#weird questions for writers

[glorfindel-of-imladris]

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end.

Oh, this is a nice item. Thank you for sending it!

I'll take a passage from my latest fic, Closing the Circle:

Watching Erestor watch Glorfindel in the distance, with the stars beginning to appear in the sky behind him, in that moment, Ecthelion thought that Erestor’s smile lit his face like gentle moonlight.

This line was made to be a turning point in the fic. The task for this fic was: 1) Ecthelion letting go of his resentment towards Erestor, and 2) Ecthelion finding what it was to love about him.

What I love about Erestor's character is that he has a subtle presence. He has a strong personality, but he is not one to take the limelight, so I imagine that when you meet him, it takes time to appreciate him. Glorfindel is an exception in that typically I write him taking an instant liking to Erestor, but also Glorfindel is unique in that he practically lives life based on vibes, so he sees Erestor and goes, ‘Ah! Yes, that one!’

Meanwhile, Ecthelion is a more cognitive, calculating character. The approach to him is more logical, and things have to make sense for him to go for it. I knew I needed a moment when he sees Erestor, lifting the veil that used to color his opinions of Erestor simply because he was the Elf that Glorfindel chose (over Ecthelion, in Ecthelion's mind). I knew the moment needed to be different from their previous interactions, so it needed to be at a time when Ecthelion was distant enough to finally be open to who Erestor was as a person. As for Erestor, he needed to be softer and with his guards down, without the filters he naturally puts up around Ecthelion.

Originally, the line was, “Erestor smiled like gentle moonlight.” I thought it was good imagery, and would be useful for future fics when a Glorfindel = sun, Erestor = moon comparison would come in handy 🤭 Then I got to writing the scene in which to put it, and it became the way it is, as I found that just read better given the rest of the scene.

[mysunfreckle]

28 for the writing asks <3

<3

28. Who is the most delightful character you’ve ever written? Why?

I don't knowwww. Charlie from Hotel Olympus was always delightful to write. Nothing funnier to me than populating an entire world with Greek Mythology characters and then having the main character be completely oblivious as to who they all are.

[heartstringsduet]

MICHELLE 4, 5 and 10 please and thank you!

Hi Tessa thanks for asking ❤️ 4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral? one of my favorite English words is "pathetic" which sadly...I don't use for writing often! It feels really nice to say, scathing (which is another great word lol)! I just realized I really like to use the words "cradle" and "inherently" ! There's few words I feel icky about though! English is delicious, not gonna lie. It's a lot more melodic than German but then, if you think "pathetic" can be spit out, the German equivalent is that times ten Erbärmlich . If someone called me erbärmlich, my god, could I recover?

5. Do you have any writing superstitions? What are they and why are they 100% true? Ohhh fun thought. But then I have enough control issues so maybe not. 10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you? For sure it has! I think especially profoundness is haunting to me. A new thought or new way to look at something. I love people musing. Also I use so many words I love I just realize. MUSING??? HAUNTING? 🥵 I think books like "Know my name" and "Born A Crime" are haunting to me because they are real and raw and beautifully written. But also there are some Goosebump books that I legit still think are scary. My own writing doesn't really haunt me except for when I feel like the worst writer in existence and want to burn it all to the ground. iykyk

[kiwiana-writes]

Hello! 4 and 18 for the weird writers questions please

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

Answered here!

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end.

This moment, from chapter six of With so much of my heart (that none is left to protest):

His phone chimes again, and when he picks it up and opens the message, Henry almost swallows his tongue. Because Alex has sent him a selfie, from bed, shirtless and with what appears to be a heavily-annotated copy of Much Ado About Nothing open in his lap and a smear of pink highlighter visible on his cheek and wearing glasses. He had no idea Alex wore glasses; he's absolutely sure Alex has never worn them publicly. And if Henry whimpers at the sight, that’s between him and David. Another message, right underneath the picture: do you think when i tell you while you’re in disguise ‘i am sure he is in the fleet: i would he had boarded me’ i’m lowkey talking about wanting you to rail me? because i could play it that way Henry places the phone down gently on the mattress, picks up a pillow from the other side of the bed, puts it over his face, and screams into it.

