#talk shop tuesday

[seek--rest]

Talk Shop Tuesday

Talk Shop Tuesday: the day of the week where you send fan creators (fic writers, fan artists, anyone that creates things for your fandom) questions about what they do! It can be fic-specific or general but either way: send them a question talking "shop" about the things they create! You never know what you might learn!

Rules:

send asks to creators in your fandom

share this post

have fun

#seek speaks #talk shop tuesday #fandom #fan art #fanfic #fan fiction #writeblr #artblr #gifs

[vryfmi]

TALK SHOP TUESDAY!!!

what's the last thing you drew?

second question: did you/will you ever open commissions? 👀

hellooo!! thanks for the ask!

oooh, you caught me with this one off guard. unfortunately whatever im drawing right now i can't talk about much (but soon! very excited to share it!). have a recent attempt at shitposting tho

[id in alt text]

as for commissions. as of now or any time soon im not planning on taking any - too busy with studies and life in general. maybe one day. i did take a few commissions before but only from my close friends. most notable was a dnd character that our party's dm commissioned. it was her character from another campaign, which was my first time designing someone else's character, everyone was pleased with the result

#talk shop tuesday #lockwood and co #l&co #shitpost #inbox #id in alt text #artpost #.mypost

[queseraone]

Talk shop Tuesday: how many and which fics do have planned or have started writing? Talk about them. 🤭

Omg you brat 🙈💗

So I am, of course, insane, and have a Google Doc to keep myself organized (suddenly wondering why I didn't make a Google Sheet... a change may be in order!)

Anyway, so I have "in-progress," "ideas," "abandoned?" and "completed" lists (and then I link to each of the docs within the doc, because I like organization, okay?). I also have a list of lyrics/title ideas and "homeless pieces of writing" (where I copy and paste things that didn't quite fit into a particular fic) in here as well. It's like my own little master list.

Still along for the insanity ride? I swear there's a method to my madness.

I consider a fic in-progress if I've actually started writing it (as in, I have written actual sentences/paragraphs for it, not just jotted down a few bullet points), so here is that list:

6x06 post-ep fic (Tim's Version - hope to have this done in the next few days, if the muse cooperates)

a very (very) bare bones start to a car accident angst-fest

a beachy AU that may and may not happen

an outsider POV fic I started during Chenford Week last year and am on the fence on finishing (it's sooooo random and and feels kind of pointless, but I love outsider POV fics)

a continuation of our 5x08 spec fic collab (because girl, we cannot leave it like that)

On the ideas front (this includes both ideas with tons of notes/plans, and ones with two bullet points and a prayer):

a smutty reunion of sorts...

a sort of enemies-to-lovers AU (Lucy is either a reporter or a screenwriter... or both?, Tim is a cop)

a what-if sort of scenario - what if Lucy and Emmett dated longer (or got back together) - aka how Tim realizes he's in love with her and makes his move

Contractor Tim AU (iykyk - this is basically born out of my desire to not waste the 10K+ words I started for Linstead - we shall see if I'm able to reimagine it for Chenford)

a collab with you that I think would be so much fun (the experience and the actual fic itself), so I really hope we can make that happen together

a Wildest Dreams-inspired collab with @makeitastrength that'll hopefully be a hiatus project

a little thing that's basically me bashing the go-to jealousy trope and coming at it from a totally different (fluffy) angle

an inkling of an idea to go back and dive deeper into various conversations between Tim and Angela over the years (including scenes we saw on the show and scenes we didn't)

And, for fun, a list of ideas I've abandoned (maybe temporarily, maybe forever):

a heartbreaker where Kojo dies - but also included a trip down memory lane at some moments in his/their life so it wasn't pure sadness (full disclosure, this was basically my personal therapy after my dog died a few weeks ago. I am so sorry Kojo, I promise I'm your number one cheerleader)

a fun group/couples game night (the result of me misreading a prompt that said "it's a fight, couples fight" and then the idea of the couples battling it out took over my mind... 😅)

I feel like I'm missing a few more, but this is already the longest, most insane response ever... and if you made it to the end? Congratulations/I'm sorry.

ILY 💖

#talk shop tuesday #asked and answered #timandlucy #writing #chenford #the rookie

[mamadoc]

What's the last sentence you wrote?

