#answernite

[astranite]

For the personal questions game: 4, 5 and 15?

thank you :)

Im afraid these arent the most interesting answers.

4 What type of shoes do you wear?

I wear a very worn out pair of red hiking boots 98% of the time, which are the second pair i have of the exact same ones. they are raspberry jam coloured and i think they stopped selling them but id really like another before these ones get holes in them. i also have a pair of black leather steel capped lace up boots that i really like that are very butch but too heavy for day to day wear. ive also got a brown leather pair of boots that i call my jedi boots that i got ages ago that i need to stretch the leather esp for winter cause they dont fit right and blister. i dont own any sneakers. i have a terrible time with shoes generally.

5 what colour are the walls of your room.

they are a very plain off-white colour. not a particularly fun colour but as far as white wall colours go there are far worse shades. someday id like to paint my walls bright cheery colours. but i do have a rainbow pride flag on my wall currently :)

15 what’s the last thing you ate?

porridge with honey for breakfast! going to eat some lunch now tho.

[astranite]

Yay tag! Thanks @idontknowreallywhy :D of course some soft furnishings Scott.

Scott’s blinks got slower and slower, and maybe he’d just rest his eyes for a moment, snuggled up on the couch with his brother and his new weighted blanket.

Uhhh I’m completely blanking on untagged people to tag because my brain is not online anymore. So anyone who’s looking at this and thinking “hey I want to be part of this”

Last Line Tag

Tagged by: @pb-dot

From Released:

“Would it kill you to sort your shit out?” He wondered aloud to that reflection, who spoke the same words back to him with equal venom.

Tagging:

@imbrisvastatio @ivorygarcia @janetm74 @joeys-piano @justafunctionalmess (+anyone else who wants to join)

--

taglists under the cut (please aks if you want to be added!)

General Taglist:

@gabe-killed-me-with-ace-cream

@carefulpyromancer

@captain-kraken

@moonshinemagpie

Released Taglist:

@ember-writer

[astranite]

Hi! Just binged a bunch of your old thunderbirds fics (I've already read the newer ones) on your Ao3 account, which now that I think about it, is giving me stalker vibes, but I'm not. I love every single Thunderbirds fic you've written so much. Just wanted to let you know that I think you are an awesome, talented writer and seem pretty cool too!

Hiiiiiiiiii thank you!!! I actually recognise your ao3 name from my kudos emails and i always love when I can see someone going through all my fics!!! It is lovely!! Tis not stalkery to enjoy all of my thunderbirds fics in the great archive that is ao3, they are there to read and if you want to read the entire stack of them all the better!! And im so happy you have come over here to let me know!!! Youve made my morning!!! Thank you for being a wonderful reader!!!

[astranite]

Here's a few questions lmao

3. What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write?

6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time?

10. Is there a fic that got a different response than you were expecting?

20. What’s a favourite title for a fic you’ve written?

27. Is there a fic you were nervous to post/share? Why?

Thank you!!!

3. Edges of the Universe is definitely my favourite fic because it explores both John and Scott's relationship and who John is and how that is interwoven with being autistic. All of my neurodivergent Tracies fics have a special place in my heart because even though in my head they always are I love exploring it on a textual level. Though I actually love all of my fics for their own reasons!!

5. Hmmm I am often trying to write all the ideas I am having but some are fun just to play with and imagine! For a very random one I've got some ideas for a crack treated seriously body swap trope fic mostly because giving them each other's strengths and weaknesses quite literally has the capacity to be interesting for characterisation. I might write up some notes to post if people were interested but its not something id write as a fully fleshed out fic. Though I do enjoy a plot-device mad science we dont explain makes things happen presmise!

6. So many fics I love!!! There is Suffering in Silence by @janetm74 which has John and always gives me emotions, Nowhere Else by @silverstarfics because its scott and john and my birthday fic and i adore it, Trochilidae by @idontknowreallywhy for ADHD Scott that I am very fond of, and Sweet Chariot by @edutainer2022 particularly CH2 Puzzles for a beautifully described cuddle pile.

10. It would probably be that my fic of John and Virgil got more of a reaction of many people enjoying it than I expected as its not really a combination i have seen very often (but if anyone has any recs!!!).

20. Two titles of note are Protective is an Emotion because that encapsulates the core of the fic in John protecting Virgil, and Respite (Spun Glass and Golden Light) because of both poetic and metaphoric reasons. Though I occasionally use song lyrics or single words, I enjoy finding the right set of words for titles particularly in a phrase.

27. Again probably that would be Edges of the Universe most as it is very close to my heart, intensely emotional and personal from the experiences it is drawn from and I'm very proud of it.

[astranite]

*knock knock*

Trick or Treeeeeeeat

A three sentence fic for you!!

(1)

Lucy pressed a hand over her mouth trying not to laugh. Scott looked so much like Jeff in his dad’s old airforce flight suit, complete with aviator sunnies and troublemaking grin. Apart from how the arms and legs had to be rolled up several times as Scott hadn’t yet hit his growth spurt, and were already coming down as Lucy attempted to pin them in place while the not quite teen bounced with excitement, candy bucket in hand.