This joke went through SO MANY revisions. At first the line Alex was referencing was 'for my love some other way than by swearing on it', but that was both too late in the show and too serious for what I wanted, so then it was something else I can't remember, and then it became this. It was also in the third person for a long time: "Do you think when Betrius says X he's gunning for [sex act]" and it was pretty late in the game when I was like oh, no, for peak Henry torture Alex is definitely going to make this personal lmao.

[Weird questions for writers]

[claudiajcregg]

10 & 15 for the weird asks for writers. Please & thank you.

Danielle! Thank you so much. Sorry I took so long to reply - didn't know I scheduled that one so soon. Just got back from vacation.

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

Right now, I'd say 'haunted' is something that has stayed with me for longer than I'd have planned it to, and rather unexpectedly. I feel like there is a lot of writing (whether it's books, or fics, or poems) that have had that staying power. Since I'm on the spot, I can't think of any, but if you give me a way to narrow it down, I can probably think about it!

I guess my writing doesn't haunt me by this definition. I do think about it when I get the plot bunnies and try to develop it! And I definitely feel like there are some stories of mine that I still think about! But we all know how I feel about what I write, so… I'm the least objective person.

15. Do you write in the margins of your books? Dog-ear your pages? Read in the bath? Why or why not? Do you judge people who do these things? Can we still be friends?

Absolutely no judgement from me! I will sometimes dog-ear (but they're tiny) if it's a passage I want to get back to! I don't think I've written in the margins since IB, and even then, I always try to have some kind of sticky in there. But I get why some do it! (I don't read as many books anymore, but 90% of the time it's on kindle, so some of these do not apply.)

more weird questions for writers here!

Thank you for asking, Danielle! And sorry these are underwhelming answers, 😬

[tabswrites]

Hello, can you do #13, #33, and #38 from "Weird Questions for Writers?" :')

Hey, Bug! Thanks for the ask :)

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you to write about? What is easy?

Honestly anything personal is difficult for me. I can have my self insert characters and one of my OCs is basically just me, but the personal details and stories always change. I could never write a memoir because I generally just have an issue with self reflecting and connecting with myself. On the other hand, having an OC that I love to write with and being able to recognize some of those qualities as my own have both helped me a lot with learning to love myself. If I had to pick something that is easy…anything to do with animals or nature.

33. Do you practice any other art besides writing? Does that art ever tie into your writing or is it entirely separate?

I sew and I make hand-painted clay magnets, and I like to sing. None of that really translates to my writing, it’s just for fun and sometimes I use it as stress relief from writing.

38. What is something about your writing process YOU think is really weird? If you are comfortable, please share. If you’re not comfortable, what do you think cats say about us?

I think the weirdest part of my process is that I…don’t really have one? I get an idea, a write a little bit, and if I like it, I write more. My fantasy WIP is very unique because most of the plot just kind of appeared in my head all at once? I did a lot of initial planning with the characters and worked on a few scenes, so far it’s been writing itself. Unlike my other WIP, where I just keep staring at the blank page wishing for a quarter of that inspiration. I make little edits every time I open the doc because I’m insane and hyper-fixate until it feels right.

As far as what cats think about us…we’re just big, dumb babies to them.

[killerandhealerqueen]

Beautiful Sass, I'm here for the ask!! <333

1, 4, 10, 13, 14 (I'm curious because not too long ago I dreamt of you letting me borrow your books 😅)

Thank you so much!!! ♡

My darling Jin! Hello! Thank you!

1. What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

So, when I'm outlining/bulletpointing my fics, I write in Times New Roman, font 12. But when I'm actually writing my fics, I write in Helvetica, font 11. I don't know why but the outlines look good in TNR and the actual fic looks good in Helvetica. If I write fics in TNR, I feel like I'm writing a research paper, so that's why outlines are only done in TNR

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

I honestly don't have a word

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

No, a fic has never haunted me, nor has a piece of writing ever haunted me. To me, if a fic haunts me, it means that the fic was just...so bad that I can't stop thinking about it. Fics never haunt me if they're good.

