I would LOVE the hear about escape room shadowgast, for the WIP meme

This one spawned from discord! I posted the premise and a snip here for another ask, but I have more to share! In the tags of that post I mentioned Shadowgast met in an escape room also. The specifics are currently undefined, but here is my noodling:

They see each other before they meet: the victory photos from the leaderboards of escape rooms in various cities. Caleb is often pictured with a rotating cast of the M9, but sometimes he is very smugly alone, having solved the room himself. One time he has his cat on a leash. Essek appears with Verin and Uraya, among others, but also has a number of solo pics. Solo pics are unusual because escape rooms usually have a required minimum number of people per booking (they are businesses, after all). It's possible that shadowgast have developed enough of a reputation that they can sweet-talk the admins into a solo booking.

Haven't decided if they are super competitive and thus have thought about "that other guy who's always jockeying for best times on the board" or if it's more that when they do finally meet in person, they both have that "god you look so familiar" thing going on for the longest time before they put it together. Hm, maybe both. I think both of them would also love the puzzles for the puzzles sake, and may even be disappointed if they complete one too quickly.

How they meet: they’re both in the same city when a new puzzle comes out - Ruins of Aeor - and they both show up at the same time trying to score a spot. Both might prefer to try it solo first, or with a group of close friends, but the room is new and very popular. No solo bookings are possible. And because they're both travelling for business, neither have their friends around either. With limited time - curse those real life priorities - they both independently decide they're just going to do the room with whatever booking they can get. It's very common to add people onto partially full bookings.

The only time slot that’s not fully booked… is a bachelorette party of 7 people who have never done an escape room before.  They’re tipsy, good-natured, and just there for a good time. Chaos ensues. They are absolutely lovely but their inexperience throws wrenches in shadowgast's game. One person accidentally sits on a clue for a good 20 minutes. The sharp-eyed bride-to-be actually solves part of the puzzle almost immediately, but is more engrossed in an unrelated conversation, and doesn't bring it up until much later. Another guy eagerly gathers clues but doesn't keep track of where they came from. It's added difficulty level 100.

Shadowgast unite in their grim frustration at first, but the group is so gregarious that both of them get steamrollered (M9'd?) into helping, including, and eventually both get super invested in the successes of their fellow players. Both have the canonical capacity to be patient teachers (Essek with Caleb, Caleb with Nott/Veth) and at a certain point this overcomes their original drive to "optimally succeed". They make it out of the room with 9 (nein!) seconds to spare. The group - including shadowgast - go absolutely bananas. Shadowgast are absorbed into the bachelorette party for celebratory drinks.

Shadowgast exchange numbers and part ways with the suggestion that perhaps if they cross paths in the same city again, they'll team up a second time.

The victory photo of Caleb and Essek together at the Ruins of Aeor is like an easter egg for others who frequently do escape rooms and have seen the leaderboards, because their photos are everywhere but always, always separate.

Okay apparently I do have specifics 😂 hope you enjoy!

That post about edgy OCs got me thinking about OC development over time and now I wanna talk about it without clogging their tags with unrelated shit so here we go. Its also an excuse for me to put some OC info in one spot to be able to find it again later (;

Edgy OCs are really fun to make and I have nothing against them for sure, but there’s something really nice and personal about taking a previously edgy OC and making them not edgy anymore. Not through character development but through like retconning and redesigning them.

Hadley is my longest running and main OC despite the fact that I never write or draw her lol. I’ve had her since 6th grade, so around 10 years (yeowch that number hurts). My friend was writing a avatar x divergent esc young adult original story (as one does in 6th grade if you’re not busy writing minecraft fanfic like I was) and she asked me to make a character. Basic plot was that some people had element powers and were being hunted down for them because they were “dangerous”. I made Hadley as a shadow wielder, and as is standard with these kinds of stories, her parents were dead and she was on the run and life was shit for her.

