I’ll start with the last two general ones:

👉👈What two stories have you written that are most similar? Why?

Uhhhhh I guess I’ve written a lot of stories that are similar (see my excel sheet) (jk, idk where it is) Damn. Damn. Damn. Okay, I could be wrong, but I think uhhhh damn.

Okay, hear me out, but I think “The Death of Jaime Velez” and “In the Blink of an Eye” are very similar in that they’re both about obsession with Miguel, but to a point where he’s almost a peripheral character. His presence doesn’t matter as much as what the character believes about him. But they’re similar mainly because I was intentionally revisiting those themes/characterisations of “In the Blink of an Eye” for “The Death of Jaime Velez”.

Another two would probably be “World Away” and “So You Say You Want a Deathbed Scene” for exploring Miguel’s escapist tendencies that aren’t entirely good for him and also make even Chico wary.

This was a hard question lmao. I’d be interested to know what anyone else would say because, yeah, nothing jumped immediately to mind—at least, not with any strong reasoning.

👈👉What two stories have you written that are most different? Why?

I guess I’ll go with something basic and say “Nothing New Under the Sun”, a Simon Adebisi pre-canon imagining/character study that details the trauma and loss of his past and ties his loneliness to the beginning of his downfall in the show, is something of an completely opposite to “Silver Moon’s Sparkling”, a post-canon happily ever after where two guys find each other and the future is bright.

Roaming

🥇What scene were you most excited to write? Did it end up being the one you enjoyed writing the most?

I didn’t really write this fic with scenes clearly thought out one after the other, so there wasn’t one that I was excited for ahead of time, but that said, sometimes as I’m feeling out a fic, I have an “aha” moment for the next brick to lay, so to speak. One of those for this fic, funnily enough, was the scene where Alonzo wakes up in the drunk tank and does the walk of shame out into midmorning and meets the pervert. I just thought it was a really intriguing situation to place him in, and I enjoyed calling back to the guy trying to pick up hookers outside of the station when Alonzo ultimately picked out a baby blue suit jacket and the sort of retro checkered pants as an homage to the old guy in his old blue suit. :P

I guess another thing I was looking forward to writing was the sex scene? Idk, I go back and forth on the idea of Alonzo’s view of sex in general but for this fic, he was meant to be explicitly very sexually active/the virgin stuff he says later is all bullshit. I write so much miguelchico, cautious bisexuals, it was interesting and different to just write a gay character who was just having sex and a one night stand, too, the end 😆 if that makes sense lol.

🙏Was there anything your character(s) really really really wanted to do? Did you let them?

There were things I was going to have the characters do but then the moment passed and the fic got longer and longer lol. The original shape of the fic as I started writing it was that Alonzo would get super duper high and then hang out with and/or hook up (fondling and hand stuff mainly) with Chantelle while moaning about what a horrible night he’s having and having flashbacks about having sex with Jaime, who he tells her is dead. And then she was supposed to be like “Who” and he was supposed to remember himself and become disillusion and continue stumbling off in the night, to awaken the next morning, smoke, jerk off, and move on. I was envisioning like a 2k at most pic and Alonzo was like “no sir this is my moment. Close up on these dry tear ducts for 5000 more words. Hook up the landline and make me bisexual in a different fic. Aaand action!”

So there’s that, I guess.

🔮Have you imagined what happens to [character(s)] in the future? Or does the story only exist to you as a moment in time?

I think this story more or less exists as a moment in time. The grief Alonzo feels doesn’t have any canon-altering impacts, although I guess make it has some canon-explaining ones in my mind? When I was writing the fic, I was thinking the thing with Gavin and Sal’s meddling is was spirals out and leads to Alonzo’s imprisonment. In my head, Sal is Alonzo’s acid throw victim. I mentioned it in a reply somewhere, but I could sort of see Alonzo taking a similar revenge/attempt at revenge on Chico, giving him laced pills, after putting two and two together and figuring the last guy seen in the shower either killed Jaime as the unsubstantiated rumor says or is at least responsible for not saving him. Ergo, fuck him. That’s about as far as Roaming wanders, though ;)

🎤Do you think the story was written in your typical voice? Why or why not?