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you write about? What is easy?

Subject matter that's incredibly difficult...smut. I can't write smut and I've attempted before but it just made me so uncomfortable that I've never touched the subject ever again. I can read it, but I can't write it. And I won't ever attempt to. I won't force myself to write something that would make me uncomfortable

As for what's easy...police procedurals/murder mysteries/crime scene fics and mafia aus. Love me some mafia aus and police procedurals

14. Do you lend your books to people? Are people scared to borrow books from you? Do you know exactly where all your “lost” books are and which specific friend from school you haven’t seen in twelve years still possesses them? Will you ever get them back?

Haha, I do actually lend people my books. Well, the only people I lend my books to are my uncle and my grandmother because we like to read murder mysteries. When I was younger, I lent people my big "The Inventions of Hugo Cabret" book but the people who borrowed it always gave it back. As for the books I give to my grandmother and uncle, I know that my uncle tends to give the books away after he reads it to others but I don't really mind because I've already read them. I don't need them

Weird Questions for Writers | send me asks

[lupamoe]

It's always "haha ruby loves her brother thats incest"

but never "ruby lacks any emotional love and support in her entire life as a bed-ridden kid and skipped the emotional developmental stages of her childhood so she dosen't know whats normal or disgusting, likewise, this makes her like gorou. it's a sign that she will cling desperately to anyone who cares for her the slightest because ruby's 'love for her doctor' is a coping mechanism formed to forget and shield everything she's been through and because she has no options. this makes her genuinely not know the difference between platonic and romantic love as she has never experienced either in her miserable life."

[classic-blue]

Nature of the Arcane- Positive and Negative Energy

(For reference, Arcane = the series; arcane = the magic) Come help me figure out how the heck the magic system of Arcane works.

What is the anomaly? Why was it born? Why is it that other mages in the series don't seem to cause anomalies, but Hextech does?

I refuse to be content with a magic=good or magic=bad explanation, and Arcane loves to play with nuance. I was trying to sort out my thoughts on why some magic has bad side effects while others don't, and this is where I'm sitting now. My (spit-balled, half-baked, and probably leaking) thesis:

The arcane/using magic has 2 separate outputs: the order you placed (Hextech) and the resulting exhaust (wild runes; the anomaly). Hextech can use runes to control magic, but there's a second output of natural, wild magical energy, that Hextech doesn't account for. Both of these energies can build up, and when they're reunited, they have explosive reactions (see: Mage Viktor's world, the final blip that takes Jayce and Viktor, and possibly various smaller explosions throughout the series).

For example, when positive and negative charges meet, lightning strikes.

Justification below the cut.

Science break! Ever been shocked by static electricity? That's because of a buildup of one charge, say positive, on you, and a buildup of negative charge on another object. Nature loves balance, so when you two touch, the charges discharge in a shock that connects the positive and negative charges and allows them to balance out. Size this idea up big enough, and you get lightning- powerful, fast, and destructive.

More importantly though, you can't just charge positive energy, without also charging negative energy at the same time-  creating one by necessity creates the other, so that there's an overall balance of electricity types (hey look, a metaphor, creating one inevitably leads to the other…).

Let's carry this idea over to the arcane. What if there's a 'positive' magic and a 'negative' magic output?

(Note, I use the electricity words here intentionally- positive/negative do not mean in a cosmic/moral/ethical way, but in a scientific, 'hey we need 2 connected words to separate these concepts' sort of way.)

Positive: Hextech; runes; the intended output. Teleportation, levitation, everything we see it accomplish.

Negative: the wild rune, the anomaly; the unintended output.

And, when the two come together, lightning strikes.

