#got some mad inspiration for my novel WIP
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So utterly transfixed by Inside’s visual design…
#ever wished you could step into a piece of media?#so you could discover what they don’t show you?#and just walk around the world#yeah#inside is one of those for me#like dang 👀#just finished it this past weekend#loved every minute#every frame was a painting#inside#playdead#video games#got some mad inspiration for my novel WIP#which ALSO takes place in a lab 😜
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🌃 Bridge From Ashes Update: 29 November 2022 (with bonus doggo content)
Genre: Cyberpunk, neon-noir
Audience: Adult
Working title: Project Frequency
Tags: #bridge from ashes and #project frequency
More: WIP summary and tag list
📝 Status
Draft 02 complete
I didn't want to post an update until I actually had something to say and I've been doing my best not to put schedules, deadlines or goals on this book (more on that in a bit) so this milestone kind of crept up on me, but it happened yesterday, so yay, I guess?!
Title reveal
I dropped the title in an updated WIP summary a few days ago because I'm shit at announcing stuff but I wanted to put it out there. I was going to do what I did with November Breaks and wait until the book was out before I mentioned the real title, but fuck it. I've had the title in my head for a while and I was excited and wanted to share it, so here we are.
✅ Next step
Rest the draft, but like REALLY this time
I suck at doing this because when I'm obsessively into a project (and obsessively is the only way I'm ever into anything) I just want to fuck with it all the time, but draft 03 is going to be an up-close line edit and I absolutely definitely need to be coming at it from as fresh a perspective as possible, which means not looking at it (apart from to grab snippets for tag games, obvs) for...I don't know? Like a month, maybe? Should I ban myself from working on it until 2023? OK, that's terrifying on so many levels. Deep calming breaths. Contemplating the passage of time is in no way contributing to the midlife crisis that's breathing down my neck right now.
💜 Feels
OK so I actually miss schedules and goals and deadlines?! I don't know if I miss them in an "I've finally got a handle on my self-destructive productivity and now I can approach structure healthily" kind of way, or if I miss them like I would hypothetically miss shovelling MDMA down my throat and up my nose every weekend if I ever did that which I definitely did not because it's illegal and drugs are bad.
My brain is in FULL WRITING MODE and the thought of not writing while I rest this draft makes me die inside a little, so I'm going to deal with this by starting some new WIP activity. I reckon I can probably manage it without whiplash because Rafe from Bridge From Ashes is in one of the upcoming WIPs and the other one is a sequel (maybe a vignette novel, maybe a novel-novel, maybe a collection of shorts, but who the fuck knows?) to November Breaks so I'm aggressively excited about both of them.
I'm not sure how long it'll be before I'm sharing any new WIP material on here because I'm pretty much just throwing words at a digital page right now and seeing what sticks, but I'll yell about it when the time comes.
✍ Snippet
“What do you want, cut-throat?” he says, and the mirror shatters.
I pull his hand towards me and my skin splits under the blade, but only just. “I don’t know.”
He presses harder. Slowly, with a tenderness that shakes me to my fucked up rotten core, he carves a new line among all the others. A new way to bleed apologies. A new way to count regrets. “Yes, you do.”
And if this is how it ends…
The night air is nowhere near as cold as him and the deserted street is nowhere near as empty. I close my eyes and don’t open them until he puts the knife away, until he finds the raw slice in my chest with fingers like stone.
Then he raises his hand, stained with my blood, to rest against my jaw. “What do you need?”
“This.” And that’s not an answer either. But it’s enough for now.
👀 Bonus bits
I can't believe this only just struck me the other day, but the two fictional characters who inspire Rafe's vibes the most are Billy Butcher from The Boys and Judge Dredd from the 2012 film. They're both played by Karl Urban AND I DID NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT THIS BEFORE.
(Not me fan casting the way-in-the-future film sequel of my own book when Rafe and Gillen are in their fifties but like...Karl Urban and Mads Mikkelsen, you guys busy??)
If you're still here, thank you and I love you and you shall now be blessed with a picture of Shadow. She decided the bed in my writing/arting/music/witching room is now hers, but she agreed to share it with me for the low price of a new fluffy blanket.
💜 Tag list
Thanks for your support and encouragement! Comment or message me to be added or removed.
@drabbleitout @ezestreet @i-can-even-burn-salad @kaiusvnoir @manathen @thegreatobsesso
#bridge from ashes#project frequency#my writing#wip update#wip excerpt#writers of tumblr#writeblr#writers on tumblr#original writers#am writing#tumblr writers#cyberpunk#science fiction writers#original fiction#writers
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About Future Sound & the XYZoul
My newest story, firmly set in the cyberpunk genre. Kinda funny how it came about really; I had a bunch of separate cyberpunk-themed OCs that were created for TTRPGs, none of which went very far, and thought, Well, could I mash them all together? Do I have enough characters here that I can create a world around them? Turns out...yes! I do!!
It takes place in the near future, where climate change has wrecked the planet and corporations have privatized pretty much everything (government included). The protagonists are a group of rebels--mostly unrelated at the beginning of the story, but eventually coming together under the banner of “Future Sound," led by a mysterious masked part-time DJ/part-time sniper known as PHANTOM. Future Sound aims to get their message out to the public through art and music, while secretly plotting a coup against the monopolistic telecommunications/utility conglomerate that controls their city.
The plot starts in the late summer of 2121, after a strange character appears online, calling themself "XYZ🕒ul" and claiming to have completely transcended the human form. Probably just a troll, right?
It's inspired by a variety of things, from our nightmare current news cycle, from classic cyberpunk (which I have indulged much of during the pandemic), to uh, stuff I got so mad at I ended up partially worldbuilding this story out of spite ("technology dehumanizes”-themed stories BEGONE), to tenuous connections such as "electronic music in general."
In a perfect world where I had the time and budget to do anything I wanted (though if such a world existed, this story probably wouldn't?), I would actually make this as, uh, a rhythm game. It's why music/art is a focus (& some names of things will be music shout-outs too, like Future Sound itself). But I'm also cool with the idea of potentially writing it as a novel?? A lot of times I shy away from novel-style writing because I find some of my more fantastical characters and plot moments hard to describe without pictures, but this setting's mostly down-to-earth enough.
The (extremely WIP) Toyhouse folder is here! I would consider it kind of a "vent" story, given the circumstances, so a lot of the characters' backstories are “dark” in the usual dystopic sense. I don't really want to hold back here; I used to in the past, thinking my love for satirical fiction was misplaced and that I was too privileged to attempt to write it, or something. I don't really care anymore. I'm tired.
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1, 2, 7, 9 and 15 for Shatterpoint? uwu
ask me about my fics | accepting
1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?
It's been a WIP for eight years, so there was a lot of inspiration along the way. The core ideas - someone getting trapped in her own head in the process of protecting herself, needing someone else's help to undo it even after she was physically safe, and not being able to get someone else out with her - came out of the two years I spent at a residential boarding school (no, mine wasn't on the level of the kinds of places that make the news, but I still can't recommend the experience).
Everything else was built out of things I was interested in exploring - telepathy without the required secondary powers to make it useful, the kinds of things that might have happened during the war before Cybertron died, elements of Bayverse that I liked in theory but not in execution. Also, girl robots. Basically Shatterpoint is the super-long plotty fic that I really wanted to read and couldn't find.
As for why I went with the "write the whole damn thing and then post it one chapter at a time" approach, I wanted it to be done because I have a bad habit of not finishing WIPs if I post too early, but I also wanted the fun of watching people yell about my carefully chosen cliffhangers.
2: What scene did you first put down?
The very first scene I ever wrote for it was a very early version of the Ion Storm fight that ended up in Chapter 14. It was a lot more of a fight at the time; the posted version is pretty one-sided, because all the characters involved went through drastic changes in the edits. Riella is the only character who stayed involved all the way through the edits - I don't think the Decepticon antagonist originally had a name at all, and Red Alert's role rotated through half a dozen people.
7: Where did the title come from?
The title just popped into my head back when I was working on the cortical psychic patch scene for the first time - at the time, I didn't know where it came from, but it was so perfect for both that scene and the broader fic themes that I didn't question it. It's been Shatterpoint basically since I started working on it.
I later realized I'd stolen it from a 2003 Star Wars Expanded Universe novel. Thankfully it's pretty good, so I don't have to feel weird about the association.
9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?
It went through a lot of alternate versions over the years! Originally it was just three scenes in my head (the Ion Storm fight, the cortical psychic patch, and the one I just posted today). Basically everything not in those scenes has changed at least twice.
-Riella wasn't originally an Autobot spy. That got adjusted for "it's too convoluted" reasons. The specific Autobots that rescued her also changed up a few times - I went through and cut out a bunch of characters at one point because there were "too many", only to add back an equal number in the final draft.
-Project Trypticon went through a bunch of different types of mad science, with the antagonist in the chapter 28 scene not always being related to it. Shockwave really was trying to make his own custom outliers at one point, like First Aid speculates in the early chapters. I think I also bounced around Predacons and combiners, though neither of those made it out of the plot notes stage.
-The character death in the Ion Storm fight was a relatively late addition. The plot was in desperate need of some actual stakes, First Aid wasn't doing what I needed him to do, and near-death injuries weren't cutting it.
-Soundwave showed up at one point. I cut him out almost immediately, because he made the Decepticon side of the plot impossible unless I made every single character deeply unintelligent and also a terrible person. Relatedly, Prowl was originally a lot less likable (not that he really is now, but he was a real piece of work in the early drafts). Had that characterization stayed, Riella would have punched him at one point.
-That Thing That Just Happened In Chapter 28 was always planned to happen, but after I started posting the fic and saw which characters people responded to, I started bouncing around an AU in my head where it didn't happen. It was never an option for the actual fic, but somewhere there's a parallel universe where the war ended super early in a few spectacular explosions.
15: What did you learn from writing this fic?
On a purely technical level, I learned a lot about writing and editing and what worked and what didn't through the process of writing it. I didn't have a beta reader (aside from a friend who very kindly read over the early Electron sections to make sure I wasn't doing anything weird), but I went to college and got an English degree right in the middle of working on it; I went through my drafts pretty regularly to apply the stuff I was learning in class and could literally watch the fic get better right in front of me. It's one reason I'm glad I was determined to finish it before posting, because it is so much better now than it was eight years ago. (Not perfect! There's a couple chapters I still want to edit chapter 20-21, looking at you. But a whole lot better.) I also figured out about halfway through the writing process that some of the themes were IMAX-level projection, which both gave me some things to chat about in therapy and some places where I needed to adjust the writing to be less me and more character.
On a less-serious note, I learned that fight scenes work a lot better if I stand up and wave a sword around for a while to get a feel for what motions the characters are making, that I ship Lancer/Greenlight/Arcee, and that no matter how hard I try to finish the fic in advance, I will be editing right up until the second I hit post.
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Fic Writer Review
Tagged by @cleanlenins and @dp-marvel94
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
180
2. What’s your total AO3 word count?
1238290
3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?
Danny Phantom, BNHA, Secret Saturdays, Ben 10, Harry Potter, MCU, and Stargate. Although some of these were just crossovers with DP. Also original fiction, if that counts.
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
Long Night in the Valley (BNHA), Mortified (DP), Danger First (BNHA), Interview with a Ghost (DP), and Cold Case (DP).
5. Which of your fic do you want more attention for?
To be honest, I would really like my original fiction to get more attention. (In the Water is a complete novel!)
6. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?
I used to try to respond to every comment, but that got too overwhelming for me. Now I just reply if there's a question I can answer, or if someone just left a lot of comments.
7. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?