I think it’s written in one of my voices? The one where I kind of skip along in time, very smooth, very easy. Things are happening and we’re walking and we’re walking. (Despite the focus on the time, and, perhaps, how slowly it’s passing—how it’s taking foreverrr to move forward)

But yeah, I don’t think I was trying anything new here, except maybe just more/a different Alonzo POV.

🔎What detail(s) in the story are you particularly captivated with? Is there any behind the scenes info or backstory?

The stuff about the old man of course;

I basically wrote Angelo as Chucky But Different lol

Jer is just a funny and fitting name choice to me for this mostly unseen character. I can’t explain it

Alonzo has absolutely nothing against Cassandra on a normal day

Pretty basic, but I liked writing the contrast of Alonzo’s memories of good sex with Jaime versus his disenchantment with all the other experiences mentioned in the fic. No one compares to the one that got away! By dying

Alonzo thinking he’s doing a good thing giving the panhandler his food and the hobo is like YEET

Death Wish

🍆 What scene do you think was the hottest? What scene do you think your readers thought was the hottest? Are they the same?

Nobody commented on the smut being hot really so idk (also, guys you can comment on smut I write lol, I promise I don’t find it strange or creepy :P)

You said you liked the Reynaldo story while Chico was blowing Miguel but that was more about the writing style, I guess? 😆

Anyway, I liked the ch1 little snippet where Miguel’s getting railing in front of the mirror, idk, I’ve been wanting to write miguelchico mirror sex (still want to write a better/more detailed scene for a diff fic) so that was an opportunity that I took. Same with Miguel bent over the desk with his hands cuffed behind his back 🤪

🔮 Have you imagined what happens to [character(s)] in the future? Or does the story only exist to you as a moment in time?

It's mostly a story that exists as a moment in time to me. I didn't really want to think too far beyond the mysterious(ish) ending just to keep it Running Off Into the Sunset for me as well as the reader. But I imagine that Urbano caves/escapes his curse eventually 🤣 ...Urbano/Pancamo, meathead 4 meathead? (meatball 4 meatball?) 👀 Keller is executed and Beecher's life becomes uneventful again. The cafeteria crew carries on, sometimes wondering what happened to Miguel, wondering what kind of connections Tecuanhuey had lol (Beecher and Arif maybe at some point acknowledging what they both suspected aka the source of the hickey lol).

Jaime and Alonzo probably hit quite a few snafus being newly in charge and tbh aren't like the beeest leadership team, but they like their partnership and the boat never starts to sink so they just keep sailing anyway and give themselves an A+ on their self report.

🏴‍☠️ Were there any points in which your characters tried (or succeeded) to commit mutiny against your planned plot? Where did they most want to rebel?

Lol, well, yeah, there were a couple deleted scenes along the way that I shared for a wip wednesday I think it was... Ch4 in particular was difficult to hammer down the pacing of. But there was also a deleted/early draft of the Coda I forgot to share and ended up changing because I realised it would drag an wasn't going anywhere:

--

“...said Mrs. Rafferty, the injured animal turned out to be a black Belgian sheepdog named Luna, whose owner reported that she had wandered from their two-acre homestead at the edge of Morrisville. They were happily reunited at the vet and Luna is said to be making a full recovery. Harry, back to you.”

“Thanks you, Janine. And look at that video, huh?”

“So cute.”

“Although I’m sure the news came as a great disappointment to those out there still keeping an eye out for the Route 7a Beast, isn’t that right, Sheryl?”

“Yes, the last credible sighting of a panther was down at Bear Mountain a couple weeks ago. The report was that it was a pair of them, wasn’t it?”

“Right, the birder. Yes. We have that picture. Let’s throw it up right now—I mean, wow, look at that. Incredible.”