Lightning 1- Viktor vs Ekko's Z-drive. Viktor spends S2 becoming a centralized conduit of 'positive' magic, via the Hexcore and top ups from the crystals under the Hexgates. As the Machine Herald, the claw is continually using runes and doing magic behind him. In short, he's been building up a lot of positive magical energy. When Ekko chucks the Z-drive at him, it's powered by an anomaly, or 'negative' magical energy. Put the two forces together, and let the fireworks happen; a part of the Machine Herald's mask gets struck off in the blast. (But the Z-drive has less negative energy than Viktor's positive, so it doesn't totally wipe him out.)

Lightning 2- Viktor and Jayce's rainbow time. Jayce's acceleration rune might be the negative magical energy in this case (since it travels with him via Mage Viktor's anomaly), paired with the anomaly that Viktor grabbed beneath the Hexgate. That works in opposition to Viktor's compiled positive magical energy via the Hexcore and similar products. With these together, the balance between positive and negative is reached, achieving net neutral magic dispersion, and of course, an implosion that sucks in (or teleports, we can be happy) Jayce and Viktor, ending the conflict.

Perhaps in Mage Viktor's timeline, a similar explosion occurs, resulting in the destruction that we see Jayce traverse in the alternate timeline. But in the main timeline, Jayce and Viktor were able to contain that explosive potential to just themselves, via Jayce's acceleration rune.

"Pass me a tome" Jayce's (quoting Viktor) explanation of the anomaly/wild rune (S2:E3)

Jayce says that Viktor theorized that wild runes are "patterns that would occur naturally where the border between our world and the Arcane is thin." By the theory, wild runes are expressions of magic not quantifiable by traditional runes- natural outputs of magic that are uncontrollable and untamable.

This still works with my positive vs negative theory- it's just that Hextech, and by extension the boys, are only viewing it from the perspective of positive energy (they accessed magic, but really only half of it). From that view, negative charge, which they can't interpret why it's building up or that it even is, might look pretty wild and untamable- however, we see mages control this negative magical energy. Mage Viktor uses the anomaly to send Jayce back to his timeline. The Machine Herald is able to transport it and start to destroy/convert the world.

Because it's still a useable product, so long as you understand what it actually is, I'm not fully content to say that the anomaly is an entirely wild thing, or an unpredictable force. It's possible that Mage Viktor intentionally manipulated it to send Jayce, Ekko, and Heimerdinger to their temporary alternate universes to set in motion events to save the main timeline. I think the anomaly definitely has somewhat volatile characteristics, a bit more chaotic perhaps, but it's still controllable.

(Additionally, Ekko breaks time using both hex shards (assuming they're still in the Z-drive, I'm not sure off the top of my head), and a tiny anomaly. The fact that he's able to control it to a degree also shows that the anomaly is not fully wild and untamable.)

I suppose my overarching feeling is that the anomaly is not necessarily better or worse, or more dangerous, than the 'positive' magic of Hextech- it's just a different, inevitable byproduct of magic use.

Then why don't mages cause anomalies and 'lightning strikes'?

Simple- they know how to account for both positive and negative energy in their spellwork. They know how to equate a balance, so nothing blows up in their faces.

Granted, the only mages we really see in Arcane are Mel, the Black Rose, and Mage Viktor, and the only real discussions we get about magic is from either the Hextech nerds or Heimerdinger, who may not be working with the full picture of how the arcane works. Our sources with regards to actual mage work in Arcane are pretty thin (and I probably need to rewatch Mel's S2 scenes).

But the Black Rose mentions as Mel leaves that (paraphrased) 'it's a dangerous world out there for a solitary mage.' This seems to imply that mages work best in collaboration- perhaps that allows for a balance between positive and negative energies, preventing 'lightning strikes.'

The real point- The Need for Collaboration

While the obvious theme to be drawn from this is the need for balance, another interesting one is the need for collaboration. If mages in Arcane indeed do work together to prevent destructive magical fallout, this again points back to a core element of Arcane's relationships:

Things (magic in particular) work best in collaboration.