Hmmm. Probably the alternate ending for Masquerade/Laboratory aka Pollux is Brighter.
8. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you’ve written?
I do write crossovers... But they're all pretty tame.
9. Have you ever received hate on a fic?
A few times. Mostly for confusing reasons. Like a fic with no focal romance being called 'too gay.' It's hard to be too mad about it when it's that baffling.
10. Do you write smut? if so what kind?
Nope.
11. Have you ever had a fic translated?
Yes. The first few chapters of Mortified have been translated to German. A couple other people have asked about translating my fics, but I always ask to be linked to the translation if it gets made, so I assume no link = no translation.
12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
No.
13. What’s your all time favorite ship?
Not really into that too much. Everlasting Trio, I suppose?
14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?
Connected... I think I've rather lost the thread of inspiration there.
15. What are your writing strengths?
Worldbuilding and persistence.
16. What are your writing weaknesses?
Smooth scene changes and actually remembering what I've written.
17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?
Depends on context.
18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?
Danny Phantom
19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?
I don't know. I don't really think of my fics that way. Doorways series, maybe?
20. What fic are you most proud of?
Mortified. I've put a lot of work into that sucker.
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*Fanfic Friday* Rec List ☕️👓
Hi all. Happy Friyay! The only reason I even know what day this is, is because of this rec list so thank the fandom for that. One of my coworkers this week asked a very important question - what is time? I have not a goddamn clue, but what I do know is this week our fandom was FED. So many authors either posted something new or updated their WIPs and I could not be more grateful.
In addition to the stories below, check out my previous rec lists for those that have updated. And as always, please don’t forget to comment, leave kudos, bookmark, or even DM the author to let them know you liked their work. In this time especially, it’s important for us to encourage and support one another in our artistic/creative pursuits. Plus, it’ll inevitably result in more content and everyone knows we need it!
Happy Reading! 📕📗📘📙
Whenever I look up, there you are. by Cynar
This is a Gendrya/Far From the Madding Crowd AU and it’s *perfect,* utterly *perfect*. For those who haven’t read the novel or seen the movie, I won’t spoil. All I’ll say is Arya and Gendry are perfectly suited to fit the roles of the wild and unconventional Bathsheba and the reclusive, intense Mr. Gabriel. And we have so much left to go. I could not be more excited for a story!
Mate by @arsenicandfinelace
This is such a cute oneshot. Demisexual!Gendry unexpectedly falls for his younger best friend (Arya duh) and hilarity + sexiness ensues. Plus Hot Pie has his own dating woes, which had me cackling. Truly a lovely escape from reality from a supremely talented author. Couldn’t ask for a better treat.
Love in the Time of Quarantine by @fandomjuxtaposition
Speaking of cuteness AND quarantine, in this oneshot by one of my faves (and pretty prolific) writers, Arya and Gendry are forced to cancel their big, fancy wedding due to a pandemic. I’m sure this is happening all over the world right now, and this has a sweet, very Gendrya-esque resolution that’s guaranteed to melt even the coldest of hearts. It certainly melted mine 💖💍
our love full of storms by @alltheworldsinmyhead
I would be doing this lengthy oneshot a disservice if I called it a marriage crisis fic, but that’s kinda exactly what this is. Two kids, and a couple years later, Gendrya are in a rut, and this story takes on a journey of how they got together and what’s next for them as they deal with relationship issues. I don’t have kids and I’m not married, but I felt this so deeply, and that’s testament to this author’s ability to pull you right into the scene. Plus, this is one of the best Gendry characterizations I’ve ever read in a modern AU, so definitely worth the read. You will not be disappointed, I promise!
come be my love in the wet woods (and be my love in the rain) by @anupturnedboat
Reunion fics are my crack, but even if this isn’t your cup of tea, the dynamic between Arya and Gendry in this will surely hook you. Arya goes to Storm’s End post-S8 but Gendry isn’t exactly ready to sweep everything that happened between them under the rug. This leads to some delicious tension, good, honest conversation and a sweet and hopeful resolution that made me smile! Absolutely worth the read.
Sifting through waters by @tweedledeestwin
This story continues to be one of my favorite multi-chapter modern AUs out there. I normally don’t even like soulmate AUs, but this is done in such a unique, creative way that it feels perfectly suited to the narrative. This is absolutely a slow burn, but the sub-plot will keep you coming back for more. I love the universe this author created and I appreciate her commitment to writing the story exactly as she sees it. It inspires me as a writer and gets me hyped as a reader and I will never not recommend it!
Bonus: I’ve been rereading an oldie but goodie - The Beauty in the Deadly Things by @jenevajensen. This is the gold standard of post-S8 Gendrya canon, to me at least. It’s written incredibly well, features the best of Gendrya’s dynamic (read: these two are thirsty and devoted to each other) with some sweet OCs and perfect character interactions. If you haven’t read it, check it out. It’s absolutely worth the read.
#gendrya#arya x gendry#gendrya fanfiction#gendrya fic rec lists#yana's rec list#modern au#canon#oneshots#a little bit of everything#check out all the talent#and comment#comments are currency
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Introduction to My WIP’s (pls forgive i suck at explaining ideas)
Eradicate: This is the story this blog was initially for but then I kept getting ideas for other stories. This is also my longest running WIP -- I started this story when I was THIRTEEN! This will be the sixth year of me working on it, due to constant procrastination and restarting, plus the fact that I gave up on it for a full year once. Over the years, I’ve been struggling to figure out if this story would be better suited as a novel, graphic novel, web comic, etc. I still haven’t truly decided.
When an illness starts to rapidly spread across the world, causing humans to lose their ability to function normally and attack each other (cough zombies cough), major cities are forced into quarantine. The quarantined cities are relatively safe, so long as you’re of some importance, but when a homeless shelter is ignored in their times of need, the survivors in the shelter decide to escape the quarantine zone, unaware of just how much worse it is on the outside. The survivors of the homeless shelter stick together, trying to learn the ways of the new world and trying to find what they were unable to before the world ended; a home.
The Outskirts of Life: This story I’ve been struggling to figure out, but it means a lot to me. The idea for this story came early this year, while I was in college. I was going through a bout of depression. One of the worst ones I’ve had in years. Basically because I felt all alone at college and I was constantly exhausted due to the fact that I was studying at a private university, and paying for it by myself, and working on the school play every night. I was even having suicidal thoughts during this time. I remember just being at work, exhausted and in desperate need of a break, and suddenly this idea came to me and I instantly felt lighter. I don’t know if it was because I had no time to draw or write anymore or what, but I just felt so much better and excited by the idea of creating again. And that night, I thought about ideas for the story all day at work and then rushed to my dorm to write it down.
This is a story about a city, and a girl within the city. The city would be called “Life,” probably in a different language so the metaphor is less obvious. This girl is struggling with depression when she meets another lost soul. They become friends and this person tells the girl to meet her on the outskirts of the city. When they go there, the girl finds out she can leave the city, which is something she didn’t realize she could do because it was so unheard of. At first the girl is against the idea of leaving, but then she feels compelled to see what the outskirts have to offer. She learns that past the outskirts, it can feel freeing at first, but the longer people stay there, the darker and scarier it becomes. I still have a LOT of figuring out to do with this story, especially with how to execute it without romanticizing mental illness or suicide. But I want it to ultimately be about her learning to embrace Life, even if it does seem hopeless and mediocre at times.
Marnie and the Chosen Ones: I haven’t read or seen The Babysitter’s Club, but for some reason I feel like these would be sorta similar. This story hasn’t really been fleshed out at all, but it’s something that I’m interested in writing for myself. Basically because I didn’t get to have an experience like this in my high school and I think it would have been so beneficial for me.
Marnie is a young person in high school and she decides that she wants to form a Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA) so that she can feel less alone, and educate other students in her school. The club starts out scarce and they have to go through hurdles, such as bullying from other students and faculty forcing them to censor themselves. Within the club, the members form a new family and learn that real love is unconditional.
Unnamed Idea #1: This idea came from a dream oops. I actually kinda see this story not in the form of a novel, but maybe as an RPG Maker game. (If you don’t know what that is, maybe you’ve heard of Ib, Mad Father, The Witch’s House? Those are still some of my favorite games ever.) I’ve always wanted to make an RPG Maker game but didn’t have the means to. I may splurge and buy the program one day but for now I’ll just write what i have in mind for it. c:
This story is about Ana Kumari and a few other lost souls. (I’ve said lost souls twice now... oh well) Ana has just moved to a new city for her partner’s job. She tries to be optimistic about life, but she feels it’s just... lackluster. Her relationship, job, family life, apartment all just feel mediocre to her. This feeling becomes more and more overwhelming because her 30′th birthday is coming up and she feels as though she hasn’t made any impact on the world around her. One day, she notices Christmas decorations being put up. She urges her partner to come see them with her, but they refuse so she decides to go anyways. Along the way, she notices someone drop a device. She tries to return it to them, but after chasing them, she finds herself lost. She becomes trapped somewhere, seemingly underground, with strange threats around every corner. Overtime, as she tries to find her way out, she meets others trapped in there and discovers that the device leads you to your greatest desires. Not until each person trapped inside figures out their greatest desire will they be able to escape.
Unnamed Idea #2: I literally got this idea from a dream I had LAST NIGHT but I lied in bed contemplating ideas for it for two hours afterwards so I’m gonna include it. c: Although I think this dream was inspired by the tiktok soulmate trend thing so if I ever wrote this it would probably not be something I try to get published. But that’s okay, I think it’d be fun to write. c:
In a time of war, many people never get to meet their soulmates. If they do, they don’t always get much time with them. On each person’s 18th birthday, a birthmark appears somewhere on their body. Their soulmate gets the same exact mark, in the same exact area, on their birthday as well. Two women meet and quickly become friends. One of them has already received her mark, and the other’s birthday is in a few weeks from the start of the story. They instantly gravitate towards each other, like most soul mates do when they first meet, but this confuses them because all their lives they were told same-sex soulmates didn’t exist. After a bit of suppressing their feelings, they both accept that they have feelings for one another. The younger one is almost certain that her mark will match the older one’s. But the older girl’s almost certain they won’t match despite their intense feelings for one another. One day, the older girl goes to meet her lover, only to find that her house is empty. She’s devastated until she gets a letter in the mail. Her family had to leave because her brother had been drafted for the war. The end of the letter only says “Find me.” The older girl decides that even if they are not soulmates, what they have is worth the heartbreak. So despite her fears, she gets ready for the road trip to find the love of her life again.
Aaanddd that’s it right now. C:
This is honestly scary, but I’m proud of myself. Eradicate is the only story I’ve told people about in any detail, and that’s always been online. This is also online but... It’s progress! :D
Many All of the ideas need a LOT of work, as most of them are still in the very early stages of existing. But I’m excited to do that work. c:
#introduction#stories#writer#writeblr#writing#wip#lgbt#lesbian#gay#zombie#apocalypse#eradicate#marnie and the chosen ones#the outskirts of life#rpg maker#tw depression#tw suicide#soulmate
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2019 Fic in Review
Inspired by @myevilmouse I’m going to sum up all the writing I’ve been up to the past year. I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished, and thanks to you all for the encouragement to put my ideas out into the world! This has been a year of trying new things, and really growing as an author I feel… And wow according to AO3 I’ve written about 400k words in the past 12 months, damn. So let’s get to the list, going from the beginning of the year to the end, and as always please heed the tags on these before reading.
Note: As I go back, I’m realizing a lot of the links were messed up or are just straight missing. I am on the Mobile App so things can get messy. Please visit my works page on AO3 HERE to see all of these on my page under JessKo and my other pseuds.
