#trappedinathoughtbubble

I got this just before my month went to hell last month, finally getting to these actual asks. (Original post)

1. What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting? Default setting. I don't care. I used to do Times New Roman because that was the default on Microsoft Works (not even Word lmao) in the mid 2000s. Nowadays it's Arial on Google Docs (I understand Helvetica is superior, but... yeah IDC. I'm not that much of a typography snob). I will switch it to a sans serif font these days if the default is a serif like Times New Roman though, for long stories.

8. If you had to write an entire story without either action or dialogue, which would you choose and how would it go? I mean, I've sort of done this before in the form of a journal entry. I'd do the same thing - go for first person, journal entry, introspective style. That, or like, an aftermath of a scene where a character is, again, introspective. So basically just sitting and thinking. This was sort of the first half of one of my first fics in the fandom, actually.

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you? It's only ever haunted me in the fact that I want to get it done and my brain's not cooperating due to RL being too busy. It also means I've had to change my approach to writing the last month (which has been itty bitty bits of pieces once every two weeks as opposed to 1-2 hours of just dedicated time 3+ times a week). At the moment my "magnum opus" fics are haunting me in my fear of never seeing them completed lol. I abandoned what was gonna be my magnum opus in the LOTR fandom a bit over 10 years ago now, and I'm hoping it won't be the same with the MCU. We'll see! 25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story? I mean, the details I know about Stephen are stupid. xD When it comes to my OCs, I usually do a little bit more fleshing out of them even if all those details don't necessarily make it out on paper, like some family backstory. I'd say the most unnecessary details I have are all around world-building, especially around history and geography about an area. I usually do significantly more research into the geography of an area than is actually needed.

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you? My favorite quote is from Tolkien, which is this line of dialogue: "Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens." I think it's quite poignant and I've always loved the (perhaps romanticized) idea of the truest of friends/family/partners sticking together through the hardest of times.

Thank you!

*spins wheel* You don’t drown because you fall into a river it is!

This is originally a scene from what at the time would have been the third long-fic in the Eating us Alive-verse, it’s heavily edited and rewritten obviously, but I’m so glad I found a way to use the Mary Reading To Sherlock scene.

The books Mary and John read are both recommendations I’ve got from friends and which I have not enjoyed at all.

I drank tea with valerian root and lavender before bed every night at the time I wrote this, that’s why that’s included (I’m not sure it helped at all).

There were many versions of the scene with John and Sherlock after Sherlock’s nightmare where John talked about the war.

9: rec a fic that you think is underrated

The Impressionist by reckonedrightly is set in the Victorian times, with a genderqueer Sherlock Holmes and a fascinating Irene Adler.

14: rec something that made you laugh out loud

The entire Biscuitverse series by faerymorstan, a very funny and lovely series of Johnlockary fics.

15: rec a one-shot that you want to seeturned into a novel length fic

Voices from the Kitchen by pennypaperbrain is a short fic about Eurus that I would like to read more of.

23: tag a few people who should do this meme

Don’t know if you have a stream available. But, usually, when they show texts with a sweeping sound and they disappear upwards, it means the text got sent (?) at least that’s how I see it (e.g. around 0:08:20 when Sherlock is texting someone (Greg?) about a case). John’s scene starts at 1:08:something. We see him writing that text, There is a sweeping sound. And the text disappears upwards. Then he spots E sitting at the the bus stop and he gives her an awkward smile…

I somehow missed this when you sent it like, three months ago? It must have been the start of my fall hiatus. Original post here.

5. What is the perfect environment for you to write in?

My bed. I love writing in my bed, whether it’s on my phone or with my laptop. It’s just so comfortable and warm (and I got a new mattress this year, making it extra comfy). It helps if the TV in adjourning rooms from other family members isn’t so loud that I get easily distracted, either.

12. Is there a trope you haven’t written yet but really want to? 

Boring answer, but there’s not really anything I can think of off the top of my head. If I want to write a trope, I damn well write it xD There’s different versions of tropes I like that I’ve imagined but don’t have anything but a snippet of a scene (when I usually want more) but when it comes to broad trope strokes, I’ve done near all the ones I really enjoy. I can just spin different variants of them, hah.

