For the fanfiction ask game, any work of your choosing: 4 9 12 14!
Hi Citrus! Thanks for the ask <3 I think I'm going to make this a choose your own adventure and hop from Digimon fic to fic, lol!
4.) What things did you research for this fic?
For Voices especially, I did a deep dive into the Japanese high school year (the story follows the Chosen through a Japanese academic school year), and whatever aspects of Japanese culture were relevant. I wrote down my "key points" at the end of each chapter, which I thought was helpful at the time, since so many anime fanfics are theoretically set in Japan. In retrospect, though, I find it a bit cringey! Is this a fic or a lesson, lol?!?
For Seeking Resonance, I did a lot of medical research on bacteremia, which actually has been helpful several times since then, which is wild! I also researched what an ICU visit is like. Oh, and I wrote a British character and purposefully tried to make him sound like that Austin Powers scene where Austin and his father go into hyper (comedic) British mode and start just. Saying "tea kettle" like it's a sentence. At the time, I thought this was hilarious, but again, it's cringe in retrospect, lol! He was a fun character, though. I loved his dedication to ridiculousness.
For Puits d'Amour, I tried to do a ton of research on life in France and Japan in the 1930s. It was... impossible. All I found was info on Great Britain and America. In the end, I just... Made everything explicitly NOT historically/culturally accurate. However, I did a ton of research on courtship through history in America and Great Britain, like I bought and read research books. I already knew that western marriage has always been the practice of keeping inheritance/property tied to a male family line/name, but... It was wild to see the nuts and bolts of that laid out. More enjoyably, I also researched ikebana. I even attended an ikebana workshop in Kyoto! It was a highlight of the trip.
I, um. I have asked myself if some of my fics are elaborate excuses to research stuff and utilize that research.
9.) Was any particular scene extra fun to write?
Okay so in Growing Up with You, the scene where Phantomon threatens Eimi to divulge Koushiro's location in the parking lot during the Siege on Odaiba was something I had been waiting to write for like... 200,000+ words. I can't really tell you why. It's partially just vibes. A showdown with Phantomon in the fog in a parking lot in an abandoned city? Aesthetic af. A mood, nay, a vibe. But it's also just... It's so Eimi.
"I'll kill you if you don't sacrifice someone else."
"Do it, then, cuz that ain't me."
And then when Koushiro freaks out at her afterward, because self-sacrifice can be extremely selfish. He says something like, "And what did you expect me to do? Thank you at the grave and get on with my life?" AND THAT IS SO FAIR. I feel like that aspect of self-sacrifice is so, so, so rarely explored, or even commented on?!?! And that's just another key aspect of Eimi. She's so "good" that it often circles around to negative consequences. You need a wider scope, darling.
12.) Is there any aspect of your fic you considered changing? How would it have been different?
I think this isn't quite the answer to the question, but it's what I want to talk about, so... xD
There is something about Growing Up with You that I changed because of review pressures, and I wish I hadn't. I had a lot of reviews "calling me out" on Eiji, Eimi's father, needing a tragic reason to behave the way he did. At the risk of being too real, I grew up in an emotionally abusive household. A lot of Eiji's lines are just. Straight from my home life. And while my father surely had things go wrong in his life, there was never some big, tragic event that made him... Like That.
I caved and gave Eiji a personal tragedy in his backstory. In reality, a small percentage of people are just miserable, and they smear misery around because it momentarily makes them feel a little better. A larger percentage are not trying to be cruel, but are struggling to deal with life on earth, which as we all know, is difficult more often than not. And that's never an excuse or a reason to be cruel, but...
Listen, this idea that every single villain/antagonist character needs some Big Tragic Reason to be awful is simplistic, reductive, and dull. It totally ignores the fact that people who overall mean well, or at least don't mean to cause harm, can do a lot of horrible things. We're all at risk of taking a wrong turn because of pressures combined with lack of resources (money for therapy, for example).
I love a tragic villain, but I love acknowledging the constant struggle of being a responsible, growing human far more.
14.) What is your favorite chapter (if applicable)?
One of my faves is Yamato's chapter from After August! I had a vision and I absolutely smashed it out of the park. And I rarely say stuff like that! I just really love that chapter.
Thanks so much for the ask! I had a blast!
