For The Ask Game, Acting Out - F And T And U!

For the ask game, Acting Out - F and T and U!

F: What do you need to write? Is there anything special you need to do/have to help your creative flow?

Ohh, this is a hard one haha. Time, mainly, I guess. My inspiration typically shows up in short bursts, at which point I need a few uninterrupted hours to sit down and hyperfocus on writing out everything that's in my head at the time. Then I'll need a while to sit with it, poke at it, and slowly edit it into shape.

At least, I need that extra time if it's something more recent like Acting Out! I used to just do the short bursts of inspiration and then, if it was a complete enough story at that point, post whatever came out of that with whatever editing I could make myself do over a day or two.

(Though as I think about this one, having fun conversations with other people about the characters helps that inspiration a lot, too! :) )

T: What is something you wish more people noticed about this fic?

It is probably silly, but - the title! I always struggle with titles, and I'd gone through a slew of different ideas that didn't feel quite right for this one. Initially, "acting out" was only part of a phrase that just barely made the list of titles under consideration.

I almost tossed the phrase away, until I realized how great "acting out" worked on its own. Zuko's memories in the fic are triggered by watching strangers act out something very similar to his own trauma - trauma that occurred, according to Ozai, because Zuko was "acting out" in the sense of displaying bad behavior by yelling at a general during the war meeting.

Then I noticed a few other ways that people could be considered to be acting out poor behavior and/or acting out aspects of Zuko's traumatizing story in the fic. And me loving wordplay as I do, I immediately knew I'd found my perfect title!

U: What is something you didn’t expect people to notice or gravitate towards in this fic?

I expected people to notice Toph's crying, I think, but I was surprised (and pleased!) by how many people specifically pointed it out!

Mostly I'd included it because I think it can be easy to forget that Toph does have a softer/less secure side and does cry in canon, and I think hearing about Zuko's trauma at the hands of a parent would really hit Toph hard. Zuko's story is very different on the surface from the ways that her parents stifled her and tried to control her for her "protection," but underneath the surface level reason it was still ultimately about a parent wanting to control their kid. It was a story about a parent who didn't like the person their child was, so they tried to force that kid into compliance through cruel means that made the kid feel hurt and unvalued for themselves. I think that would really resonate with Toph!

In honour of the renewal and our legendary captain, here's a video honouring his legendary legs.

we only get snippets of what iroh was like “back when he was a different man.” we know that he joked about burning ba sing se to the ground in a goodnatured manner; that azula referred to him as “his royal tea-loving kookiness” before his change of heart; that he learned from the dragons and respected the sun warriors, but lied about it to protect them as well as his own image. we know that he was azulon’s uncontested favorite, that ozai resented him for it, that he was once a mighty general, but still a charming tea-enthusiast who kept a level head.

before the death of his son, he viewed war as a game to be won—like pai sho—rather than recognizing the brutal reality, the senseless violence and devastation war truly is. he had a reputation—as a mighty general, a fearsome firebender, the dragon of the west, next in line for the throne, a charming, affable, tea-loving ladies’ man.

we don’t see lu ten, but we can vaguely infer snippets of what he was like from the way iroh attempts to raise zuko as his surrogate son. he is endlessly supportive and yet he still makes assumptions about what zuko would want and would like, and perhaps this is based on both his own proclivities as well as those of his first son. lu ten was a soldier. he was the heroic older cousin of zuko and azula. he was raised by a loving father as a doted-on only child, destined to someday take the throne in a peaceful exchange of power and continue to promote the fire nation’s conquest, their greatness.

iroh, and by extension, lu ten, do not wholly align with the typical image of the fire nation disposition that we are shown as embodied by ozai. yes, iroh conforms perfectly to standards of fire nation masculinity. he is a powerful firebender. he is a confident chauvinist. but despite his imperialist outlook, he does not view his family as mere pawns in his game. he is so self-assured in his position that he could never be so insecure as to not love his family. he cares about his son, his nephew and niece (despite not actually being around enough to truly understand them), his father. azulon might be a powerful, intimidating figure, but he clearly cares for iroh, and iroh cheerfully conforms to his standards and expectations without breaking a sweat.

what must it have been like for the great dragon of the west to knock down your gates and raze your village to the ground with a calm yet mischievous twinkle in his eye, pouring himself a cup of ginseng tea while he oversees the abject destruction of your life, your family, your people? he laughs merrily as he summons lightning effortlessly. he is just doing his job. this is fun for him, just another game at which he excels.

ozai is heartless, power-hungry, and deeply insecure. he has something to prove, and he cares about nobody but himself. he is exceedingly easy to hate. but what about general iroh, the dragon of the west, who is completely confident in his position, who genuinely loves his family, who cultivates hobbies, who charms, who takes an interest in the arts, who approaches every conquest with a carefree cheer that chills you to the bone? what then?

I painted these two and have already started getting them tattooed! Never has there ever been better written characters

🎬 Behind-the-Scenes Fic Asks 🎬

Send me the title of one of my fics, and one (or more) of the following:

How long did it take you to write this fic?

What program did you use to write this fic (Word, Google Docs, etc)? Is that the program you use for all your fics?

How did you find the visuals for this fic? Is there a method you have?

What programs did you use to edit the visuals for this fic?

Where did you write this fic? Is that your favorite spot to write?

What do you need to write? Is there anything special you need to do/have to help your creative flow?

What inspired the idea for the plot?

What inspired the title for this fic? Is that usually how you choose titles?

Was there anything from canon that you pulled for this fic?

Share a screenshot of the original outline (if you dareee😈)

Was there a scene that you hadn't originally planned to include? Why did you decide to fit it in?

Was there a scene you wished you could have included? Why didn't it fit in?

My favorite line of dialogue from this fic was [xyz]. What inspired it?

My favorite line from this fic was [xyz]. What inspired it?

Was there anything you had to research for this fic? Do you usually do a lot of research?

What was the easiest scene to write?

What was the hardest scene to write?

How would you describe your writing style for this fic, if you can?

Is this one of your personal favorite fics? Why or why not?

What is something you wish more people noticed about this fic?

What is something you didn't expect people to notice or gravitate towards in this fic?

Does personal experience ever inspire your fics? What about this particular fic?

Did you have a beta reader(s) for this fic? How did they help you during the writing process?

Did you write every scene in order? What was the first scene you wrote, and what was the last?

Is there anything you would change now about this fic? Why or why not?

Wild Card! I'll tell you a fun fact about this fic!

Honestly, my favorite part of this post is how there are citations for the data, but Ea-Nasir does not need any explanation beyond his name and I immediately knew who OP was talking about.

item: the global population at 2000 BCE has been estimated, with necessarily large (and indeed unquantified) uncertainties, at between 27M and 72M (wikipedia has references)

item: as of 2020 CE, one estimate of the number of tumblr users was ~29M in the US alone (Statista; tumblr does not release its own statistics)

conclusion: it seems entirely plausible, given the migration of Popular Tumblr Posts™ to other social media sites, that more people know about Ea-Nasir today because of tumblr than were alive on the planet during his lifetime