That's how the boys crack Hextech

That's how Jinx and Vi start to bring Vander back and reconcile

That's how Viktor and Sky work in the commune

That's how Ekko, Powder, and Heimerdinger crack Hextech again

That's how Caitlyn and Ambessa start to work, and how the lack of honest collaboration exposes Ambessa's selfish gains and weakens Caitlyn emotionally and politically

That's how Mel literally does everything politically (and why her arc narratively suffers when she's on her own against the Black Rose for so long [I still love her tho])

That's how Piltover and Zaun fend off Ambessa's assault

That's how Viktor and Jayce end it- together.

More assorted thoughts on this topic:

This theory somewhat requires that the arcane is not conscious, not retaliating for Hextech using magic improperly, which is debatable. The Black Rose says "the arcane is waking up," which could imply a sentient force, or simply a natural force like how the world 'wakes up' to spring after winter. Ekko also claims that Jayce 'pissed off' the arcane, which Jayce is cutely embarrassed about, which is a possibility, but not one that I'm getting into here- it's entirely possible that Ekko is also wrong! Jayce and Viktor frequently are! (also, the hexcore being sentient does not necessarily mean that the arcane is sentient- Viktor describes it as a learning matrix, so it could very much be a Flubber situation. He done taught the rubix cube science before ethics.)

As Viktor brings Jayce up to the top of the Hexgate, Viktor winds the anomaly in his staff and talks about the balance between order and chaos- maybe positive magic is one and negative the other?

@avelera and @linddzz were throwing around some awesome thoughts similar to this strain, including how it looks like Mage Viktor 'cleans up' the smoke output of the spell in the snowstorm. Their theory is that what I call positive and negative energy is actually constructive vs destructive force in equal output from the Arcane, and that balance between those two types is needed (i.e. if you want magic to do what you want, you also need to let it blow up some stuff) which would also explain what I've called lightning here. Definitely worth a read!

There are so many holes in this theory, but I still wanted to organize my thoughts about the anomaly, Hextech, and how Arcane tells the audience to view magic. In S1, Hextech is all good and great, possibly dangerous, but in S2, Hextech and its byproducts are all infectious, destructive, and never productive. I found the switch a little jarring, and went searching for a deeper meaning.

Also… does this mean that Arcane is actually a big metaphor for the dangers and impacts of technological advancement on natural society and how Mother Nature will come back to bite us all in the butt? Has Arcane been a secret Ghibli film all along???

[etchif]

'They would not fucking say that' but it's 'they would not be this accepting of their own queerness, at least not just yet'

[glorfindel-of-imladris]

19 and 38 for the writers ask 🌻💛

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

I started writing very early. I can't remember if I've been writing anything else before I wrote fanfiction, but I was 12-13 when I wrote my first Yuu Yuu Hakusho fic. It definitely sucked lmao, but the important thing is that I did it. I think kids who want to write should just go for it.

Before writing though, I definitely read a lot, both fiction and non-fiction alike. I think reading is important in writing because it feeds the skill. Read from people who write better than you. Now back in the day of door-to-door salesmen selling encyclopedia sets (did I just date myself), my parents just went and bought every damn collection they found, and I was just the kind of obedient Asian child who thought, “Oh my parents bought all these books. I should read them!” 😂 I therefore went through the lit classics (on top of amassing a lot of obscure science trivia lol). In the fiction collection, my favorite book was Heidi, but also I dreamt of the day that Alice in Wonderland would make sense lmao, so I read it often. There was also a book of Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales that I loved a lot, and that likely started my love affair with fairy tales (and later, fairy tale tropes in fanfic looool). As I grew older though, style-wise, I think eventually the writers who most influenced the way I write were Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, Charlotte Brontë, Anne Rice (though I hate to admit it now akdhjs), and of course, J.R.R. Tolkien.

In school, I alternated between being an artist and a writer in school newspapers from grade school to high school. In university, I opted to join the literary folio over newspaper. I was part of the art and the poetry sub-groups. I think this was an important decision because apart from just writing, the group spent a lot of time reading. I also took a lot of literature electives around this time (because of course my majors were nowhere near art or writing 🥲). I loved close reading sessions the most, and I sincerely think that learning to be a good reader was the best thing I could have done for myself as a writer.

