My friends and I on twitter are talking about All Our Errors On Repeat and how it destroyed us, so any question about that fic you want to answer, please do.
oh man, all our errors!
and then you give me choices???? DO YOU KNOW HOW BAD I AM AT THIS? So. Answering them all?
I had to reread the fic for some of these questions, so that's why this is a bit delayed.
1:What inspired you to write the fic this way?
I am a disaster when it comes to groundhog day fics. Any sort of time shenanigans, really, I am just. VERKLEMPT. And I've always wanted to write one, too. IDK why TSN was the lucky fandom, but right time, right place?
2:What scene did you first put down?
It’s a memory of Mark and Eduardo sitting together at the deposition table, and it’s barely even a thing at all, just Eduardo’s hand slipping off Mark’s thigh. It means very little to everyone else, but to me, it’s the whole inspiration for the story, it’s a memory of the loop when Eduardo fell in love with Mark, and he was so, so in love, and it’s the moment when Wardo realized that Mark was still cutting him out and what he did matter v. little. Funny thing is, this story was sort of actually originally from Eduardo's POV - I’ve thought about it a lot, you know, writing this one singular loop from Eduardo’s POV, but I think it’d break my heart - but at some point in the planning process, I realized it'd be a lot more effective of a story from Mark's POV.
Plus less exposition.
But if that was the first moment I wrote… I don't actually remember? It changed so much in the writing/editing process. I know it was born of that moment. The beginning was probably actually pretty close to being the first thing done (for some reason, my beginnings tend to stay my beginnings regardless of what changes for the rest of the fic)
3:What's your favorite line of narration?
Anything that pretends to be more important than Facebook is not to be trusted.
In the morning, Mark wakes up, blinking; the sunlight is too bright.
4:What's your favorite line of dialogue?
Erhg. I never like my dialogue. I don't think I even. In any of my fics, dialogue is. not my favorite part to write. HOW DO PEOPLE TALK TO EACH OTHER???????
I thought about the phone conversation in part three first where it’s a mirror of the movie (when Christy sets Eduardo’s bed on fire), so let’s go with that?
5:What part was hardest to write?
Those moments when time sort of… smears? Together? It was confusing for me, and I knew what was going on! And then to make it less confusing… But. I think the struggle with a lot of time shenanigan/groundhogs day sort of stories is how to portray the time repeats without getting repetitive - a lot of stories I've read use a clockface/ a certain song on the radio, that sort of thing to showcase that it's the same day/loop, and while I did play to this trope - using the sunlight, the algorithm, mark being too warm/feeling hungover, etc instead - I didn't always stick to it. So, I guess. Making sure it didn't get repetitive?
6:What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?
I don't usually leave my endings ambiguous, tbh.
I do have a special place in my heart for both tsn fics because I think it's the first time I realized what it is I like about writing and actually started to implement that.
7:Where did the title come from?
Random thing that popped into my head
8:Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?
Not. Really?
9:Were there any alternate versions of this fic?
You mean the one where the ending isn't so ambiguous? LOL. But no. Not really, unless you count the Eduardo POV that never really had any words to it. Earlier versions, certainly, but they all pretty much lead up to what it is now.
10:Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?
I was really into Mark/Eduardo at the time, and I tend to have plotbunnies for my currently relevant otps. LBR, I'd probably write some sort of time shenanigans sort of story for every fandom ever (if I was actually any good at finishing stories anymore oops)
11:What do you like best about this fic?
I like the ending a lot; I like that it's emotionally exhausting, even after all this time (and all those rereads), I like their separate coping strategies, I like the memories that mark gets (especially when he doesn't always realize they're memories)
12:What do you like least about this fic?
You know. I don't know? I'm sure there was a lot at the time of posting/during writing, but now it's just fondness.
I'd probably rewrite some of it/a lot of it simply because I know my writing style has changed, and how I put together a narrative/sentences is different, but I don't think I'd actually change all that much of it? It'd be mostly cosmetic things/formatting things, and not anything I actually cut out because I didn't like it
13:What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn't listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?
Actually! There is a soundtrack! My artist - anysomething - put together a fanmix after she got the first draft and I listened to that a lot while I was finishing the story. The actual download link isn’t up anymore, but the playlist is here
14:Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?
No? I mean? I guess don't be afraid to play around with tropes? I mean. The typical groundhogs day fic is one day on repeat, but I didn't think that gave me enough room to really explore/write what I wanted, so. TAKE RISKS. BREAK RULES! Let's go with that.
15:What did you learn from writing this fic?
EDITING IS YOUR FRIEND Cutting things out is your friend. It's okay to rewrite, it's okay to throw out whole sections and start over. I've always edited, but I think this fic (and the other side as well) are the first ones I went as indepth as I did. There was also a lot of learning about listening to my instincts and let the story go off the path I may have originally planned.