“Well I’m glad they’re gone. I’ll sleep easier knowing there’s no jungle cats around. But I won’t be sleeping easy until I know what the weather forecast is! George, what do you have for us?”

“Yo, Sleeping Beauty.”

A tap on his shoulder pulls Jaime out of his middling trance and he takes off his headphones down, tilting his head back to see Carlo grinning at him.

“Hey!” Jaime reaches out, dapping him up first, straightening up and twisting around second. Back beyond the TV area, he sees the latest wave of inmates arriving back at Emerald City with their bed rolls and hygiene packs. “Bro, where’d they send you?”

“Lardner, man,” Carlo says, shaking his head. “How you feel?”

He’s got his bedroll under one arm—hasn’t settled in yet, which a hack standing nearby suddenly notices.

“Ricardo, socialise later. Put your shit away,” he barks, gesturing at Carlo to get moving toward the tier.

Jaime leaves his headphones on the seat, trailing Carlo as he makes another note of who all is walking back in. There’s a few new faces among the familiar; nearly six months after the evacuation, he supposes some of the former residents of Em City have either been transferred out, released, or else took the back door exit at the prison they were sent to.

As far as he knows, there haven’t been any more escapes like Alavarez’s, anyhow, the guy having escaped during the chaos of the evacuation.

By the time anyone had noticed he was gone—and that had only been in the course of searching for a hack whose uniform shirt and utility belt were discovered on some stairs by the biohazard cleanup crew—it’d been far too late.

A whole ass week late.

Was a shit show that Jaime had been treated to through gleeful news recaps as he convalesced at Benchley Memorial with the rest of the inmates evacuated from the hospital ward; Warden Querns had been fired and rehired and fired again, the scandal rocking the entire Oswald prison administration when it’d been uncovered that the missing C.O hadn’t even had a paper trail—that no one could even remember his full name.

Officer Tecuanhuey, no first name, had waltzed into Oz and, months later, and with no record of his employment, had disappeared with a prisoner in tow. 

The tabloids had gone crazy. A special inquiry had been opened. Miah Wilkinson had stood outside of Oz practically 24/7 for a month straight. And when all was said and done, the officer that no one could quite remember—Jaime certainly can’t—was still missing, and Miguel Alvarez had vanished up in smoke, too.

Lucky motherfucker.

“Yo, you seen Morales? They discharged me to fucking Sing-Sing, man. Shit sucked,” Jaime says as he and Carlo reach the second tier. “Heard he was at Lardner, though.”

“Nah, you know—” Carlo lowers his voice, glancing over his shoulder as he leads them  toward Pod Eleven. “I think McManus put in a word. Ain’t bringing back any of the captains. S’what I heard.”

“You think it’s true?” Jaime says, but that would explain the general lack of activity in Emerald City in the days since the unit has been repopulating. With Pancamo up in Attica and Urbano acting too squirrely these days to organise much, the Italians have been pretty subdued, no word about the tits situation.

The Homeboys, too, are lackadaisical under Poet’s leadership, what little dealing they do sporadic and unorganised.

“So he’s still up at Lardner?”

“Yeah.”

“Shit, man. Well, we gotta get everyone together later.”

“For sure."

They reach Carlo’s new pod where Ortiz is already inside, and Jaime peels off to let Carlo get settled, turning to sweep the unit again, this time his eyes catching on a figure walking up the stairs pretending not to notice anyone.

Jaime grins, darting over even as Alonzo’s pace seems to pick up.

No matter; once he’s in his pod with his things, he’s got nowhere to turn.

“So… I guess you’re in charge now,” Jaime says, standing in the doorway of the pod.

Alonzo’s already dumped his things on the lower bunk but he makes a big show of carefully spreading his sheets. “I guess so,” he drawls.

He’s funny like that, always playing cool, like he doesn’t care about anything. Jaime lets the door close behind him as he strolls across the pod and leans on the edge of the bedframe. “Yeah, Carlo says Morales ain’t coming back. We’ll have a meeting. Pancamo’s out, too.” He huffs out a laugh.