1 Late Night at the Slab
Idea: Filling a prompt for the Thryce server in which some, uh, unique Chiss anatomy was assigned.
Result: A 3-way with Thrawn, Arihnda, and Eli and my first foray into the more Xeno side of things in a Modern AU setting. Yeehaw!
2 The Trouble With Free-Roaming Ysalamiri
Idea: Based on some adorable ysalamiri cuddles art by @strength-through-order I wanted to write some Thranto fluff.
Result: Ysalamiri-filled Thranto fluff X’D
3 Inquisitor’s Debt
Idea: What if the Grand Inquisitor changed sides at the end of Rebels season 1?
Result: Some fun throwbacks with Obi-Wan and Caleb Dume leading up to Quizzy defecting with Ezra.
4 Ancient Stems
Idea: Eli Week drabbles based on the Vanto Week prompts.
Result: A silly buzz droid narrative with Thrawn and some cute slice of life Eli backstory/Ascendancy days bits.
5 Charnsuka
Idea: Kinky stuff with Lord Garmadon when he’s an Anacondrai.
Result: Kinky stuff with Lord Garmadon when he’s an Anacondrai. Sorry Zane!
6 Caged Like Prized Birds
Idea: Again inspired by the awesome Chiss anatomy and Thrux drawings by @strength-through-order , I wanted to craft a narrative around Armitage, as a young man, stumbling upon a clone of Thrawn.
Result: Man, this might just be one of my favorite things I’ve ever written, had so much fun plotting it out and the smut is mmm! Tentacles everywhere~ I’ve gone back to re-read this a lot, I’ll admit it. I hope you all enjoyed it too.
7 Quiet On Set
Idea: Must. Write. Talos.
Result: A cute little platonic x-reader with everyone’s favorite Skrull. This was my first MCU fic too.
8 Diagnostic
Idea: Wanted to apologize to Zane for the damages done in Charnsuka with some Glacier shipping fluff.
Result: A silly glacier thing leading to a bit of foolery. I’m happy with it!
9 Heron Soaring
Idea: A continuation of the plot line from Heron Rising with Kanan and Thrawn.
Result: Too many feels… but some great sex to soften the blow, Kanera too!
10 Patron
Idea: Responding to a tumblr prompt from @wukeskywalker regarding Thrawn commissioning LOADS of artworks of Eli.
Result: More Thranto fluff! I see a trend here…
11 Black Heron
Idea: Kanan x Pryce for @myevilmouse , I think this was our first ‘collaboration’ on something!
Result: Juahir hires a special someone to show Arihnda a good time!
12 Red Heron
Idea: @star-wars-rebels-4 is always an amazing wealth of ideas for Grand Inquisitor, and encouraged a work featuring him and Kanan.
Result: Delicious back alley smut when an undercover Jedi is caught!
13 Warm Homecoming
Idea: Give my and a friend's OCs some cute fluff.
Result: OC fluff and a vacation to Hoth!
14 sowing the seeds
Idea: Add something cute to the spank war project.
Result: Another contender for my ‘favorite thing I’ve ever written’ rank. Two chapters of pining, cooking lessons, and sweet slick smut.
15 Red Frost
Idea: After watching “The Evil of Frankenstein” with @sneakybunyip ‘s amazing movie night group, I wanted to do something fun with Victor and Hans.
Result: A fun little adventure fic with some huddling for warmth to boot. Victor and Hans are the hammer-horror-verse Thranto send tweet.
16 a setting sun to hide the ruins
Idea: What if I tortured Kanan to the point he turned evil and joined the Inquisitors (and went a little insane in the process)
Result: Instead of torture, let’s just use some serum that drives him mad. Perfect. Smut ahoy, pretty much a dead dove type fic.
17 Pinktown
Idea: When browsing abandoned towns in Florida, I came across Flamingo… what if Thrawn had been exiled here instead.
Result: An alternate history of Thrawn’s exile and eventual discovery by the Empire. Huge thanks for @badgerandk on this one for the perfect epilogue and beta.
18 the sun rises to only illuminate the stranger i have become
Idea: Setting sun… part 2! But it’s actually what happens before sun?
Result: How Kanan ended up where he is for ‘a setting sun’... lots of imp smut and again, it's sort of a dead dove style fic.
19 Frozen Over
Idea: Ar’alani x Eli Vanto
Result: Somehow me and my writing partner ended up at sensory deprivation focus on this one.
20 Shape of Honor
Idea: Well, this one started in 2018 but ‘finished’ in 2019. Still working on the epilogue. Lots of tweaks… If you are not familiar, this is my AU in which it explores how the Thrawn novel and Rebels show would be altered if Palpatine distrusted Thrawn from their first meeting and accused him of being a Chiss spy. Vaguely inspired by the film The Shape of Water.
Result: Well it's nearly a novel now, isn’t it. This was a great adventure in learning how to create compelling story arcs. I’m extremely satisfied with how it is shaping (lol) up.
21 Datura Stamonium
Idea: Thrawnbine ovi smut.
Result: Oops it has plot now, a whole backstory with Eli and such and so fourth. Will need further stories told…
22 Desert Entropy
Idea: Luke/Wedge modern AU shenanigans.
Result: Also pulled Nath/Wyl and the Rogue Squad/Alphabet Squad peeps into this. Set in Vegas, Luke and Wedge meet and have a cute little romance, but some legal troubles set them back (Palpatine, as always, is That Bitch™) Very happy ending!
23 The Great Eli and Thrawn Prank War
Idea: See Chapter 1: Mullet Thrawn
Result: This thing really grew up, and thanks to all the contributors for allowing me to join in! My contributions were: 7-Bombs Away! In which a bit of drama brews and Thrawn makes a paint bomb that forces him and Eli back into being roomates. 11-Tooka Troube 2: Electric Boogaloo in which Eli finds his quarters slowly filling up with Tooka plush toys, and then something huge goes off in supply. 17-The Bitch is Back In which who knew Thrawn could sing?!
24 Clipped Wings to Keep Us from Flying
Idea: Continuing the story line from Caged Like Prized Birds
Result: Dragging Eli and the OG Thrawn into this, seeing that their stories were left untold in the first work. Also Armitage and the clone are up to all sorts of cool things. Still a WIP, on the list to keep working on this year!
25 I’ll do what I can.
Idea: Some Ronan/Krennic feels post Treason
Result: A Ronan character study that I really needed to get out of my system and finally a stable alliance between Krennic and Thrawn!
26 Purple Heron
Idea: @punk--kenobi and I concocted some fun Kanan/Zeb/Hera smut featuring Lasat heat cycles.
Result: Ah this came out so cool, full of emotion and wonderful imagery. Massive kudos to @punk--kenobi for beta-ing my portion and contributing some of the best smut one can find!
27 Ninjago Angst Week 2019
Idea: Do some 1-shots for Ninjago Angst Week
Result: ow right in the feels. Each character got a highlight in their own ‘dark retelling of a canon or canon adjacent event’ chapter.
28 Vertigo
Idea: Thing’s don’t go right planetside for Eli, Pik, and Waffle in Treason.
Result: Big oof. I hope Eli can one day forgive me… I even put strain on the end game Thranto! Bittersweet ending and lots of angst.
29 More Than Just a Treat
Idea: What is Obi Wan up to in the desert…
Result: Aunt Beau and baby Luke baked him cookies obviously!
30 Datura Metel
Idea: Continuing the Datura cycle…
Result: Just how Eli ended up where he did in the first installation.
31 Here & Now
Idea: Some Thranto Fluff! For @jewelliffer
Result: A camping trip for shore leave! And a marriage proposal for extra sugar.
32 Monster Under the Bed
Idea: Benevolent Boogeyman Chiss
Result: Modern AU Thranto spooky sillies. Bit of an intense climax but they talk it out!
33 Haunted by Sentiment
Idea: Nath is in denial of being the Squad Dad for @glassprowlers
Result: Nath’s very bad no good oh so terrible day! It's very silly and I really like how it ended up, the title is way more serious than the story itself XD
34 Pulse
Idea: Werewolf AU Lavashipping
Result: Oops Kai is a werewolf! Good thing Cole is here to help him figure out how to press on.
35 Stories from Area 51
Idea: remember the raid Area 51 meme? I do! Gotta clap them alien cheeks!
Result: Oh no it got PLOTTY! Pretty much all of my favorite characters and ships cherry-picked and plopped down into a Men In Black style facility in the middle of the desert. I really have a thing for the desert huh…
36 Good Day
Idea: The “truth” behind the “Good day, Lieutenant Vanto” from Thrawn in Treason.
Result: Oh stars the FEELS! Thrawn is in deep water and he KNOWS IT! GAH!
37 Fur Ball
Idea: Chiss are mogwai/gremlins…
Result: Silly Thranto fluff. Thrass shows up too! Feeding them after midnight is actually a good idea here… Grow your own ideal man!
38 Came Back Haunted
Idea: A mission fic centered around the @peters-pumpkin-day prompts.
Result: Ice planet survival with Tarkin, Krennic, Galen, and Ronan.
39 Sewn Together
Idea: This drawing actually is what lead to the fic-
Result: A fairly unique reuniting of Thrawn and Eli after both return to the Ascendancy.
40 Spiked Heron
Idea: Oh no… Kanan gets himself in deep poodoo this time.
Result: Devaronians really like humans huh? The next chapter is half way written I swear it is coming soon!
41 A Colder Embrace
Idea: Thrawn/Purrgil/Ezra and Luke/Wampa for SW Rare Pairs.
Result: It's very cold on Hoth… and even colder in space.
42 Surround
Idea: Luke/Wedge for SW Rare Pairs
Result: Luke has to confront Wedge post ESB regarding what is, essentially, his deserting the Rebels.
43 What Happens Planetside…
Idea: Eli/Pik/Waffle for SW Rare Pairs
Result: heheh a scrumptious Eli sandwich! And surprise tentacles because, well, why not?
44 Hesperidium
Idea: Fluffy Kylux for the Kylux Secret Santa event
Result: Ah its so sweet you might get a cavity
45 Reanimator
Idea: Lovecraftian eldritch horror Thranto
Result: This is the sort of project that it takes 2 months to fine tune each chapter, so bear with me, but I can promise a wonderful, creepy ride is ahead!
46 Floral
Idea: Luke/Faro for SW Rare Pairs. Enjoy the Jedi lovin’, @myevilmouse
Result: Sex pollen and accidentally defecting from the Empire. Whoops!
47 The Harch
Idea: Bouncing off of THIS art by @mamidlo , we worked together to create this plot. Very much inspired by the Hammer Horror films, such as Dracula and Frankenstein.
Result: A fun and spooky romp of Kallus and Zeb getting trapped in a creepy castle featuring mind controlled drones and a species-obsessed Harch. This was my first time posting the entire story at once, too!
Wow, I can not believe how much has been written this year. Thank you all again for reading and kudos-ing and your amazing comments. I’d not be here without the support and love <3 Cheers to 2020 and much more fic ahead!
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For the Fanfiction Writer Asks ask meme!!! Because I still have lots to know about one of my favorite writers!! 1, 8, 17, 21, 22, 29, 33, and 47 (Angst Queen)! It's a lot but feel free to choose just the ones you want to!!
Omygod, thank you so much, hon! And sksksk!! I really love a lot of questions!
