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It's been ages I'd written. In the beginning, I wasn't sure if I have the energy to do giveaways... BUT I did it anyways, because there are a few friends whom I know I won't be able to send Christmas cards to, and these are the only ways I could shower my love on them though frankly I could have sent Christmas card to Rae, ugh, why am I a dum dum.


Planning Process + The Journey:

This year's Christmas fic planning is a little unique as most of them are inspired by recent books I read. Without further ado!!

a) Found
saltedpin: "it's up to you!!! i would be very happy w anything, but you know i love ushioi, adlers trio, and ushisaku a lot, but also i'd be really happy with something kita-centric too, arankita or ushikita are also both great :D"

Despite the freedom, this fic gave me the most challenge and is the last fic I came up with ideas concrete enough to write. :'D 

I debated between writing UshiOi or another Adlers trio. Then, Legend of Mana's Jumi arc inspired an angsty YuuO idea where Yuusaku is the Clarius of Jumi, tasked to cry and heal his people in exchange for a little of his life, and Ogata as his Jumi Knight kills him in the end after a passionate lovemaking... except, a) I don't have the guts to write YuuO nor am I confident to do them justice, and b) do I really want to write angst as a Christmas gift?? Alas, my conscience did not allow me to.

So I ended up crying to Raccoon-san for help, who suggested Adlers Trio zoom call. I ruminated over the idea, tried to work around it... I wasn't sure if I could do Adlers chaos, but it did gave me an idea to write a "Ushijima Wakatoshi celebrates Christmas alone but in a peaceful and happy way.". I googled some ideas on what to do alone for Christmas and stumbled across this article (particularly 5th point! Bam! Wakatoshi and Kita Yumie interaction fic!), which led to further research on initiatives with similar concepts. 

This fic was inspired by:

• my fandom friends, one going through seasonal depression and another questioned their connections with people.
• a conversation in my close gamer friends group, in fact, the banger line "People often feel like disappearing from the world, but in truth, they just want to be found" was from a friend (Poea/Slap).
• Mob Psycho 100 season 3, particularly episode 5 and 6.

Other than writing with the aim to please giftee, I aimed for something meaningful and something to reverse some expectations, perhaps, in a sense, I wanted to write something that's saying "it's okay to not celebrate Christmas, it's okay to celebrate Christmas differently, it's okay to celebrate Christmas." and "My life is my own, and I am content to spend a little time out of my busy life with you, because it's my choice and you're worth it". I'm not sure how well the message came across, but I hope people could derive some enjoyment and respite out of it.

It was also the fic I re-discovered fun in writing again, and the thrill in looking forward to write. Writing was fairly instinctive too, as last minute ideas simply flowed.

Just like last year, saltedpin's fic is the last I conceived idea for but also ended up feeling the most satisfied in terms of writing. uwu;;

b) do you hear the beans speak?
Rae: "Baking Christmas treats! Kita with anyone!"

The idea of this fic is largely inspired by Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa, though it went through several POV and idea change.

At first, it was meant to be a Tendou and Kita fic, but writing Tendou gave me too much pressure... oTL

So I decided to be kind to myself and lean back to Kita's POV instead. However, writing this from Kita's POV felt too... typical, like it would fit him too well, but it felt almost naggy... Changing the POV to Ushijima made everything more whimsical (which was what I aimed for), and everything came out naturally.

The entire "do you think the beans speak?" conversation was a sudden burst of inspiration, added 1 hour before posting. It was an unintentional boon, not quite what I'd originally wanted to convey, but... I hope it reaches to the people who need to read this.

Nevertheless, fic was a slight book vent, but I don't think it really conveyed how I feel from reading the book...? Words are hard. oTL

The title is a small reference/play with a sentence of Mili's Ender Lilies' lyrics "Do You Hear the Lilies Sing?".

