#this is the first time i’ve posted my original writing here since snippets of pacific rim fanfiction in 2018

[typhros]

Heads Up, Seven Up reblog chain!

@mayakern posted some lovely writing on this and said to consider yourself tagged if you’ve been wanting to, so. Here’s the last 7 lines of my current project, and I don’t actually know who my writing mutuals are. So… if you want to? Consider yourself tagged :)

“Mattis’ body was webbed with scar tissue, shoulder to foot, from everyday injuries to attacks in the woodshed, and they’d spent time trying to catalogue them, to find the scar that had turned them monstrous. They’d never found the one, but today they settled for the newest scar to look at with fury and blame.

‘You have to get a hold of yourself,’ they said, and wondered who they were speaking to.

They stood, ankle aching as promised as they shrugged on their coat and stretched one final time.

There was a single, small pane of bumpy glass in the door of the woodshed, ringed with iron, shadowed enough to show the reflection of their face on its warped surface. They stared into their own eyes, deep-set and tired.

‘Good dog,’ they said, and swung the door open.”

[trash-side-of-nox]

fic writer interview

tagged by @meikuree, thanks for having me in mind! It’s been a while since I did one of these. 

name: NoxCounterspell

fandoms: Currently writing for Kakegurui and Shingeki no Kyojin.

two-shot: The Beginning and the End (or Knocking on Heaven's door), a Kirasaya (KKG) Fic. This was intended to be a one-shot, however ended up being posted in two chapters because it was too long (insert here cynical laughter when I'm currently posting 14k chapters). The project was conceived by a very creative mind and acquaintance that came to me with a very fucking good outline. Together, we managed to create a very immersing post-canon AU, even if I say so myself. This touched a lot of different subjects, everything revolving around the concepts of family and freedom, right versus wrong, the lack of understanding, psychological projection. One of my favorite parts is the tag Meeting the Parents, and how that can play in how the story is perceived.

most popular multi-chapter: To you, the girls lost in Hell (SnK, Mikannie). An absolute whim of mine, taking Yams story and twisting it and shaping it into a narrative that fits snippets of my own imagination, regarding Annie and Mikasa's relationship (this is basically going to be an enemies, to lovers, to enemies, to friends, to lovers). Really, this is a fic entirely about them, for them and how their basic symbiotic relationship: clashing and attraction impacted everything happening on SnK. This is an excuse to study two characters in canon-verse, getting and providing a humble glimpse of how these characters, in the context they are being written, work. Vomiting a heck ton of my own headcanons, I'm trying to add angst, action, psychology and others to the table, following the overall outline Yams created, but redrawing the entire canvas. Honestly, I'm deeply surprised by how well received the story has been. This will try to keep up the intensity, overall, the outline is designed to play with emotions for the whole ride: we know where we begin and where we are going, but the how it's the sting.

actual worst part of writing: Writer's block. Obsessively researching something to realize it just won't fit the story. Self-doubt. Isolating oneself while writing non-stop. The built-in expectations one may have about their writing that might not be met by the end result.

how you choose your titles: One of my favorite parts of writing it's designing titles. Most of them respond to the question of what does the fic need, how can I guide the reader as to why this has been written? So say, To you, the girls lost in Hell is a direct nod to SnK's first manga chapter and the Light Novel: Lost Girls. This story is for Annie and Mikasa, two girls/women left to their own devices, surviving, searching, trying. A message I hope gets delivered. The Time series (Kirasaya, Meariri, Kakegurui) needs definition. Words are concepts we never really stop to decipher, as much as we ignore human behavior. Defining an entire character study by just one word, the context is easily guided: perhaps Fall is the clearest one, how can a character fall and break without them meaning to? I can rant for days as to what's the process I prefer for title creation, but I can summarize in: how can a whole story be told from the very beginning?

do you outline: Yes. My outlines give me an overall idea of how to get from A to Z, without closing the doors to letters from other alphabets. Pretty much every story I start comes from a dialog that won't leave my mind or a very vivid scene I pictured. Building around it - how the narrative goes and comes, rises and falls - is what outlining comes to do in my case. I outline in two stages: overall skeleton (indents, phrases), then, general paragraphs describing each scene. To this, add specific dialogs and phrases that are non negotiable. If I can’t fit them in, then the scene is not working. I like highlighting bits and pieces of the prose. Phrases that will get stuck with the reader and myself. 