Here I go
1. How old were you when you first start writing fanfiction?
I think I was 17? I started kinda late into my writing journey bc most of my childhood and adolescence was spent making visual art. I thought it was my passion until I fell in love reading books to analyze BTS HYYH MVs being released. I've always loved books since I was a kid lmao I finished all the books in my elementary school's library and it was huge! (I got like 4 library cards stapled next to each other, completely filled out, every year). However, I only really appreciated how they are mad eand their influence on other's works when I get to study them close up to get BTS MVs (i'm so used to BTS hip and cool MVs since No More Dream and I was shook out of my mind when they suddenly changed things up in I NEED U ASDFGHJKL)
8. Where do you take inspiration from?
A million of films. I fell in love with screenwriting and now I'm learning a heck lot from it and from that, I appreciated film making more. Bc learning it had me learning different types of character arcs to try, how to structure subplots, or even come up with novel story structures that deviate from the 5 point Acts! I think I appreciated stories told in films more than in books now bc the writing was made to be precise to fit in a specific time frame. And I think if you could pull off such a wonderful story with real, effective characters within just 2 hours, you're one hell of a talented being. The films that continue to inspire my writings until now had to be Kill Bill, Fight Club, Plus One, and recently added, Parasite and Snowpiercer. (It's actually been ages since I read books. I don't have much time to read them these days bc I'm in uni and I can only have movies for now).
17. Post a line from a WIP that you're working on.
Hoseok shrugs, “Well, he has a point. We’re exercising our powers determining everyone’s future and dictating what consequence should they have. Indeed, only gods do that and we are no gods.”
- My Time
(I'm sorry this is like an additional teaser abxjkwk. But I'm on my mobile now and this is the only WIP I have. But that doesnt do much bc I prefer finishing one project first after another so yeah)
21. Tell me about athwr writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?
I feel you already know this bc I've fangirled about him with you for so many times but F. Scott Fitzgerald. He writes beautifully crafted sentences that are also beautifully bruttally honest. His works always feel so raw and I just love the honesty in them. Another one is Chuck Palahniuk, the writer of Fight Club. I love how he manages to put so many of his philosophical stances in his story and yet syill have one cohesive theme. Not to say he makes a lot of mindfucking stories!
In the screenwriting field, Bong Joon Ho, hands down. I lobe his respect for the fundamental elements and techniques of screenwriting. It is often thought that doing the conventional is a negative connotation bc it is "restricting." When actually, they serve as a guide to wrote beautiful effective stories. And so I think Bong Joon Ho did a good job proving that doing the conventional way is also okay and in the end, you'll still get to make wonderful, impactful stories.
22. Do you have a story that you look back on and cringe when you reread it?
Hmmm, not that I posted here though. Even if I think I write better now than what I used to in 2018, I only fondly look back at them and appreciate how much they helped me grow in my writing journey. But hmm, I remember writing a real cringey shitty story when I was 16. Never got it online bc I only wrote it in pencil in some notebook. Real shitty bc it was highly inspired by the romantic tropes of Hollywood back in the day that I now think are very toxic. Never got to reread it tho bc I lost that notebook when we moved houses 2 years ago. I don't regret it tho. I don't really feel a great urge to rerwad it.
29. Do you have a story that you feel doesn't get as much love as you'd like?
I'll never let it go but Translucent Fireworks, my first official story here 2 years ago. It has 200+ notes and actually that's really big! However, there's not much feedback about it and that's kinda saddening bc I wrote so many beautiful lines there that to this day I still think, "how the fuck did I do that?" (Bc holy mother of fuck, 18 year old me made metaphors about cracking paint on ceilings and geometry and 20 year old me now is just: HoW?). I just wished more of my readers has appreciated it bc 'til this day, it remains as one of my proudest works.
33. What's the biggest compliment you've gotten?
Out of all the generous and kind words my hons has showered me ober the years, 2 remain that really hits my heart right on. One is when they say I'm their favorite writer (and guess what, you just said it to me rn *heart combusts boom boom pow pow* 😳🥺😭☺️😊😆🥰) Growing up, I found it hard to find friends I could trust on. And so, I made friends out of fictional characters and the writers who made them. Now as I write, I wish to be someone people who are like me who finds it hard to find someone to connect to, can find solace and comfort in my writings. Now the second one bears more weight to me. It's when my readers tell me they felt so many emotions. In such a harsh world we live in, it seems as just everyday seems to get worse as the years pass by. And bc of such exposure to misery and hopelessness, a lot has grown to be apathetic and find it hard now to find happiness in their lives. I want to make things a little bit better for everyone, and so I want them to just....feel. happiness, sadness, anger, frustration - a beautiful variety than just stagnant despair. I want more people to see there's still hope we can feel other than hopelessness in this world. So when I receive a compliment like this one, I feel I've already succceeded one of my major goals as a writer.
47. Here's a fic title - insert made up title. What would this story be about.
Okay, I LOVE THIS QUESTION.
Angst Queen. It will about a girl who loves reading and watching angsty stuff that her appreciation for this genre somehow got to affect her values. She now tends to expect that love should hurt for it to be real love bc people only gets to remember pain, not happiness, for joy doesn't bear a scar on the hearts. But in doing so, she tends to get in toxic relationships, or end up ruining a good one that's just about to start. When her bestfriend finally calls her out on it, she learns that maybe she's looking at life with black colored glasses. She decides to embark on a journey to grow out from it. She just didn't expect that the half of those black glasses had already started turning pink the moment her bestfriend told her he'll be by her side on this journey.
Ask me more questions here Fanfiction Writer Asks!
#what about aera#aera games#fanfiction writer asks#senfleurs#hey you pretty lady#how dare you make me squeal so much in the middlenof the fricking night!!!!#eye-#thank you so much for always being there to support me in these games i find#i love you so much#and im sorry i probably wrote some shitty summary for Angst Queen#my brain is fried right now and i was really disappointed about the reqs i had to do just for the sake of my excruciating honor-loving uni#aera blushes
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11/11/11 Tag Game: Rounds 24, 25, 26, and 27
Tagged by the wonderful @corsairesque, the lovely @azawrites, the stellar @sunlight-and-starskies, and the incomparable @inexorableblob - thanks!
And @inexorableblob, thank you for letting me rewrite the end of The Great Gatsby. It was very cathartic.
Rules: Answer 11 questions, write 11 questions, tag 11 people!
Bilbo Taggins: @aurumni-writes @quilloftheclouds @aslanwrites @starlitesymphony @writingonesdreams @waterfallwritings @cataclysmic-writer @ren-c-leyn @timefirewrites @minusfractions @ink-flavored - and if you like the questions and aren’t tagged, feel free to answer them! And tag me so I can see!
My Questions:
How many licks would it take for your OCs to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?
What are your favorite smells?
What’s the book you’ve read most recently? What did you think of it? What impressed you? What would you have done differently?
What are your thoughts on mugs?
If your OCs had a comic book series/graphic novel about them, what would it be called? What would be on the cover? What would the art style be?
Can you draw a bear?
Do you do any other kinds of art? Are you ever influenced by other kinds of art? What about other areas like science or mathematics/other disciplines?
Have you read any craft books or writing advice books? If yes, how have the helped or hindered you? Which would you recommend? If no, would you ever consider reading them?
What are your favorite kinds of narratives? What narrative structures do you prefer to write and what do you prefer to read?
What’s your favorite recipe?
What are some signs that make you consider setting a project aside vs continuing with it?
As always, answers under the cut!
@corsairesque‘s Questions:
1. Do you create playlists for your stories or characters?
I do!
Here’s a detailed post about how I make them.
This is Mel’s from H2H.
This is Gemma’s from H2H.
This is one for the story I recently posted.
And I have one for each WIP on my WIP page! (Mostly, I’m still working on Fish Food’s.)
I actually have folders in Spotify for my characters and stories. Each one gets a playlist.
2. What is your stance on endings that don’t end with some hope?
Sometimes a story needs to have a certain ending to have an emotionally satisfying conclusion. I don’t think hope is absolutely required for an ending. I’ve ended stories without hope because that’s how the story ends. If I wrote it to conclude with an upturn, it would’ve been disloyal to the narrative. Like life, not everything ends happily, or with a positive outlook.
If you want it from a more technical perspective, there are three sorts of endings: positive, negative, and neutral. They can mix and match, but these are the three base ones. I tend toward neutral or positive-neutral endings. The best story I’ve written so far has a negative-leaning neutral ending because it concludes with a loss that does not promise hope. Positive endings are not necessary for a narrative, or for a conclusion.
Sometimes you need to write a hopeful ending. Sometimes you need to read a hopeful ending. And sometimes you need to read or write something that ends on a down-note. I know I have.
So, TL;DR, there is no ending hierarchy. It all depends on the reader and the writer, what they need, and what the story demands.
3. What author would you love to hear feedback from on your WIP?
Of literally anyone? Dead or alive? I mean. I’d love to hear what Flannery O’Connor would have to say about my short stories. I try to do a remix-version of her moments of grace in each of them.
4. What is the genre of your WIP(s)?
I mention these on my WIP page!
Most of my short stories are literary and contemporary fiction. My longer projects tend toward low fantasy.
5. How do you come up with new ideas for your WIP(s)?
I don’t have a method or anything for idea generation. My brain works in the background while I’m doing other things, so I’ll be washing dishes, or brushing my teeth, or writing something else, and an idea goes HI HELLO WHAT ABOUT THIS HUH? and I scramble to write it down.
Most of the time, my story ideas come from cool sentences I think of while observing. That sounds super weird and nerdy, but it’s true! When I’m bored or need to occupy my brain or just sorta feel like creating something spontaneous, I’ll look around and figure out how I’d write about a certain thing in the vicinity.
Some examples of this from my phone notes:
“Laughter echoing through a cave, bouncing off the walls, the gift of hearing it over and over until it fades like gentle waking”
“Cheeks baked pink from the flush of her modesty”
“The last remnants of home, the dirt hidden beneath their fingernails”
“Headlights flicker between the gaps in the barrier like a slipstream of stars”
Ya know, stuff like that.
Sometimes, if I’m stuck while writing and need a thought, I look at the plot and think up complications for my characters to face. That’s how I figured out how to make Lithium 100% more plot relevant. I thought, okay, so she has this role right now, what can I add to make her stand in the way of X plan while also being an asset to Y? And boom, idea generated and problem solved.
6. What do you use to keep all your writing on? (Scrivener, Google Docs, good old pen and paper…)
I use Scrivener for all my main writing. I have a ton of phone memo notes for ideas on the go. I have a notebook full of random stuff for when I’m blocked and need to hand write something.
I also answered this further down!
7. What gave you initial inspiration for your WIP(s)?
H2H: There was a publisher who had a call for shapeshifter stories, and then I missed the deadline so I decided to try for a zine instead, then I got rejected, so I made it into my own thing.
AOPC: I needed to flesh out a piece of my homebrew DnD world, so I started worldbuilding, then it was my turn to turn in a story to be workshopped in my writing class, so I wrote a thing set in the village about the tribe and it all spiraled out from there.
FF: I had an errant thought about the script that hero and villain stories follow and wrote a thing about what would happen if one of them decided to deviate from it and BOOM the plot hit me like a semi truck.
Almost all of my short stories start with a sentence I think sounds really cool, a tone I want to try to capture (ex. the feeling of standing inside an old cathedral), or the ending moment of a character arc (I tend to work backwards).
8. How long have you been working on your WIP(s)?
I’ve been working with Heart to Heart since November 2018. I started thinking about Fish Food like 3 months ago I think? And I got the idea for All Our Painted Colors 3ish years ago, but it started as a short story that I thought about expanding about 8 months ago.
My writing process starts with a long period of thought percolation before I write anything definitive down.
9. What was the first thing you came up with for your WIP(s)?
H2H: The fact that the main character is an apothecary who uses recipes from historical documents to brew things and lives in a small town, and that their love interest changes shapes in some way.
