#sofapup17

❌ What’s a trope you will never write?

saw your emoji ask post and figured that I would ask some questions! have a lovely day!

Thank you so much, darling! 💜

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

No, never.

I have never made a choice in one of my stories with the specific purpose of being mean to my readers, playfully or otherwise. Simply because I don't think that the way I want my readers to feel should impact the story to that degree. That's a slippery slope that can accidentally lead to certain characters feeling OOC or the story taking weird turns just because the author wants to pander to their audience.

Also, I just don't relate to the "I'm a writer and must therefore be mean to both my characters and my readers" concept. If you do, that's awesome — all the power to you! But that's not me. I write stories because I love the characters or the concepts or the world or all of the above. And so that's what I'm going to stay true to, which means that what happens in my stories happens because it makes sense for the characters, not because I want to lead my readers to feel a certain way.

I also don't want to fall into the trap of thinking that I can predict what my readers will think and feel, nor do I want to force them to feel a specific emotion. I prefer to write the story and then just let people feel whatever comes naturally to them. And, in some ways, that might be why my writing is so effective? Because I write with the character in mind, describing what they are feeling, not what feeling I want the readers to feel. And, more often than not, that seems to result in my readers feeling the same thing as the characters.

And I think some readers can tell that I'm not trying to force them? I leave it to them to experience the story as they see fit, because it's really not my job to tell them what to feel. I'm just here to tell a story.

But, all of that said, I am guilty of teasing my readers about things that I know they will react to. So it might sometimes seem like I'm doing it on purpose, but I promise I'm not. I just seize the chance to be a little shit when the opportunity presents itself xD

❌ What’s a trope you will never write?

I've already answered this over here! :D

You have a lovely day too!

I'm... sorry? x'D I swear I'm not doing it on purpose! Like, I AM trying to write the best fics I possibly can, but it's kind of out of my hands how they resonate with my readers. Though I will admit that this isn't the first time I've heard something along these lines. My wife, in particular, has complained about this phenomenon many times xD

And, tbh, in the case with The Devil Judge? One of the reasons why I've read so few fics myself in that fandom is because I realised pretty quickly that I wouldn't find what I was looking for. Not in the sense where I think that the other fics are bad, just that they didn't have the characterisation, themes, etc. that I wanted.

So I decided to write my own. And sometimes I pass mostly unnoticed in fandoms because I honestly write pretty "boring" and "vanilla" stories? Like, I rarely explore the kinkier sides of fandom or the more popular tropes. More often than not, I write post-canon fics or complex AUs. And the demand isn't as high for that, I guess?

But if there is one pattern I've noticed it's that while I may have fewer readers than the popular writers, I seem to have a pretty strong impact on the ones who DO end up reading my fics. Along the lines of what you're describing here — i.e. that I unintentionally set the bar way too high.

Which, uh, yeah. Sorry? No refunds? x'D

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

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Thank you, darling ;)

I mean, I DO put a lot of effort into them. Sometimes a little too much, even x'D

And sometimes I wish I could read them like a reader. Like, there are times when I can get close to it, if I suddenly read a fic I haven't read in a couple of years, but it's never quite the same since I always know, deep down, that it's mine.

But, speaking of that, I'm considering reading Who Holds the Devil from the beginning. I don't think I've done that in... uh... a year? I think I reread it before writing chapter 22. But since then I've just kept going and trusted that I remember the story well enough without having to reread it.

Because I like to live dangerously, clearly.

But yeah. I'm considering actually rereading it now. Partly to get back into it but also just... because I'm curious? I wonder what it's like to read it from the beginning. The only thing holding me back is the fact that Ga On was so depressed at the beginning and I hate to see him sad x'D

(I actually had this crazy thought that, just maybe, I could do some sort of live reaction/director's commentary of my own fic (at least some of the earlier chapters) because I bet I'll run into a lot of stuff that will make me go "OH YEAH, THIS SHIT." But that also sounds like a lot of work so maybe not )