strings played against his throat, my whumpfic in which FeiHua's escape from Jiao Liqiao goes wrong, and Di Feisheng marries her to ensure the wellbeing of Li Lianhua, who becomes her concubine. Just updated uwu
My unpublished modern AU where Di Feisheng is an MMA fighter cowboy, Li Lianhua is his chiropractor, and Fang Xiaobao is the new sheriff in one of those Chinese towns they built purely for tourism. In this case, it's an Old West theme. Here's a preview.
Mo Dao Zu Shi
My Mo Dao/Percy Jackson crossover where WangXian and friends romp through Camp Half-Blood!
My Wen Xu/Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji AU where Wei Wuxian is adopted by the Wens instead of Jiang Fengmian. I swear I subvert so many jianghu tropes, this could be its own original novel, but here we are lol.
My two-part where Jin Zixuan flees to Lotus Pier and manages to alert the Jiangs in time for the Wang Lingjiao's attack. It's mostly written from Yu Ziyuan's perspective, and it's been a delight.
More Q&A below the cut!
Which one are you finding the hardest to finish?
Definitely #1 under Mo Dao. It's a huge labor of love, but I'm thinking maybe I thought too big with the plot. It could have just been a fun teenage romp, but then it turned into a drama that handles much larger themes, and the trouble is in being able to tie up all the plotlines I suddenly have.
What does it usually look like when inspiration strikes for you?
Usually when I have two days in a row off of work, so my brain has had at least 24 hours to clear out and think about fun. I go into a pleasant fugue state, meaning I'm focused, but I can occasionally take a five-minute break to chatter about it with my frens or listen to a song. (I'm answering this post while I'm working on fic btw.)
Do you curate playlists for each fic or is your process different?
Oh nah lol. I sometimes line some chill songs or ballads up in the background or like a Buzzfeed Unsolved marathon for background noise, but sometimes it has the opposite effect where I can't focus at all. So sometimes I just write in complete silence.
Do you go balls to the wall and write as you go or are you more organized?
Balls to the waaaaaaall babeeeeeee. Aside from the ones that're born from me chattering with frens. Both my Lianhua Lou fics and #2 under MDZS are from very specific and thorough chats that I screenshotted for reference.
I tag @westiec @theleakypen @kingsandbastardz @tavina-writes @heyholmesletsgo @the-wintry-mizzenmast and whoever else wants to do this, how do I know this many people lol.
I was a geeky middle schooler writing fics about my super cool OC getting her super unique starter from Professor [Insert Tree Name] and getting all the badges and saving the world!
(Or really just the first part because even back then I never had the stamina for long fic xD)
19. How do you get over writer's block?
.........I....I don't think I do...... :')
my Writing Slump is celebrating it's third anniversary and I'm not sure I can see an end in sight ^^"
But even when I don't feel like I can write anything else, I still really enjoy writing Drabbles. I think because there's a strict word limit, I'm able to focus on just the core of story I want to tell and hide my shortcomings in everything else . Daily drabble challenges also help rebuild a habit of writing a little every day which I think is also important for overcoming writer's block
But also I think for fanfic in particular, fandom culture is very important. If a fandom no longer sparks joy then it's time to find one that does!
I've actually posted a snippet from it before but I'm too lazy to find it. But it's an LU fic where, uh... the chain is teasing Twilight because he "thinks he's a dog." Mostly funny, a little sad, 100% comedic angst.
Here, have a snippet:
Question: was Twilight under an obligation to admit to his four-legged alter-ego?
No. Of course not. Everyone was entitled to their secrets. It would be very weird if they were all completely honest with each other. There were just some things that couldn’t be shared. Twilight had secrets, Legend had secrets—hell, even Wind was probably sitting on a secret or two.
Admittedly, the wolf thing was a little more magical than most secrets, but Four was a group project ran by four different people, and he could shrink to the size of a rat. Twilight’s furry little secret was tame in comparison.
Que! Seeking your thoughts on if you'd ever do an arranged marriage fic.
I actually have thought about it, kind of?
To be honest, the idea is not exactly in the spirit of arranged marriage--it's essentially a Prince of Persia: Sands of Time roleswap where Farah has the Dagger of Time instead of the Prince. Basic premise: Farah's using the dagger to time loop a bazillion times in the hopes of preventing her kingdom from falling to the Persian Empire.
The story would be told from a timeline where she marries herself off to the Prince, and she's telling him a very non-linear and nested version of her time travel adventures on their wedding night. The arranged marriage thing is just the framing, the bulk of it would be action-adventure-slow burn. Very very very 1001 Nights. (In my defense, PoP:SoT is also very very very 1001 Nights).
In terms of, like, an actual arranged marriage story... I've been reading a lot of isekai manhwa and I've been turning around the idea of "prince 4th in line to the throne and daughter of some rich noble get married but she's childfree and he's secretly plotting to overthrow the king, together they ascend to the throne and the monarchy ends with them" sort of deal.
Hi Que! It's Tav! For the ask game, can I ask you about 14, 15, and 17?
14. Are there any tropes you would only read if written by a trusted friend or writer?
Oh man, this is actually a hard one? If a summary or a concept doesn't interest me from the get-go, then I don't click on it, no matter who it's from.
Though. I almost NEVER read different setting AUs (sci fi AUs, royalty AUs, coffee shop AUs, basically anything that isn't a canon AU) but if a friend linked it to me, I'll give it a try.
15. What's your favorite AU that you've written?
It's... the Daiya no Ace Sawamura Twin AU.... I can't help it Akira's just such a riot of a POV
17. What highly specific AU do you want to read or write even though you might be the only person to appreciate it?
do NOT ask me about the Yuri on Ice Competitive Classic Tetris AU
Dinner with the whole extended family at Aunt Sujin's was always an event, with just a few too many people crammed around the table and everyone talking over one another.
Truly, one of my favorite fics of all time. It's a crossover between Avatar: the Last Airbender and Stargate SG-1, and while it's not perfect, it's an action/adventure crossover story with lots of worldbuilding and a language barrier between the characters for most of the fic-- all things I really love and have an incredibly difficult time writing.
✨A fic you wish you could read again for the first time
The Sith Who Brought Life Day by ophelia_interrupted
This Star Wars fic is a fandom classic for a reason, and the reason is that a story about an OC who loses a bet and has to get Darth Vader a Life Day present sounds like a crack fic, but this fic plays it just seriously enough. It's a little bit heartwarming and full of the kind of dramatic irony that Star Wars fic runs off of.
6. Which yet-to-be-started fic is first on your list?
Oh man there's too many and I didn't have a list really, but one fic I very badly want to get to is a Di Feisheng character study in which he gets to speak face to face with A-Fei in some sort of dreamscape, post-canon. I want some closure for him in looking back at who he could've become without the memories he carries now, and I think that one could be hopefully self contained enough for me to actually finish it, once I have time and energy.
11. Would you like to try any new fanfic genres or tropes this year?
I had a fic I started for MLC last year (the life where we let go) that, according to what I have planned if I can continue, is supposed to be a mix of both normal fic and in-story fiction that Li Lianhua/Li Fangxia is writing. I guess that would be something new for me, blending styles like that, along with more of what I did in the prologue/concept scene I posted which was visually writing out Li Fangxia's progress in his novel draft doc. Aside from that, I've been gradually working my way up to writing more and more risque things, here and there. Maybe this will be the year I finally bite the bullet and try my hand at actual smut.
