#Chrononautical

[shantismurf]

"The Mushroom Mine" sign by @shantismurf, with assistance from @tickles-ivory

As part of the celebration of the one year anniversary of the Bagginshield Book Club, we asked the lovely @chrononautintraining a few questions about this wonderful work.

June 2024 Author Q&A with Chrononautical

Q1. What name would you like us to use and what are your pronouns?

A1. Chrononautical or Chrono, She/Her

Q2. How many years have you been writing? 

A2. Most of my life, but posting publicly for about 15 years.

Q3. What do you think of as your writing style - are you a plotter or pantster?

A3. Pantster, primarily, though I've learned my lessons and do like to know where a story is going to end when I start it these days so I try to plot. 

Q4. What’s your favorite genre/trope to write? 

A4. Speculative fiction: stories about magic or science fiction, primarily. 

Q5. Is there a genre/trope you haven't written as much of yet that you're excited about for future writing?

A5. I'd like to do more comedy.

Q6. Was there an idea or scene that inspired A Passion for Mushrooms?

A6. Passion for Mushrooms is one hundred percent inspired by the quote I used for an epigraph: "Hobbits have a passion for mushrooms, surpassing even the greediest likings of Big People." - The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien. 

When I decided to write it, the fandom already had more than a few stories about Bilbo planting gardens and deciding to stay in Erebor with a miraculously alive Thorin. I was completely here for all of that, of course, but I wanted a story where the garden wasn't special because of gold or rare plants bought with gold. I wanted there to be a treasure that Bilbo could appreciate with the Baggins half of his heart, as well as the Tookish bit. And I know next to nothing about mountains, but I do know mushrooms do okay in caves, so... 

Q7. Did you do any special research before writing the work?

A7. If you're asking this because I go deep on How To Pluck A Chicken In A Medieval Kitchen during the cooking scenes, you're right and you should say it. I am a middling cook, but all of my ingredients come from grocery stores. I had to do a fair bit of research on the cooking aspects of the story that were furthest from my own experience. Fortunately, the professor already put tomatoes and potatoes in Middle-earth, so I didn't have to go Full Historical. 

Q8. Did the story change from how you originally envisioned it? Were there scenes or plot elements you had to cut out?

A8. It absolutely did. Because I am, as previously said, a pantster. I wanted a bigger bang for the ending of the story than I was set up to get. I could have stopped with Bilbo and Thorin getting together and had some simple falling action, but that didn't perfectly tie the subplot of Dis and Tauriel back to the main pairing, which I knew I wanted. Having Doron try to poison Bilbo was actually a late in the game choice. If I'd planned that from the start, I would have threaded him into more of the middle sections of the novel. 

As for cutting things out, the additional stories in the series started as deleted scenes/reader requests that I couldn't find use for. So most of what I cut didn't end up in the rubbish bin. Anything that wound up there really wasn't worth posting. 

Q9. Do you have a favorite moment from the entire series?

A9. I still really like "A Spy In The Shire" a lot. I know it's so self-indulgent to say that about a story focusing on an OC, but if the point of the Battle of Five Armies is to reclaim Erebor for the dwarves, then I want that to mean something. I want the average dwarf to be in a bad place. I want the average dwarf to need Erebor the way Thorin needs Erebor, to be willing to do anything to get back to the Lonely Mountain. Because if that's the case, then all the sacrifice means something. When I talk about this one luckless dwarf on the world's silliest quest to figure out how to help the king hook up with a hobbit, I'm talking about hope for the future. I'm talking about all the people who long for and dream of the home that Thorin was willing to die to reclaim. I think about them going back there and living better lives. It brings me peace.

[lapseinrecs]

A Passion For Mushrooms

By Chrononautical @chrononautintraining

On Archive of Our Own

Status: Complete; 89,912 words; Mushroom Mine series

Summary: There are many trials for a hobbit attempting to make a life among dwarves. A hobbit wants a garden. A hobbit wants to eat regular meals. A hobbit wants friends, good books, and comfortable chairs. Bilbo does his best to carve out a little hobbit life for himself in the mountain. If only there were not one final obstacle. For a hobbit heart wants love, and among dwarves that is a sticky subject.

My thoughts: I like it when the other Hobbits get involved. Also they are so verbose.

[green-fifteen]

I'm so pleased to finally announce the completion of my longest podfic project! The Mushroom Mine parts 1-9 are now finished and uploaded.

I fell in love with A Passion For Mushrooms in 2020. Shortly thereafter, I started getting serious about podfic. It has always been a goal of mine to make this series accessible in audio format -- for myself and everyone else who loves it.

My heart is so glad because I get to share my favorite story with you all! Thanks to @chrononautintraining for making it all possible. Your writing delights and inspires.

Thanks also to @elany for cover design and cheerleading. 💚💚💚

[pilkypills]

Entered a fugue state and read 2/3 of A Road From the Garden in one sitting. Kili Baggins you are the funniest motherfucker on this doggone middle earth..

