#ask meme: rae

[raeofalbion]

Fic Ask Meme:

Because it’s one of my go to favs: Shatter Albion Series.

Is there any scene that you cut from the main story that you wish you could go back to add? (Or alternatively, tell us about a cut scene that you wish you could have included)

( meme ) -- Thank you! :D <3 And thank you for reading! <3 I'm so glad you like the series.

Y'know, it's funny, cuz this is exactly why I rewrote MoI back in...my goodness, was it 2016? (Surely not that long ago??) There were just so many scenes that needed elaborating and missing bits that needed to be added and it felt necessary to do that before continuing on with the series.

But yes! There are still some I cut and either would like to add back in or might repurpose for later. (Sorry, this is long.)

From MoI:

The first time Victoria and Reaver sleep together. I've tried to write this so many times and it just...doesn't ever work out the way I'm picturing it. There's like...half a dozen-ish cut drafts in a document somewhere. Maybe one day I'll make it work.

The original, hand-written draft of MoI included a scene with Logan questioning Ben after Victoria disappears from Reaver's house, suspicious about why his sister's suddenly not writing him. In the end, it was cut cuz it didn't really make sense to have him go to Ben to find out if Victoria had somehow contacted him, but I still kinda like the idea.

Continuing along the Victoria-running-away track: there's a couple little outlines somewhere for a follow up to the scene where she decides to leave, showing how she got out of Reaver's house. One of them involved her actually shooting Reaver with his own gun; the other involved Reaver essentially stalking her through the house, not interacting or trying to stop her but watching her all the while. In the end, I couldn't make up my mind and I felt like nothing I wrote there would be 100% satisfying to readers, so I chose to scrap both ideas. Not sure if that was the right decision, tbh.

There was a scene before the wedding with Walter and Jasper playing cards in the original draft. Tonally, it didn't work, but I still like it.

There was a scene where Reaver sort of...playfully faux-crowned Victoria in the castle? He's being an ass and very sarcastic about it, and Victoria hates the entire thing, but it was supposed to lead to them having semi-public sex. ...which is also the reason it got cut. What smut I'd written was just...not good. And I never really had the will (no pun intended) to rewrite it, so I scrapped it.

An early on scene where Reaver and Victoria get into a proper row after she walks in on him with one of his...uh...friends. I actually had to check and make sure I didn't add this one back in and I'm not sure why I didn't. Reaver yelling at her about them "pretending to play house" and about how he was never going to choose Victoria above his own interests would've been very 👀👀👀 given how things turn out.

Not something I actually cut, but, if I were to do another rewrite, I'd like to add some more Logan scenes, just for the tragedy angle.

From DoV:

Cut one of the mystery dreams (well, I guess now that we're near the end of Blackout I can just say it: one of the dreams she shares with Scythe, where he's trying to contact her) cuz it was too repetitive.

A couple tiny (very tiny!) scenes with Faraday. Just chatting with him. In hindsight, they were unnecessary to cut.

I've talked about this one before, but the original scene where Victoria and Reaver talk about their relationship was cut and rewritten. Originally, Reaver was going to confess his feelings for her there. But it didn't fee organic and didn't really work and it kinda just pissed off Victoria worse. So instead the scene is -gestures to the story- but the line about the singing fish is as close to confessing as Reaver can get himself at that point.

From Blackout:

Technically the entire first draft was cut because my pc ate it, so I'm sure there's a lot of things on there I would like to add back in. T-T

Cut some flashbacks with the Crawler just for length, nothing really plot relevant, though. (I may come to regret this.)

Also cut some really stupid jokes of Reaver's. (I do not regret this.)

Cut a lot of political stuff that will affect the next story, and I...have begun to suspect this will come to bite me in the ass because a couple things were much more relevant than I thought they'd be. :S SO. I don't know what I'll do about that yet.

The next chapter has a rather large chunk from it that was cut and is in the process of being rewritten. Basically: Reaver and Victoria being horny now that they're reunited. It doesn't fit, tonally or pacing-wise, but I am a little sad y'all won't get to read Scythe interrupting them and Reaver complaining under his breath about not getting off. Maybe I'll turn it into a oneshot.

+ Bonus!

Technically there's an entire story I've cut from Shattered Albion (set between DoV and Blackout) about Reaver and Faraday investigating one of the DLCs together. I would really like to add it, cuz I think it would set up some things for the final book and I think it's fun, but I'm not sure if anyone actually would want to read it.

[writing-desk-rae]

[exhuastedpigeon]

3, 6 and 9 pls

Raeeee thank you for asking!!!

3. 3 films you could watch for the rest of your life and not get bored of?