My friend eventually stopped writing that story. I now had Hadley back to do whatever the fuck I wanted with her. My other friend had also made a character for this story named Georgie and we had our two OCs date (this is how you test the waters if you’re both creatives btw because she is now my gf lol). She already had a different universe for Georgie, so I decided to put Hadley there and rework her a bit. In this universe, Georgie and her family are witches who go around and take care of paranormal stuff. Now Hadley became an unwilling test subject by a big bad company that turned her into this weird shadow monster thing.

Still edgy but in a different way. I was in highschool when I came up with that story.

I’m now a year away from graduating college. In my time I have been casually thinking about Hadley in the background. Not drawing or writing anything, but just thinking. Now I’m really having fun with her.

She’s 1/4 shadow creature on her mom’s side, so shes lived with them her entire life. There was an old abandoned log cabin in the woods that she lives in. She has a garden and a well outside, the cabin itself is in very good shape. She knows the woods like the back of her hand and knows trespassers aren’t welcome, so she tries to keep people out by warning them. She is 100% used to people never listening to her and disappearing into the woods to never come out. With every disappearance, the shadow creatures leave her with new gifts that look familiar. She’s silly, goofy, pretty laid back, kinda smug, but a bit unsettling and unhinged (she was raised by big creatures who kill people that trespass into their territory, a bit of weird is to be expected).

She meets Georgie in the same way she meets everyone else. Georgie came out to investigate rumors of people going missing, belongings being taken, and strange creatures around the edges of towns. While Georgie wanders, Hadley appears out of nowhere and gives her same cryptic warning “these here forests are dangerous, don’t go wandering around in ‘em. I’d leave while you still can,” with that same off-putting, sly smile she always delivers her warnings with. It has a rehearsed feeling to it, like she’s said these exact words to hundreds of people (she has). Georgie is especially interested in this interaction because she knows shes in the middle of dangerous shadow creature territory, yet here is this person completely unharmed and acting like she owns the place (she basically does).

Georgie starts asking questions because this kind of stuff is her job, she’s pretty used to the weirdness. Hadley keeps giving vague answers with that same air of casualty even as the sun starts to set. Eventually she says "Well, its late enough to where if you leave now, you wont get out of here in time," no explanation for what that means, "You can either go off on your own or come with me." Its an offer no one else has ever gotten because no one stayed around her long enough for her to offer it. Intrigued and seeing this as her best lead into her investigation, Georgie agrees.

They head back to Hadley’s quaint, well kept cabin, something that sticks out horribly in the middle of the of a forest with such a lethal history. At some point Georgie asks “If this area is so dangerous, how come you live out here?” Hadley barks out a laugh, her mouth opening far enough to reveal a glimpse of fangs larger and sharper than what any standard human should have for the first time. “Unlike everyone else, I’ve been out here for a very long time. I know what I’m doing.” She drops the topic.

Georgie eventually convinces Hadley to join her in her family’s witch business. Hadley ends up being a chaotic addition to the roster due to her having a semi-personal relationship with a lot of other mystical/supernatural groups. If the shadow creatures interacted with any other groups, she did as well. They’ll be trying to do an investigation and Hadley starts picking arguments with them because of some old feud or other thing (e.g. Hadley can realistically do the moonknight comic “Dracula, you bastard, you owe me money“ thing. That’s what inspired this part because its funny).

To summarize all that, shes got a family and is happy now where she never was before.

tldr: There’s something so personal about an OC changing with you as you grow up. Something something a piece of yourself is in everything you create and sometimes they help you see how much you’ve changed. Making edgy characters is fun and all, but for me and Hadley, her becoming less edgy is a reminder of how I don’t hate my life as much as I used to. Hadley is getting better and so am I :D

Capes and Fake Fangs | Ao3.

With Magnus busy on a plane, Alec knew that it was up to him to plan he and Magnus' costumes for the party later. Thankfully, he had twitter to help him come up with ideas.

This is my ‘Vampire Alec’ square for @shadowhunterbingo.

Alec didn’t quite like parties but with Magnus’ social standing, they were an inevitable part of their life. Now, Magnus told him repeatedly that he didn’t have to attend them if he didn’t want to. Magnus knew that Alec wasn’t a huge fan of crowds or parties in general but the alternative to attending parties with Magnus was making Magnus go to parties alone when Alec could have just gone with him and tried to have a fun night out with his boyfriend.