I literally was writing this sentence when I saw the notification pop up.

(slight cheat of two sentences since they pair well)

Instead of taking his hands off of Lucy, Tim held her a little bit closer. His face hardened as he locked his chiseled jaw and glared intensely at the man who had the audacity to march into Lucy’s hospital room and claim her as his own.

What about you?

#chenford #fanfic #tim bradford #lucy chen #the rookie #tim bradford x lucy chen #chenford fanfic #fanfiction writer #talk shop tuesday

[hollow-dweller]

Talk Shop Tuesday: are there any tropes that you believe should go firmly and irretrievably in the trash, never to be seen again? If yes, is this specific to any particular fandoms? Or just across the board? And why? 🎤

the thing for me about tropes is that they do exist for a reason. there is always Something--emotionally, thematically, artistically--that is being satisfied through the employment of tropes, and i think that in and of itself is entirely value-neutral.

similarly, tropes are not generated or propagated in a vacuum. they exist in a continuity that is comprised of every other artistic work that employs that trope, and from that continuity, certain patterns and trends emerge. this is also value-neutral.

not every individual instance of any given trope is going to be representative of the overarching trends that trope represents, but any time you utilize a trope, you are in some way in conversation with those trends. the exception proves the rule, etc etc.

what this all means for me is that when i think about Tropes I Hate, i can usually separate them out into these component elements, and examine why or why not any or all of them might be compelling. so while i might hate the trope or the trends it represents/generates for the most part, i do think there is value in examining them, and therefore i have a hard time simply consigning any trope to the garbage heap.

an example: Bully Flash Thompson is a trope that is generated by his canon role, but propagated in fandom in a way that is explicitly racist. MCU fanon Flash is depicted as more aggressive, more threatening, and less complex than he ever is in canon. (that last is particularly egregious, given that we're talking about the MCU where "character depth" is a contradiction in terms.) it is also a trope that is propagated because it satisfies specific emotional/psychological needs: usually but not always the vicarious pleasure of seeing a bully figure receive their "just desserts"; less frequently the equally vicarious pleasure of seeing a bully realize the harm they've done and reform their ways; even less frequently the desire to explore why bullies behave the way they do generally and why Flash Thompson specifically behaves the way he does.

any use of the Bully Flash Thompson trope, whether it is a subversion, an explanation, a criticism, or a straightforward depiction, is in conversation with both the broader trends present in the trope and the emotional, psychological, or thematic elements satisfied by the trope. another way to think of it is function versus effect: what does the trope do in the art and what does it do in the culture?

the exercise of pulling those pieces apart is essential, to me, both from the perspective of wanting to Think about the art that fandom creates, and from the perspective of community building. understanding why tropes do or do not appeal to us from an emotional or psychological standpoint makes us better, more thoughtful, and more creative artists and audiences. theoretically. conversely, understanding what trends a trope might be representative of or contribute to helps us generate a more honest and safe fandom environment, by acknowledging and dealing with the pernicious elements of that trope. you know. theoretically.

having said all of that, are you ever going to catch me writing or reading a Bully Flash Thompson fic? nay.

#bully flash is not the only trope that i dislike #or honestly not even the one i dislike most #it was just the most straightforward example i could think of off the top of my head #there are plenty of tropes that i would happily never see again #but i do think there is value in studying them like bugs #and then exterminating them. also like bugs. #talk shop tuesday

[chenfordspiral]

Talk Shop Tuesday: You've possibly answered this already but I'm very new to the fandom so I would've missed it, and I'm curious: What is your writing routine? Do you have anything you need to write? What apps etc do you use?

Oh ask away! I’m not sure I have talked about this before actually so thank you!

Well, my routine is that it’s a mess. I wish I was kidding but that truly does describe my process best. I spend a lot of time just staring at my cursor whenever I have time to write but the words just won’t come. There's lots of cussing and cursing and, well, whining and crying involved in that particular instance, and it's truly not fun. I've learned that just sitting still and staring at the screen won't help so usually I just try and find something else to focus on and see what comes of it after.