ideas I probably won’t get around to but wouldn’t it be nice: PACIFIC RIM MIKANNIE. There, I said it. This has been running around my mind for a while but I think it's mostly for the lols and for how much of a nerd I am. I don't think I would write it but there are snippets in my head of what that might look like. There is also an ExMilitary!Annie and Cop!Mikasa Modern AU running around in my head, with them getting into a relationship with twists and turns to pertain to what they've lived, boundaries, psychological walls, PTSD... etc.  For Kakegurui: BLADE RUNNER + ALTERED CARBON AU.  Yes, I like SciFi. I have a heck ton of wips, some might see the light, some might not. We'll see.

callouts @ me: I don’t know what a omniscient, general narrator is. For the love of Dio I can’t wrap myself around how to narrate something without siding with a character. I’ve read examples, designed scenes... and still there is always one character I get introspective with or predominates in the scene and everything, then, sides with them. So I’m faulty of jumping from POV to POV by scenes. Or I write an entire fic based in once character’s perspective. In both instances, I always hope it’s not confusing.  Long sentences without breaks or very stuffy wording is another fault of mine. Probably from the fact that I like to write from thoughts and actions in depth than leaving things to the reader’s imagination. I want readers to see what I see, to feel what I feel. I try to write from a place of empathy, channeling the character and their psyche, and the impact that creates is what I want to reflect. So overdetailing is a dear friend of mine. A very talented fellow fic writer told me that I build until people can’t escape what I wrote. I think that’s both good and bad, as I’m taking the freedom people get when picturing their own version.

best writing traits: Based on comments, narrative and characterization. Again, I try to write from a place of empathy, and I undust my psychology classes each time I’m trying to write a character. I like character studies, dissecting something until it’s raw, how can I make or break a persona that’s already been written, that already has a defined mind/soul. That’s why I love angst and currently, thriller/horror.  I’m, also, obsessive with details. Everything has to be accurate and clock work. Does anyone care if the bus I’m describing actually exists? Not really, but I need to have a model in mind. Is it really necessary to open google maps and calculate how long it would take X character to walk from Tokyo’s University to a fictional apartment building? Certainly not. However I need to know in order to sell it. If it makes sense to me, then I’m comfortable enough to write it. It’s not practical, but allows to create tangible actions/places.

spicy tangential opinion: Very snob of me... but mind your text’s visual presentation. If the text is unappealing to the eye, it can be uncomfortable to read. I like fics (and books as well) that are mindful of the aesthetic in lines of words. Having adequate spacing in between paragraphs, balancing length of sentences, using defined styles for dialogs... Gives a very professional feel to it. I’m all for AUs and canon divergence, but fanfiction has a very fragile requirement that is to respect the character. Do with them whatever you like, have them tap dance or bungee jump, alter their canon-verse or send them to Hogwarts, but keep the essence. How and why is a character acting the way they do is key while writing fanfiction. I’ve read great stories that would have worked best as original fiction, because I can’t feel the characters. Again, a very snob thought. 

tagging (no pressure): @ladyjay1616 @askboxangel @blankiebandit and anyone else that may want to join

[jeanjauthor]

I had the pleasure of attending the national touring production of Something Rotten! at the 5th Avenue Theater in Seattle.

For those not familiar with what I’m talking about, the national artform in America, indigenous to the United States of America, its culture, etc, is the musical.  Musical theater, with song and dance and plots, just two Acts, and so forth.  Most people think of Broadway in New York City being the place to go see hot new musicals such as Cats or Hamilton, but in truth, musical theater is found all over the 50 States, from village and community theater productions all the way up to the Big 3 Cities of New York, Chicago...and yes, Seattle, Washington.