Of course, Alec wouldn’t choose to stay home. Which is how Alec ended up in his bedroom, trying to dress himself for the first Halloween party Alec had ever attended as an adult… and in general. Alec didn’t know who was throwing the party exactly. Magnus had told him but Alec didn’t know anyone who was famous, except Magnus himself and the name had meant nothing to him. It could have been anyone throwing the party but Alec did know that whoever it was, they were a big deal.

Alec was sure they weren’t as big a deal as his boyfriend was but it was a little unfair to compare every famous person to Magnus. Regardless, they were a big deal in their own way and Alec was sure there would be other people at the party who would were famous as well and therefore, Alec did not want to embarrass Magnus with anything he wore or did.

That wasn’t even to mention that this was a costume party and Alec had no clue what to wear as a costume. When Alec asked, Magnus told him just to dress nice and they’d figure something out when he got there. Now, Magnus had sent this text as he was jumping on a plane to fly back into New York to meet Alec before this party, so Alec didn’t quite blame him for not having a second to worry about their costumes with Alec. Besides, Alec just figured he’d have to figure out the costumes himself.

By the time Magnus got there, they’d have three hours to spend together, get ready and go. That wasn’t very long. Alec wanted to have their costumes ready by then, so Magnus didn’t have to worry about it but Alec also had absolutely no clue what they should go as. It needed to be something good, so Magnus wouldn’t be embarrassed. Alec was sure a photo would end up online somehow.

Knowing Magnus was securely on a flight and unable to look online, Alec pulled out his phone and wrote a simple tweet. ‘I’m in charge of costumes. What should Magnus and I dress up as for Halloween?’ Instantly, the replies started pouring in. Alec still wasn’t used to being able to put something out into the world that would bring in thousands of likes and replies in a few minutes but at times like this, he had to admit that it was rather useful.

Alec had tried to ask Izzy but she hadn’t answered him. Now, he had thousands of answers.

Alec skimmed through the replies about how cute Alec was and how sweet of a boyfriend he was. He still appreciated so much that Magnus’ fans thought so but right now, he only had a little while to figure this out and he was looking for serious Halloween answers only.

More than a few people responded and told them to dress up like Magnus had in his music videos. Though Alec commended them on their support of Magnus’ brilliant art, Alec didn’t quite think Magnus was looking to promote himself at this Halloween party. He skimmed past those ones, hearting a few of the replies as he looked so people would know he was looking.

A lot of people suggested very complicated costumes, like star wars characters and pop figure icons that Alec wasn’t sure Magnus would want to dress as. Besides, Alec didn’t have time to come up with very complicated costumes for them. He needed something simple and he needed something he could get before Magnus arrived.

Finally, Alec came across one reply that made him pause. ‘Vampires,’ someone had written. Alec hummed to himself and liked the reply before he locked his phone and shoved it into his pocket. Vampires. Magnus and him could do vampires. They were classic and easy to do. Magnus would look adorable as a vampire and they could wear nice outfits as vampires, so that Magnus wouldn’t be utterly embarrassed by the costume.

Alec had also, on a completely unrelated note, always loved vampires. He’d had a crush on a hot vampire or two, back when they were popular. It was perfect. Alec grabbed his wallet and rushed out the door to find the first Halloween supply store that he could come across, hoping desperately that he would not run into any of Magnus’ fans who’d want pictures of him frantically buying fangs and fake blood.

.

A half an hour later, Alec found himself leaving the store with two sets of plastic fangs, fake blood and two capes that Alec was sure Magnus could style around. Alec had also bought a little skeleton cat for Church, one that he was sure twitter would love. Maybe, Alec could pose Church next to it and get a good photo to post. Over the past few months, Alec had gotten pretty good at using twitter to update Magnus’ fans and he’d come to enjoy his small time twitter fame.

Magnus was too busy to update people with cute little photos and the stuff Magnus posted tended to be a bit more curated anyway. He’d post pictures from the recording studio or from the set of his most recent project but he let Alec post the photos of him in the morning, cuddling with the cats with his hair all messy and twitter loved Alec for it.