AOPC: That the tribe is a society based around body paint, art, preserving their personal history, and stories. But mostly paint.
FF: The hero danging over a pit of hungry piranhas and asking the villain a question that throws off the whole “death threat” vibe.
10. Have you considered Hogwarts houses for your characters? If so, what are they?
Answered this for the H2H cast here.
As for the Fish Food cast:
Iron Will - Hufflepuff
Overseer - Ravenclaw
Nightmare - A Hufflepuff who asked to be in Slytherin and the hat said “yeah okay”
Lithium - Gryffindor
Babylon - Slytherin
Sparkplug - Gryffindor
11. What do you find easiest to write? (Description, dialogue, etc.)
Interiority! Free indirect discourse! Unvoiced character brain thoughts! Which I guess means description?
Writing dialogue sucks old car tires!
@azawrites‘ Questions:
what’s the best part about your writing style?
I like how I build up to emotional punches. It’s like walking up a ramp, but in a literary way. And at the top of the ramp you either get a gut punch of feels or an ice cream cone.
do you write on the computer or on paper?
I do most of my writing on my laptop because my hands can’t write fast enough to keep up with my brain. My typing is way faster. If I’m having trouble getting an idea down, or the tone of the writing lends itself to being handwritten (idk how to describe this, but sometimes words just gotta be scribbled, ya know?), I’ll hand write it in pen. I don’t use pencils anymore because I wasn’t allowed to in college and it kinda stuck.
what are your favourite books and why?
Oh, no, there are too many. So I’ll just say my top book:
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien because of how it deals with stories and grief and remembering, the fact that it’s a story cycle (which is very cool), and the way he writes - it’s beautiful and sad and messed up and poignant. I love it.
why did you start writing?
I’ve answered this before, but there was never really starting point for me. It’s just something I’ve always done.
why did you continue writing?
Because I had too much fun to stop! I also get creatively constipated, I guess is how I would phrase it, and need to have some sort of narrative outlet or my brain gets really mad at me.
where do you usually write?
Pretty much anywhere, but most often at my desk. I think I need a taller chair, though...
can you describe your favourite piece (written by you) in one sentence?
Let’s get authory with this one:
The teacher hands out the tests, multiple choice this time, but when the stapled packet slides across your desk, there’s something odd about it, something that brings the war to life inside your head, a long-forgotten voice that speaks the souls of the soldiers and tells their stories from the annals of history.
Or: A multiple choice test about WWII that tells the story of 4 men from Company B from enlistment to the end of their campaign.
what’s one cliche/trope you overuse, but still like anyway?
It’s a trope when it comes to my own writing, actually. Person Sits Alone in the Dark and Contemplates. I love it, I abuse the hell out of it, and I will never stop.
what music do you listen to when working on a WIP?
Depends. I have a go-to Writing Flow State song, playlists to help me get in the right head space when writing certain characters, and playlists that help guide the tone of a story. I can never listen to movie or video game scores because the association of song and cinematic moment is too strong for me.
have you ever dreamed of a fictional character?
Uh, I have the occasional nightmare about Kokopelli? Does that count?
what’s one thing that makes you automatically dislike a book?
Overly pretentious first person POV prose (and I don’t mean purple. I mean a character who - honestly and without a hint of satire - thinks like a writer from the 1920s who just discovered what “paid by the word” means and believes they’re the wisest human being in the universe and everyone who doesn’t agree with them is the basest of idiots - barf). Gratuitous female violence. The use of the word “loins” outside of an animal context. Everything about The Beginners by Rebecca Wolff.
@inexorableblob‘s Questions:
Which of your characters could you write as twice their current age?
Oh, man, I think writing Iron Will in his forties or fifties would be really cool. It’d certainly give the story a new commentary twist.
Which of your characters could you write as half their current age?
(I’m not gonna cheat and say Mel, I promise.) I think writing a 30yo Treena would be very cool. However, writing a 13 or 14yo Lithium who is just learning how to use her super powers would be WILD.
What big city would your characters do best in? London? New York? Tokyo? Mexico City? Rio?
The Fish Food characters would all do best in New York or London, since they’re very close to Conover. Lithium would prefer Rio, though, and Babylon would lobby for everyone to move to Tokyo.
The H2H characters would do best in Mexico City or London, depending on who decides to take charge and teach everyone the local customs.
What would your characters do if they were in a small rural community that was attacked by underground worms?
This is giving me too many ideas for H2H.
Gemma would be a little bit furious, since she hates having to get rid of animals, especially when they’re invasive. If the worms just minded their own gosh dang business then everyone could live in peace.
If we’re talkin’ normal sized worms, like worm-sized worms, then Gemma would develop a pesticide that wouldn’t kill them, but force them to the surface where they would then be stunned by whatever weird solution Mel comes up with. Then the town would have a Worm-Off, where the person who collects the most worms wins free pie for a year, courtesy of Harry’s.
If we’re talkin’ DnD-style Purple Worms, like Beetlejuice worms, then Mel would take over. She’d help organize an evacuation and steal Oz’s gun, just in case. Then she’d do some spoilery things with Gemma assisting.
What is the worst place where you’ve ever wanted to write?
Probably while I was taking the math section of the SATs. Kinda inconvenient, brain, thanks for that.
Other terrible places: mid job interview, in the middle of an empty street at midnight, anywhere I’m sitting where I have terrible posture, watching a slam poetry event in a very crowded bar, etc.
What’s the most uncomfortable subject you’ve ever written about?
I’ve written a little bit about hate crimes and loathed every second. I’ve written a character actively contemplating suicide (he was a WWII soldier) and that was not fun at all. I mean, I also wrote a paper about sexy (somewhat graphic) wlw poetry for my Sexuality class, which a lot of people would be uncomfortable with, but I thought it was a very good collection. Go read Marilyn Hacker’s stuff, it’s good.
If you had to change the ending of any famous novel, which would you pick?
The Great Gatsby. We don’t end with the green light, screw the green light.
Gatsby wills all of his possessions and wealth to Nick and Nick becomes the next James Gatz. But this time around, he pines for the man who was killed in the pool just below his balcony while pretending to love Jordan, who finds out and amicably marries him because 1920s. She then uses Nick/Gatsby’s money to purchase an automobile manufacturing company and makes cars in every color but yellow. (Gotta maintain that color symbolism for F. Scott, I guess.)
Nick discovers Gatz’ old bootlegging and illegal activities buddies and starts up a criminal empire. He and Jordan become the biggest, queerest, most spiteful and angsty crime bosses in New York. Nick makes it his life’s mission to take down false accusers, vigilante style.
The car manufacturing company is what they use to launder money.
Daisy divorces Tom because they’re both terrible people. Daisy takes her daughter and moves to California. Jordan sends Daisy’s daughter money secretly, about a hundred dollars a month.
The last line is something about how Gatz was always reaching out and chasing green, but because of him, Nick is steeped in dark, bloody red.
I would then write a sequel about Nick and Jordan and their crime empire that spans the East Coast.
God, I hate this book.
If you had to change your life, what would you change without regret?
Start therapy way earlier, 100%. That would have saved me a lot of nonsense.
If the end of the world where scheduled a week from tomorrow, what would you do? Would you tell anybody? Everybody? Keep it a secret?
Assuming this was legit and the end of the world was actually happening, I’d probably try to tell some big-shot geologist or something, hoping they spread the word. Other than that, since debt won’t be a thing, I’d take the people I love on a killer trip around the world.
What would you do if a wizard offered to cast one spell for you, but your worst enemy got the same spell?
Hmmm. I’d ask them to cast the Self-Realization spell, so they would instantly become aware of the effect their actions have on others and know exactly how terrible they’ve been to other people their whole life. Maybe then they can be a better person.
My anxiety makes this spell ineffective on me, since it’s already there! Thanks, brain!
Which would you choose, never eating in the same place, always eating the same meal, always eating with the same people, or never eating with the same people?
I’d choose always eating with the same people. I like frequenting restaurants I like and eating different things. I don’t think I could deal with only eating the same thing/off the same menu forever. And I have bad social anxiety, so constantly eating with new people would probably short-circuit my brain eventually.
A good meal in good company is pretty great, though.
@sunlight-and-starskies‘ Questions:
What is your favorite genre of music?
I’ll always be a rock fan at heart. Right now, I really like folk rock and any kind of music that sounds like it has history behind it.
What are your favorite words?
Illustrious, shimmer, soliloquy, incarnate, bound, and many more. Also most Yiddish curses.
Describe your ideal vacation.
Somewhere cozy where I can explore and chill at my leisure. A week of artsy events in the city. Exploring landscapes in the country.
If you could have any fictional creature for a pet, what would it be? Why?
Pegasus! I can ride and they can fly. We’d make an excellent team, and where we’d go, we wouldn’t need roads.
Which fictional universe would you live in if you had to live there for the rest of your life?
Logic dictates the Star Trek universe, since I’d probably be an average civilian. Post-scarcity society? Sign me the hell up.
My heart, however, is screaming ROHAN.
Favorite childhood toy?
Uh... I honestly can’t remember.
What is your aesthetic?
Good smelling old books with doodles and notes in the margins, a pile of unfolded clean clothes on a chair, a stack of handwritten papers perched on the corner of a desk, the smell of breakfast cooking when you wake up, the immediate “woops” shock the moment you trip over something you should’ve moved earlier.
Tell me a random fact about your current project or you.
About me: I have a birthmark that kinda sorta looks like an elephant.
About Fish Food: The Coalition knows what happened to Hydrophase. So does Sparkplug.
Are you an early bird or a night owl?
Night owl, all the way. I like the idea of being a morning person, though.
What is your favorite food?
Pasta! Or any kind of Asian food.
What is your happiest memory?
Oh, geez. Ummm. When I was little, I would curl up in my grandpa’s armchair and eat Burger King breakfast sandwiches on Saturday mornings.
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I Didn't Break the Lamp: Interview with Sam Crane
Today is our final interview with our I Didn’t Break the Lamp authors. This final interview is with the author who has the first story in the anthology, Sam Crane!
DV: Tell us a bit about yourself!
Sam Crane: The general consensus is that I’m unusually optimistic and cheerful for a human. I love writing, and I’ve been working at it in some form since I was a child. Nowadays I write mostly sci-fi, some fantasy, and light horror. When I’m not writing, I work in the tech industry. I’m also a huge nerd–board games, RPGs, and anime conventions are my jam. Oh, and I play the Pokémon trading card game competitively. Basically, I’m an oddball, but I have a lot of fun!
Currently, I’m lurking around the web on Blogspot or Goodreads: http://sam-crane-writes.blogspot.com or https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18937595.Sam_Crane
DV: What inspired you to write “The Last Cory” for I Didn’t Break the Lamp?
SC: When I first read the submissions call, I spent a couple weeks with it in the back of mind just mulling it over. At first I thought I might do a ghost story, but that idea slowly morphed into the current story. I’m a big fan of curses as plot devices, so I thought it would be interesting to have something like that. The scene where Josephine Cory meets her imaginary companion was actually my starting point and sprang into my mind pretty much as it is in the final version of the story, and then the rest of the details fell into place as I worked through the various drafts.
DV: You mention in your bio that New England is one of your influences. How did an area with such a long history play into this story in particular?
SC: I’ve read a number of New England folktales and short stories where there’s this sense that devils/the Devil are just a matter of fact. Like “yeah Thompson got waylaid by the Devil up on that hill outside town, third time this month.” I’m being slightly facetious, but still. There’s this sense that all of these supernatural occurrences are real and even normal to a point.
