Someone Please Remind Me Not To Write Descriptions Of Myself When I'm Depressed

As much as I desperately want my fics to be up to the same standard as a traditionally published work, I’m not a literary editor.

I’ve been an editor of professional copywriting for many years, but I’ve come to learn that there is a gap between the skills needed for professional/technical editing and literary editing. Maybe not a vast gap. It’s still there.

All that to say, fanfiction gives writers and editors an opportunity to learn new skills. We should always keep honing our craft, no matter what that looks like.

I hate that there’s a stigma around fanfiction writing because it presents such a rich opportunity to grow as writers and editors.

And I hate even more that such a stigma stems from misogyny. There’s a pre-conceived notion that writers who are women (often queer women) and young don’t have anything worthy to offer. Of course, it swings in every direction for women of every age. Misogyny is no respecter of age, but the way some folks talk about young women’s writing makes me want to throw hands.

You — yes, you, fanfic writer reading this — need to keep doing what you’re doing. There is no more noble endeavor than creating something you love in earnest.

Don’t stop. Please.

I have read fanfics that have left me in tears, both happy and sad, had me laughing my ass off, wanting to scream. Fanfics might be seen as weird and taboo (weirdly enough) but no one can say that some fics aren’t so well written it feels like you’re reading a best selling book!

Adorable! I love this for him.

And relatable because this is the standard reaction I get from anyone I make listen to The Decemberists.

Hi, hello.

All this recent talk about Shane coded songs made me think about Harvey a bit. I’m of the opinion that he’d be a fan of the Decemberists, and from that thought came what has got to be the most self-indulgent little thing I’ve ever written.

Look below the cut for some SFW fluff.

Contains: domesticity and conversations best suited for those of us whose musical tastes crystallized in the 2006 indie folk scene.

Harvey had a vinyl collection. It was endearing, his dedication to physical media. Mostly jazz albums, smooth and smoky, all warm and rich through his speakers.

You weren’t much for jazz. He had some other options too, but you weren’t sure those were for you either.

“Why do you listen to music about dead babies?”

You’d asked it while washing the dishes. Harvey nearly dropped the plate in his hands. “What!?”

You shrugged. “I put on one of your records and the guy was singing about a dead baby.”

“You… what album?” Harvey’s eyes were crinkled in bemusement.

“It had a boat on it?”

Harvey thought for a second, then his face lit in recognition. “The Decemberists! They’re wonderful!”

You laughed. “Didn’t know your taste was so… edgy?”

“Oh no no no.” Harvey was blushing. “That track… not a good representation. Here.” He dried his hands, grabbed yours, pulled you into his hobby room. You leaned against the door, trying to control your smile as he rifled through his albums. He made a small “ah” sound as he pulled one out. “This is a better starting point.”

Strings filled the room, and you settled in on the floor to listen. You liked this one a little better, but…

“Is this a song about a couple jumping off a cliff together?”

“…yes?” Harvey ducked his head, an embarrassed smile playing on his lips.

“I mean, I like it better than the dead baby one…”

“Hmmm…” Harvey fiddled with the player again. “They’re known for this one. Might want to sit down, it’s long.”

You appeased him, doing your best not to knock into the model that was drying on the table next to you. Harvey joined, picking up a bit of sandpaper. He worked away at a few small pieces of wood as you spent the next nine minutes trying to follow the action of a rambling nautical tale.

“So let me get this straight,” you said as an accordion reeled through its outro. “This dude bankrupted the kids mom and gave her an std or something, so the singer took to sea to kill him, but then they both got swallowed by a whale, but he’s still gonna kill him?”

Harvey nodded, keeping his eyes on his project. “Yup. That’s… that’s about it.”

“Huh.” You sat and watched him for a moment as he smoothed away at a rough edge. The track transitioned, a gentle guitar picking, the lead singer’s lowing tenor sliding through a simple melody.

You recognized it.

“I think I know this one?” You tried to place it. It sounded a little different in your head. Softer. Hummed.

