to get back into the swing of it. There’s just so much I haven’t even reached yet. I have whole character arcs that no one knows about. I already wrote the blessed ending! I wrote it like....five years ago, and it’s sitting on my harddrive burning an ever deeper hole in the fibre of my soul.  And what I love most about it? I mean that’s also a hard question, because I’m bad at narrowing things down. But I think really...I love how much it has grown from that initial seed of an idea I had, the first nugget of “I should tell this story” which made me write fanfiction at all. It was never meant to get this big, but it did, and I have been blessed over the years with so much in return. Not to mention, in the course of writing it - just writing as much as I have so far - I’ve researched, and edited, and worked on a truly ridiculous amount of worldbuilding, and planning, and charts and notes. (I have a file marked “Injury Masterlist”, and not one, but two different versions of the same prophecy.) This is all stuff I have loved doing, and love looking back on as well. Hope’s Fire is a sprawling fantasy which was...I guess it was my idea for Tri before Tri was actually on my radar. I can’t remember if it had been officially announced or not at the point I started, or if I was just startlingly poor read for a fan. It honestly could have been either. In any case, the story began as a smallish post-02 adventure which was designed to home in on a couple of (what I felt were) underused plot-points, and quickly spiralled out of control into Digimon Meets A Full On Fantasy Novel, and I can’t even be mad.  ...I can and will keep working on making the three different dimensions and 13 PoV characters less troubling to keep up with though. As I edit the old chapters (eventually) I will put those trusty timestamps in from the start.  This got terribly long btw, and I am so sorry about that. I guess this is as good a sign as any as to why Hope’s Fire itself got so out of control. I start out with the best of intentions, and then things just...they sorta get away from me and I look up and, well. Oops. 

[skuag]

Hey, happy Friday! I'm sending you an ask for Fanfic Friday. Can you tell me which of your fics is your fave right now? What do you love about it?

Hi! 

This is so funny and good timing because just yesterday I published to my FF account one of my fanfics that I think it’s truly my best fanfic: Do, the endless path of an art’s apprentice. It’s a story focused on Takenouchi Toshiko, my favorite secondary character. And I say that I published it to my account because I wrote it some years ago for a collection named  Como la mariposa que causó un huracán (Like the butterfly that caused a hurricane). This is a joint story written by the absolute best sorato writers in Spanish (@gossipchii, @ahornedgod, @takerusfedora, @cielocriss, @soratakenouchie, I don’t think the rest have tumblr) and myself. It’s the story of every member of the Takenouchi and Ishida/Takaishi family, from grandmother Kinu to the sorato children. And since my best fanfic is in that collection I decided to post it to my own account :)

But I guess “best” is not exactly “favorite”. For favorites I always go to those fanfics that I wrote in one sitting, because those are the ones in which the writing process feels to me like meditating, and that’s why I write. And I usually manage that when writing kenyako, so it would probably be this one:  Se llevó mis pronombres (”It” took my pronouns; Spanish doesn’t require the use of a pronoun in this sentence, so I wouldn’t translate it at He or She because then I would be giving away the plot haha), and maybe this tiny daikari: Fue (kind of “It was”, same thing with the pronouns, we don’t need to use them).

Funny that my favorite fanfics are the ones that I thought less about. With Do I did research for weeks and I even have drafts of it that I never used. For my favorites I just sat down and let it flowed.

Thanks for the ask sweetie :)

[lightchildofthespring]

Hey, happy Friday! I'm sending you an ask for Fanfic Friday. Can you tell me which of your fics is your fave right now? What do you love about it?

Thank you for the ask!

My favorite fic is The Song of Love. I think it'll remain my favorite fic for a long time. It's not just because of how much effort I put on the writing, it's not just about how hard I worked on it. To be completely honest, the reason why I love this story so much is that I realized all of my Digimon Adventure dreams through it.

As a child (and, let's face it, as a grown-up as well) I was always frustrated at how Taichi and Yamato got way more screen time than the other kids. You see, I had more love for the other kids than for the main two, I found them more interesting, I wanted to see the show explore more of their complexities, their flaws, their fears. I wanted them to be the main characters.

Yeah, I know, blasphemy!

But that was the sentiment that got me to start this story. What if Taichi and Yamato had never become chosen children? How would the group dynamic be without them? What if Sora had to be the leader? What if the children equal screen time and complex arcs since the beginning?

I didn't have too much ambition when I wrote the first chapter. I was sure it would be ignored like my other fics and I would eventually abandon it. But then, the most incredible thing happened. I began to get reviews on a consistent basis and they filled me with encouragement I had never felt before towards writing.

