Thank you for the tags, @alloveroliver and @otonymous!
Name: pseu (I lowercase it on purpose, but it doesnāt bug me if you treat it as a proper name/capitalize!)
Fandoms: Now: SLBP (lingering-- I love some of the characters too much to quit!), Cybirdās IkĆ©men series, FE3H. Iām also reading STUPID amounts of BTS stories lately, those writers are amazing!
Looking forward to: Hopefully getting back into The Arcana when some of the routes conclude. I started TAISHO x ALICE recently and Iād love to write stories for that and some of the other otome Iāve enjoyed. And like so many other writers, some original projects. :)
Where You Post: pseu slings and gift stories are here on tumblr, and everything pre-dumblr. Longer/refined pieces on Ao3. Many, many things languish in my google docs or emails Iāve sent myself and donāt get posted. š¤¦š»āāļø
Most Popular One-Shot:Ā Not what I thought it would be! Here it is Venture (Kanetsugu/MC). On Ao3 itās Something Blue, IkĆ©Sen Masamune/MC. I tried really hard last year to edit Something Blue to bring it up to where my writing is now, but couldnāt get through it. Learned my lesson in letting things be. š¤·š»āāļø
Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: Real (ao3 / tumblr), which is Shigezane/[named] MC. Another one I feel compelled to edit, because I would change a lot about it if I were writing it today. But I also cherish it for what it is.
Favorite Story You Wrote: Oooooh! Hard! I think from last year that is Frost-Edged Fire, a āwhat happenedā story for Sansa post-GoT. I like the way it reads, it felt good to make, and the response has been positive somewhere where I didnāt have my name to stand on, so I feel very satisfied with that one. I also really like one of the pieces I wrote for an Arcana zine coming out this year. :)
Story You Were Nervous to Post: I swing back and forth between āwhat happens, happens, Iāve written what I felt l needed toā and āPLEASE LET PEOPLE NOT HATE THIS sob sob sobā. I remember when I was working on Real I was trying to let go of some of my own standards for MAKE IT MAKE SENSE BACK FIVE GENERATIONS, so I was scared people would pick it apart even though it was such a soft, smooshy story and such a soft, smooshy thing to write. It still makes me feel vulnerable! I had my first run in with an anti in 2018 and for a while that shook me. I didnāt change what I wrote after that, but the experience was so jarring and gross I was tense.
How You Choose Your Titles: I like sideways titles, in the way of allusions and references. I usually choose single words that are either meant to encapsulate the tone or primary action of a story, or a word or short snip from a phrase, which I hope a reader will read in full in their head even though part of it isnāt there. But I understand that once something is out there, itās really up to the reader to make of text and title what they will! That or phrases in French I try to make myself but often have to run by a native speaker to make sure they mean what I think they do (often: not quite).
Completed: I have no idea. The pseu slings bump the number way up, itās probably around 150 total? For non-snippets, around 50? (Ao3 has 53 works, some of which have multiple sections)
Incomplete: I have an idea, and it is mortifying. There are some things Iāve written a little bit for but I know I wonāt go back to and sometimes I think about putting them up as free prompts for others. Things Iām really trying on? 7. Given up but not ready to say so... 15ish? More Iām forgetting?
Do You Outline? Sorta! I start with the scene or scenes that motivate me to write in the first place, and then I have to outline to connect them. They are not usually the beginning or end because life is not fair and those parts are really hard.
Coming Soon/Not Yet Started: More IkĆ©Vamp! More parts in at last (MLQC). More FE3H! Maybe this will be the year I finally write the Isshiki-sempai story Iāve had floating in my head for Shokugeki no Soma. WHO KNOWS?! (I do. I wonāt.)
Do You Accept Prompts? Sometimes! I love doing pseu slings twice a year (once in March and the other later in the year for a follower milestone or something). tbh it can be incredibly freeing, motivating, and feel-goody to write what I know someone has asked for-- connecting to requests and filling them feels wonderful and I have less time to dither or gather rosebuds or whatever, so itās productive. I think some of my best work is writing that others have requested.Ā
Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited to Write:Ā
More of aesthetes, belligerents, contortionists (IkƩSen Yoshimoto/MC).
ā„ļø ASH EXTRAS! ā„ļø
What do you use to edit?: Just me! Iām not flawless, but I trust myself more than any automatic service. I consciously choose to ignore several best practices when writing anyway. When Iām not as confident as I would like to be about something new, I may ask someone I trust in fandom to look it over as a one-time thing.
Writing setup: This is my desk right now! Thatās a draft of this post on my laptop screen.
I need silence and steady lighting to write, so I set up my ~space~ in our basement. When I get a better desk chair and my cozy chair in here for brainstorming, it will be heaven! š„° Need: better record storage, more bookshelves, to paint, a rug instead of one of those Barnes & Noble quote blankets on the floor...
Do you use a beta reader? No. I love the just-right feeling of a good collaboration with (or being!) a beta reader, Iāve had it and it is magic! But it has proven incredibly difficult to find anyone who can be trustworthy long term + available. + interested. adflkjsf
Where do you get your writing inspiration?: Nature, conflict, and consuming other media. Museum trips. New foods. Sometimes dreams!
Can we get a quote from an upcoming WIP?:
Every lord of Kasugayama (even the lord of Kasugayama) had given her fine thread and cloth. It was Yoshimoto who made a quiet gift of needles before she could attempt to find them herself.
They were in a slender little canister, painted blue and cream and gold, and when he placed it in her palm goosebumps bloomed over her arms and legs. One of his hands held hers from below and the other lingered on the other side of the needlecase, close enough for warmth, close enough that she felt like a carefully-captured butterfly. A part of her soul waited to be appraised and wished she had wings.
If you see this and you wanna do it, please do, and please tag me so I can see! Iād love to know more about your process.