hello! for the fic ask game, AMCH and 🏴☠️ 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?
This is an amazing question. It made me sit back in my chair, n then go make a cup of tea about it. As I was staring out the kitchen window, it came to me. Sevika! (and Maddie) Initially, Sevika was supposed to survive but as I wrote her I realised 'oh, this bitch is dead set on perishing.' Like... I am in awe of these people who fling themselves up these huge peaks. Some for honour & glory, others to challenge themselves, some to find meaning and truth in an increasingly chaotic world. Either way, they sacrifice themselves mentally, physically and financially to this quest/goal, knowing the statistics. Its like Athletes, they sacrifice their childhood for the slim possibility of reaching the podium and holding the gold aloft. For every gold medalist there are untold thousands who never made it due to luck, circumstances, ability peaked. The margins are narrow. Yet it doesnt stop others that come after them from attempting to attain those heights. Respect must be given to those who dare to dream. And those who attempt to reach those lofty heights and miss the mark tend not to give themselves grace and see just how extraordinary they are to have competed at all. Sevika turned out to be this type of person, her whole life given to this one pursuit, with so little faith in what she had achieved so far. The tragedy of that. That her story was one of the more extraordinary ones, and could have helped and inspired others. Everest is no picnic. Its a dangerous place, and people die. I felt it was important for AMCH to reflect that. It wouldn't have rung true if everyone survived. Not matter how much I wanted to give Sevika her happy retirement, sipping whiskey on the deck of a log cabin with Vander, watching the sun settle gently on Mt Rainer's shoulders. Winters spent teaching noobs how to survive and then relaxing in front of a fire regaling them with her exploits, it just wasn't a space the character wanted to inhabit. I had no other choice than to let her travel to the conclusion she was deadset on having. (this post got so long it made me split it)
