#my bts name for this chapter is 'every rose has its thorns' & after it drops that will be groan worthy

[selfproclaimedunicorn]

14. What have you been finding frustrating with writing SotF?

Besides the timeline, lmao?

Honestly, I'd say it's probably a lot of characterization things. I can get into some of the characters' heads so easily (Daemon has so much wrong with him & Rhea has so muh going on), and then I'm sitting here with others like Rhaenyra & Criston like "tf do I do with you?" I can logically, at least sort of, come up with what they'd do, but getting in their brains to do it in a way that makes sense beyond "and then this happens because it makes sense for what I know about them vs the altered narrative of this AU" is such a struggle sometimes. Making some of these people be internally consistent is like going to war gjsjgnsjfns

Connective tissue is also hard sometimes, especially if it's not something I know I can skip over (chapter breaks that signify the passing of time, my beloved). I will, quite often, know a big set piece I want or need to get to, but stringing myself along from where I started at a good & decent starting point/some context/my current less major Event™ can be so difficult because I am both impatient and a rambler. Truly one of the combos of all time.

And in terms of my current chapter, as well as chapter 2, coming up with the actual meat of the event is sometimes a fucking Herculean task. In chapter 2, I knew I wanted Yorick to get reasonably traumatized by his time interacting with the gold cloaks, but I wound up eventually having to outsource suggestions for what specifically was going on there. My current "tf is the Event/build up/ship tease before the thing I want/need?" is figuring what exactly my dumb, moody daughter gets up to while under the supervision of The Strong Bros Babysitters For Sullen Teenage Girls®. And I know I'll get there eventually, but it's an uphill battle atm.