I wanted to create a similar kind of feeling but in a more modern setting. In “The Last Cory,” people are like “oh of course the Cory farm is haunted, bedeviled something fierce.” The town gossips about it–it’s part of the local color and superstition, but at the same time, no one’s seen anything in decades, and they don’t really believe it. It’s weirdly isolating for Josephine to have people going around saying her farm is haunted, but if she were to go on about it, they would say she’s mad.
DV: Without giving away too much of your story, how would you characterize the “imaginary” acquaintance in your story? Is she more real than imaginary? Is she more friend than foe?
SC: She’s definitely some kind of real. As for her intentions … let’s say she’s determined to carry out justice. Or vengeance, depending on your perspective.
DV: If you had an imaginary friend growing up, what was their name, and what were they like?
SC: I kind of had several. When I was little, I would pretend Ginger from Black Beauty was my friend and followed me around, like to school. My best friend at the time joined in too except her imaginary friend was Black Beauty.
I also was/am a big fan of the Animorph series, and this became my go-to imaginary world when I was a little older. I would pretend I was an Animorph and getting communications from the Andalite navy or spying on possible Yeerks. I was very into it!
DV: What’s on the horizon for you?
SC: I do have about half a dozen other short stories submitted, and I’m waiting to hear back about them. Besides one superhero shenanigans story, this current crop is more dark fantasy/light horror. I’d say it’s similar in tone to “The Last Cory”–maybe even a bit darker. On the WIP pile, I have more superhero and sci-fi ideas to flesh out.
Besides short stories, I’m also working on a YA fantasy novel tentatively titled The Rabbit God. It’s about a young boy, James, befriending Rabbit, the last remaining guardian animal of a forest that’s been clear-cut. The novel will focus mainly on their friendship and how they help each other grow as people.
Thanks to our authors for participating in these interviews! We hope you’ll enjoy their stories in I Didn’t Break the Lamp, which will be out on Tuesday, October 15th!
I Didn’t Break the Lamp: Interview with Sam Crane was originally published on Mad Scientist Journal
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Thanks for the tag, @rpgwarrior4824!
Tagging (if you want to participate): @n0rmandysr1, @maxrev, @estalfaed, @awhellstothejoe
Author Name: Pigeontheoneandonly (tumblr); Lilivati (AO3 & FFN).
Though I'm thinking of switching to Pigeon on AO3 as well. I've been using Lilivati since I was 17, and feel like I outgrew it a long time ago. (For the curious, it was from a sidebar in my calculus textbook. Yes, really. It's the title of a 900-year-old book on arithmetic.)
Fandoms You Write For: Mass Effect primarily. I write Dragon Age stuff for myself occasionally but don't post it. I did a lot of writing for World of Warcraft and the original Neverwinter Nights game years ago, but that got posted to community forums, most of which are defunct now.
Where You Post: AO3, FFN, Tumblr
Most Popular One-Shot: By kudos, it's Home. By hits across both sites, it's A Measure of Devotion. On Tumblr, it's Never Marry a Soldier.
Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: Mass Effect: Discovery
It's my novelization of ME1, featuring my main Nathaly Shepard. (Though based on my own opinion and reader feedback, it goes well beyond a simple retelling of events. There is a ton of attention devoted to developing characters, tying events into a tighter plot, and exploring Nathaly's past experiences and motivations.)
Favorite Story You Wrote: This is a hard one. I'm really fond of both A Cold Day in October, and Loss (short as it is).
Story You Were Nervous to Post: My WIP, Mass Effect: Labyrinth. I had no idea how people would react to Kaidan having such a large share of an ME2 fic, or Shepard not appearing in the story until eleven chapters in. Also I'd been working on it for a few years, and wrangling ME2 into some kind of coherent plot is a path of madness. I'd gotten turned around and changed my mind so many times I had little confidence left that I'd made the right choices for the story.
How Do You Choose Your Titles: I'm really bad at titling fics. So usually I just make myself go with something that sounds appropriate and is "good enough". But I love my chapter titles… when I can, I try to capture something essential to the chapter without stating it outright.
Do You Outline: Fuck yes. My long fics are… really long. (Discovery clocks in at 480k words.) I could never keep anything straight without a rigorous outline. And Labyrinth has so much going on at any given point in the plot that its outline is enormous. I don't outline short fics, but I will sometimes jot down a bullet list of ideas I want to use.
Complete:
The Ficlet Collection (12 drabbles and counting, ranging from about 200 to 2000 words.)
Mass Effect: Discovery: See above
A Cold Day in October: A short story about the day Kaidan was taken to Jump Zero.
Home: A mostly-canon-compliant post-ending short fic, featuring femshep and Kaidan.
A Measure of Devotion: A short fic thought experiment on Kaidan finding out the purpose of Project Lazarus before Shepard wakes.
In-Progress: My main focus right now is on Labyrinth, my longfic WIP. Short fics and drabbles come from random inspiration.
Coming Soon: I have a drabble mostly complete, inspired by a comment someone left on Discovery. I also have prompts from the hard questions list that I want to weave into a drabble.
In a longer definition of "soon", the next longfic after Labyrinth is called Homecoming, and will be a shorter longfic (for me, anyway) set between the end of ME2 and the start of ME3.
Do You Accept Prompts: Sure. But no promises (unless I solicited the prompt-- those I'll always get to, even if it takes longer than I'd like).
Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited to Write: I'm really excited about the drabble. It's just fluffy fun.
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11/11/11 - Tag Game
Thanks for the tag @ofinkblotsandscript !! :)
Rules: answer 11 questions, ask 11 questions of 11 people
——
1. What is your favourite genre to write?
Fantasy probably, especially high fantasy! It’s just so fun to build a fantasy world from scratch!
2. Who is your favourite OC and why?
I change favourites all the time but currently it’s Corinth because I’m so satisfied with his (planned) character arc!
3. Who is your least favourite OC and why?
I don’t really have a least favourite OC, but I do have several neglected ones haha
4. Do you ever find yourself self-inserting in your writing?
No, not really. But I do have something to say about self-inserts that is not actually related to the question.
This is going to sound controversial but I think the writing community is overly-critical of self-insert characters.
The main issue many may have with self-insert characters, is not so much the fact that it’s a self-insert, but that the writer can be too biased towards their self-insert character to a point where the writing becomes illogical. But if self-insert characters are given the same treatment and same amount of complexities as any other character, they can actually work really well!
For example, in Dazai Osamu’s iconic literary work ‘No Longer Human’, Dazai wrote himself into the protangonist of the story, and the character worked so well that I find myself crying at climatic parts of the story!
There are many other of such classic literary work, where the story is essentially a fictional autobiography of the authors themselves, like W. Somerset Maugham’s ‘Of Human Bondage’. And sometimes the author may write themselves into side characters of their story, like when Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote himself as the father in ‘The Brothers Karamazov’.
Heck, ‘Diary of a Young Girl’ was literally Anne Frank’s personal diary, and it resonated with so many readers worwide!
My point is made, it’s time to debunk the myth that self-insert characters are inherently bad, when they can in fact be written well when given the same amount of complexity as any other character.
5. Are you hoping to publish your work? If so will you submit your work or self-publish?
I actually don’t know. For Project Nightshade, I have the world, the character and the plot planned out, but I haven’t given much thought to publishing yet. Right now I’m inclining towards making it a visual novel, so I’m thinking maybe tapas? Idk I really don’t know yet, I might write instead if my art skills are not good enough :”
6. What is your favourite book and why?
Oh no it’s so hard to pick a favourite because I have so many! But if I have to, it’s got to be one is Jimmy Liao’s (幾米） book ‘Wo De Shi Jie Dou Shi Ni’ （我的世界都是你), which roughly translates to ‘My World is You’.
Jimmy writes short illustrated books, but he has such a unique storytelling style that it had struck a chord with me since I was very young (maybe 7 or so). His sentence structure and choice of words are very simple, such that even a child can understand it, yet the simplicity and authenticity of his words made them beautifully poetic. His accompanying illustrations are whimsical and beautifully composed, and lends his book such an iconic look, that it becomes immediately recognisable to his readers! I have so much admiration for him as both an author and an artist!
I adore all of his works, but his book ‘My World is You’ takes the cake for me. The book is about a little girl dealing with the loss of her mother (as represented by her puppy ragdoll), where each night she visits a different entity in a room and learns a different lesson about loss. The story is told from the little girl’s perspective and dealt with such a heavy topic in such a profound and astoundingly poetic way, that I find myself clinging tightly to every single word. The story is such a simple story, yet is so emotional that I still find myself crying my eyes out every time even though I’ve probably read it over twenty times already. The book is cleverly written, because while it appeals to children through its beautiful illustrations, it also grapples with mature themes like loss in a sophisticated manner, such that it can help children learn about loss in a healthy way. At the same time, his book also appeals to adults, who can relate with the little girl’s struggle with loss, and is also more capable of interpreting complex meanings hidden in the narrative.
Jimmy Liao is seriously underrated and I hope that someday his works can be translated so that they can reach a wider international audience. I had fallen in love with his writing (and drawing) at age 7 and even now I still absolutely adore his work, and if anything I learnt to appreciate them more! In other words, his writing is really one that ages well along with his readers, and his books will always have a special place in my heart.
7. Do you set yourself goals in your writing? If so what is your current goal?
Not really, I just work on my wip whenever I have free time. Right now I’m just focusing on polishing the worldbuilding as well as the outline :”
8. Do you like to handwrite your drafts or type them up?
Definitely type. It’s just so much easier to edit :”
9. What do you think is the hardest thing about being a writer?
Personally it’s writing in general, like finding the right turn of phrases, or appropriate metaphors. I only picked up English when I was like 10, and I wasn’t fluent in it until like 12 or something. Even now I’m still quite insecure about my English (especially pronounciation but I guess that falls outside of writing), but I am slowly gaining more confidence in my linguistic skills, and I hope one day I can reach a level that I can be proud of!
10. Do you plan out your projects or just start writing?
Plan, plan, and plan! I personally can’t dive into something without excessive planning, but I really respect those who can! I tried writing something spontaneously before but it was a trainwreck so I told myself never again haha :”
11. Do you like to stick to one project or have multiple ones at once?
One project. I can’t imagine juggling multiple projects at once, I’d be too overwhelmed! Heck, this entire blog is dedicated to just one wip! Mad respect to all of you out there with two or more wips. Wow!
——
Here are my 11 questions:
1. Tell us about yourself!
2. Tell us about your current wip(s)!
3. Tell us about the protangonist in your wip(s)! (Who are they? What are they like? What are their goals/motivations?)
4. What got you into writing? What was the first time you ever wrote?
5. What are some of your inspirations? (It can be a book, movie, tv show, anything!)
6. Is there a particular author you look up to? Who is it and why?
7. Have you ever experienced a writing block? How did you deal with it?
8. Do you outline your wip(s) or just go with the flow?
9. Is there a particular character archetype or trope that you are fond of writing? What is it and why?
10. Tell us how you name your OCs!
11. Tell us a random fact about either your OCs or your wip(s)!
——
Tagging: @hyba @sheabutterskyes @ofimber @amiable-cherry @royalbounties @nerdvanauniverse @the-real-rg @winonapeaks @coffeeandpurplepens @awritinglen @thelostandforgottenageha
Anyone else is welcome to answer the 11 questions too! Thanks for reading :)
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Witness: Tyellas
Creator name (AO3): Tyellas
Creator name (Tumblr): thebyrchentwigges
Link to creator works *https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tyellas/works?fandom_id=51060
Q: Why the Mad Max Fandom?
A: I’ve been a fan of postapocalyptic scifi since my teens. But it took me until Fury Road to really fall in love with the world of Mad Max. Living Down Under probably helped.