[astranite]

Trick or Treat! 🎃

Have some itty bitty Kayo! She'd certainly say she's tricky!!

(4) Kyrano’s kid staying with them, Tanusha or as the boys had started called her, Tin Tin, resolutely refused to dress up. Eventually, with much suspicious glancing around, she whispered in Lucy’s ear that she was already dressed up, because she was a spy and didn't need a costume. In the kid way like it was totally obvious and how didn't Lucy already know this, Tin Tin stated, “The only spies that look like spies are dead spies.” Lucy manage to keep a straight face through that rather threatening sentence delivered by a kid with pig tails, missing front teeth, and a expression she likely throught was intimidating with a wrinkled up nose and screwed up eyes, but to Lucy was adorable.

[astranite]

Hi, for the know your fic writer game:

71, 54, 45

<3

Thanks for the asks!!! This got somewhat long and spirally as evidently that was the mood im in!

45 Do you want to break your readers‘ heart or make them laugh? Bold to assume I can't do both, even at the same time! Really, I want people reading my stuff to feel something, which emotions really depend on the fic and the reader too. But anything from devastated to comforted, I like the contrast even and possibly especially within the same fic.

54 What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Oh that is hard to say because there are so many parts! The feeling of brilliance when weaving words together, the flow of the story and the emotions, characters and plot, shaping them to fit together as it all falls into place. Navigating the twists and turns and problem solving, often turning ideas upside down for something unexpected. I think a good example of this is the thinking of not how this would be out of character but what extreme would it take to drive the character to do this or act this way. Or filling a prompt in a way thats not the first obvious way. Im always very analytical about this and I enjoy it. Expanding horizons with finding new ideas and perspectives of looking at the world. Seeing what the story and the characters do and what is revealed as it plays out as sometimes it can be quite surprising where it goes, especially the how it happens. Also which themes emerge, as they often give me unexpected but oh of course this was what it was about it couldntve been any other way insight into both myself and the characters, that I wouldntve come to without writing it. Honestly, I couldnt not write even when its a struggle to make the story work and I demonstrably go a bit insane if I dont.

71 When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

Id say its a combination of jumbled but very thorough notes and ideas for things and in my head. Im generally fairly the plotter and I tend to know where Im going before I get to it even in my head, but it also can be very fluid and often changes along the way so sometimes those notes get outdated. They are often either organised by obsessive logic or chaos. Otherwise, it lives in my head and all the threads and details are there, all connected in a web is the best way to describe it. Ive got a pretty decent memory for putting it together, though sometimes it can become like juggling too many balls in the air. This is all very shaped by the fact Im both autistic and adhd!

Ive answered all these both pretty wordily and abstractly but here it is!

[astranite]

@edutainer2022 Thanks for the ask :)

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

When a character gets to the point they can't hold it together anymore, no matter how hard they try to hide it or out stubborn it or push it down, and other people are there for them, to help or comfort them or just to not be alone. Also the related, the character choosing to let people in and be vulnerable especially when this is difficult for them, because they know people will be there for them. It's often the contrast of angst And comfort together. This comes up a lot in my fics and it is All the Feels (...I wonder why). Definitely gets me in other people's fics too.

Also hugs and hug piles. And all the little actions of care and affection. And especially moments showing strong platonic and/or familial bonds.

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

Some little bit angsty small Scott and Lucy for you--

The apple tree in the rear corner of the yard towered far above them, great branches reaching upwards. Clouds obscured the sky, grey and harried looking, threatening rain. The wind was picking up, carrying the damp smell of air before a storm, with the dark of dusk already closing in. She would’ve been calling the kids in soon anyway. 

Up there amongst it all was Scott, a tiny figure for all the recent growth spurts and insistence that he was very grown up, clinging to the uppermost branches. 

She saw the moment Scott spotted her, heard the terrified yell, “I’m too high!” Which she had rarely heard from Scott, the others yes, particularly Virgil who would follow Scott to the end’s of the earth but had neither Scott’s age nor height, or even John’s caution, just blind faith in his brother. 

A particularly vicious gust of wind caused the tree to sway and creak. Scott yelped. 

Lucy’s heart pounded in her chest.

If Jeff were here he’d already be halfway up the tree without a thought. His first approach was always action. Lucy’s was to assess the situation. Scott was too high, the branches too narrow to support an adult’s weight that far up. 

She needed to keep Scott calm and hanging on, foremost. The rest could be worked out from there. 

“Hey Bluejay, that’s quite the climb you’ve made.” 

That got his eyes back on her rather than the ground. 

“Mum.” Scott’s voice came shaky. 

“I need you to take some deep breaths for me now. Can you do that?” 

A nod. 

“You’re doing good, sweetheart. Keeping doing that.” 

They weathered another gust of wind. Lucy was glad that this tree was demonstrating a tendency to bend instead of break. 