And since this fic was an AU and I had no obligation to tie it to canon, I took as many liberties as I wanted. Classic Adventure villains now had backstories and goals that were relatable (in fact, most of them became more of antagonists than villains) and LadyDevimon became the most complex and interesting of them all. I can't put in words how much I loved writing for her and making her so conflicted and hurt through the story but still having a lingering warmth that wouldn't make her completely fall from grace.

And I also dove deeply into the kids' backstories and how they affected their behavior. That was, after all, what I loved about Digimon Adventure. Sora's turbulent relationship with her mother made her strive to be as different from the version of Toshiko she had in her head as possible. But because Sora worked so hard to be good and reliable to the other kids, she wondered if she was an actual good person or if she was simply lying to everybody. Nobody knew the real Sora, and if they did, they would definitely reject her, she thought. And how wonderful it was to slowly and steadily prove her wrong. Despite losing control of her temper at times (especially when someone made her think about adults being bad to children), accidental reveals about her past and terrible mistakes (everybody makes at least one terrible mistake in this story), despite the massive guilt and self-loathing that assaulted her, nobody turned their back at Sora. Her insecurities and mistakes were met with comprehension and unconditional love. And that's what made her accept the mantle of leadership and made her start to try to understand her mother.

Koushiro's arc parallels Sora's in many ways. He also had self-loathing issues and did everything to hide his true self from others. For not seeing worth in himself, he tried to be as useful as he could to other people. For not believing he was capable of understanding or giving emotional support to others, he tried to help in practical ways. In trying to avoid hurting anyone's feelings by accident, he defaulted to perpetual politeness. But the main aspect of his arc was how he his will to understand the things around him masked the deep fear he had of looking into himself. Koushiro was sure that he was not a good person, compared to his wonderful parents and friends, but a faulty individual that could only hope to help others despite his glaring imperfections. What a joy it was to deconstruct his warped worldview! Koushiro learned that he too could emotionally connect to his friends and help them, he learned that his friends would love him and fight for him regardless of whatever comes in his way and that he'd do the same for them. In a twist for the crest of knowledge, what Koushiro needed to learn the most was something that had been inside him since the beginning. If I could sum up his arc, it would be by showing what he said to Tentomon in chapter 43:

“Now that I had the opportunity to see my entire life flashing in front of me, now that I came to see how great were the things that tried to destroy me and failed… now that I see how far I’ve come, how much I’ve grown… for most of my life, I was afraid to get to know myself better, sure that I’d only see terrible things in me. I was myself a mystery that I didn’t want to solve. But you encouraged me to do so… I had a lot to learn and I wasn’t so afraid of the unknown with you by my side. You kept on teaching me… all of you… that’s how I came to get to know myself. Do you know what I learned? What I concluded after taking a good look inside me? I’m actually pretty great!”

And Jyou! What can I say about Jyou? Remember how I said that each kid makes at least one terrible mistake? Jyou made his in chapter 4. He was so adamant about following the rules he believed he had to follow and enforcing them... that he got little sympathy from the others in the beginning. Jyou had deep confidence issues, he believed he had to work harder than anyone else because he was not as naturally gifted as other people. To try to conquer his fear of being an “average at best” person who was not really capable of becoming a doctor, he pushed himself to unhealthy lengths and endangered himself constantly. He came to understand that he shouldn't just think about what he's supposed to do or what is expected of him. Jyou could do and become whatever he wanted! His journey was to learn to be true to himself.

Mimi didn't have family related trauma, like the others. Her growth was tied to trusting her compassionate instincts and trying to reach others through her words. She was outspoken and strong-willed, she was not afraid of calling people out and was fiercely protective of her friends, not understanding how they could put themselves down so much. Mimi also happened to be the person who most easily forgave other people, but not before scolding them. Mimi at times doubted herself, but her emotional honesty allowed her to recover quickly. She might be the strongest chosen child due to her being the least afraid of being vulnerable.

Takeru went through a lot in The Song of Love. As if it was not enough to be stranded in a strange world with kids he didn't know and without his big brother, he had to deal with a huge loss very soon. Takeru had a hard time, especially during the second arc, dealing with his trauma, which made him a bit aggressive. But he got better with time and support from the others. Aside from the loss of his partner, Takeru also suffered from a lingering fear of abandonment derived from his parents' divorce. Because of that, he was adamant about people facing their problems head on.

I really can't say too much about Hikari's arc because it's not possible to do it without spoiling the biggest twists of the story. To be as vague as possible, she wanted to do things on her own and prove to herselt that she could be more than what other people expect of her. Her arc was about learning that she didn't have to be alone.

Yeah, I know I wrote too much, but I'm really passionate about this story and these characters. Once again, thank you for the ask!