Q: What do you think are some defining aspects of your work? Do you have a style? Recurrent themes?
A: For Mad Max, my style varies very much based on the character point of view. Max's terseness is very different from a History Person's verbal rambling. Recurrent themes for me...Some of them tie back to canon, like the fragility of Wasteland technology and the quirkiness of human nature. There's a lot of geology and a consistent thread of land-based spirituality - an Antipodean influence, there.
Q: Which of your works was the most fun to create? The most difficult? Which is your most popular? Most successful? Your favourite overall?
A: Most popular overall – Definitely “Gastown Nights.” Max, Furiosa, sexual tension, adventure in a setting with the Wasteland wildness turned up to 11 – what’s not to like? Most fun – Writing fluff is always fun, even if the world’s falling apart around it. “Very Max, Much Wasteland, Such Dog,” my take on Max Gets A Dog, and “If You Give a Pup a Flamethrower” stand out to me. Most difficult – Several of my Miss Giddy stories were harrowing, “Weave a Circle,” “One Way Ride.” At one point writing “Weave a Circle” I glanced in a mirror and was shocked – shocked! – to not be looking at the face of a tattooed 76-year-old.
Q: How do you like your wasteland? Gritty? Hopeful? Campy? Soft? Why?
A: Gritty as, mate, but always with that glimmer of hope. Because that's how it would be.
Q: Walk us through your creative process from idea to finished product. What's your prefered environment for creating? How do you get through rough patches?
A: I may jot down a story’s core idea, then let it ferment a few months. I might think I’m writing something just for myself, then it will take on a life of its own. When the time is right, I’ll think and plan around it, then do an outline. I like Kurt Vonnegut’s advice that a character in a story should want something, “even if it’s just a glass of water.” A glass of water is a big thing in Mad Max! For a writing environment, I’m very lucky – I have a home office, a desk chair, a desk specially set up for writing. If part of a story is giving me trouble, I’ll treat it like the eye of the storm. I’ll write around it, write down to it – I’ll write everything but that part! Once the frame is in place around the difficult part, that helps.
Q: What (if any) music do you listen to for help getting those creative juices flowing?
A: For Mad Max, Ocker rocker classics from the 70s and 80s. Songs by Goanna, Cold Chisel, Dragon, AC/DC. New Zealander Neil Finn's song "Sinner" always makes me think of Max.
Q: What is your biggest challenge as a creator?
A: Finding time when I have inspiration, and finding inspiration when I find time.
Q: How have you grown as a creator through your participation in the Mad Max Fandom? How has your work changed? Have you learned anything about yourself?
A: I've grown so, so much as a writer. Descriptions, plot, research. Getting over myself and putting that crazy idea out there - and learning that it was worthwhile if it found one reader. Personally, I decided I would probably survive an apocalypse, which is always good to know.
Q: Which character do you relate to the most, and how does that affect your approach to that character? Is someone else your favourite to portray? How has your understanding of these characters grown through portraying them?
A: I took the long road around to this one, because it took getting into the Mad Max fandom for it. I'd say I relate the most to...Aunty Entity. She's determined, she's creative, she's femme, and she has excellent taste in henchpeople. Oddly, I've never written about her, for all that I have screeds about Furiosa, the Vuvalini, and the History People. Aunty Entity has aspects of those three. My Furiosa is calculating, fierce, stony, and, after the Fury Road, willing to make terrible decisions for a long-term goal or a greater good. After a mostly Citadel life, she’s used to better living, and both disgusted and horrified/saddened by how others are getting by.
Q: Do you ever self-insert, even accidentally?
A: All the characters we write about are our shards and our reflections. I do have a draft of a piece for a Self-Insert week that never took off, where I hitch a ride in the Nullarbor desert with some Buzzards.
Q: Do you have any favourite relationships to portray? What interests you about them?
A: I've written smut, and in my fics both canon characters and OCs get laid and find love. "Citadel Nights" is a novel-length fic about love and sex in the Mad Max apocalypse. But the most enduring relationship in my fics, one that all characters deal with, is...their own one with the Wasteland. That post-apocalyptic world around them. For some it's chaos and ruined dreams. For some it's horror yet opportunity. And for some of them, it's simply how it is. My story quartet "Wasteland, Seize My Bones" delves into this in all kinds of ways.
Q: How does your work for the fandom change how you look at the source material?
A: For Mad Max, I seek it out and look at it in more detail. Some of it takes some finding. It took me a while to track down the novelization of "Beyond Thunderdome". There were some jaw-dropping interviews with George Miller back in the 80s!
Q: Do you prefer to create in one defined chronology or do your works stand alone? Why or why not?
A: I can't help creating in one defined chronology. That's just how my imagination works. Every Mad Max story of mine fits into a timeline. I've sketched out that timeline over two notebook pages, like the nerd that I am.
Q: To break or not to break canon? Why?
A: For Mad Max, I'm usually in line with canon. Mad Max canon itself is so rich, flexible, and berserk that most of the plots and actions I wanted to write fit right in. Like most fan creators, I did make it gayer.
Q: Share some headcanons.
A: Oh, so many! Have three: - Furiosa wears her keys on the left: Max wears his on the right. - There are two popular headcanons around Miss Giddy: long-term Citadel denizen or Wasteland Survivor Having Adventures. I like the second one better. - Immortan Joe and the Bullet Farmer had a thing going on for a while there.
Q: If you work with OCs walk us through your process for creating them. Who are some of your favourites?
A: There are OCs and there are "characters who had three frames in the movie/outtake." Very often I'll create an OC to fulfil a plot moment and then...they're not done...they tap my shoulder with more stories. I have a list of my Mad Max original characters for reference. I need it because I have *forty-nine* of them. Wretches, War Boys, Milking Mothers, Wastelanders, antagonists. My favorite OCs are the ones I've spent the most time writing about - if an OC of mine has a POV story, you know I liked them. Or somebody else did and made a request!
Q: If you create original works, how do those compare to your fan works?
A: My original works seem positively sybaritic compared to my Mad Max fan works!
Q: Who are some works by other creators inside and outside of the fandom that have influenced your work?
A: There were all these different creative factions – Maxiosa shippers, War Boy lovers, the Gigadumpster focusing on the villains – having fun. That in itself was inspiring. For a while I was unable to read @sacrificethemtothesquid ’s Length and Breadth of Fury Road. Its gravitational field of influence was that strong for me. And I adored the story “The Bullet Farmer’s Daughter” for its ruthless postapocalyptic extremes. For Max and Furiosa and their particular dynamics and madness, I’m influenced by J.G. Ballard – his compelled postapocalyptic wanderers, his cool, in-charge women. For my History People writing, influences include Margaret Atwood, Ursula Le Guin, and Neal Stephenson’s “Anathem”.
Q: What advice can you give someone who is struggling to make their own works more interesting, compelling, cohesive, etc.?
A: The time you spend planning your project helps bring it to life. Thinking, plotting, outlining, deciding your ending and working up to it. If something seems crazy or self-indulgent, but *feels* real or right, there’s emotional truth and weight behind it. Readers will sense that and respond to it. Write it and see what happens. Thanks to our protagonist of few words, Mad Max writers suffer less from verbosity than other fandoms. Still, keep a sentence 20 words or fewer: keep a paragraph 6 – 8 sentences or fewer. Your reader will stay more engaged with your writing.
Q: Have you visited or do you plan to visit Australia, Wasteland Weekend, or other Mad Max place?
A: I'd love to go to Wasteland Weekend sometime, but I live in New Zealand. It's been great to meet up with some fellow Mad Max fans in Australia, and to have Mad Max-like moments when I'm visiting there. Walking down an industrial street, lost, when a gang of masked bikers roar by, disrupting the crows into their own corvid cries...
Q: Tell us about a current WIP or planned project.
A: I've got two Mad Max WIPs that will be done, come hell or high water. I'll share their titles: "In the Heart of the Wasteland Sun" and "A Favourite Has No Friend".
Thank you @thebyrchentwigges
#Mad Max Fandom Creator Spotlight#Mad Max Fandom Spotlight#mad max fanfic author spotlight#mad max fanfic#fury road fanfic#Mad max fandom#fury road fandom#tyellas
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11/11/11
tagged by @aslanwrites, thanks so much~~~ this is one of my favorite tag games tbh xD
1. If your WIP got made into a movie, which actors/actresses would you cast for your main characters?
I’ve never been real good at fancasting, tbh. Probably because I really don’t watch a lot of movies. BUT, I do have some faceclaims that I’ve found through pinterest and other sites?
Alinora Mynerva -- Tuba Buyukustun
Lyr Inerra -- Luke Pasqualino
Talitha Jade -- short haired Halsey
Haven’t found any other fc’s yet, but there’s a short list!!
2. What is a story you’d like to write, but don’t know how to yet tackle?
There are a couple of different ones, actually.
The first is one I’ve talked about before on Tumblr. It’s called Heart Eater. (It’s a temporary title.) It’s a lot darker than my usual stories, though, so I have no idea where to even start. Not to mention I don’t know what kind of genre or setting to use...
The second is temporarily titled Guardians/Overmorrow. It’s more of a sci-fi/fantasy story, with both high technology and a little magic. Or a lot of magic. It was one of the first novel ideas that I came up with and stuck with, though I didn’t finish it. I would love to tackle it one day, but for the moment, I don’t have much for it! Nor much faith in my ability to tackle any of the science that would be involved xD
3. How do you deal with writer’s block?
Crying, begging, pleading, making sacrifices to the writing gods...
I kid, I kid.
I don’t really handle writer’s block all that well, tbh. But there are a couple of different things that (occasionally) work for me.
The first is just leaving the story alone. Focusing on something else, if it’s a specific story block, or just taking a break from writing all together. I’ll do things like read and play games instead.
The second is to stop writing the story, but still do things related to it. Create playlists--none of which I really like well enough to share, tbh, but I’m working on it! Make moodboards/aesthetics, do character questionnaires, revisit the plot with new templates... You know. Whatever I can do that’s still relevant to what I’m writing but isn’t actually writing. Or is, in the case of modern AU’s/pre-series drabbles. (Usually I’m too blocked up even for those, though.)
4. Coffee, hot chocolate, or tea?
All of the above!
I wish I could tell you I had a specific preference, but I really don’t. It switches up on me a lot. I CAN tell you that I’m picky about all of the above, though.
Tea I like to be sweet and a little spicy. I’m a big fan of Chai lattes, but I also have this lovely Warm Fireside tea that I ADORE. Sadly, they’ve discontinued it, though, so I’ll be hunting around again soon. *sigh* I also really enjoy sweet tea! But I like it *really* sweet.
Coffee I like with creamer. A lot of creamer. Like, two thirds coffee, one third creamer. Lattes are amazing, tbh. I mostly prefer vanilla flavoring, but sometimes I’ll go for caramel...
Hot chocolate is probably what I’m least picky about, tbh. I’ll drink it by itself, but I like it best with a bit of peppermint. (I keep peppermint creamer on hand, but I also usually have mints in my purse I can drop in.)
5. Do you believe in the death of the author?
Yes.
I think that an author’s interpretation and intention are still relevant to a work, but I also believe in a fan’s ability to disregard those things and do it their own way. And I don’t think that the author should interfere with that. Conversely, I don’t believe that fandom has the right to control how an author continues their work.