One sure way to get me to write? Going to bed. I swear as soon as my head hits that pillow, there's millions of ideas and scenes suddenly floating around in my mind that need to be written down right that second. And I mean right that second cause otherwise they're gone forever because no, I will not remember in the morning. So that's why I've got countless notes in my notes app on my phone with pieces of dialogue and ideas for scenes. I actually use Notion to write, both on my phone and my laptop, but those specific ideas that come to mind at all hours of the day are in my notes app, for whatever reason.

What do I need to write? Inspiration. I can honestly pretty much write anywhere and with any kind noise around as long as I have some sort of inspiration (I usually listen to music while I write and even have a show on in the background sometimes).

So usually, a story starts with one very particular scene or piece of dialogue in mind and I try and work my way around it as best I can. Some of these have turned into stories, some are still waiting to be somehow incorporated into a fic. I feel like I had more of a straightforward plan when I started writing a year ago, but I guess the mess comes with having too many ideas to know how to handle them..

EDIT: There's also lots and LOTS of bothering @escapismqueen with questions and my overthinking nature. Seriously, she has to put up with this crap every single day and still tolerates me. I truly do have the best bestie in the world.

Even this answer is kind of a mess (sorry!) but it's honestly the truest way of answering your question 😆

Thanks for the ask! ❤︎

#talk shop tuesday #asked and answered #zadien #writing #fanfic

[thisnightissparkling089]

What's an idea/trope/storyline that you'd like to write, but you haven't had the chance or confidence to write?

In the whirlwind that was last Tuesday, I never got a chance to answer this!

Actually, the one shot I'm working on right now about the post breakup awkwardness is an idea I didn't think would ever come to fruition because I didn't know how exactly to execute it.

I had pitched it to Ivy last week (@sisterofficerlucychen) and we talked about it and I explained that it would never see the light of day😅

Her only response was, "What do I have to do to ensure it does see the light of day??"

So when this does get finished, hopefully in the next week or two, we all have her to thank😊

And I'm going to take a second to brag on her because she is truly the best! I'm way less nervous about what I write these days because A.) She is the greatest hype woman out there and gives me such confidence and B.) I know I'll always have at least one person reading my stories and hyping them up.

I'm excited to see where this story leads and hope to work on it this week. Thanks for the ask, Virginia!

#the rookie #chenford #talk shop tuesday #writing #writers of tumblr #fan fiction #fanfiction #ao3 fic

[the--journeys]

Talk Shop Tuesday: turning back to YOU, what’s a headcanon/piece of fanon you hold that directly contradicts canon? Similarly, what’s a piece of canon that you refuse to ignore even if fanon/fandom does?

My answer to this might come back to bite me one day but I'm going to be honest and true and say that I am not the biggest fan of MCU Peter Parker's personality.

"journeys," you say, "for someone who claims to love Peter Parker and respect the source material, the main character's personality is an insane thing to try and fanon away."

You would be right! But the truth is, I do love MCU Peter Parker. He gets a lot of shit from comic fans and has been done so dirty in a lot of fandom circles by people who claim to love him, but my personal belief is that MCU Peter is a good version of Peter Parker. Not to mention that neither of the other movie adaptations adapt his comic personality correctly either My issues with his personality— the things I most often change in my own fics— are, imo, not related to the core of who he is. He's still a simultaneously selfless and selfish guy, has a Manhattan-sized guilt complex, and wants to do good because he can do good. He's competent (despite what fandom tries to tell you!) and if I make him a little less quiet and a little more chaotic, I don't think that's a fundamental misunderstanding of his character.

That being said! I'm never going to fight someone who says that MCU Peter's personality is different than how I tend to represent it. They're right!

As for something I refuse to ignore...literally Ned??? Where the hell is he?? Put him back in fics?? Ned is one of MCU Peter's top three— maybe even top two— most important relationships. Whenever he disappears I am Incredibly Confused.

#talk shop tuesday

[fanfic-obsessed]

Talk shop Tuesday?

Thoughts on things discussed in either the "I love my Jedi but what the fuck?" or the "What the fuck do they mean the will of the Force?" support groups?

Ooh, I do have some thoughts. 

