#was. bro you wrote this character as someone who works in a shopping mall... in the small town you've written for the setting it is implied

[mentosmorii]

also another problem with joe hill’s writing is that he is like, undeniably worships at the altar of nostalgia, but then he doesn’t even have the decency to 1) at least pick examples from the pop culture of days gone by that are good and 2) push beyond the limits of his smug superiority induced myopia to realize that references to things such as “bonnie and clyde” are less so unique and more so ubiquitous knowledge in the context of his american audience.

[eatingfireflies]

11 Questions WIP tag meme:

Tagged by @chessanator​! Thanks for tagging!! :D

Tagging @greaseonmymouth​, @hardcoreprince​, @amberlyinviolet​ (i missed you!! ;;;), @billyweird​, @zossie​. But you guys don’t have to ofc!

1. How long have you been writing?

Me and my cousins used to make little illustrated booklets when we were kids. I was around 6-7 years old (probably) because I remember making Sailor Moon comics as well and I was that age when Sailor Moon showed in my country. When I was a kid what I really wanted to do was do comics, but things happened. :”D

2. What are the major themes of your current wip(s)?

I’m trying to think back and most of my WIPs seem to be about life getting pear-shaped and the characters having to deal with that. Two of them will need the ‘Major Character Death’ warning at AO3 if I ever post them. 

3. What do you want people to take away from your story once they’ve read it?

Depends on what fic they read. :”D But if a person got something from my fics that I did not intend, then all the power to them. So long as it’s not ‘that writer sucks’ lol!

4. Would you be excited if people write fanfiction about your wip(s)?

I’m torn because I love sharing headcanons and trends, and I’d be SUPER flattered if anyone wrote fic based on any of mine but there’s also the worry re: accusations of plagiarising and stealing someone else’s ideas. So personally, I’d be excited. But in a more general level it’s a bit of a thornier issue. 

And I know this is an issue with trad pub/canon vs fanfic on a bigger scale (like how some traditionally published writers won’t read fics based on their own work no matter how supportive they are of transformative work because of the whole plagiarism issue (accidental or otherwise)) but yeah.    

5. What’s your go-to writing beverage?

Water lol. I don’t need to drink anything to get going, but I do need cigarettes to function properly. Pls don’t start smoking. 

6. Who is your favorite oc? Tell me about them!

I’m going to talk about an OC from Travelling in company--a Junpei + Phi detective bros fic. So there will be spoilers.

But yeah I really like Hirata Ichirou. He’s the Mr Body in this fic: the character who was written to die so we can investigate what happened. At first I didn’t really know exactly what happened to him (lmao I knew it was cult-related but also personal but I didn’t decide until I was halfway done with the fic) and he was simply a nameless chinpira, but as the fic went on I realised I knew exactly what Hirata died of and why. I grew really fond of the guy. 

He likes to eat parfaits with his childhood friend, I mean. Come on.  

In actual WIPs uuuh. I don’t generally write OCs? Sorry folks. :”D

7. Do you feel that mistakes are important learning tools in the writing journey?

Not if I don’t catch the mistakes and correct them. One of the most important learning tools imo is reading books. Not fics by other people (which btw are really good and writers like franticbabbles taught me a lot about writing) but traditionally published novels. See how its done by someone who (hopefully) has a professional editor to ‘curb their spur’, decide what works for you and what doesn’t. I find that aside from having a beta, it helps you catch mistakes and decide whether you want to correct them or not. 

As Neil Gaiman said--and I paraphrase--your style are the things that you get ‘wrong’. But it defo helps to know the rules before you break them.

8. Rank your ocs by their capability in a footchase (either running after or from smth, your choice)

Here’s a bunch from Travelling in company because that fic has yakuza in it.

1, Honda Mitsuo/Wakaisha #1: very competent man. Can probably kill you with a paperclip

2, Mishima: not incredibly physically active but he has the brains and the resources to make it so he doesn’t have to run very far if he has absolutely no choice in the matter

3, Hirata Ichirou: okay dude. A chinpira and has probably run away from the police/other yakuza members before. Knows shortcuts and dead ends.

4, Satou Keiichi: more buff than fast on his feet. You can trust him to protect you, but not so much when it comes to running after escaping attackers.

Bonus from Kentucky for Christmas:

5, Hugh Grant (not the actor but a detective who insisted he looked like the actor): not very useful. Fell down a building while on the run from gangsters. 1/10 won’t recommend.  

9. Does your wip have romance? tell me about it!! if not tell me about a friendship/important relationship in your wip!!

Oh all the romance. I only write romance fics, didn’t you know? :”D All those mysteries and crimes are just frills for the romance and bonding. 

Right now I’m in the middle of writing a scene where Aoi and Junpei bond over Gunplas. 

10. Do you believe in the advice kill your darlings?

Yes. I have a ‘rags box’ which is a gdocs file where I throw all the lines of dialogue and narrative I had to cut from fics. Hoping that someday, somewhere, I can recycle them in some form. Don’t let them go entirely, they might still be useful for another piece if not the one you’re working on. 

Another thing I learned from this guy who taught Creative Writing in my first language was be mindful of your POV. In an exercise, he made us write about the emotions of an old woman going to a shopping mall right after the death of her husband. I was raring to go. I wrote about this old woman grabbing her daughter’s elbow tightly because she felt she was going to float all the way to the domed ceiling of the mall--that’s how light she felt. 

Teacher: Is that the old woman talking, or you?

Me: How do you mean?

Teacher: That literary~ language, is that her or you? 

Me: It was me.

Teacher: Great, rewrite that. 

Yeah, sometimes we have to kill our darlings, our floating into the ceiling moment, to present the experiences of a certain character fully. And that’s fine. 

(It’s also fine if you don’t want to. It’s just something that works for me.) 

11. Do you prefer plotting or worldbuilding? Why?

Worldbuilding. I’m so bad at coming up with events is why :”D I literally need prompts. But once I have a firm grasp on the world the characters are inhabiting I get more ideas on what they could do and what could happen around them.