Now, Alec snapped a photo of the things he’d bought before he replied to the person who’d suggested vampires in the first place, adding a thumbs up emoji along with a heart. Alec stared at his message after he’d already posted it. He was damn good at twitter now. Izzy would be proud of him for replying to someone, posting a photo and using emojis all at once.

The replies started pouring in but Alec closed his photo and put it away before he could get sucked in to them. He’d reply to people later. Right now, he had to get home and find something he could wear under his cape.

.

Magnus was normally late. Flights were delayed more often than not and Magnus’ drivers would be late arriving at the airport and most often, the traffic would be bad as Magnus made his way across the city. So, Alec knew that generally if Magnus said he’d be there by two, he’d really be there around three. Which is why Alec was expecting a little bit of wiggle room with Magnus’ intended arrival time being four. Alec had assumed he’d have until at least five before Magnus was there, if not a little later than that.

So, when Alec got back to his apartment, walked inside and saw Magnus’ bags by the door, he almost dropped his stuff in his pure excitement. He had just enough sense to shove his stuff onto the counter, kick his shoes off and run into the living room, finding his boyfriend in fact right there, sprawled on the couch with his feet propped up. Magnus was clearly tired from his flight but the moment he looked up and saw Alec standing there, he grinned.

Alec couldn’t help but match the expression as he rushed forward. It had been nearly two weeks since he’d seen Magnus. It was not the longest they’d ever gone without seeing each other and yet, it was far too long. Anytime spent away from Magnus was far too long. Two weeks was especially too long.

The moment Magnus was on his feet, Alec enveloped him in his arms and held him tight against his chest. He breathed in the warm smell of Magnus’ favorite sandalwood shampoo and he tried not to get too mushy at the fact that his boyfriend was in his arms yet again.

He’d just missed Magnus. He’d missed him a lot. He wasn’t going to rush it out every single time they were parted for the slighted amount of time (and they were parted often, given Magnus’ busy schedule) but fuck, he’d missed him so much.

“I missed you,” Alec rushed out finally. Fuck it. He had missed him.

Alec felt Magnus smile into the soft skin of his neck before he pulled away to peer up at Alec, finally meet his lips.

“I miss you too,” Magnus cooed when they parted again. Magnus’ eyes flickered past Alec to the bags he’d put down, where the skeleton cat was just peaking out, before he looked to Alec again. He slowly raised an eyebrow. “I hear we’re dressing up as vampires.”

Instantly, Alec’s face fell. He’d planned to have their vampire stuff out of the packages and more pristinely set up before he presented the idea to Magnus but of course, Magnus had checked his phone since landing. Alec was sure he was tagged in the photo a million times by now, not to mention the fact that he had notifications turned on for Alec (a fact that made Alec immensely happy).

Alec pulled away from Magnus’ grip and straightened his back. “Well, I figured we didn’t have a lot of time to come up with costumes and I wanted to try to think of something before you got here, so we didn’t have to go to the store and…”

Magnus’ face stretched into an amused smile but Alec kept rambling, nervous that Magnus didn’t like the idea despite his reaction.

“Someone suggested vampires on Twitter and…” Alec shrugged. “I thought you’d make a cute vampire.” Alec fell silent finally, bracing himself to hear that Magnus thought his entire costume plan was stupid. Kids dressed up as vampires. Magnus was a celebrity. He wouldn’t want to dress up as a vampire with Alec and go out into public where people would see them. What had Alec ever been thinking?

“You’d make an astoundingly handsome vampire, Alexander.” Magnus said at last.

Alec blinked. “So, you like the idea?” He clarified.

Magnus nodded. “Of course. I love the idea.” Magnus ducked forward and pressed their lips together once again. He seemed far more awake now with the touch of Alec’s lips on his than he had when Alec walked in earlier. Alec had to think that was a good sign. “Besides, I suck at choosing costumes.”

