#earl fic

[earlgay-milktea]

hi jrwi nation, do you remember 'breaking free', the HSM fish n chips fic? you might be interested in an alternate universe retelling... what if it ended at chapter 10? what if gillion went back to the undersea for good? and what if he comes back years later and has a chance encounter with chip?

anyway it's here

[earlgay-milktea]

absol(utely) obsessed

Tags: College/University AU, Humour, Meet-Cute, Fluff, Pokemon nerdery, Vashwood's loser4loser dynamic

Word Count: 11k

“I nearly choked to death in front of approximately forty people, including my little brother, and when you un-choked me, that crying girl came back into the room and got nailed in the eye with a piece of unchewed pizza dough. Which made her start crying again.” Nicholas slumps further into the bench. “And then some guy tried to beat me up. And then you told me to pretend to pass out so you could drag me to the nurse to escape, except it was too late, and I got punched, so I passed out for real.”

“In my defence,” says Vash, “the plan still worked.”

READ NOW ON AO3

[earlgay-milktea]

INGO X READER - it startered out with a kiss (how did it end up like this) 

Rating: Explicit 

‘Steeling your resolve, you took a deep breath. The day wasn’t over yet! Your spirit was undaunted! As long as you had your Pokemon, nothing could get the better of you! Nothing! Your empty wallet was still a dire issue, so you’d give it another shot—just one last battle—before you retired for the night. You had to put some serious thought into the opponent you picked. It had to be someone weak. Someone inexperienced. Someone just like…

Him.’

Alternatively: a young, inexperienced trainer challenges Subway Boss Ingo to a battle. Things go downhill from there.

[earlgay-milktea]

uh, hi, earl! i love the way you write so so much! i was wondering if you could maybe share a few writing tips or methods you use? thank you!

first of all, thank YOU. second of all, i will talk way too much about this. be warned.

the process starts when i get possessed by an idea. if the urge is strong enough, i take notes and get to work on penning it down. if it's a one-shot or a shorter idea, i usually don't bother with planning. for example, 'lovefool' was written entirely off-the-cuff. a lot of my one-shorts were just me pulling straight from the brain.

however, for 'a thousand miles' i was drawing out a loose plan. why? i don't know. you might be like 'oh is it because it's longer than most one-shots, capping off at 10k?' here's the thing - when i started writing, i only thought it'd end up at 5k. yet i was jotting down a plan anyway. i just felt like it, i suppose

for multi-chaptered fics, you bet your ass i'm writing an EXTENSIVE plan. i have multiple pages of plans on 'heart of the sea' and 'breaking free' in my notebook, as well as notes on my og novels. those plans start out by mapping out the plot beats and significant moments of conflict. after that, i do the chapter-by-chapter breakdown. i also have a list of 'i want to put these in'.

to make stories more cohesive, i usually think up a theme to tie it together. that could be an image that repeats, a certain phrase, or concepts that i explore throughout the story. on the smaller end, a recurring image in 'lovefool' were birds, which represented chip's heart. you could say that birds were a theme here. on the larger end, the theme in 'breaking free' was something like 'friendship' and 'love' and 'musical theatre nerds are unstoppable' and 'self worth is important, kids'. i feel like i'm not making sense. i really hope i am. feel free to send follow-up questions.

anyway, i don't consciously think up a theme for every fic. sometimes it happens on its own. sometimes i'm mapping it out but another thing appears. for example, in 'heart of the sea', the theme of 'beginnings and endings' kept leaping out at me (chip's notebook with the unfinished sentences, their cut-off words to each other, etc) even though i didn't plan it?!?!?

generally, i try to plan a beginning and ending. i don't like to meander. readers can tell if you don't know what the fuck you're doing, and i like to maintain the illusion of control at all times /silly

before undertaking a major project, i like to study for it. for example, 'breaking free' is a high school au fic, right? i read several very very good high school au fics in preparation. i took note of what they did successfully, what they did unsuccessfully, and formulated my plan from there. and currently i'm trying to write a ya mystery/superhero book, so i've been reading ya mysteries/superhero book. note of advice: 'extraordinaries' by tj klune is seriously overrated. anyway, yeah - when you get a feel for the genre you wanna write, it makes your work 1000% better. besides, it's a great guideline to follow if you're anxious about beginning a type of story you've never tackled before. while i was writing 'heart of the sea', i was TERRIFIED at every step. i was constantly second guessing myself. but i'd read some time loop fics beforehand, so i wasn't going in completely blind. shout out to 'maelstrom' from the yuuri on ice fandom. lifesaver.