Our premiere production site here in the Seattle area, The 5th Avenue Theater (The 5th Ave for short), is a magnificent stage theater first built in the old days of Vaudeville over ninety years ago, and decorated (with permission!) in the style of the Forbidden City of Imperial China.  It was converted to a cinema for a while, but in the late  dedicated to the production of musicals, both touring companies and original creations, and in 1979, 43 corporations and multiple philanthropic donors created the non-profit Fifth Avenue Theater Association, dedicated primarily to the education, creatin, and promotion of musical theater in the Pacific Northwest.  It restored the theater to its former splendor, which you can see here:

and here, a gorgeous shot of what the theater looks like from the stage when the house lights are fully up (and they’re using a flood light because the house lights aren’t all that bright when a production is being presented, lol)...:

It’s also actually bigger than most NYC Broadway theaters; most people here in Seattle don’t realize how good we have it, with tickets being well within the reach of many musical theater enthusiasts, and the quality of productions being favorably comparable to many of those in New York and Chicago.  And the5th Ave regularly employs anywhere from 800 to 1,100 actors, singers, dancers, musicians, creative artists, theatrical technicias, and various other arts professionals, year after year.

The 5th Ave has also premiered (as in created!) multiple new works over the years, including Disney’s Aladdin, A Christmas Story, Shrek, The Wedding Singer, and two Best Musical Tony Award-winners, Hairspray and Memphis. My sister is a huge musical theater nut.  She and my mother have had season tickets to the 5th Ave for over 23 years (we’re on season 24), attending pretty much every single production they can. ...Unfortunately, my sister has been severely ill since November of 2016, falling sick just after her birthday...and has been stuck in the hospital flat on her back or her side most of that time.  It’s been hard, but she is recovering, and is finally free to relearn how to walk.  When you spend that much time in bed, your muscles atrophy severely.  Simple tasks we take for granted, such as just sitting up, become nigh-impossible without huge heaps of effort and lots of helping hands. But, she is recovering, and I am glad. Because she has not been able to leave the hospital all this time, I have been attending the 5th Ave performances in her place--I used to do that once in a while if one of them couldn’t make it, or they didn’t want to go to a particular musical...or they just thought I’d enjoy it even more.   There was a dry period for about 5-6 years, though...so on the one hand I’ve been feeling incredibly guilty for my sis not being able to go see the thing she loves most, musical theater...and on the other hand, thrilled that yesss, I get to go to the 5th Avenue again!...which is going to come to an end once she gets well enough to make it down the ramp to her seat on the ground floor. Anyway, long story there. The first half of this was admittedly me just bragging with a local’s pride at how magnificent our musical theater building is, how great the productions...and I just recently saw Something Rotten! which was outstandingly funny, and very meta in that it poked fun at musical theater itself, as well as poking serious fun at The Bard, William Shakespeare...just in time for Seattle’s year-long celebration of Shakespeare’s many contributions to literature over here in the English-speaking world.  (The way they portray Shakespeare is a hoot, and I love his theme song--oh, and one of the two main protagonists sings an hilarious song titled “God I Hate Shakespeare!” that had me in stitches...)  It’s a good musical, it’s doing a national touring company, and it’s worth seeing.  (The 5th Ave did not originate it, btw, but they are hosting it.) Still, that’s not the big thing I wanted to say down here in the second half (last third?) of this post.  What I really want to share you is an article in the programme booklet they handed out, from David Armstrong, Executive Producer and Artistic Director.  As I read it while waiting for the musical to begin, it strongly resonated with me as a writer.  And though my formats are narrative prose and the occasional snippet of poetry, not musical theater, what Mr. Amrstrong says about storytelling bears repeating & sharing. So here are pics of the article; I apologize for the quality of the scans, as my printer is old...

...It’s important for writers to re-stimulate ourselves & our enthusiasm for storytelling by enjoying the stories told by others, especially through different mediums.  If you write screenplays, read a book of prose, or of poetry.  If you write books, watch a musical, or go see a movie.  If you write musicals, go enjoy a movie or attend a slam poetry night, or go see a ballet.

Do something different to recharge yourself!  You deserve to be inspired by other artists.  And they deserve to be inspired by you.  Even if it’s “just fanfic,” your writing can inspire others.  I know a handful writers who got published because they read some of my fanfics, and decided to be inspired to try doing it themselves.  (That is awesome, btw...)

So!  May you one day get a chance to see a really good musical, if you haven’t already done so before...and may it be one of the outstanding performances often held right here at our gorgeous 5th Avenue Theater!

Enjoy,Jean