Alec scoffed but Magnus raised a hand and kept talking before Alec could say anything. “Which I know is surprising considering how much I enjoy dressing up but costumes are different. I always pick such complicated costumes and then someone is inevitably upset at what I chose.” Magnus pressed his hand gently against Alec’s chest and Alec felt his stomach burst with warmth. “But vampires are perfect. No one can get mad at vampires.”

Alec grinned. That’s exactly why he’d chosen it. No one could get mad at vampires. It was the most timeless perfect costume to choose and Alec would have never thought of it if it weren’t for Twitter.

Alec was really starting to like Twitter and as far as Alec knew, Twitter really liked him. Everyone on Twitter was always so helpful. They’d suggest costumes. They’d help Alec name his new fish. They’d tell Alec about movies Magnus might like for their movie nights.

Twitter was amazing and Alec didn’t understand why anyone thought differently.

.

About an hour later, Alec posted a photo of he and Magnus posing in the kitchen, each dawning a set of fangs and each wearing capes over the outfits they’d meticulously chosen to match the fake blood that was now splattered on them.

Even later than that, Alec would learn that at fancy parties, most celebrities did not dress up like Alec had imagined they would. Most of them wore expensive suits and dresses from movies to match characters Alec didn’t even recognize but that were apparently timeless.

Needless to say, Alec and Magnus’ vampire costumes were undoubtedly out of place. They were the only people wearing fake blood that night and they were the only people wearing cheap fangs and capes.

Alec was immediately embarrassed but Magnus couldn’t seem more thrilled. He told everyone who would listen that Alec had picked out their costumes. Each time, Alec would flush and look just as embarrassed as the last time but everyone always laughed and seemed to find it just as sweet as Twitter did later that night, when Alec finally scrolled through his notifications to heart some of them.

Alec was still embarrassed. Clearly, he’d misunderstood what a ‘costume party’ meant when you were as famous as Magnus was but when Alec tried to apologize later, Magnus kissed the apology from Alec’s mouth and told him that their costumes had been perfect. Magnus proclaimed that Alec had to choose their costumes every year and that would have been a daunting thought, if Alec didn’t know that Twitter would be right there to help him pick something.

Alec spent extra time playing with Magnus’ hair that night and scrolling through, replying to people and leaving hearts in his digital wake. He just wanted all of Magnus’ fans to know how much he liked them. Later, he tweeted almost exactly that and he received a plethora of hearts in response, as well as a wave of replies gushing about how nice and adorable Alec was - as he did every time he posted something but especially then.

Alec wasn’t really sure about that but he was happy Twitter thought so.

1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 13, 17, 23 (some of these are random and some aren't)