OOOH GOOD QUESTION! Probably Pride and Prejudice (2005), Death at a Funeral (2007), and Theater Camp (2023)

6. what’s the best and worst part of being online/a creator?

Best - SO MANY FRIENDS and people to share my interests with! Worst - ALL MY ONLINE FRIENDS LIVE SO FAR AWAY!! I've met a few people IRL, but it takes trips to get to them or have them get to me, so the distance is the worst part.

Back in the day anon hate was the worst part, but luckily that seems less prevalent now.

9. tell a story about your childhood When I was 4 or 5 my friend and I played a fun game called 'jump down the stairs' where we'd, you know, jump down the stairs and see who could jump from the highest step.

I was apparently a very brave child because I decided to jump from the top step at this friends house (12 steps I think), smacked face first into the wall, and knocked my front tooth out. I was missing that tooth for over a year before my adult one came in and my kindergarten and grade one school pictures have me missing the same tooth.

questions I think would be fun to be asked

[kyngsnake]

H, U, & G from the fluff meme for avery/wes? :D

kendkwnskwmdiw hug… that’s very cute

H: Hugs (do they like hugs? how often do they do it, and what are they like?)

Avery is a huge hugger. Loves to walk up on Wes from behind and give him a big ol hug. Little side-hugs whenever they’re saying hello/goodbye. Wes isn’t huge on PDA and hugs fall in that realm of generally acceptable PDA.

U: Ugly (what are some bad habits of theirs?)

On a serious level, Avery is prone to overreacting and quick to anger. Usually has to remove himself from difficult conversations until he cools off and then revisit them later. Wes is prone to bottling up his feelings and winding up his own anxiety. They’re very good at balancing out those aspects of each other.

On a domestic level, Avery will leave items in random places all over the house. ADHD dog brain. Loses track of things easily.

G: Gentle (how gentle are they? physically and emotionally)

Wes and Avery might have a long history of fighting when they were kids and might still spar for fun as adults, but I’d say they’re still remarkably gentle with each other. They’re really each other’s only source of that particular kind of gentleness and I think they value that aspect of their relationship very highly. It’s nice having someone safe and comforting to come back to. They’ve seen each other at their worst and stuck around through it all— be gentle with the things in life you want to keep for a long time.

And as always Wes belongs to @hotwifeluigi!

[fideidefenswhore]

1, 8 and 23 😘

the character everyone gets wrong

thomas more and cardinal wolsey are both intensely poor little meow-meowed which is like...

not to be a dick, but if they had both actually retired (as in...actually retired), they both probably would've been fine. they both made their own beds.

(wolsey is a little bit less bcus heavier men associated with 'vice' and all of that boring and and biased and hateful paradigm, a little bit more because he received a fairly positive spin in wulfe hall series, and more has been a little bit less lately because of the latter but...still)

common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

his contemporaries (not all, but rather a lot, considering the magnitude of his deeds and choices) defended and liked hviii a lot. it is what it is. people are fucking weird about those in power, it often causes them to excuse and condone acts they wouldn't were they committed by anyone else.

ship you’ve unwillingly come around to

i'd say SAME ANSWER except in my own AU histfic i have outlined a pairing for jane seymour that i've never seen before, and so far i actually really like their dynamic and the scenes between them as i've written them... it's kind of a fucked up ship tho so we'll see what the response is, lol (it's an arranged marriage)

[littleraeofsunshineda]

13 and 54 for the fic writer's meme? :D

13. The writing tip that's made the biggest impact on my approach is probably for writing dialogue; it's that people don't reply directly to what their conversation partner says. We talk sort of sideways, responding to our mental response to what they said. That has made dialogue SO MUCH EASIER and less boring (I hope!).

54. I love talking to people about fics. I love that we come from this shared place where the people you're talking to are already invested in the world and the characters, so you get to start from that common place rather than having to sell them on all that as an original piece. I just love playing in the sandbox.

I did also discover the joy recently of noticing things in another fic that (my god this sounds so arrogant) I think might have been partially inspired by one of mine. I spent so many hours bouncing with joy just at the idea that I might have put something in the conversation and seen a reply.

[astriiformes]

For the spotify wrapped playlist ask game, how about 25 and 27 (if you haven’t already been asked)?

