P: Are you what George R. R. Martin would call an “architect” or a “gardener”? (How much do you plan in advance, versus letting the story unfold as you go?)
— this is a bit of a cop-out, but somewhere in between; it depends on the nature of the story, how much information i have going in, etc., but generally speaking i have a very specific idea of how things are going to go, with leniency if i decide something works better/there are new developments. i think giving yourself room to breathe is extremely important in keeping the process fresh and engaging. watching things snap together in unexpected ways is a huge part of the payoff of storytelling for me.
T: Any fandom tropes you can’t stand?
— OKAY NOT GONNA GET SUPER SPECIFIC HERE just because i don't want anyone to see it and go "oh my god, i've done this, she's clearly talking about me and everything she's ever said about my work has been a lie," because 1) no, most certainly not and 2) there are very few things that i abhor in any and every context in any and every hand. i'm just speaking generally.
i am very not obsessed with jealousy/possessiveness As A Sex Thing in the sense that it's the feelings of ownership towards a partner that is meant to be appealing (not to be confused with jealous or possessive characters being portrayed in general, lord knows i love me some good good toxicity in my fiction). it's not something that appeals to me personally, and in this context rarely plays out in a character-consistent way, so since that's not a kink of mine it's not something i really enjoy consuming or engaging with.
relatedly, or adjacently, i was extremely not obsessed with the. i'm not sure if "trope" is the word, but the near-universal mercing of the love interest's partners, past or present, as a means of ship-solidification. like. you do not have to brutally murder the domestic abuse survivor because she fucked your blorbo in a companion novel. we were not all worried this was gonna sink your ship. usually accompanied by the murder or demonization of any other attractive women (if the main character is a cis woman) in the premises. always expected to be met with claps from the audience, for some reason. (again, this is very specifically the good old "killing off the canon love interest/potential competition" trope, not "literally any of them die for any reason." there's an enormous difference. it is very obvious which is which imo.)
perhaps a bit more pettily, i fully Do Not Get the moralizing around villains in villainfucking fandoms, as in "well love interest blorbo is bad but this other villain is worse so therefore blorbo is actually fine!!!" like. why do you want blorbo to be fine. why are you fucking a rancid villain man if you want him to be Just Some Guy. this is your chance to go off the rails. this is your chance to mcfuckin lose it. let them be weird little fucked up blorbos goddamn let them be terrible you don't have to redeem them or demonstrate they never needed redemption or else not give them a Good Ending. we don't have to adhere to the hays code i promise you.
Y: A character you want to protect.
— no one. to the wolves with all of you.
just kidding. none from a narrative perspective, really, but i do feel Protective on a meta level of unpopular, disliked, evil, or otherwise frowned upon women in fiction tbh.
i love you both so much thank you liz and thank you @shallow-gravy for always enabling me to terrorize john seed in the best way i know how (with elliot's mother)
cheap & accost + john/elliot (feat. scarlet) from this list! no warnings really, just john waxing poetic about scarlet will never love him. no cult au!
"so," scarlet says, casting a scathing gaze downward, "this is it?"
based on her words alone, someone would think she was referring to a particularly tasteless display, something so utterly disappointing that she couldn't help but voice her opinion about it (and the fact is, scarlet really doesn't voice her opinion very often--there is too much dancing around the subject and making passive-aggressive jabs for her true thoughts to come out very often). perhaps a display of public inebriation, of someone making a fool of themselves at a setting that is meant to celebrate.
actually, in fact, it's regarding elliot's engagement ring.
john tries not to take it too personally. how can he? scarlet has never liked anything he's done--despite the knowledge that he is handsome, intelligent, accomplished, more than capable of providing for her daughter (a thing which scarlet insists upon despite the fact that elliot has a job and would hate being a housewife)--and instead prefers to try and tear him to shreds at every opportunity.
he is working on letting it go. he is working on not letting scarlet's visceral dislike of him affect him. and yet, still, sometimes, he wonders--what's so wrong with me, hm?
"yes, mother," elliot says, very visibly restraining her tone, "this is the ring."
"it's not--a temporary one?" scarlet presses. "you know, something to tide over until you can find the perfect one?"
"no," the blonde sighs.
"hm."
"she could have another one, if she wanted," john ventures.
elliot says, "john."
