#tezlababe ask

[milky-teaway]

Questions for your fic "I'll have to drive through those gale force winds": 8: Did any real people or events inspire any part of it? 9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic? 11: What do you like best about this fic? Thanks in advance. :)

Hi there, you don’t know how ecstatic I was to see your question about the fanfiction, tezlababe! Thank you for the ask, I’ll try not to ramble!

Did Any Real People or Events Inspire Any Part of it?

YES, most of the original characters are loosely based on people I’ve met before that left some impact on me. The strangest part was that I hadn’t realized it until I looked back on the way they are written into the story. I think that’s what makes writing the fic easier, because I can sort of scramble experiences with new imagined ideas together. For example, the character Tony is based on this guy that was sort of my friend in elementary school. He was always just a dick to me and a major follower. He regularly singled me out and teased me because I was the quiet girl in the group and had fun doing things solo, coincidentally much like Melise.

This is gonna sound weird, but I named the character Emla after this product for numbing the skin I had randomly found in my house. It’s literally called Emla, and I thought, wow, that’s kind of a cute name… Honestly, I don’t know what I was thinking giving her that name, but ah whatever, its not so bad, I guess.

Leon, Jackson’s pitty forklift was based on an early name of Jackson Storm’s supposed ‘trainer’ (the name there was ‘Leo’ that appeared on his wikia page in the ally subcategory. I researched and found zero evidence of this character existing, so I just took him and turned him into a tech savvy sort of pit crew member for IGNTR instead. 

The biggest event that catalyzed the start of writing the story was how poorly Jackson Storm was developed in Cars 3. Even today, most of us barely know what kind of personality Jackson has below the surface past our fandom interpretations, so I wanted to explore that. I think it was exactly a day or week after watching the movie that I walked all the way to Chapters in the town over to buy the Storm Chasing book and get some basic personality to work with for beginning the fanfiction. Quickly, I figured out, yeah… this guy ain’t so bad, he’s a competent young adult with no direction of where to go. Jackson is basically a chill kind of car living in an era (now) where he must put in twice the effort with minimum rewards. He hates it and that’s his drive to push against mostly happy-go-lucky cars like Cruz and Lightning. Racing made his world complete, but that chill personality will always be there. Jackson loves the fame and fortune and knows his way around, nonetheless he’s established himself in adulthood already (a contrast to McQueen in the first film, hence Lightning’s immaturity) so he has no problem being a jerk because he’s got a reason; being tired of the cookie-cut ideals of modern culture. I honestly think Jackson is the kind of guy that likes creativity, individuality and unique aspects someone can bring to the table, it makes the boring world out there a little more bearable for him.

Were There Any Alternate Versions of This Fic?

 I will admit, I’ve been basically improvising every single chapter along the way, and I didn’t plan properly for the choice of making Melise take up modelling. It was purely improvised because I needed some sort of conflict to take the story forward in a way where she was affected by the photos of her and Jackson that allowed her to still maintain contact with him, I had no idea where to go, so I pulled the modelling idea out of nowhere. Here’s a little secret, the fanfiction was originally supposed to be about Melise befriending Jackson Storm and it would be purely platonic, she would basically show him how to not be a jerk. I quickly found that concept to be lacking because it didn’t create enough of a plot and it was just boring. Furthermore, Jackson Storm liking someone was a lot more interesting to write. I could explore his personality even more, which was the whole point of writing the story in the first place. 

I also had a list of names to choose from for my OC, and Melise was just one that I liked best. I had this idea once where she was going to be the younger non-twin sister of Mia and Tia, but it didn’t really stick either.

On another note, about a year ago, I wrote a now scrapped chapter where Jackson would randomly throw a family reunion party to basically brag about himself being legendary in the entire Storm family, and he would invite Melise along. Subsequently, I deleted the draft because it would be another side story with little connection to the main one between Jackson and Melise.

 I was going to include some more McQueen and friends  POV, but found that it– again, took away from the main plot. Also, there are tons of Lightning McQueen and Cruz Ramirez fics on FF.net. so I opted out of the idea… I just find Jackson more interesting and realistic, plus there aren’t much Jackson Storm fics out there, so win-win. 

What Do You Like Best About The Fic?

I love that so many people like the story! Seriously, it means so much to me to be able to write in my own personal way for you guys and to have people love genuine story telling. My favourite thing about the fic is how likeable, yet full on jerk I’ve managed to write Jackson Storm and the simple yet captivating story thus far with what i consider realistic and relatable characters. I love the art, especially the digital artwork FeDrawsStuff made of Melise, and how active the fandom is in helping me with art and just chatting away random ideas for fics or headcanons. Its fantastic to engage with so many positive people daily. Love Y’all!