Thanks for the many questions, Socks! Sorry I didn’t answer them earlier; I decided answering asks on mobile sucks.  ALSO, this is going to be super long haha sorry.  1.  Tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?       Well, my most current project is one I just started brainstorming. It’s (hopefully gonna be) a Fallout 3 series, with my latest fic being the starting point. LW/Fawkes is a ship I liked immediately when I played the series some years ago, but I never got around to writing for it, probably in part because there’s already a super good longfic about them, and I just didn’t think there was much else I could say. But my LW is different from Choco’s LW, and lately I wanted to start something self-indulgent. Although I have enough ideas for this to maybe be a single 30k fic, I’m choosing to do a series of shortfics instead, so that I’m not burdening myself with another long project. Fic series are great in that way, because it’s basically complete with every new fic.       On top of that, I have... probably 3 other things I want to make significant progress on this year. First is another Fallout fic: Same Heart. I’ve posted 8 chapters already and have almost 2 more done, but due to the slow-build nature of it (and my tagging) I don’t expect to have almost any readers until at least chapter 10 (when the ship characters finally meet). I’d like to at least get that far this year.       A project I’d love to finish by fall is the unreleased “The Wilderness”, a Venom zombie AU that I started for NaNoWriMo 2 years ago. It’s about 55% written, and my goal is to have as much of it done as possible before the sequel movie comes out. If it’s not done by then, I still plan to post whatever I have.       And lastly-ish, my novel... thing. Rogue. I’m in the process of editing it, although I’ve taken kind of a break lately. And as soon as I’m done with the edits and can get a couple of people to read it (just so they can tell me if certain parts are stupid and need changed) I plan to start the next book in the series... which will probably end up being book #1, actually, if I do them modern-era chronologically. It’s... gonna be a process. ^^;  2.  Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project.       In my upcoming FO3 fic series, I’m honestly just kind of weirdly looking forward to... how do I put this? Exploring my own vaguely-traumatic experiences through fic. I’ll always do a happy ending, if possible, but before we get there I really want to run these two through the ringer of... being given something they were led to believe was impossible, being judged for it, having it taken away, and then being told “well maybe it’s for the best”.       When it comes to future projects, I guess I’m really excited about writing the new Rogue book. “Reaper”, I guess, is its unimaginative working title. I’m anxious about it, because I thought Rogue had some really deeply emotional scenes, and I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to accomplish that as well with this new one, simply because the characters don’t have the same level of desperation about each other. I need to figure out what’s unique about their dynamic and push that. I guess I’m looking forward to the challenge.  3.  What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)       Hmm gosh. Technically there’s a scene in the later chapters of Mobius that I already wrote, but it wouldn’t take place until probably chapter 3 or later, and I just lost all steam on that fic, sadly. But every time I poke through my notes I make myself cry reading it. It’s a scene where one character knows it’s going to be the last time he sees the person he loves most, and he can’t explain his pain to anyone. I really just want to get there so I can see if it makes other people cry like babies haha.       But on a completely unrelated note, there’s also this ZADR fic I started writing in like 2009, and I absolutely didn’t want to do the work to get to the fun middle scenes, but basically it was an AU where young adult Dib went to live/work in the thriving multi-species space community, where he’s... I dunno, studying alien biology I think?, and he ends up with Zim as a roommate. The scenes I really wanted to write were about the two of them getting into like a bar fight with some tough types, and Zim gets his pak ripped off/damaged in the process, and Dib has to sort of take care of him through a horrible fever. But then it turns out that the pak was not a life-support system like they thought, but actually a growth inhibitor so they (the people in charge of the Irkens) could choose who became the Tallest (the leaders). (And also it hindered reproduction, etc.) So basically the two of them accidentally start to unravel a galactic conspiracy which also involves corruption in the Earth government, etc, and Zim gets taller but spoiler alert, he still doesn’t get tall enough to challenge the Tallest lol. Sadly, I doubt I’ll ever actually write that fic. Sounds like too much effort lol.  7.  What do you think are the characteristics of your personal writing style? Would others agree?       That’s such a hard question. Ummm. How do I put any of that into words? ...I think one of the things about my writing is that a lot of the time nothing really happens in a scene, and the story mostly focuses on a character thinking. Like, enough happens so there’s something for them to think about, but I think I tend to put a lot of emphasis on POV character’s thoughts, to the point of sometimes seeming stream-of-consciousness. I’ve been told that this makes my stories feel alive though? So I think it appeals to some people, though I’m sure others would find such stories boring.       Oh also, somewhat along these lines, I like to add commentary that is only somewhat relevant, usually in parenthesis at the end of a sentence or paragraph. (Honestly, it’s not unusual to see one in every paragraph if I’m writing something slightly humorous.)  9.  Are you more of a drabble or a longfic kind of writer? Pantser or plotter? Do you wish you were the other?      I would LOVE to write primarily longfics! However, I just don’t have the time or energy for it, and I don’t write fast enough. So I end up with a lot of oneshots under 10k. I had to challenge myself to learn to write short things though, and then it’s really about writing something short, not about writing a specific story.       Generally, I’m both pantster and plotter. I tend to write the first chapter/few scenes/maybe as much as 10k, just by the seat of my pants. After that, I look at what I’ve got and write out a plot to continue from there. Plotting everything out before I start just doesn’t work for me, but if I try “pantsing” anything longer than 15k I know I’m gonna have an absolute torturous hell of a time.  13.  Do you share your writing online? (Drop a link!) Do you have projects you’ve kept just for yourself?      Lol I think anyone who’s reading this knows I share my stuff online. Primarily on my AO3, though there’s some other stuff floating around here on tumblr too.  Most of the time if I keep something to myself it’s only because it’s not finish enough to share. So, sure, there’s plenty of that, but the goal is always to share it eventually. If I ever get around to finishing a novel, those will probably be the only things I don’t just post online. (Though I do post most of my OC stuff currently.)  17.  Do you think readers perceive your work - or you - differently to you? What do you think would surprise your readers about your writing or your motivations?       I think that inevitably my readers will always perceive me and my writing a bit differently than I do. That’s just... interacting with people. Nobody knows you entirely. However, I am as open and honest in my writing as possible, and I actually think that reading my fic is the best way to get to know me. I like to hope that I am an open book to anyone who has read many of my words. =] While you may not know the details of my life, I think you would have a good insight into my personality.    23.  What’s the story idea you’ve had in your head for the longest?       Like... my oldest fic/story that I’ve never written or posted? Not counting stuff I’ve consciously abandoned (things from middle school, mostly), my original fic series, “Damsel and Company in Distress” aka DamselCo. is definitely my oldest story. I think I started fiddling with it in 2006-- which makes it pretty disappointing that it’s gotten next to nowhere. XD; But the story is my baby, and it’s been my baby for so long that anyone who’s followed me ever is probably at least vaguely familiar with a few of the characters.  Now maybe one day I’ll actually give it the attention it deserves, though I’m sure it’ll need significant revamping. After all, a lot has changed in 14+ years. Ideas that were new and subversive then are probably already stale. 