It's funny that Rae's fic always remains the easiest to conceive and first to finish. Maybe because I tend to aim for simplicity when I dedicate a fic for her, much like her straightforward style.

c) Thinking Cup
Raccoon-san: "WashiMimi and cooking. Or sightseeing. Or anything familiar to you. As in, don't go "guy being dramatic on the beach meme" over japanese tea again."

Raccoon-san's request inspired many ideas, namely because I thought I could just put whatever I experienced in US into a fic! But as much as I could imagine the beginning of most fics, I couldn't imagine the ending. But Raccoon-san said 'anything familiar' is fine, and I'm familiar with Fantasies!!! So I decide to go for it~ /o/

Legends & Latte by Travis Baldree inspired the gist of this fic, this is loosely based off Raccoon-san's Fantasy WashiMimi!AU where Oomimi is a necromancer and Washio is a headless knight only shared within DMs. The idea solidified when I could see both beginning and ending.

... Except, only the beginning maintained. The entire fic went through a drastic change once I sit down and start writing. One of the original ideas was having Washio and Oomimi having a passionate discussion because Oomimi intended to whore himself for money to maintain the Tea House, but that felt too melodramatic. Another was Oomimi's Tea House got destroyed, and Oomimi bemoaned how cruel Fates are to him only to be helped by the people around him, except, I felt that this would require a proper build up...

So, the entire fic slowly weaved itself as I wrote the beginning, but it was something that pretty much achieved what I intended:

• a nod to Raccoon-san's world
• Shiratorizawa (only because this team was untouched by Raccoon-san's AU yet, and I feel more confident writing them than Aoba Johsai or other teams)
• lovey-dovey WashiMimi that Raccoon-san like.

I had fun writing this one. It got a little out of control in the end, but it's often the out-of-control parts that are lots of fun to write. That said, perhaps due to the small Tendou writing practice in do you hear the beans speak? first draft, I was okay with writing him here. Perhaps, in future, I should consider writing one-shots of characters I'm unfamiliar with but intend to use to promote that familiarity...? =w=; I really enjoyed writing him though, he may sound like a dick, but he's really just gathering information while proving a point that his instinct towards Washio is correct.

Also for some reason, focusing on this fic was hard; I did the other two fics on laptop, but this fic was progressed mostly on my mobile before I became comfortable enough to continue on my laptop. 

As this was mostly inspired by Legends & Lattes, I named the fic after Oomimi's Tea House too. Haha.

Just like last year, Raccoon-san's fic is the last fic I finished despite ideas conceived really early. It may be because I take extra care in their fics, but it may be also be due to them being in a timezone behind everyone else. x'D (GMT-3, compare to GMT+8 and GMT+11)

What’s Hard/Can Be Improved:

1. Worrying Too Much - Starting is always the hard part, I stressed over some of these fics and had difficulty starting... but it usually goes away when I really sat down and start writing. Gotta think of ways to manage stress...

2. Writing is Hard - IT STILL IS DDDD; I know I have to accept it, but it still sucksssssss /o/

3. Writing New Characters - Did mentioned earlier that I had difficulty writing new characters, but it seems fine if I get to practice a bit...? Practice makes better! /o/


What’s Fun/What’s Funny/What I Learn:

1. Talking Helps - There is something magic about discussing a fic, or even crying for help. But then again, it's putting the ideas out there that usually leads to inspiration and more ideas. 

2. Story Writes Itself - All three fics have parts that went out of control and wrote themselves. Perhaps I should learn, from this, that ideas may come even if it feels hopeless or stuck? I just have to start it with a vague idea of what I want and have the story lead me to the conclusion.

3. If Stuck, Change Around Things - As mentioned earlier, I wrote two fics on laptop and one fic on mobile. Changing around things certainly help, I should do something new if I ever feel stuck. Like a change of environment or device.

4. I Still Wuv Writing - I started off this challenge feeling nothing but some determination, and ended up gaining lots from this. I still love writing, and I hope to write more next year! /o/