#kittysmith

I have decided to draw inspiration from folklore rather than transplanting folkloric creatures/spirits from now on because I want to HONOR but I also don’t want to STEAL.

Mostly, new creatures and beings and spirits will be original amalgamations that formed FROM people’s stories / folklore, but did not follow that script exactly. Or limit themselves to one script.

Some people might point at my ROTG fic Misstep / Cold and Dark and say, “Hey, you represent a VARIETY of pantheons of gods and spirits etc. in that story which is entirely about gods & spirits etc.” This is because I was a fool. I honestly don’t know if I can continue that one with how deeply I’ve sunken certain characters into the plot and I don’t know if I’ll be taking it down or just discontinuing it. I’m not sure how I can edit that one, if at all.

tldr: In the battle between representation and appropriation, I have decided to err on the side of let’s not be a dick. I’ll keep representation limited to human characters instead of also using specific folklore creatures.

This will probably make the chapters a little faster since I won’t be researching for hours trying to find creatures that match the plot point at hand and whether or not it’s okay for me to have them in this story.

Guys it’s 4AM as I start writing this so be prepared for a rant lol

So why have I not finished a lot of my older stories?

I start planning out stories in my head and on paper sometimes 2 years before I write the actual meat of the story. This means most of my first posted fanfiction were planned out when I was 11. To this DAY, even though the stories are abandoned or done (some just on years of “hiatus” lol), I get people telling me 11 year old Harry Potter or other such characters would not act that way because they were 11.

Meanwhile, baby me would just be like, “Oh, thank you for the advice!” while inwardly, “I think I know what an 11 year old would think, since an 11 year old wrote out this entire plot.”

Still acing that dadvid tag wordcount but...

Now I know it’s #2 in the Camp Camp category....

Me: (sweating nervously) It's- it's right in this-

Daniel: (leans over shoulder and gently pushes PC off of desk)