In short, while fandom and author overlap in the middle, there should also be some separation--much like a venn diagram ;)
6. What is a trope that needs more love?
You know, my first impulse was to say “found family” but like. That one is everywhere lately. (I am NOT complaining. I just don’t think it’s in the spirit of the question to answer that way xD)
So I don’t really know specific “tropes” necessarily, and I’m not falling into the void that is TV tropes to answer, so I’m just going to list some things that I, personally, would like to see more of?
male/female friendships that don’t end in romance, pls. AND, if either has a significant other, that SO doesn’t get jealous every time they’re in the vicinity of each other.
healthy M/F ships!!! no unnecessary miscommunication or jealousy please!! unless that miscomm is used for non relationship-threatening humor.
characters that don’t end in relationships??? it feels like in a lot of mainstream fiction lately all the characters end up with someone. i love a good romance as much as anyone, but as an ace and possibly aro person (questioning, majorly) it’s also a little disappointing???
the power of FRIENDSHIP. this probably goes hand-in-hand with the found family, but like. friendship/platonic love being the most important thing to a person??? yes pls.
I’ll stop there ‘cause I think that’s enough, but those are a few things!! :D
7. What is your biggest inspiration?
This question is actually really hard for me, because I don’t KNOW.
Part of me wants to just boil it down to life, to living every day and finding something new about the world/about myself. And that IS a good answer, and true as well, but it doesn’t feel quite... right.
I could tell you that I feel inspired every time I pick up a new book, or poem, or fanfic to read. I could tell you that I feel inspired every time I see a commercial for a movie or a TV show. I could tell you that history articles/magazines inspire me. I could tell you that hearing about different identities and cultures inspires me. I could tell you that I find inspiration everywhere, in everything, and that none of it would qualify as my “biggest” inspiration, because I get little bits from everywhere.
But that still doesn’t feel right either.
I feel like maybe I’m missing the point of the question.
8. Let’s go on a little adventure: One day, you end up in the same world as your characters–or if they’re in ours, you end up with your characters in some way, shape or form. What do you do?
I’m going to assume that either they don’t know who I am or think of me as some scribe meant to tell their story, instead of the person who created it. (Which is how I think of myself sometimes, tbh.) Because otherwise I feel like they would probably be maybe a little mad at me.
So, first things first, I probably give Alinora and Aishlynn a hug. Well. Okay. I don’t hug them because neither of them would be super comfortable with that. (Alinora doesn’t mind, and even appreciates, hugs from people she knows, but not so much people she doesn’t. Aishlynn just isn’t big on hugs in general.)
And then I probably fangirl a little.
Just a little.
I mean. These are my BABIES, and yes they’re flawed and have their weak spots but. They’re also so STRONG and HEROIC and GOOD and I just LOVE THEM.
9. If you had a magical power, what would that power be?
Probably something like empathy. tbh, but I would WANT like... the ability to not have to sleep. Though I guess that would probably get boring after a while.
10. What is a genre that you feel is underrated? What about overrated?
So, I feel like every genre has the potential to be done really well, and I think I could probably enjoy something from pretty much any of them. HOWEVER. Lately I’ve been a little... uninterested in a lot of mainstream YA fiction. Not all of it, necessarily, but a lot of it. It’s not that I think YA as a whole is overrated, because I don’t. But at the same time, I do?? I dunno. I wanna read more about older people??? Not full-on “adult” fiction, but y’know. New Adult. And while I don’t think NA is “underrated” specifically, I do wish they had an actual section for it in bookstores.
11. Have you accomplished anything that you’re proud of?
Yes. I finished my very first novel around 17. (I might have actually been 16 and a half.) I still have yet to complete the second draft/full rewrite, but I’m still really proud of actually FINISHING it.
I’m also really proud of how far I’ve made it into THE MARTYR QUEEN. I’ve started and re-started that story so many times, and actually being THIS close to the end, with a draft I don’t hate... It’s amazing. I mean, it definitely needs changes, but I’m really proud of how it’s shaping up.
Now if I could just finish a short story.... X’D
MY QUESTIONS
Have you ever been so disappointed/unimpressed by a character’s concept/arc/etc. that you decided to take that concept and write it how you wished it had been told? Whether you’ve started the story or not is irrelevant, just if you’ve got an idea built up!
What do you feel are your biggest strengths in writing? What makes you look back over your writing and feel proud?
Are there any characters, themes, setting types, etc that you see popping up over and over again in your writing? Why do you think that is?
If you could give your past self any writing-related advice, what would you tell them?
When it comes to character creation, what are things you HAVE to know before you start writing, if anything?
Similarly, what are some things you HAVE to know about your plot before you start writing, if anything?
How often do find that your characters/plot surprise you?
What do you find the most difficult/what is your weakest point when it comes to world-building?
What experiences do you feel have most shaped your writing? (It’s okay if you don’t want to share specifics, or don’t want to share at all! Or just don’t know. You can say something else that majorly shaped your writing :D)
Do you find it easier to work alone, or to have at least one other writer/person encouraging you?
Assuming you aren’t already, if you were ever to write a story based off of a mythology/fairytale/other, which one would you choose, and how would you do it?
(i won’t be tagging 11 people, i’m sorry! but if you see this and WANT to do it, PLEASE do so and tag me. if i’ve already tagged you in something like this recently, feel free to pick which one you do <3)
tagging: @aslanwrites (yes, i’m tagging you back, but only do it if you want to! or save it for later, when you wanna have something to do. i don’t mind xD) @waterfallwritings, @diabhals, @matterovermindpodcast, @firesidefantasy, @klywrites
#tag games#11 11 11#my answer for my first question is yes btw#specifically based off of dany's character in got#i wrote the prologue before the final season aired#not that i actually ever watched got#i just read the books#but like#im not sure i like where her character is going in the books???#i dunno#we'll see#but i decided to write my own version of the concept#but v v different at the same time#its called valkyrie#it'll be my next project#cause it's a standalone#i might post a moodboard for it later xD#feel free to ask about it if you want!
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2019 Fandom Year Ahead
After writing out my reflections on 2018 I thought I would share some of my fandom goals and things I have going on in 2019.
I’m going to do a fic related recap/meme of 2018 but I’m waiting for Erised reveals then I’ll get that up too. In the meantime, here’s some of the stuff I have going on in 2019 and I hope you’ll join in some of the fun :D
I’m also upping my participation over on Dreamwidth where you can find me as Writcraft, so if we don’t have mutual access or whatever then do come and say hello and I’ll subscribe back and grant access to my own journal if I recognise your username.
Moderating: Harry Potter
I’m excited about the fests I’m moderating this year and I hope we get plenty of sign ups and people enjoy them. The upcoming fests are below.
Harry Potter Kinkfest (@hpkinkfest): I can’t quite believe Kinkfest has been running for a decade, and I’m super excited to see what people come up with this year. The fest is designed to explore any and all kinks and hopefully be a safe space for creators who fancy working with kinks you see around less frequently, as well as creators who want to write those well-loved kinks and celebrate all the different ways there are to make our favourite characters get their kink on. Prompting is well underway and head over to the fest tumblr to find out how you can leave your prompts if you haven’t already done so.
My Bloody Valentine: An anti-Valentine’s mini-fest exploring the darker side of love, romance, sex, obsession and relationships. This will be a self-prompting, self-posting fest running from 10 - 16 February. More details will go up at @hpdarkarts in mid-Jan but you can start creating at any point if you’re interested. I already know we have a couple of brilliant entries ready to go, and I’m excited to see what people come up with.
Wand In A Knot: The Harry Potter 24 hour smut tag challenge. This is such a fun fest, inspired by similar fests in Teen Wolf, Sherlock and Supernatural fandom. The fest begins with a mod tag, tagging the first participant with a short prompt and then go, go, go, you have 24 hours to produce and post your fanwork, choosing your own character/ship to fill the prompt. You get your fanwork up, then tag the next participant with a short prompt and they then have 24 hours to create their contribution. It’s super fun to be part of, and we hope sign ups go swimmingly. There is a 30 participant cap and the tagging will happen on a dedicated fest Discord. Follow @wand-in-a-knot for details which will go up around March. The fest starts in May.
Harry Potter Horror Fest: The annual HP Horror Fest, an anonymous prompt based fest, will be back this year only this time it will run in September. Keep an eye on @hpdarkarts for details.
Moderating: Radio One RPF/One Direction
Grimmy Appreciation Fest (@grimmyappreciation): For those interested in 1D/Radio One RPF fandom, this annual fest dedicated to fanworks focused on Nick will be running again in 2019. More details will go up in the summer.
Gryles Exchange (@grylesexchange): I’m delighted to be part of a terrific mod team for this year’s Nick/Harry exchange which will open for sign ups at the end of January. Keep an eye on the blog for more details.
Writing
I’ve got a bunch of projects I’m super excited about this year. I’m going to finish off my Festive 500s, probably posting a bunch in a mad rush, then I’m focusing on all the new things. I’m hoping to be a regular participant in the @hpfemslash-minifest when a monthly theme grabs my interest, and I’ll be writing for Daily Deviant on a monthly basis again this year, starting this month. There are a few fests I’ve got my eye on, although I’m trying to limit fest participation. I’ll probably have a little something in the fests listed above as I want to write at least two pieces of dark/horror fic this year, I’m hoping to do the Snarry-a-Thon at Snape Potter, and after that, we’ll see! I’m sure I will do one of the Drarry fests, the question is which one??? It will likely depend on timing and other commitments.
HARRY POTTER
Play Me Like A Love Song - I am working on a novel length Minerva McGonagall/Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank story. They make a fleeting appearance in my Drarry fic, Little Compton Street, and this is their story set within that 'verse. It charts them meeting in the 50s, how they got together and looks at the communities they found on Little Compton Street and their work with those communities during the AIDS pandemic in the 80s.
Novel Length Snarry - I've been really enjoying indulging in writing longer stories and I haven't really written a novel length Snarry. I really want to spend some time on this ship this year in general. Expect much more Snarry from me this year and feel free to block the tag if it’s not your thing.
Losing His Religion Series - I swear the sequel to my Drarry fic Bedroom Hymns isn’t abandoned. It’s on the list of projects to complete this year and I’ll be glad to share the second instalment with you!
Festive 500s - God, I wish I had called these ‘suitable for any time of the year’ 500s :D - nearly finished with them and with 10 remaining chapters to post, I hope the rest will be up by the end of the weekend.
Daily Deviant - As above.
ONE DIRECTION / RADIO ONE RPF
Rebel Girl - I am super excited about this story, my first genderswap fic in this fandom, pairing Nick Grimshaw and Louis Tomlinson. This story will be a queer coming of age story focusing on Manchester's music scene, LGBT communities and self-discovery. On her first visit to Manchester’s Canal Street, Louis becomes captivated by flighty, infuriating DJ Nick who offers Louis the no-strings sex she thought she wanted. As Louis and Nick grow closer, pretending not to care becomes increasingly difficult.
London Rain - My Tomlinshaw hook-up app fic that I still haven't finished. Hoping to get this up at some point this year.
Someday You Will Find Me - Another 2018 WIP I haven't finished, in which non-famous Nick and Louis fight over the last copy of Oasis album What's The Story (Morning Glory) in an L.A. record store, and it leads them on a forty-eight hour music binge at Louis' posh house in the Hollywood Hills. A kind of liminal spaces story, structured around music from Northern England.
Thirteen - The Harry Styles/Nick Grimshaw/Louis Tomlinson Doctor Who AU with Nick as the Thirteenth Doctor that I've had in my WIPs for ages. Maybe this will be the year? Who knows.
Gryles Kink Fic - My Gryles muse has fucked off, but I’m hopeful it will return. Maybe? Anyway, it’s on the list.
Little Lion Man Sequel. Edited this in because I forgot to include it. But yes, this is happening. It won’t be a multi-chaptered WIP and definitely won’t be as long as the original, but it wraps up some of the things I set in motion towards he end of LLM. Yay!
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