25 - Both Sides Now - Carly Rae Jepsen

Well something's lost, but something's gained In living every day

27 - Through the Ages - Cloud Cult

I don’t know where we’re from, but we came here to be We came here to be courageous

[the-darkness-does-not-bargain]

You’re the type of person who listens to any genre

Correct! As long as it doesn't offend me in some way, I will listen to just about anything and probably bounce along to it. That's how I can go from this

To this, back to back in the shuffle and be perfectly content

[carbonateddelusion]

pst— 25 with Rae interacting w/xiá :3

"Gee, are you sure, your Honor?" she questioned, eyeing the very intricately detailed glass that Xiá was holding. "That's a really fancy looking cup; I don't think I'm NEARLY fancy enough to take a sip.. Oh, but it isn't very polite of me to refuse- is it?" Rae's ear twitched as her eyes flickered up at Xiá, desperately trying to read his expression.

[loumauve]

🎶✨️when u get this put 5 songs u actually listen to, publish. Then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)🎶✨️

a) Mitski - I Bet on Losing Dogs

b) Penelope Scott - American Healthcare (Glitzy)

c) The Weepies - Citywide Rodeo

d) The Goo Goo Dolls - Better Days

e) Carly Rae Jepsen - Run Away With Me

[rinqueen6]

101 for the spotify wrapped thingy! [unless they didn't give you an extra song like they said they would, in that case 1!]

just for you, i'll do both!!!

101: the feeling - sammy rae and the friends: If I can get with the two of us / what about the three of us / when it's me, myself and I / cause it just isn't worth it, being hurt by love

1: vienna - billy joel: ((literally the whole song but)) you're so ahead of yourself that you forget what you need / though you can see when you're wrong / you know you can't always see when you're right AND you got your passion, you got your pride / but don't you know that only fools are satisfied AND take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while / it's alright, you can afford to lose a day or two ((like i said, literally the whole song))

[writing-desk-rae]

🌸 could I get a sneak peak at what made Songbird start going by sir instead of ma’am? Pretty please with a maverick on top?

It's in very early draft mode but YES

Spoilers below for Flight Path, Burning In

***

Songbird strut into the officers club, a secret smile on her lips and her eyes sharp.

Slider had set down the challenge and she'd met it, dolled up in a long sleeved jumpsuit the same shade of blue as the uniform and heals that she could kill a man with. She could "cleaned up nice" after all, so there Admiral.

She settled in at the bar, waiting for Slider to join her and ordered a small glass of wine to tide her over.

A young junior lieutenant with a smug grin slid into her space.

"Why don't you go ahead and put that drink on my tab, baby."

Wow.

"I'm good, thanks."

"Don't be like that. I'm Tony. Tony Jenks. Folks round here call me Mustang."

Songbird rolled her eyes and rooted around in her clutch for the "emergency" cigar Mav had slipped her before her flight and Carol's lighter.

"Not interested, Sailor. Thanks for the offer."

"Come on, only one reason a girl like you comes to a navy bar, and we all know it."

"Excuse me?" She shot him a look of disgust, and started to turn away.

His had grabbed her wrist that was in the bag, and her eyes snapped up to him with a dead, viperous stare. He paid it no mind and squeezed a little tighter, "so how about that drink."

"Fucks sake Mustang, she said no. Knock it the fuck off," another southern drawl in a navy uniform popped up behind him. Mustang turned to the newcomer with a snarl but the newcomers eyes caught on Songbirds other wrist, where her sleeve had started to roll up. He examined the half covered SEAL tattoo before looking Songbird directly in the eye.

You got this? He seamed to be asking.

She dismissed him with a tick of her head and he bowed out, leaving the oblivious Mustang to give her a smarmy smile.

"So, drink or bathroom?"

Wow.

"Son, if you want to keep that hand, you're gunna want to take it off me."

"Listen here Bitch-"

Times up.

She dropped her clutch and slammed one hand hard into his breast bone ones, followed by a second hit up into his diaphragm. With her other hand, she reversed the grip he had on her wrist and twisted until his arm was up behind his back to the point of almost dislocation, thumb already out of its socket.

She held him in that position for a moment as the bar went quiet.

"I wouldn't struggle. If you do, your shoulder joint's going to pop. So. Here's what's going to happen. You're going to give your card to the long suffering barman, and he's going to put my drinks for the night on your tab. And your going to go back to your friends and consider a few things. Firstly, no means no. Secondly, women in navy bars don't owe you shit just because you're in uniform. And third. Just because they're a lady and in civies doesn't mean they're not navy. So be careful because they might just out rank you."

Mustang froze, and closed his eyes. He slowly reached into his pocket and handed his whole wallet to the frowning barman.

"I see you've got things well in hand, lieutenant commander."

"Admiral," she drawled and Slider came up beside her, also in his civies, "I'd salute, but."

"Don't let me interrupt. Been introducing yourself to your new squad leader, have you, Jenks."

"Sir," Mustang murmered weakly, wishing he was anywhere else right now.