In Case anyone is curious "I Love my Jedi but what the Fuck" Comes from Fundamental Cultural Misunderstanding And "What the fuck do they mean the will of the Force?" comes from Mace has had enough

There is one topic that comes up first, whenever someone new joins. This is for either group.  It can be summarized into ‘They do not mean to be irritating, we swear’

Force Sensitivity is something that someone has from birth, it is effectively another sense. Intrinsic to them. Force Sensitives can no more describe The Force in its entirety to Force Nulls, than we can explain the color green to someone who is colorblind. 

Unfortunately it is so intrinsic that Force users tend to fall into one of two groups. The ones raised around other Force Users (Jedi, Night Sisters, and other such traditions) will keep trying to explain the Force, their visions, their abilities to Force Nulls but always try to explain the same way that they would to another Force sensitive (never realizing that the person is missing a frame of reference). The ones raised around Force Nulls never seem to quite realize that the way they experience the world is fundamentally different from Force Nulls, so also never figure out that they need to find a different way to explain what they are sensing. 

 This leads, particularly with the Jedi, to a number of phrases that they will repeat (a highly irritating number of times) when explaining something that means nothing to their Force Null partner, but the Jedi honestly thinks is sufficient. 

In the "I love my Jedi but what the fuck?" group there is a Biannual bingo card (in that they meet every six months to gather more items for the bingo cards) for ‘Weirdest ways to meditate’, ‘How the Kriff did you get there?’, and ‘What animal have you adopted, and do you realize it bites?’.  The rules state you can only have a bingo card in one category at a time. Cody almost always has Bingo for ‘Weirdest ways to meditate’ (even though he only provides 25% of the suggestion, he suspects Obi Wan finds the cards and uses it for ideas). 

The "What the fuck do they mean the will of the Force?" tends to be romantic/sexual partners, so there are semi frequent discussions about how exactly the Force has been used in the bedroom, particularly when the alcohol comes out.  Padme received a number of suggestions that Anakin would be abjectly horrified came from Cody(thus, indirectly, from Obi Wan).

Thank you for asking, @somestorythoughts

#star wars #star wars the clone wars #star wars au #i love to answer questions #talk shop tuesday

[callsignspark]

Talk Shop Tuesday: is there a particular WIP you're excited about?

ohhh yes!!! I’m working on two follow ups to a nonsense christmas!! we’ll see Harrison and Noelle again for a nonsense valentine’s day which is the sweet, silly, and sexy story of how they officially start dating. and a nonsense halloween which is straight up smut involving Harrison wearing a ghost face mask and Noelle wearing this lingerie inspired by ames texting me “this set and harrison” and she was 100000% correct. anyway this one is a ​scene they do where it’s scantily clad sorority girl in a horror movie vs the bad guy 🤪

ask me anything for talk shop tuesday!

#sabrina isn’t the faceclaim for noelle but her in this shoot absolutely is dear lord #also it’s supremely cheesey but also really sexy and I feel like that perfectly sums those two up #thanks abby 🫶 #asks answered #withahappyrefrain #talk shop tuesday

[shrinkthisviolet]

talk shop tuesday - I know Lucy's obviously going to have a main role in the films, but will you be having her appear in any of the spin-offs shows/novels? If not, what led to that decision?

This is admittedly TBD, largely because I have to actually catch up on the spin-off books 😅 I do plan on sorta adapting the Legends Thrawn trilogy, since I want to introduce Mara, so yes to that (although how much Lucy will be in it is TBD until I actually read it in full 😅)

I doubt she’ll appear on the Mandalorian in a major way, possibly just a small cameo at most. Possibly in Book of Boba Fett if the timeline lines up…? I don’t exactly feel like watching that again, but Lucy will probably be on Tatooine post-OT for a bit, so maybe a few minor encounters.

Ooh actually I definitely know she’ll appear majorly in Last Shot, protecting Lando from attempts on his life—after all, what better person than a Jedi to help in protection from assassination attempts? Just ask Anakin and Padmé! It’ll be so fun 💞 and a nice opportunity to write more of Lando & Han’s friendship* and explore the underrated Lucy & Han and Lucy & Lando dynamics, the latter of which I’m very excited to write (especially in ESB, when they meet 🥰)

(*tangentially relevant: Lando and Han are the same age in this AU, like in Legends, and like they were before the TROS art book came out. Lando isn’t 10 years older for some weird reason)

talk shop tuesday!