18. What is a line/scene you’re really proud of? Give us the DVD commentary for that scene.

I mean, yeah, there’s several things I’ve written that I’m pleased with. Mmm, to select just one... *scrolls through stuff* I could point out a lot of stuff, but I am very fond of this line from The Calm Before the Storm, which is also used as the summary for the one-shot:

Stephen Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts and Possibly Unluckiest Man to Survive the Shit Life Threw At Him, took a couple minutes in the privacy of his nook on their who-knows-how-long trip to Titan to feel very sorry for himself.

I love dry, sorta black humour. A lot of characters I gravitate towards seem to have personalities that would cope with in horrid situations with that type of thinking while living it. This line really helps to show what my writing style is like - dry humor with a good deal of character introspection.

30. Tell us an idea for a longfic you want to write in the future.

Hi love 💓 You make me smile because you've always been ridiculously kind and supportive, even when I've been distant.

I'm not smiling due to this sore throat (ugh I wanted to go shopping this weekend but nooooo I have to have this minor something, whatever it is), but there are other things to smile about.

The fact that I got a little bit of writing done, as little as it is. It's something!

The pizza we had on Friday. It's so good. It ended up being more successful this 2nd quarter this year compared to last year because no one in the area wanted it to go away. So one brother has a job that is safe. They make it like they do in Italy mmmm.

I keep enjoying and laughing at a few very funny YouTubers who are just so wholesome.

My dogs make me smile.

I am over halfway through saving for a down payment for my own place, which is hard for a single income in the area I live. The silver lining in these times is that I've spent a lot less money on food and gas, so more go into savings.

Thank you 😁

Acotar: What is your favourite season and time of day?

Season: summer, because it doesn't tend to get unbearably hot until end of August and September here. It's otherwise really nice. Also fond of the Christmas season lmao, though I'd prefer if the commercials didn't start until after Thanksgiving here in the states. One month rather than two months.

Time of day: Evening. I'm a night owl.

Throne of Glass: Who is your favourite female fictional character?

Mmmmmm good question. Hermione is a big one and probably my go-to answer. Eowyn's amazing. I like Pepper. Katara's great. I can't think of any favorite female lead which is a shame. The big issue with female leads is the large focus on romance. With guys it's just a side thing, and most female leads are in romances. Not my genre. Probably the closest favorite female lead is Mulan actually. She's awesome.

Anna and the French Kiss: Where in the world would you most like to live

K:  Do you have a guilty pleasures in fic (reading or writing)?

Haha the answer is very similar to the guilty trope answer to your last (lovely) ask over here. The kidnapping/wrongful imprisonment/bad guy capturing good guy as mentioned in that post is way too much fun to read or write. I love reading and writing insane details that don't necessarily need to be there but that really help bring characters and places to life. I also love ridiculous action/adventure cliches and the characters lampshading it. I adore snark and banter (including soft versions with a caretaker helping their buddy).

L:  Which of your fanfics was the most emotionally challenging to write?

The entire "Demon" arc from Whumptober last year, especially #2, #25, and #31 (found in my collection). The series (which is 2, 7, 20, 22, 25, 29, and 31) has in those three fics at one point a cruel narrator encouraging the person he's speaking to to kill himself, another scene covers some of the unspeakable horrors found in history, and another scene uses his magic powers against a non-powered friend. Figuring out how to write all this was very difficult. I definitely pushed myself with that series.

V: Are there certain comments you’ve received on your stories that have stuck with you?

There's been some really great ones over the years. Ones that have said that I covered a sensitive topic really well, ones that claimed that I have made them more interested in something, ones that really like the details, ones that are really emotionally moved in some manner... there's been some great ones. I couldn't pick. It's a bubbly cauldron of happiness.

Y: What are your thoughts on your personal satisfaction with something you’ve written vs. the popularity of your stories?  Do you tend to be most satisfied with your most popular stories?  

This is a hard question. Generally speaking, I don't think so, as my favorites are not necessarily my most popular works. However, as most writers and artists would say, there is truly a lovely feeling in validation in the forms of positive feedback that really keeps fanfic writers going more, I think. But take the "Demon" series I mentioned above. I am super super satisfied with how I executed that difficult story, and the stories in that series was definitely nowhere near the most popular of my work. I'll always be satisfied when I execute a challenge I set for myself in simply attempting it and following through.