"hm," scarlet says, again. she lifts elliot's hand to inspect the engagement ring. it is exactly what elliot wanted, which unfortunately is probably not what scarlet envisioned for her daughter--simple, clean. nothing too ostentatious. "but the blue, bunny?"
"i picked it out," ell snaps.
"and elliot knows she could have any ring she wanted," john adds, drawing scarlet's eyes to him. the feeling is not unlike drawing the unwanted attention of a jungle cat. or a gun. "i'm sure you know she has a very specific taste."
"well, you'll have to spend a lot of time explaining that," is what scarlet says finally. "the blue stone makes it look...well, you know. like a toy ring. people will think you got it out of one of those quarter machines at the bowling alley." she grimaces, lip curling. "cheap."
"we're leaving now," elliot announces loudly, irritably, grabbing john's hand. "we're leaving to the other side of the room. over there. goodbye, mother."
scarlet hms again, but lets them go; the crowd at the engagement party is easy to sift through, and by the time they get to the other side of the room where elliot can pour herself another glass of champagne, john has mostly recovered from the repeated realization that his mother in law will never, ever like him despite his many, many, many (many) winning qualities.
"holy shit," elliot hisses, "she is unbearable until she gets at least five vodka martinis in her."
"admittedly, was not expecting your mother to accost me about the price of your engagement ring," john replies, watching her shoot him a dry glance over her shoulder. in amendment, he adds, "but maybe i should have expected."
"yes," elliot agrees, "you should have." she pauses, and then reaches up, resting her hand on the crook between his neck and shoulder. "and i'm still sorry. you know she'd never be happy with any engagement ring from anyone."
"well," john says, and does not elaborate, because she knows he means she might have if i were literally anyone else.
the blonde sighs, leaning up and kissing him quickly--just enough for him to briefly feel the synapses firing off delightedly, wiping his brain of present mommy-trauma--and says, "anyway, let's go explain our cheap engagement ring to the rest of my mom's friends."
"goody," john mutters against her mouth, "can't wait."
im taking sarah’s route because i want to cuck joseph and she’s hot and has cool style and i would show her a good time. (but also charlie is still my best girl and i give her kisses too.)
Good choice! It would be funny to cuck all three and get three weed smoking girlfriends in return.
Sarah is a bit on the shy side and more reserved than the other two Seed fuckers. She’s very much a low energy bae. You two would probably go to the brewery because “it’s the only cool place in the county.” She picks you up on a Vespa because she doesn’t have a license and the ride there is perilous, to say the least.
During dinner she may sketch you. Also, I hope you like vegan food and obscure beer because she’s out here to impress. She may even want to do a little stick and poke afterwards.
dramatic title about bonding & wisps of smoke pls?
this wip is embarrassingly old, like one of the first fics i started writing for wes, but i still very much enjoy it!! one of john & wes's first non-violent interactions in their canon!!
John watches the smoke leak from Wes's pursed lips, then steps forward to grab a cigarette from the pack for himself. Wes glances at him and offers his own cigarette for John to light his on. "I'd quit a while ago, too," Wes says, pushing his cigarette back between his lips once John's is smoldering. "It's good stress relief, though."
The smoke feels good in John's lungs. It's been a long time since he felt it. He sighs, staring out across the valley. "I should cut you to pieces for breaking into my ranch. It was difficult enough to get it back from you the first time."
Wes's mouth twitches as he stares up at the stars, avoiding John's gaze just as much as John is avoiding his. "Just came for the view." He taps the ash off his cigarette. "I'll come back later to take it from you again."
could i request herald! audry au if you're still doing em? (love seeing you on my dash again btw 🥰)
I LOVE YOU. I will SQUISH your face!!! Thank you for the love!!
Herald Audry would literally just be the Mother of the cult. She'd convince people to turn over with a soft smile and genuine concern.
Jacob refuses to let her in his area. The last time she burst into tears and held the dead body of one of the weak for hours. Joseph then ordered him to "go easy" on the new recruits.
Joseph makes a claim on her, since she is the Mother and he is the father. John is furious with this. "Joseph, she is carrying MY child!"
She and Faith spend a majority of their time making flower friends and playing in the woods
Though he's good at hiding it, John is always enraptured with the kindness and gentleness she has with the flock. And he absolutely melts when she turns her concern on him. "I always wanted to know a mother's love."