Songbird let out a harsh laugh, before throwing Mustang away. He stumbled before righting himself, and she cast a sneering look over him. "This is what I'm working with?"

"I'm sure you'll whip them into shape."

Mustang flushed in humiliation, and started to back away.

"Lieutenant," she stopped him, "I think, going forward, it would be best if, for the purpose of this and all future interaction between us, you consider my dick bigger than yours, yes?"

Slider snorted and turned away, and behind Mustang, at the table holding what must be the rest of her new squad, the other aviator from earlier was grinning wide, toothpick balanced on his tongue.

"Yes, Ma'am," Mustang ground out, flushing even deeper.

"I'm sorry? Yes, what?"

He swallowed hard, before snapping to attention, holding a salute, "yes, sir."

See looked at him for a moment, then dismissed him with a flick of her fingers, "dismissed."

He slunk back to his table and she didn't watch him go, turning instead to the grinning Admiral. They shared a low high five out of everyones sight, before turning back to the bar and ordering fresh drinks.

"I think your the best gift Ice has ever given me."

"I'm keeping the "sir", just so you know."

[exhuastedpigeon]

🎀 🌼 📷 🌙 🎼 💙 🌈

RAEEEE I'M GIVING YOU THE BIGGEST FOREHEAD KISS *MWAH*

🎀 - I consider you a friend already! 🌼 - We do talk, and I’m glad we do! 📷 - You have a nice aesthetic! 🌙 - You have a good sense of humour! 💙 - I think you’re cool! 🎼 - I think you’re talented! 🌈 - You’re gay

ask meme

[quickdeaths]

@more-than-a-princess sent: ♧ - An outfit they wear related to one of their hobbies (for Tsubasa!) ♥ - A “traditional” outfit based on their heritage (i.e. kimono, sari, other folk costumes) (for Izumi!)

Could have gone with skating for Tsubasa but that's basically their everyday attire, so instead I went with their hobby of working on machines and playing around with tech. Starting from the top, you're going to see almost none of their face, between thick safety goggles and a heavy fashion-oriented mask that maybe has a BIT of protective elements. A heavy-duty apron is a must as well, plus some gloves that give them enough fine control with open fingers to really manipulate the fiddly things. Normally, they wear sneakers of some kind, for ease of skating, but even if their machine work doesn't require steel-toed shoes, they'll take the opportunity. Finally, of course, their tool bag, which has all the wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, scissors, measuring implements, and anything else they could possibly need.

For Izumi, unlike Rio or some of the others, she's big into traditional clothing. As a supremely tall mixed-race trans girl with silver hair, she stands out everywhere, when what she wants is to blend in and be unassuming, and a kimono at a festival is something that's close enough to a uniform that she wouldn't stand out as much. She doesn't have a ton of opportunities to dress up like this, and she wouldn't be able to afford a ton of this stuff, but still. Take her out and let her get dressed up!

Colorwise, she likes blue and white, so a predominantly white kimono with a blue and white floral pattern, and a matching parasol. She wouldn't wear her hair up in her little horns, and would instead tie it up with a ribbon and some small adornments, and then the standard socks and sandals and she'd be good to go... if this kimono wasn't about $1800 just to rent, at least. But, a girl can dream, right?

[lightheadedmask]

You were running from something. What was it?”

Without thinking it through, Rae blurted out the first thing that popped into her head. "You," she said. "I'm sorry, not, ugh, let me restart that. If you're talking about in 1864 when I left Mystic Falls, I was running from humanity. Yes, I know that sounds dumb, but it's true. I saw the depth of hatred that this world held for the unknown and it terrified me. It didn't help that I thought you were dead either," she stated. "If you're asking about how I ended up back in Mystic Falls this time around, well, then that is a much more layered answer. Shortened version, I was running from someone who I thought was a friend. Then I was running from family. Physically actually running. Although, I actually don't think I was trying to run from something on a more metaphorical plane. I think I was trying to run to a place that maybe would feel like home."

[raeofthelight]

5, 13, 14, 17! go!

Aye funny fuckin story I totally forgot to answer this. I even had the questions written in my notes app like I usually do when on mobile. Uh. So here we go like 2 months later.

5. Favorite form of potato?

Oooh hard question. I like many forms. Twice baked potatoes maybe? Because ii rarely have them but when I do they're delicious as hell.

13. First thing you're doing in the purge?

Going to work to beat up customers

14. Do you think you're dehydrated?

One thing about me is I'm always dehydrated.

17. An anxious compulsion you do everyday?

Bite my nails. Tap my hands and fingers against things constantly. Shake my leg up and down when sitting down.