as for the writing process itself, i sit myself in front of my laptop, load up a playlist, and start typing. often consulting theasaurus.com. if i run out of words, i pick up a book or fic or just something good to read, and the words come back (points to previous paragraph. if i'm working on a project that's, say, a fantasy romance, i'm gonna be reading fantasy romances in my spare time between writing).

music is crucial. my words are stale without music.

if i feel like it, i might make a pinterest board for the project. this helps me get an overall feel for the vibes i'm trying to convey. the board for 'heart of the sea' had a lot of blues and greys and whites, conveying the melancholy feel of the fic. pinterest boards are also really fun to make!

additionally, my friends play a big role in my writing process. half of the jokes in 'a thousand miles' have been proofread (and made!) by my friends (thank you @boilingheart and @freakpit). actually, come to think of it, half the damn plot in that fic was made by teamwork! i also like sending off certain paragraphs or sentences to my friends for their reactions. never underestimate the motivational power of someone screaming in your dms.

anyway yeahh... i write when i feel like it, and i stop when i feel like it. unless it's nanowrimo, i'm not very disciplined about writing, and even then, i'm not that stringent about it. my schedule is 'jot something down at least once a week'.

.... fuck it's been more than a week and i haven't written anything.

i need to Get On That, actually! thanks for the indirect reminder!!!

hope this was a satisfactory answer. thanks for the ask, and i hope you're having a nice day 🤩

[earlgay-milktea]

earl what's your favorite line / paragraph / dialogue / etc etc that line of thought that you've ever written go

HI MIMI I’M SO GLAD YOU ASKED

that’s a loaded question!! i have a lot of lines i’m fond of. i also have a lot of good lines i forget immediately after writing, and i rediscover them, and i’m like ‘oh boy this was a banger.’ i’ll go through a couple of fics i consider my best! this is gonna be long!

heart of the sea: gillion saying “you are my strength” to chip. i had that line saved since the VERY BEGINNING and i was able to execute it so well. it was one of my proudest moments. i also adored the moment chip hurled the compass into the sea. And this whole part: ‘“I love you too,” says Chip, and when he kisses Gillion again, it feels revelatory. The turn of a new page. A fresh, unmarked beginning.’ 

the entire fic had themes of beginnings and endings (duh, since it was a time loop fic) and it was about chip learning to move on. this moment really cemented it for me. they can finally move on, they can continue the story, they’re no longer trapped in a loop. 

lovefool: personally i think i’m a genius for connecting birds with chip’s feelings. in a metaphorical sense.  

before daybreak: ‘Until death do us part. Which will happen first? Vyncent’s homecoming or William’s? Shouldn’t he take the chance while he still can?’ I THINK THIS WAS ONE OF MY BEST LINES AND NO ONE SAID ANYTHING? with the ‘homecoming’ thing, i was trying to be like... william’s home is ‘death’? kinda?? do you get it??? and vynce’s home is his own dimension, obviously. at time of writing, i was like ‘THEY’RE ON BORROWED TIME LMAO.’ and. homecoming. and no one pointed it out. goddamn. i thought i was so smart for that. also when i said ‘aftermath is its own kind of ghost’ i really slayed  bitter water: every line in that fic is my favourite line way back home: fun fact - when jay wears the white ribbon in her hair, it’s part of the navy academy uniform, but i snuck in a second meaning. in chinese culture, if you wear white in your hair, it means someone in your family has died. this has nothing to do w the favourite line, i just wanted to mention that  ‘She’s bore all sorts of pain in her life, weathered grief and withstood violence, but a bowl of food made by a friend has the power to undo her. What has she come to?’ writing this line sparked this incredible sense of wistfulness in me. the entire scene with chip bringing jay congee really had me emotional because i was writing parts of this fic while i had covid, and my mum brought me congee when i was too weak with fever to get food myself. 

tbh this entire fic was an exercise in how emo i could make myself. all the segments about home, the grief of losing someone you love, the displacement of your home, the knowledge that you can never find sanctuary in your hometown again, and so forth. working on this fic was a joy

advancing on real ground: ‘fuck communication, actually’ had me chuckling to myself. and gillion’s line “I’d never leave, but what other dear gestures can I give you?” is one of my favourite gillion lines i’ve written, ever. 