Taglist (send an ask or DM to be added or removed):

@arrthurpendragon @ocappreciationtag @raith-way @vexic929 @ironverseocs @thechaoticfanartist @goldheartedchaoticdisaster @negative-speedforce @dream-beyond-the-fantasy @starstruckpurpledragon @angst-is-love-angst-is-life

#oc: lucy kenobi #lucy kenobi au #star wars #fyeahstarwarsocs #talk shop tuesday

[seek--rest]

Talk Shop Tuesday

Starting a new thing because why not! Talk Shop Tuesday: the day of the week where you send fan creators (fic writers, fan artists, anyone that creates things for your fandom) questions about what they do! It can be fic-specific or general but either way: send them a question talking "shop" about the things they create! You never know what you might learn!

#seek speaks #talk shop tuesday #fic #fanfic #fandom #writing #fanfic writing #fanfiction #writeblr

[missamyshay]

Talk shop Tuesday: how do you keep yourself motivated while writing longer fics?

Honestly? Reader engagement mostly.

Oneshots are like a sprint. Longfics are like a marathon. It’s fun at first but then at a point you get tired and bored and want to stop. Until you run past a group of random people cheering for you and handing out orange slices and it makes you feel like you can pick up your pace again and make it to the finish line.

In other words, I find that with writing longfic, the whims will carry you to a certain point (which varies from fic to fic), but inevitably, the whims will drop you at some point and either pop up elsewhere or just retreat into the darkness for a while lol. At that point, it’s left to my own sense of discipline to get the thing finished.

With writing essays/articles/theses etc, it’s easier to discipline myself because it’s for something. Or if I’m working on an original novel, it’s kind of easier to discipline myself because, again, I’m working towards an end goal.

Fanfiction, to me, is not so much about the end goal than it is about sharing the process. And with a long fic, if the whims have left, and it no longer feels like I’m writing it to satisfy myself, then I need that sense of knowing that it’s still satisfying others. Because otherwise, if it’s not bringing me joy, and I don’t see that it’s bringing anyone else joy either, there’s no motivation to continue and complete.

#talk shop tuesday

[queseraone]

Talk shop Tuesday: describe your writing process.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

It's cute that you think I have a process... I'm a disaster!!!

My process is basically this:

have an idea

think idea sucks

waffle about idea

talk about idea

someone convinces me idea is worth writing

stare at blank screen

make a few notes

curse at my blinking cursor (sidebar: that's totally why it's called that, right? grrrr)

write a sentence

get fixated on a minute detail

google said detail like my life depends on it

decide that detail isn't important enough to include anyway

write a sentence

edit my previous sentence

write a sentence

give up and go to bed

wake up at 3am with a great idea and tell myself I'll remember it in the morning

definitely do not remember it in the morning

(alternatively: wake up at 3am with a great idea and make note of it on my phone... only to realize it's completely stupid in the morning)

write a few sentences

question everything

edit the same sentence 200 times

forget a very common word

google "how to write ____"

finally manage to write the damn fic

curse ao3 for demanding summaries

go back and look at my previous fics to see what I used for tags

wince

close my eyes

hit post

try not to check my emails because iT's NoT aBoUt ThE cOmMeNtS

fail miserably at the above

no comments = my fic is total trash / what was I thinking / is it too late to go delete it?

push down the overwhelming desire to somehow reach through my computer and hug anyone who comments

repeat?

Thank you 😘 Let’s talk shop!

#asked and answered #talk shop tuesday #chenfordspiral #ask games #writing #fanfic #ao3 #my process

[pfhwrittes]

Talk Shop Tuesday:

What piece(s) has (have) been most influenced by friendships you've formed here, and how is that reflected in your work?

hi gemma, i love you 💜

(and heads up, this is going to get long)

oh boy, so many of my fics have been inspired by my friends here!

it's absolutely mental to me that i started this blog because i wanted to yell at @391780 on tumblr instead of in her ao3 comments. so i think we can all say thank you to the lovely early for being my entry point into the cod fandom (her work The Arrangement was one of the first fics i read in the fandom - and one of the fics i've mostly recently re-read. i finished it up around 7.30 this morning).

in fact the entirety of the Retail Hell AU was inspired by this ask which came off the back of a post of hers talking about john price working in retail post-141 life.