Author meme!

lAuthor Name: meinposhbastard (on AO3, too)

Fandoms You Write For: Good Omens, spideypool (though I haven’t been active for a while now, since GO is my main focus now)

Where You Post: only on AO3. Tried crossposting here, too, but the tumblr-publicity thing never stuck to me because I always forgot to do it

Most Popular One-Shot: 

By hits and kudos:  It's 'meow-meoow' not 'meow-meeow' (spideypool, T-rated, 7k+)

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story:

Second in place by kudos and hits:  With a bite (spideypool, E-rated, 20k+ split in two chapters)

Favourite Story You Wrote: 

From the SPN fandom:  Hápax legómenon (E, 36k+) because I had so much fun researching the etymology on ‘magic’ and build that world and make the rules of the magic. I still look back at that story with awe, thinking that I won’t ever be able to reach that peak no matter what I do. From Spideypool:  Rattle your chains if you love being free (63k+, E-rated). It’s a retelling of Shrek... but I went off the script and made something new. This was the first fic that I scraped the initial 20k of it and rewrote everything. I liked how I weaved the characters into the story, the wizard, Peter B. and Miles, Gwen, MJ, Harry. And am impressed with myself at the amount of references I made there. From BotW to We Free Men (or rather Women), to Matrix, and I can’t remember what else (they’re all in the tags) From Voltron:  Sharp corners and curves (E-rated, 65k+). At the time I finished this, it was the longest fic I had ever written. Again, I’m impressed at the worldbuilding and the dynamics between Shiro, Keith and Lotor (yes, it’s a threesome, triad, trinity, call it what you will but smut happens between these three consenting parties and it’s awesome! but so hard to coordinate in bed holy hell!!!). I also like the little details I managed to place with the characters, Keith in particular since the story is told from his POV.

Story You Were Nervous to Post:

I think that would be my first ever fic, which was:  Before we dwell on it (00Q, T-rated, 5k). But after that... not so much. I took to writing fic like duck to water. After the first posted fic, the rest simply felt natural. Never nervous if people might like it or not.

How Do You Choose Your Titles:

I sometimes use lines from poetry or songs, other times I use some words or lines from the fic itself (like with With a bite), and sometimes I manage to cook up a title that’s unrelated to the above and best reflects the fic (oh shoot, that reminds me that I have no title or outline for my current PacRim wives...)

