congratulations on the 9 years with the spoon! any tips on sticking to writing the same character for so long without the fandom ruining them? genuinely curious!

[ ;O;//// Thank you so much anon! I'm super happy about having written him for 9 years. Thinking about all the time I've dedicated to my hobby, all the hours I've given him... Makes me happy. I'm living my best life!

I'd be happy to share some tips about sticking to a character. At least I can share what has worked for me. I can 5/5 recommend having such a long journey with a character. It's a commitment you won't regret! I'm not really sure what you mean by "the fandom ruining them", but I'll give my take anyway xD -

Picking a character that inspires you. I think this is the most important thing. I started writing Nnoitra initially because I enjoyed drawing him. He gave me a ton of inspiration for drawing, and I figured it might be the same for writing, and I was right. I'm always, ALWAYS inspired to write Nnoitra, because he is the source of my inspiration.

Writing them how YOU want, not how others want. Staying secure and confident in your portrayal is underrated. I've stayed away from discussing my portrayal (it's in my rules that I prefer not to discuss how I write him). Don't let people tell you how you should portray your muse. If they don't like the way you write them, they can give writing them a go themselves. If you disagree with popular fanon ect, then go your own way. Your muse is yours.

About mirrors / duplicates. How people deal with mirrors/duplicates of the same muse really depends on the person, I think. In my early days of writing Nnoitra, I used to block/blacklist all other Nnoitra writers, because I didn't want to see their take on Nnoitra. I was "possessive" of him, if that makes sense. Now, I'm happy to see different versions of him, and I enjoy writing with my duplicates. Seeing other people love him is wholesome to me! I wish I'd interacted with my duplicates a lot sooner, and chatted with them. Talking to duplicates and befriending them has made me more confident and comfortable, so I would personally recommend that approach.

Building friendships, navigating the community. Interacting with lots of different people, both new and old people in the fandom is important in order to get enough interactions and connections. It's pretty difficult to write a muse for many years if you don't build any rp-connections. Also, having long-term friendships with your partners is amazing. There are people on here I've known for 10 years now! It's wild! Staying AWAY from drama is also incredibly important. You don't want any negativity to be attached to your blog. You don't want to feel anxious when logging on. Don't engage with any drama. Don't comment on it, don't give your opinion, don't discuss it with anyone. You never know when someone might take something out-of-context, or how "big" even small drama can grow. If drama is going on in the fandom, I'd recommend just blacklisting it, or going offline until it dies down. If you're keeping your blog for a long time, remember that people can go back and find things you've written ages ago. Maybe that one friend you stuck up for 2 years ago really does turn out to be a scam-artist or a predator. Don't underestimate how petty people can be. They can go back and find your posts about supporting this person and bam, you're added to a do-not-interact list. Even if all you did was support your friend at the time. If you get anon hate in your inbox, block and delete the ask. You don't need that negativity on your long-term blog. IDK I like to think of my blog as a garden that I'm cultivating?? I generally keep only positive, nice things on it. Things that I can go back and look at with approval and happiness.

Branching out of the fandom. This is probably (imo) the most important thing. I don't think I would've been able to write for 9 years if I hadn't branched out of the fandom. Not because the fandom is bad. Not because it doesn't inspire me, but because the amount of plots really is limited. Having to work within the boundaries of the fandom, and with a limited amount of characters isn't sustainable for 9 years. I love canon interactions, but I can't base my whole writing on that. It's too repetitive, which brings me to my next tip -

Give yourself the plots you crave. Getting "bored" of a muse can happen if you find yourself more interested in something else. Watched a new fantasy-anime? Maybe you're really into this one pirate show. Maybe you're interested in a specific time in history. MAKE THAT AU!! I cannot recommend AUs enough!! If you want to write a pirate muse, instead of making a new muse, just make an AU for your current muse. I have over 30 AUs for Nnoitra at this point, most of them inspired from either shows I've watched or specific interests I have ( like my formula 1!au, since I'm a huge f1 fan ). Don't be afraid to reach out to people who might be interested in writing the AUs with you. Don't be afraid to write drabbles for the AUs.

A continuous story. Another tip I can give for keeping things interesting, is to have a "story" for your muse that you continue through the years. Like my Nnoitra's main verse. Everything that happens to him in that verse progresses the story. The muses he interacts with become characters in his story. I get to see him develop and have ups and downs. It's like watching your favorite show with your favorite character, and there is always a new season. 5/5.

Hope this helps! This is just some things I could think of on the top of my head. And, this is just from my personal experience! ]