Shit couldn’t have worked out better for Alonzo if he’d planned the whole fucking thing, which no way he did. Waiting in the wings—playing second fiddle—that had been a wise move on Alonzo’s part, though.

“You’re gonna need a lieutenant. I wanna be him,” Jaime says.

Bent over the mattress, the only sign that Alonzo’s been listening has been the lack of blinking as he tucks his sheet corners in and smooths his palms over the bed all meticulous and shit.

Straightening up, he’s fucking tall—towers a bit over Jaime, staring down with a vague smirk, though frankly it’s a little less effective when he’s still wearing prison grays, and he looks like some other pendejo, bleach job all grown out dark brown.

“Qué lindo,” he says, voice rumbling all low, kind of flirty or whatever.

It’s been a couple months, but Jaime hasn’t forgotten how Alonzo leers and looms—tries to get him to flinch. 

Hah. Yeah fucking right. He doesn’t even turn pink, ready for it.

Alonzo’s eyes flick over his face, narrowing slightly. “You don’t have the experience. Anyway. You already went behind my back, sugar. No thanks. Welcome back, by the way,” he adds flippantly, moving for the door.

Jaime cuts in front of him. “The fuck’s that supposed to mean? Yo, I always had your back, man!”

Alonzo stops short, staring.

--

I guess the Coda in and of itself was the characters doing what they wanted in the sense that my original outline just had a TV update and then Alonzo and Jaime barged into wanting some closure for their appearances in the fic :P

Chico also showed up a lot earlier and more frequently than anticipated. He wanted to move things along faster and I was like NO, more scenes for padding! And that's basically why Death Wish is 5 chapters not 2.

Only When It Rains

🧭What was the key choice or decision you had to make for this story? If you had chosen differently, what would the story have turned into?

Hmmm Honestly, I think one of the main decisions I made for this was the time skip the details of Alonzo’s dealings with Enrique and Destiny. I think it was for the best in terms of pacing and leaving just enough for the reader to fill in how things went down if they so desire.

Another choice was probably tying in the Miguelchico angle at the end lol I was contemplating not doing it and just having the ending be Alonzo and his ennui, discontent with having obtained Miguel or whatever, but I was like You Know What… This Is Who I am lol. So yeah. I think giving Alonzo that spark and something to hold onto also ended up fitting in just as well with that recurring boredom and also tied up the Alonzo/Enrique aspect a lot better than Alonzo just losing to the tedium of life.

Silver Moon Sparkling

🧭What was the key choice or decision you had to make for this story? If you had chosen differently, what would the story have turned into?

Oooh. I think probably the biggest decision I had to make for this story was how to handle the family/mom accept and how Miguel's mom reacted to him being bi as well as dating Chico. I flipflopped a bit on whether or not to just have her accept it all reluctantly or ambivalently in ch8 but I just don't feel like that would be realistic with the vibe Carmen Alvarez put out in the brief appearance on the show. Also my own coming out to my mom did not go well 🤪 so I guess it was more of a personal choice as well to ultimately go with hurtful outcome and then write a later scene with the reluctant maybe coming around to it where Mama Carmen realises it's a pill she just has to swallow. Idk. if I had chosen differently it would've been Meet family. Boom. All good. Next chapter. Sex time, the end. (The later chapters of SMS were not really plotted out in that much detail besides parts of the sex scene being written ahead of time lol)

In the Blink of An Eye

🙏Was there anything your character(s) really really really wanted to do? Did you let them?

Well, Chico really really wanted to bone Miguel and I said No. Live in ignorance. Lmao but actually, I think in pretty much every scene where Chico is in the vicinity of Miguel, he's teeming with so many things he wants to say (he just wants Miguel's attention please please please), but ultimately, I have him say very little to Miguel in their handful of scenes together.

📖Could the story have been a different length? What would you have included/removed?