Do You Outline:

I’m trying to, okay? But I end up forgetting what I put in the outline and go off-track. It’s like the outline is my nemesis. I don’t remember ever sticking to it, even to the broader ideas. But I’m trying to get better at this. After all, an outline helps a lot when you write long fics.... (though my long fics have all been written with little to no outline shhh)

Complete: 44

In-Progress:

Um, that have scenes written and not just ideas of what I want: 5

Only ideas: 8

.... okay, I wasn’t aware I have so many WIPs. RIP.

Coming Soon/Not Yet Started:

Hopefully the PacRim Ineffable Wives, since my muse seems to be dead set on adding scenes to it. Currently (26 March 2020) it’s sitting at 9k and counting.

Do You Accept Prompts:

I don’t know? It’s a foreign concept to me. I’ve seen it happen, I’ve prompted other people, but outside of gift exchanges, I’ve never had people come into my inbox and prompt me. Besides that, my works have a tendency of going overboard in wc and that takes time, so unless my WIP stash is depleted and I have no idea what to work on next which prompts me to ask for prompts then... no, prompts don’t work with me.

Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited to Write:

The current Ineffable Wives... oh, and the Tribe AU in the Spn fandom.

Tagged By: @ximeria

If interested, tagging: @godihatethisfreakingcat, @trickster-archangel, @lovelybydecay  and anybody else who’d like to tag along.

“how i write” meme

tagged by @thunderheadfred, thank you!!

Is there a snack you like to eat while writing? I don’t usually eat while I write... if I’m hungry, then all I can focus on is getting food haha.

What time of day do you usually write? the majority of my writing gets done while I’m in the office on slow afternoons (bad), or in the morning from 12-2am when I have to be at work in the morning (even worse)

Where do you write? I mentioned I write at work, so my desk there -- other times it’s my bed, which is bad, because then I get sleepy and easily distracted. but I recently got my new desk so hopefully I will be doing lots of writing there and not gaming!

How often do you write a new thing? HAHAH what’s more likely to happen is I’ll start a thing, write anywhere from 1k to 10k words of it, decide it’s terrible, and never share it ever.

Do you listen to music while you write? so it’s funny, when I’m at the computer I almost always need to have some sort of audio going on in the background at all times -- television, music -- but it can’t be something that requires my attention, otherwise I get distracted. (food network is great for this because I’m somewhat interested in it but I can also tune it out easily.) so I can’t listen to podcasts when I need to concentrate on something else, and white noise sometimes doesn’t do it for me, so that usually leaves music. about 99% of the time I create playlists or pick a central song/set of songs that inspire/drive the tone of the fic I’m writing. but I can’t listen to THOSE because then I definitely get distracted just listening to the music, so I end up posting those as a fanmix or something and then I put on UNRELATED music so I don’t get too distracted thinking about “this song just fits the story so well, oh my god, let me replay it a thousand times” instead of actually writing the fic. and that is a really complicated and unnecessary mental process but eh.

Paper or Laptop? way back when I used to write out everything longhand and then type it up/edit as I go, but then college happened and I lost all patience for hand cramps, so laptop it is now... which is a shame cause I used to write so fast and be really proud of that, haha.

Do you have a special pre-writing ritual? aside from “think about writing for days until I build up the courage to actually try it again”? not really, maybe I should.

What do you do to get into the writing? for the longest time my idea was “only write when you’re in the mood, but edit when you’re not in the mood” that way I can be sure 1) what I’m writing is the most genuine expression of how I want the fic to be read, and 2) when I’m rereading to edit, if even my most passionate attempt can’t drum up my interest/bring me into the fold of this fic, then it’s not gonna cut it for my readers. but lately I’ve been trying to cut that habit because I just have no time anymore, I need to write whenever I get the chance, and waiting around for the mood/lack of is starting to mean nothing is getting done

Do you have a reward system for word counts? aside from snapshotting it and congratulating myself on twitter, nope

Is there anything else about your writing process that your readers don’t know? behind every scene there is about a page of notes outlining the plot/necessity of the scene/theme/detailing character motivations and reactions. unless it’s a scene that i completely improvised off the top of my head, which are rare but becoming more frequent, occasionally to the fic’s benefit.

hmm most of the people I know have been tagged already, except maybe @radialarch @beenghosting @augustbird @calysto1395?