breaking free!: this fic is too long for me to pick out specific things, but i adored writing the argument scene in ch10. one of my favourite scenes in that whole fic. another fav scene of mine is the kiss, which hasn’t even been published yet lmao. overall, this entire fic is a labour of love, and one of the favourite fics i’ve ever written, hands down

a thousand miles: SOME OF MY BEST COMEDIC WORK. the bisexual pin on harlem’s jacket and then the tear tracing down his face? the appearance of ross and le frog? their carnal relationship??? 

i just really liked exploring tidalwave’s relationship in this fic. it was refreshing to get out of a teen’s head and think about a more mature perspective. at time of writing this post, this fic has been the BEST experience i’ve ever had with writing a fic. my conversations with you and prince will always have a soft spot in my heart, unhinged as they were. i’ve always thought of writing as a solo endeavour, but working on this fic showed me that it didn’t have to be that way. and i could have fun doing it. it was the best experience 

i think i lost track of answering the question?? but yeah, hope you had fun reading this essay lmao. thank you for asking, it’s always a delight to talk about my fics!! 

[earlgay-milktea]

Hey hey! 👽 🌈

1. Strangest fic I ever wrote

Depends on your definition of strange. If we’re basing it off funny shit, I’d say ‘A Thousand Miles’ is a strong contender. In the latter half of the fic, Le Frog and Abstinence Boy are revealed to be in a sexual relationship and they end up getting frisky in the men’s bathroom of an Olive Garden—it’s a whole thing. But that’s just one(1) facet of a whole fic.

If we’re talking about an entire strange fic… perhaps my Among Us fic is pretty strange? The execution was really straightforward tho; competent crewmate, incompetent imposter, plenty of stabbings and ejections and dying in the void of space.

OH GODDAMMIT HOW COULD I FORGET ABOUT THE HSM FIC— I’m so sorry BREAKING FREE! I never meant to hurt you. Okay yeah I’d say that’s the strangest thing I’ve written, concept-wise. Gillion and Chip battle it out for the leads of the spring musical while also battling their self-esteem issues.

2. Favourite tropes to write

I keep coming back to the sharing-one-bed trope 😭😭 It’s a problem honestly!! I want to write fresh new things for each fic but I always circle back to “hey what if they took a nap next to each other” STOPP ITTT

Is pining a trope? I’m not sure, but I really like writing it. I tend to go all or nothing with romantic fics. They either like each other pretty quickly or it takes an era and a half for them to get together. Both instances are satisfying but I find myself doing no.1 more often because I’m impatient.

Also, is Crack Treated Seriously a trope?? Or is it a genre? If it’s a trope, that one’s my favourite trope to write. Ever. I take comedy very very seriously

Thanks for the ask!! 💖

If anyone else is reading this, go check out hideous_sun_demon on AO3 he’s a brilliant writer

[earlgay-milktea]

my friend has witnessed my reaction to chapter 11 of ‘breaking free’ and holy fucking shit I am distraught,this silly little theatre fic has permanently destroyed me, this whole chapter is crazy,Lizzie and chip reconciliation,Gillion almost going to the undersea and than absolutly booking it,caspian commuting several crimes for his damp brither in arms,Gillion showing up at the perfect time , Gillion reading the love letter in the car, tHE FUCKING KISSV??&!?)))) you. You has destroyed me, I have genuine tears in my face from this. Oh my god. Oh my god, the writing is so good and I am devisâtes, holy shit.

i've had the kiss scene written since last year i think?? it's been hanging out in my document the whole time, so it was great to finally slot it in.

tbh i was afraid people wouldn't be as receptive to the car chase scene. 'breaking free' is a cutesy high school romance on the surface and suddenly there's a scene from fast n furious in it?? i had my doubts. but the reception has been SO NICE i'm taking this as a sign to put more stupid shit in my works from now on.

the letter... ohhhh the letter.... that stupid heart shaped card gave me so much grief! i was mulling over the wording for the LONGEST TIME and when i finally cracked the code i couldn't decide where to put it?? i experimented by putting the entire thing in one section, and then i moved it to the end, and then i considered putting it in the epilogue - and then i thought 'ah, why not put it in between the action?' i really like how it turned out. there's an epic cinematic feeling i think

thank you for this lovely ask!!!