#cw arrowverse

As a child, Nora Darhk was possessed by a demon, and her father sent her to be raised by a cult where she was trained to be a demon vessel. Her magic, her mind, her body — all being used in someone else’s service, at someone else’s whim. Her autonomy was taken from her at a young age.

Then by the end of season three, Nora isn’t a demon vessel anymore. She’s finally free — free to figure out who she is without a controlling father or being possessed by a demon. That includes figuring out how to reclaim her magic and use it in the ways she wants to. Season four starts to explore this… and then Nora is tricked into becoming a fairy godmother. The key point here is that fairy godmothers’ magic can only be used at someone else’s command. So, basically, Nora had been denied magical autonomy since childhood, and then the demon is removed from her life and she can begin her journey of reclaiming her autonomy (which is an incredibly symbolic journey for abuse survivors and women in general), and then that journey is cut short and her autonomy is taken away again as a fairy godmother. The worst part is that Nora becoming a fairy godmother is used for comedy, with absolutely no acknowledgment of her trauma. Essentially, now her lack of agency is played as a joke.

Granted, season five shows Nora coming to accept her new role and finding joy and meaning in it. That’s all well and good, but the problem is that the decision to cut her character development short and once again remove her autonomy was made in the first place. It also effectively prevented Nora from actually becoming one of the Legends and living on the Waverider with them because she had to be out “doing her job” as a fairy godmother. That also set up Nora and Ray leaving the show.

I was tagged by @simpledontmeanpeachy. Figured I'd do this for fun.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Oof. I've written eight at this point. Oof.

2. What’s your total A03 word count?

As of December 16, 2023... 546,575. Most of it in the last two years.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

In my A03 life, I've written for Hannibal (NBC-centric Hannigram) and the CW Arrowverse. Mostly ColdFlash, but that's not where I started! I segued into Sladiver for a bit.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

When Lightning Hits Ice (ColdFlash, 979)

In Opposition of Solitude (Hannigram, 918)

Let the Unpredicted and InevitableUnfold (Hannigram, 656)

Strongholds of the Mind (Sladiver, 386)

That Rare Arctic Thunderstorm (ColdFlash, 186)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Oh, absolutely! I love hearing what my readers think. If it's a long comment, I'll do my best to respond in kind without giving away too much of what's coming next. But even if it's just emojis or an "I love this", I will at the very least say thank you. I am grateful for whatever way you choose to express your thoughts about what you've read, and it certainly helps keep me motivated!

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Ooooof. Okay, considering it's also my only story on indefinite hiatus, it's Strongholds of the Mind. I wasn't in a good headspace at the time to deal with writing ansty!betrayed!Oliver properly. If we're talking completed fics, does When Lightning Hits Ice count? But there is a sequel and the other one-shots connected to it in my Sparks in the Ice series.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hmmm... That has to be Perspective: A Regency Romance. After all, it's based off a Jane Austen novel and you cannot fault a good romantic and economical happy ending. :D

8. Do you get hate on your fic?

No. But I have had one nagging misunderstanding. And I simply refuse to engage with it.

9. Do you write smut?

Oh, yes, baby, fuck yes~! You guys can tell me if you like the way I do it or not.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Hmmm... Closest I've gotten is Perspective: A Regency Romance. Or basing OCs in my works on characters from other series. If you can guess who Mike and Avigail Birnbaum are loosely based of, kudos to you!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Really? See, this is why I prefer to play around with the canon universes. I worry enough about my original writing staying safe.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not as of yet! It's a dauntless task on a good day, and this is FANdom. Translating involves so much more work beyond a a direct substitution like "what is the word for 'apple' in XYZ language?"

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

No, but I have been seduced inspired into writing particular scenes by the highly skilled artist @hardwiredweird.

14. What‘s your all-time favourite ship?

To write? ColdFlash. Just because it's pushing all the right buttons for me at this point and honestly, I've got entirely too many thoughts about the state of linked TV series writing NOT to. But I devour Hannigram and other similar (okay, not quite similar) pairings when I don't have the bandwith for writing or I'm in transit and a physical book would be out of the question.

