2) I'm really just so glad someone put this idea to words. Also really cool that it's an AU you'd already been thinking about even before getting the prompt. I saw where you said you wanted to rework what you originally submitted and tbh I'm a little on the edge of my seat wondering what's gonna be next (this is in no way me trying to pressure you to write more of it, just to show my enthusiasm). Just whatever you feel you need to do to get the story to where you want it. :D (2/5)
The film & the original story by Angela Carter just really stuck with me and I guess hunger being somewhat synonymous with sexual awakening, I needed to see it Everlarked. Part of it was also that, much as I enjoyed the film, I was a bit bummed out Rosaleen didn’t meet her wolfman until towards the very end and I thought, okay which of my OTPs are the best candidate for a version where they’re actually together for more of the story?? And it was like K&P flashed me their proverbial (3/5)
bat signal I guess lol. Also I found it really interesting how you incorporated the death of the sister with giving Prim a twin. I’m kinda curious to know more about Ms. Third Everdeen Sister Amaryllis. As well as it being an arranged marriage where Katniss takes Prim’s place to be engaged to her sweet baker boi. The tea scene when Peeta takes a drink to show his mom it’s not poisoned is kinda my fave so far haha. Overall, just needed to shower some love on this since it was my prompt and (4/5)
that you’re so graciously committed to putting forth the best version of the story you derived from it. Also bc it’s just so long overdue…3 years…once again I apologize for that bc I really dropped the ball on that one. Anyways, I’ll stop crowding your inbox with this long-windedness now. ^_^; (5/5)
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Hey there @codenamesailordarillium The first of these never showed up. Not sure if you just never got the chance to send it or if tumblr is still being a message munching monster. I think I’ve got a decent idea of what was in the first part, although my brain did come up with a couple options. Sorry if this answer is way more than you were expecting since I’m gonna try to address a couple options.
Anyways, I wanted to go ahead and answer what I did receive rather than keep you waiting because I was actually really stunned to receive it. You are of course, in no way obligated to send messages like this to a writer but I am beyond thrilled that you did. I don’t care how late you think it is, it isn’t. One of the really weird things about writing fanfic, at least in my mind, is that when an Anon comes to my inbox with a prompt or a request, I operate on the assumption that they already like my writing and my style, and my usual rating levels, trust me with the content, etc. So I don’t really feel guilty if I deviate from the prompt or don’t deliver exactly what they had in mind, as long as I slap the warning labels on it. Like…you knew the risks coming into my box asking for fic so here ya go! This is what I came up with.
When it’s an anonymous prompt through something like @everlarkficexchange, I always feel a lot more anxiety about filling a prompt from an anon. This person has put out a prompt to literally dozens of writers and they may very well be someone who avoids my writing or doesn’t like it, because let’s face it, not everyone is always going to adore your (meaning mine in this case) writing. I’ve taken quite a few anonymous prompts through efe and I’ve always, always wondered if anon ever read it and liked it. You are literally the first one to come and say “Hey that was my prompt!” so this is new… and I’m still fangirling a little bit, especially since it’s about one of my much older efe fics. When was that? 2017? Man alive time does fly.
So, I’m not sure what prompted your visit to my inbox, whether it was my note on my latest efe piece, Maybe Tomorrow, or if you were actually the anon who sent that prompt in too, or if it’s me suddenly posting older stuff to AO3 because I’d been holding on to it hoping to expand but did not, EDIT: or if it’s because one of the plot points of the story is a pandemic (yikes even I forgot about that bit until i just scanned over the first chapter again). Either way, let me just go ahead and say that In the Waiting Dark is most definitely not abandoned. It’s on my list of fics I absolutely want to finish, mainly because as you’ve pointed out my saying, I’ve pretty much wanted to write an Everlark Red Riding Hood AU for ages, since about the time I discovered AU was actually a thing!
I’m actually really stoked that you sent all of this to me and it makes me feel like even though I’ve not been actively working on it lately, I had the right ideas in my head to sort of meet what you were hoping to see. Yes! for the whole movie being a metaphor for sexual awakening. It’s one of the things that drew me in so completely. And the more I dug around in versions of Red Riding Hood, the more I realized that was literally the roots of the tale. “To see the wolf” used to be an expression for kissing your virginity farewell, so to speak. And same here, the whole metaphor SC uses with “hunger” for sexual desire had me seeing all kinds of fantastic connections.
Although, I do feel the need to say that it’ll probably take a slightly different path than Rosaleen and her wolfman do. Part of that is definitely the fact that like you, it was kind of sad to me that they only got the last maybe twenty minutes or so of the movie together. Part of it is the influence of other RRH tales.
I basically stopped working on it because I got to a point where I felt like I was being too ambitious with it? It was falling prey to a really bad case of “and then this!” So I took a step back from it. Then I started to realize just how many Everlark fics are out there involving wolves of some kind. Seriously. There’s a ton of them. And I myself fell prey to a case of “How do I make this mine?” My writing doesn’t exist well in a vacuum, I know that. It can easily be influenced by exterior factors. I’ve unfortunately been assiduously avoiding reading any kind of Everlark wolf au for almost three years now for that exact reason. :( I’m slightly terrified that in waiting this long, when I do finally post it, I’ll be alienating or angering a lot of other Everlark writers by inadvertently writing something similar to what they’ve already produced.
Weirdly enough, I’ve been kind of itching to get back to In the Waiting Dark, out of all my long neglected fics to snare my attention right now, of course it’s that one, lol. Maybe it’s because it is yet again another round of @everlarkficexchange and Waiting Dark is one of my outstanding prompts from previous years. The self-imposed guilt trips are in full force, lol.
That’s not to say that I feel pressured by your message. I’m actually kind of tickled by it. Moreover, the story will probably look a little different when I finally get around to actively posting it. Things that will not change are the core metaphor; the use of the stories, fables, and dreams (similar to what you see in the movie); the weirdly creepy/darkish vibe to parts of it juxtaposed with a more modern pastoral take on fairy tales; and the cast obvs. There are reasons for Prim having a twin in this AU, but we’ll get to that. The arranged marriage part may change, because I feel like I’ve written so many arranged marriage Everlark stories. Then again…the scene that you mentioned with Peeta drinking the tea to show his mother that it wasn’t poisoned is definitely one of my favorite scenes so far. If nothing else, I have got to find a way to keep that in the final product.
And now I’m the one who has wandered into long winded-ness. Thank you again for taking the time to send this to me!
<3 kdnfb
