#wrydoesaskgames

Ancient: the first fic you ever posted online?

Ah! My past sins! No, actually, I'm still quite fond of this one. It's "Darkest Hour", a dialogue-only Merlin fic I wrote and posted just because I had a very silly idea about Arthur returning in Britain's Greatest Hour Of Need (to prevent Brexit), and couldn't find any fic with that concept. So, naturally, I was honour-bound to provide it myself! Gosh, I remember how excited I was over my first comment... good times, good times.

Forever: do you balance fic writing with original concept stuff?

I used to, once upon a time - original concept is how I started writing, and continued for over 5 years. But now I'm just too fond of the fanfic medium and its possibilities (getting to share my work without explaining everything about it!) that I barely touch the original stuff anymore, and same for art. However, I'm still very very fond of the characters (the header on my main blog depicts one of them), and on occasion my mind drifts back to them!

March: do you listen to music whilst writing?

Yes, almost always! I tend to listen to albums I just stumble over on Spotify on repeat, sometimes choosing one specific song to really capture the vibe of certain scenes. Mostly musicals or opera recordings, but for JJBA writing I listened to a lot of Mariya Takeuchi's work! (It just has a very strong 80s/90s vibe that I somehow associate with Jojo's, even though I've mostly written for a part that takes place in the early 2010s.)

Minutes: how long does it normally take you to complete a fic?

Oh dear, that varies. I've written 12k fics in four days, and have oneshots still lingering at a handful of k after over a year. However, a very common time frame is half a year, because I start writing during the uni term to procrastinate, and then sit down after exams to finish the whole thing! C&B then took another term to publish, as well as draw all the illustrations.

Tomorrow: favourite ways to write fluff?

See something Soft(tm) that makes me feel tender inside. Yearn. Open current WIP. Find a way to cram a few thousand words of gentle affection in there between the angst and humour and pining. Stay up until 4am writing. Re-read the next day. Cry happy tears. (Rinse and repeat.)