[classicartverso]

Sean Murphy - Chrononauts

[chrononautintraining]

y'all ever vacillate back and forth on using courtesy names in a modern AU to the point where you use find and replace? Because I did a replace all without making it case sensitive. Some interesting new typos in my document: ▪️buWuxian ▪️paWuxian ▪️obeWuxian

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

THE THREE WIZARDS OF TRUE BRITISH DOOM.

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on the founding members and/or original line-up of English occult stoner/DOOM metal band, ELECTRIC WIZARD (1994-2002) -- eternal @!%¢#$®*& hails!!

Jus Oborn – lead guitar, vocals, effects

Tim Bagshaw – lead bass, effects

Mark Greening – drums, concussion

Sources: www.picuki.com/media/3439807154287308449 (Picuki 2x).

[superheroes-or-whatever]

Big Game #2 by Mark Millar & Pepe Larraz

[travischarestcomics]

Chrononauts: Futureshock #1 variant cover (2019)

Prodigy #2 variant cover (2019)

Space Bandits #1 variant cover (2019)

By Travis Charest

[green-fifteen]

Last installment of A Passion For Mushrooms is finally up!!

Thank you so much to @chrononautintraining for allowing me to read my favorite story out loud to other people who love it 💚 This is just such a fun hobby!

[queerlyloud]

1000000/10, definitely recommend knitting while listening to the Dwelves of Gothlorien's podfic of Sansûkh. The very best way to spend a sleepy, rainy weekend 💕

[hufflepuffwritingstuff2]

Petition to rename time travelers to Chrono-Nauts

[classicartverso]

Pasqual Ferry - Chrononauts

[chrononautintraining]

Happy Birthday to Bilbo and Frodo! I spent the day writing to celebrate.

Fandom: The Hobbit Pairing: Bagginshield, background Frodo/Sam Rating: Gen Word Count: 3,184 Summary: Thorin Oakenshield needs to speak with the proprietor of a local flower shop. Some piddling allergies won't be enough to stand in his way.

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

RAISING OCCULT HELL IN CAMDEN TOWN '02.

PIC(S) INFO: Mega spotlight on English Stoner/DOOM metal band ELECTRIC WIZARD, during the band's power trio "golden era," performing live at the Camden Underground in London, UK, c. September 2002.

ELECTRIC WIZARD were:

Tim Bagshaw (fuzz bass, effects)

Jus Oborn (vocals, guitar)

Mark Greening -- drums & concussion

Source: www.picuki.com/media/3298475343995367338.

[askthechronoverse]

Part 2 of our tour of the Chronoverse Unicapital

On Chili's Green Road in the residential district are the two schools of the capital: Spring Green Lower School and Forest Green Upper School.

The mascot of Spring Green is a tressym (a winged cat) named Poppy. Think of lower school as a combination of of an American kindergarten through elementary school. While lower school does have some structure, it emphasizes on creativity and exploration. The school was built around the idea that a child should be learning who they are and what they want to do with their life as well as teach the basics.

The mascot of Forest Green is a Almiraj (a unicorn rabbit) named Lily. The upper school is what an American would see as a combination of middle/junior high and high school. This school is a little more structured than the lower school. By this point, someone should have someone of an idea of where they want to go and who they want to be once school is over and there are several curriculum tracks to suit a basic knowledge base of what they would need to move forward. There is also an undecided track, but most students tend to filter out after the first couple of years. A lot of what's taught in this school are things needed to be a functioning adult as well as things that were built on in the more basic learning of the lower school.

Now, let's take a tour of Royal Purple Road.

On the furthest left you see the Unikingdom Intergalactic Spaceport. It functions as both a spaceport and an airport and is co-run by UniAir and Futuron Space Charter. The Spaceport has a small mall and food court for someone to by essentials. It's said to be mesmerizing to watch the Futuron people at work and UniAir has a song the staff will sing to children who are nervous about flying, though it's unclear where the song comes from.

While we seem to be on the topic of transportation, the Unikingdom Shuttle has shelters all over the kingdom and one just on the outskirts of Frowntown. It's a service that's free for every citizen of the kingdom to use and is fast and efficient... for a shuttle service that runs in the chaotic Unikingdom. There is an interactive map and a way to tell where the next bus is.

The Syspocalypstarian Embassy is like any other embassy. It's where the ambassador, Emmet Brickowski, has his office and a place to stay... If he isn't crashing at a certain A frame cabin in the Action Forest. It's also where international legal business is held.

The law of the land is enforced in the Main Unikingdom Justice Center. The court system isn't that swift or organized, but it recently went through some restructuring to be... anything but this. It's somewhat reminiscent of the system found in the Ace Attorney games.

A custom built building, the Royal Chrononauts Headquarters didn't get built until a few years after the Doom Lord invasion. The idea to make a time travel based service was something that existed in the back of RJ's mind since that incident and it didnt take a lot to convince Unikitty to give it official government status and funding. It's the only government building to hold strict hours of operation, but it's also a three man crew... and Richard will occasionally help with paperwork.