#contrastellar writes

IM THE ONE DIGGING.

make shit

Witch of the Eighty-Sixth

AO3 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/54432742

Cover Art by @naluxk on twitter

Please consider reading it!

Cover art by @/naluxk on twitter!

Alina/Talulah

Word Count: 3,710

AO3 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/51686221

Irene/Lumen

AO3 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/51706558

Chapter 1

AO3 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/53273680

The Pre-Alpha v0 Draft felt like, on reflection, it was skipping characterization that should be there, hindering readability.

86's charm point is in the dichotomy of Handler and Reaper.

That I'm not entirely sure the original idea for this story actually works.

On point 1 -- I've spent the better part of the last few years *really* working in the realm of (ultimately) fanfiction, rather than writing original characters. As such, certain characterization can be skipped over when I'm writing a longfic because the reader will (likely) already be familiar with the character(s) that I'm working with. I don't need to elaborate on details that are already established. This makes writing fanfic fairly easy for me, but makes writing original characters interestingly difficult as I have to be mindful and intentional with what I characterize and when.

On point 2 -- I feel like this is somewhat self-explanatory; but the reason 86 works as both an interpersonal narrative and a war-based one; is how Shinei and Lena interact and how their relationship (both romantic and professional) develops over the course of 13 volumes.

This v0 Draft did not contain any form of "Handler", there is no dichotomy between the 'idyllic' Republic and the 86th Sector; there is just the battlefield and the people on it. Which, not having such a dichotomy isn't a bad thing. But I'm wondering now how I can loop in such ideas now. I have ideas for other stories to tell within this world, and I'm wondering if it is at all possible to loop in the various 'sides' of the story, all into one cohesive narrative.

On point 3 -- The original idea for this story was basically "86 but make the cast all different flavors of queer". The story's first incomplete draft has since evolved from that point, but there are still the remnants of such an idea in what exists.

At one point in the second chapter; after alluding to it throughout Chapter 1 -- I have the main character say straight to the camera that she's trans. This doesn't work the way I want it to, I believe. In addition, I found it hard, with what I had plotted out for this v0 Draft, to loop in the ideas of making the other members of the main cast various flavors of queer. The story is not telling what I initially envisioned; the mistreatment of (coincidentally) queer conscripts at the hands of a country that just needs to not lose a war against an automated legion of killing machines.

Of course, 'not losing' is not the same as 'winning', and this means that sending people who were viewed as "expendable" to the front-lines is how the country forestalls its demise. This original idea, as it was inspired by 86, rather than being in the middle of the war, is actually set near the start of the conscription; where there are no "veterans" of warfighting the Drones, and everyone is as clueless as their comrades. I'm a bit hesitant to reveal what the 'twist' is, in this thread; but I do believe that keeping the core of the twist while changing the circumstances of the story? That might be an interesting idea.

However, as I sit here and write all of this out; I'm wondering if I'm making a setting and perhaps overarching narrative better suited for a Young Adult audience? Which, is not a bad thing. 86 (in manga form) is regarded as "Seinen" (Males 18~30 y/o), and in some ways it is, some ways it isn't. So I'm beginning to consider, now, my intended audience for this novel. This is something that I consider to be a *huge* hurdle, as this calls into question what themes or ideas I want to put into the writing as I move into a Pre-Alpha v1 Draft. I believe that I'm better suited for something more in-line of genre with texts such as "Ender's Game", "Speaker for the Dead" or perhaps "Leviathan Wakes"; but ultimately there is only one way that determination is made; which is by finishing the damn draft.

All of this is me procrastinating and somewhat rubber-ducky'ing some of the foundational stuff that I've noticed since I decided to start the Pre-Alpha v1 Draft. It's odd to say, but it's been fun to puzzle over these ideas as I start work on the Pre-Alpha v1 Draft.