As for bumps, there were a lot! University is when I realised I cannot write professionally. My personality is not cut out for heavy critique, and I lose my drive when assigned topics as opposed to derping around waiting for a muse I get along with to come along. I am also not a disciplined writer, and even now I struggle with regular writing schedules.

After university, I still wrote here and there. By the time I entered the workforce, my writing was pretty solid, so I got a lot of side projects related to writing even though that's not my part of my day job. On the side, I also teach part-time in university, so there is some academic writing going on (albeit Very Slowly™). I also recently had the chance to write for a local publication on LGBTQIA+ issues, which I'd like to continue in the future. But over the years, I have been most active and most regularly wrote for fandom. I hyperfixate like crazy, and some days it's the only way I keep sane. I think fandom is the single most important thing that keeps my love for writing alive.

Where I'm going: I hope to continue writing. I do believe we grow wiser with age. There are things I appreciate more now than I did a decade ago, and I think that seeps into my writing. Our writing inevitably grows with us and I think that's wonderful. I can't wait to read what I can write at 70.

38. What is something about your writing process YOU think is Really Weird? If you are comfortable, please share. If you’re not comfortable, what do you think cats say about us?

I write my fics on my phone. I have been told this is Weird™.

[mysunfreckle]

7, 14, 25, & 29 for the writers ask meme! ☺️

Thank you, Felix <3

7. What is your deepest joy about writing?

This was answered here ^^

14. Do you lend your books to people? Are people scared to borrow books from you? Do you know exactly where all your “lost” books are and which specific friend from school you haven’t seen in twelve years still possesses them? Will you ever get them back?

My sister and I read each other's books sometimes, apart from that I think there's only one friend who borrows my books. And I'm very bad at remembering that I have lent them to her, but she is the only one, so it's relatively easy to trace :P

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

Mrs Morgan, the selkie mother from A Seaside Reel, met her husband, Captain Morgan, because he was trying to sail too close to a damaged ship in a storm in an attempt to rescue the crew. She was afraid he'd wreck his own ship, so she changed out of her seal skin and climbed aboard to pour oil onto the waves to calm the sea so they could safely approach the sinking ship. But once the oil was around the ship, she couldn't immediately get off again, because swimming through it would damage her fur. So she didn't manage to get away before Captain Morgan got a good glimpse of the mystery person who saved his ship.

29. Where do you draw your inspiration? What do you do when the inspiration well runs dry?

I think I tend to lack energy and drive more than inspiration itself. I always have story ideas, but when I'm not in the right headspace none of them speak to me and I cannot write them. Whenever that happens there's not much I can do except rest, try other crafts, and sometimes revisit stories (my own other others') that I love, to put the spark back.

[heartstringsduet]

Ohhh so many weird writing questions to choose from, Michelle!! How about #7 and to make you think, #19!! ❤️🦎

Hi Desi-dear 🥰🥰 Thank you! 7. What is your deepest joy about writing? The best moment is when it FLOWS. Like it pours out of you with nothing to stop it and your fingers have figured something out before your mind has and suddenly a page fills and leads you down a new and better storyline and you think...wow this is all me. I did this?! I DID THIS! And that is why I write! 19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going? I started writing when I was 14. I was horrible at it. And I mean...HORRIBLE. My best friend straight up told me to my face and she was right lol. But I wasn't deterred. I was a pretty angsty child (look at me now....so different...ehem) and it definitely was a place for me to explore that without any actual repercussions. But then back then the world of fanfiction was wild and free and different LOL. Started out with Naruto then Glee and then fully stopped writing for nearly 6 years because of mental health reasons mostly and a lot of changes in my life. I only restarted end of 2022 for Glee, putting down 100k in two months like a mad woman and I still haven't published them ?? oops. And then Tarlos took over my life and you can see that surely lol. I love writing. I really hope I will never stop loving it again ecause it's my favorite hobby now. 🥰 Road blocks are definitely debilitating self-doubt and being tired or in pain a lot of days. But I ride the waves of that a little better now. ☀️

[kiwiana-writes]

1 and 21 for the writer asks

1. What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

Default setting, baby. I literally could not care less.

