thank you kindly, anon. i’m always amazed and flattered when i hear things like that. i write with the expectation that my work will get very little, if any, attention, so it always blows my mind when i hear that my fics are rattling around in people’s minds so long after they’ve read them. i appreciate your readership.

i’ve always been a person who feels very deeply and experiences the world in a more intense way than most. i also find people fascinating, even though i’ve never really felt like a People myself. i’m not sure if either of those things are related to my neurodivergence or simply a dimension of my personality, but i’ve always felt compelled to meld my interest in others and their psychology with my amplified emotions. because i’ve always lived my life on the margins, willingly and unwillingly, i tend to write about people who are marginalized or victimized in some fashion, especially if they’re marginalized in ways that real life society does a poor job of acknowledging. i do find it cathartic and regulating, and i have found that my writing has made me a much more empathetic person over the years.

in terms of actual execution, i find that intellectual curiosity is the most critical component to any resonant writing. never stop asking “why?” and never be content with a facile answer. sometimes there is no satisfactory answer. why would someone abuse an innocent child? why would that child go back to their abuser time and time again? why can’t they break free? these are the questions that guided me as i wrote night eats color. i have a hard time stepping out of myself to understand the precise reason why people seem to be so moved by it, but i like to think the emotional nuance i sought to portray plays a role.

if it’s any comfort, i would say the vast majority of my writing is easily forgettable nonsense. i still enjoy writing those things, and people want to read them!