Harvey was blushing again. “I get it stuck in my head sometimes. It’s one of my favorites. ‘Of Angels and Angles.’ Makes me think of you.”

“Awww…” You couldn’t help the slow smile. That was exactly it. Harvey would hum it sometimes around the house, or, now that you were thinking a little harder, when you were in bed, head on his chest, the melody rumbling beneath you as you grew up warm and tired and relaxed.

Harvey’s lips were moving, singing without singing as he brushed away a bit of dust from the wing he held.

There’s a swallow

There’s a calm

Here’s a hand to lay on your open palm today

You stood, wrapped your arms around his shoulder, buried your face in his hair as the song wound its way to its end. “Alright,” you said. “That was a lot better than the first one I heard. What else you got?”

Harvey tilted his head up at you. “Ever heard the story of the crane wife?”

You hadn’t, but now you couldn’t wait to hear all about it.

Far and away my favorite trope.

Like what do you mean they’ve moved from simple friendship to deep, unconditional love so seamlessly that neither of them noticed? That their lives became irrevocably entangled without a second thought?

I’m feral for it. Rabid. Shaking these two back and forth in my jaws like a delighted dog with its favorite toy.

"Didn't know they were dating" is slowly but surely becoming one of my favorite tropes. What do you mean, these two characters who are soulmates haven't actually been in a long-term relationship like everyone thought? What do you mean they didn't know? Everyone knows!

I had such high hopes for how much I would write this week.

But then I discovered Look Outside and put like 15 hours into that instead.

And my first Rarepair week fic ballooned out of my control.

Life amirite

Me: Ugh, man, I feel awful. But not like sick. Like a little depressed maybe? So tired… I want to do something, but my eyeballs may fall out of my head if I do. My left ear hurts, too. Am I getting an ear infection?

My migraine, putting on brass knuckles: Yeah, probably an ear infection.

Camellia Station officially has over 500 hits!

I know that’s not indicative of people who read it in full or individual, unique users or whatever

Still though… it feels like a huge milestone and I’m proud of myself 🥹

It’s my first long fic (and my second fic since I started writing fiction four months ago). Idk just feels special.

If you’re interested, check it out on AO3!

I’m not a Harvey girlie yet, but my lord your art is moving the needle for me

And a follow-up pic on my Patreon.

(((Nothing spicy is going on, just a lot of exposed skin. Also I intened to draw a coochie on him but decided against it and he's covering between his legs but it's gonna look kinda odd there's no bulge like there's no volume behind it. I also rarely do semi-detailed, rendered stuff like this, so I wanted to give people a fair warning just in case. 😵 Consider tossing a coin to your broke-ass artist? 🙏✨)))

Finally someone said it

hey when you make posts, i just want you to know, thou/thee/thy/thine/ye are like he/you(object)/your/yours/you(subject) okay? "thou art wearing shoes," "i will wear shoes for thee," okay?

you say thine if the next word starts with a vowel and thy if the next word starts with a consonant and they both mean "your" so "thine own shoes," "thy shoes," okay?

and ye means you and refers to the subject of a sentence, "ye members of the brotherhood of shoes," okay? you need this information to create better knight yaoi. i'm personally more interested in nun yuri but we are a community

I have writer's block this weekend, so I thought I'd post my OTPs!

Some rarepairs, some popular pairs. Just a general mix 'em up.

I'll throw in some other fandoms outside my mains rn just for giggles

Stardew Valley

Haley/Penny

Shane/Elliott

Fear & Hunger: Termina

Daan/Marcoh (shout out to the five other Daarcoh fans lol)

Abella/Olivia

JJBA

Jotaro/Kakyoin (specifically in everyone lives Part 4 AUs)

Jonathan/Speedwagon

Johnny/Gyro

Rohan/basically every man lol

Suikoden I/II

(A lot of these are based on my headcanon playthroughs)

Riou/Jowy

Viktor/Flik

Leona/Hilda

Eilie/Nanami

Rina/Oulan

Death Mark

Mashita/Yoshiki

This is an incomplete list and I might come back to it later :)

I need a print of this to put in my kitchen I just love it so much