in fact, a lot of my Masterlist is the result of me going "EARLY I'VE HAD ANOTHER IDEA!!!" in her DMs. she has my eternal love and gratitude for being such a fantastic writer and cheerleader for my writing.

next up, the lovely @kaadaaan is the sole reason i have so many john "soap" mactavish is a Certified Freak posts in my Here Be Kink Masterlist (heed the tags with that one, it's 18+ for a reason). most notably my most recent fics featuring slightly pathetic!johnny x pervy housemate!reader (part one and part two or on ao3 here).

vi is the WORST for letting me run my mouth on her posts or in her DMs. i have a whole document of notes on how i want to expand those fics into a truly depraved universe (rip to kyle, he's about to get put in the middle of the weirdest threesome of his life while simon slowly loses his mind over the fact that his stolen t-shirt is now a cum rag for the most disgusting couple he knows).

then there's @syoddeye. i found For the Record on ao3 and fell in love with the way they write the messy reality of living with addiction and being kind of stalled out in your life. it dragged emotions i hadn't felt for years out of me and i think as a result it's given me the courage to be vulnerable in my own writing in a way that i wasn't confident enough to do when i first started writing for the fandom.

it's really fucking scary to leave parts of yourself in your writing, intentionally or not, but the fact that they continue to pour love on my kyle x transmasc!reader fic from my Binders and Boyfriends series and have called it a comfort fic just means the absolute world to me.

and finally, there's you cariad! yes that's right, you of @gemmahale fame! you have been one of my biggest and brightest cheerleaders for anything involving our beloved kyle "gaz" garrick. it has been an absolute joy to yell in your DMs over The Contract (and some other stuff 😉). i would apologise for going "wait, what about if we did THIS...?" and accidentally turning our lovely self-contained demon au into an entire universe BUT that would be a lie. i am deeply in lesbians with your brain and ideas.

i can't pinpoint a specific fic (aside from some still unseen stuff) that you've had the most influence over but much like sy has, you've encouraged me to trust my instincts with my stories. oh and to never ever scrap a single piece of a wip, just to put it in the odds and ends section at the bottom 😉.

special shout outs go to @greatstormcat, @mortuarywriting, @dragonnarrative-writes, @eilidh-eternal, @ceilidho, @secretsynthetic, @sentientcave and so many other fantastic people that i've seen pop up in my notes just to cheer me on and grace us all with their fantastic writing. every single one of you that i've mentioned (and some people that i'm sure i've forgotten) have encouraged me to keep writing, or to be conscientious and considerate in regards to keeping this little corner of the fandom i inhabit a diverse and welcoming space to ALL readers. from the bottom of my very mushy heart, thank you 💜

Talk Shop Tuesday

#pfh answers #Talk Shop Tuesday #i love each and every one of you that has taken time to read my fics or headcanons and has graced me with likes and reblogs #back in december 2023 i never would've expected to find my way into this community at all #and you've all been so wonderful and welcoming that it makes me a little bit emotional actually #just know that if you're reading this that i love you

[makeitastrength]

Talk Shop Tuesday -

It’s almost been a week since the break up.

How are you doing?

Has it affected how you read or write?

Not gonna lie, it’s been rough. The break up hit me so hard and honestly just wrecked my emotions for a solid 2-3 days. Add in the fact that I was already swamped at work and stressed and exhausted, and I’ve been kind of a mess.

It’s not hitting quite as hard now that some time has passed. And now that I’ve had time to think about it and come to terms with it, I’m actually kind of looking forward to what comes next. With the confirmation of season 7, I can see the potential for this to be really good arc related to growth and trust and reconciliation.

In terms of writing, I’ve abandoned everything else I was in the middle of to focus on exactly that - how do they move forward from here and how do we get them to the point of reconciliation? My goal is to have that fic out during this hiatus.

Because I’ve been so busy with work, I’ve been spending what little free time I have writing rather than reading so at this point I’m actually really behind. I don’t think I’ve read any post eps yet, and I have a bunch of AO3 emails in my inbox that I’m hoping to get to over the weekend.

How are you doing? Hanging in there okay?

#talk shop tuesday #asked and answered #chenford #the rookie