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I could wax determinedly about my three-year-plan to finish Strongholds of the Mind, but I don't really know if I will. Will I probably hint at Sladiver in my other works? Maybe. But I don't know if it's healthy for me to be in Oliver Queen's head at that stage in the narrative. Leonard Snart's is all rainbows and unicorns by compare, in my books. And Hannibal Lecter. He's fine, like the finest of wines. What does that say about me?

16. What’s your writing strengths?

Foremost, I think it's my planning and plotting. There's a time and place for instant gratification, and while I do sprinkle that in, I'm in things for the long haul lately. I don't get distracted from a project easily, either. I do have a few ideas bouncing around at any given point, but I like letting them percolate for a while so I can both work on my current one satisfactorily and give the floaty ideas time to concretize into something worth writing. After that, I think it's my characterization, if only because I'm willing to ask the disturbing, uncomfortable questions of perfect strangers and do the most idiotic and crazy things to get the experience to make things as real as possible. I'm thorough. I won't release a chapter until I'm sure that I've written well past it and it still ties in together correctly.

Something I've also been told repeatedly that I do well, so I've become quite conscious of ensuring it, is cinematic writing. I want readers to be able to "see" what's going on. I'm actually constantly studying ways to make scenes come alive that way these days.

17. What’s your writing weaknesses?

Doubts. I sometimes finish a chapter or a piece and I'm suddenly struck with the horiffying thought I've fucked up bigtime or, more often, I've missed something important... which, let's be real, you can go back and fix in A03-land or your word processor. But the doubt persists, and that is an enternal issue I'm still working through.

On a more technical note, I am in absolute agony when I write group scenes—so I force myself to keep doing them. It's hard enough to balance dialogue without the tags, with enough intent, meaning, etc. Add in three or more extra people, and it's a game of keeping track of everyone and still making the scenes seem natural. Also, as a lot of M/M or F/F shippers must feel, it's a fun trip when you're using the same pronouns for both parts of a couple, isn't it? As an extension of that, I'm pushing myself to work with ensemble casts, as readers of my Sparks in the Ice series may have noticed. It's lovely for my writing practice, so I'm gunna keep at it till I can tick this off my to study list. I don't think there's any part of writing I find particularly easy, even if I've listed it as a strength. I've been stumped for hours or days on scenes that I don't have any exact frame of reference for.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I'm mostly comfortable with it. I do it in both my fanfiction and my original work. English is my first language, but I'm semi-fluent in two others, passably conversational in another, and currently baby-step learning a new one. I think it's a prerequisit for any Arrowverse scene that involves Hartley talking with Cisco and/or Eobard-Thawne-as-Harrison-Wells. For any language I'm not familiar with, I consult friends and the great wide interwebs.

But there's a caveat there. When you use languages that stray from the one most of the text is written in, there has to be a DAMNED good reason. If you can layer at least two reasons for this sentence/phrase to NOT be in English, consider it. If it's just for the sake of you, the writer, wanting to show off, skip it. At least, that's my personal rule. E.g. Hartley and Cisco talking: For Hartley, it's a refresher that he can speak these languages and, because of the choice of things he says, it reveals something of his snootiness and educational/cultural leanings. For Cisco, it's because he grew up bilingual to an extent, and his wording implies a casual, day-to-day useage in opposition to hifalutin Hart-speak.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Ohhhh... I don't recall, since I had a horribly long hiatus from writing in my teens, which I'm long past at this point. When I hit A03 in...2016, though, I ran headlong into Hannigram.

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Hmmm... I don't actually have one. I feel a sense of quiet achievement every time I finish a project, be it a chaptered fic or a one-shot. But I still have a LOT to say in my Sparks in the Ice series. I guess, in a way, that does make it a favorite, doesn't it?