21. Could you ever quit writing? Do you ever wish you could? Why or why not?

Hell no. Writing is and has always been how I process and express my emotions—not to get all therapy about it but I wasn't encouraged to share how I felt growing up and so I started channeling it into writing instead, and that's never stopped. I also feel my mental health slipping when I'm unable to write, and it's a bit of a self-perpetuating cycle because of course the worse my mental health gets the harder it IS to write. Writing's all I want to do for the rest of my life, lol. Whether I succeed or not is another question.

[Weird questions for writers]

[deadpoetsandlivinglegends]

Guys hear me out wait shhh guys listen listen reverse death anderperry like this poem but with Neil, Todd, and Jeff Anderson

[blazingauraheartworld]

Does anyone know why the Kazumi Magica artist went AWOL like you said to dreamerwitches?

That’s the fascinating thing, right? I can’t seem to find anything about them deciding to. I feel like someone would have likely noticed if the artist had put out a ‘I’m deleting everything.’ or any sort of similar vibe before it happened. 

The Cuddly Despairs event ran in October, 2021. The artist did the CG art as well as art for the newly unlocked *5 stars + new Kazumi. Sometime between that event and potentially July/August ish of 2024 ( since there was no ‘goodbye’ art piece made featuring Kazumi characters when Magia Record EOS when everyone Else did one) is when the artist seemingly deleted their online presence. 

Now, the rest is under a read more just because I find this situation fascinating, but is really just pure speculation on my end.

Kazumi Magica is such an interesting existence in the catalog of madoka spin-offs, precisely because it seems as if both the creators ( writer and artist) of the manga aren’t very interested in involving themselves further in the Madoka Magica series as a whole than the story they made. I can’t tell if it’s because there’s two people who worked on it vs the other spin-offs, where the artist And writer were the same person, that’s created this sort of vibe where Kazumi keeps getting excluded from the cool magical girl club. Tart also was a two party team with Masugitsune & Kawazuku (under Golden Pe Done), but Masu alone was plenty active in helping with designing new characters and doing multiple Tart events.

I had a whole thing here getting into it the thick of it, but very much every spin-off artist that had their story shown off in the Exedra trailer (GAN, Masugitsune, Kuroe Mura) have all given some form of contribution to Magia Record during the game’s run, if not still doing artwork for the main series, like the MagiReco anime end cards and other miscellaneous works. 

I’m not expecting Masaki Hiramatsu( Kazumi Writer, still around) to have picked up a tablet pen and done something in place of no longer having an artist for his series. He seems to be plenty busy writing for the Bleach anime right now by the looks of things. I want to make it clear : I do not think he does not care for Kazumi. He clearly does with how he didn’t like how the first Magia Record Kazumi event was written, and then seemingly assisted with it on the second go. I feel as if the same would likely happen for Exedra too to ensure the story is properly retold. 

anywhos!

Simply put, I believe the artist of Kazumi Magica, for one reason or another, retired from being an artist or does not want their art to be available online. 

This is slightly unrelated, but to give you an idea where I’m going with this, I occasionally buy adopts and customs from other artists, and if I had a nickel for every artist I’ve worked with that has scrapped their existence from the Internet entirely due to AI concerns, I would have eight nickels. Again, I cannot confirm nor deny that is why the Kazumi artist decided to scrub everything, as we do not have an official confirmation. However, it would not surprise me if that was the case.

Even if unlikely at this point, the artist could always make a comeback to work on Exedra! I feel like they might leave Kazumi as the last spin-off they'll add, just to sorta see if they could maybe Find said artist. I’m just…not holding my breath for it as of now.

Which comes to another question: When Kazumi inevitably gets added to Exedra, who is going to do the art? I know there’s someone on the f4 team that can do a good impression of Ume Aoki’s art style, but I’m not sure if they can do the same with Kazumi…? I feel like there are many artists around and involved in the series now that there’d be someone who wouldn’t mind picking up the task…