[astranite]

*knock knock*

Trick or Treeeeeeeeat!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! Hmmm you seem familiar, or did you change costumes, hello again friend *pours out all the rest of treats for you*!!!

(8) Lucy’s lab coat, her work one because she’d run out of time for a costume for herself, swished around her, covered in definitely artful and not because it had been a day, explosion marks. Well technically, it hadn't been an explosion-explosion, rather a spill and the chemicals were safe, but that was only for her to know and everyone else to worry about. With her mess of unbrushed red curls and ability to spout off physics and astronomy facts at a million miles a minute, she made quite the mad scientist, if she did say so herself. Especially as she dashed down the street after her eldest three, because they most definitely still needed supervision, after the sticky toffee, climbing tree, near miss with the emergency room trick of last year!

[astranite]

🙃: Tell me a weird fact you know pls.

Snails have many many tiny teeth, thousands of itty bitty teeth!! They are also adorable!!

Behold the picture of a snail I took the other day!

[astranite]

Knock knock:

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween!!!

(2) John adjusted his cat ears for the forth time in not as many minutes, fidgeting with the headband, a nervous frown crinkled between his eye brows. Lucy knew her second eldest wasn't much of a fan of noisy crowds of people or spooky surprises, when it came down to it neither was she, but John wanted to go, had picked out his costume of a black and ginger cat and even let a very careful Virgil draw whiskers and a nose on his face with Lucy’s eyeliner. A set of noise cancelling headphones in her bag and the promise that he could stick by Scott the whole time and go home with her if he needed to, had  a small smile once again on John’s lips, as he rocked on his heels in anticipation.

[astranite]

Trick or treat!!💛💛

Hello!!! A treat of little Gordy dressed up for trick or treating!!

(5) Gordon had been utterly thrilled when Lucy had said, yes, he could go as both a pirate and a clownfish, if that’s what he wanted. The toddler hadn't taken off the patterned aquarium shirt or pirate hat since this morning, despite several narrow misses with the bath, the full kitchen sink and the garden hose. Orange, black and white paint, hastily applied as Lucy chased a laughing Gordon around the house, plus a rubber duck attached to his shoulder at Gordon’s insistence with some creative duct taping, completed the costume.

[astranite]

Trick or treat! 🎃🍬

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!! *drops extra big candy in your bucket*

(7) Finally, they were all ready to go. Mini Maverick held hands with a ginger and black cat and a fire fighter, ready to surge ahead towards the streets and sweets being handed out. The undercover spy dodged from shadow to shadow, and Lucy made note to keep an extra eye out so she didn't disappear. A clownfish pirate or pirate clownfish, there was no consensus come to about that, was perched on Lee’s shoulders, the stroller predictably refused. The pint sized astronaut gnawed on a rocket shaped teether, in the pram pushed by full-sized astronaut two, or Jeff ‘We don't need costumes, we’re already famous,’ Tracy. Every year, he and Lee got a kick out of telling sceptical children that they really were the real deal.

[astranite]

Thunderbirds trick or treat

Treat!

More young Tracies off trick or treating!!

(3) Virgil’s costume had been the easiest out of all of them, in terms of choice. Lucy thought it would be a phase but ever since the local fire engine and crew had come for a demonstration at the primary school several months ago, wanting to be a fire fighter had been all Virgil could talk about. Bundled up in yellow rain jacket far too large to go to Gordon, covered in reflective tape stripes because ‘That’s what the real one’s look like, mummy,’ Tracy spelt out across the back, the red plastic hat jammed on his curls, falling over eyes, Virgil was positively ecstatic. If only they could keep him from trying to practice with the garden hose turned full water pressure on their thankfully very much not on fire house.

[astranite]

For the 40 questions ask game - 12 and 20? :D

12 Is there an episode above all others that inspires you just a little bit more?

I'd say yes- The Man From Thunderbird Five. It's one of my favourites and has So Much John in it. And a lot of characterisation that I go, Wow he is very autistic :) and also pretty anxious there which I both definitely headcanon for him. So I have been writing on and off for a while a fic exploring that more!

Have a snippet-

“It’s me, Scott. How do you think it went?” John said flatly.

Scott made a sympathetic noise.  “You did seem pretty eager to get out of there.”

Under the light teasing, his brother knew that this type of Situation was not John’s forte. 

He’d hauled John up into Thunderbird One when it became clear John would rather climb the grapple cable than be put down on the platform, full of jostling, clamouring people wanting to crowd around him to congratulate their rescuer now the danger was over. 

John’s heart was still racing. Whether it was more from the adrenaline in his bloodstream after his fall from the sky or the idea of nearly being back amongst all of that again, it was impossible for him to tell. 

He took a deep breath.

Thunderbird One’s jets roared, the noise from the engines thrumming through the cahelium. John shifted in his seat. The sound scraped against his ears and vibrated through his body, setting him on edge. He could feel it in his teeth. 

John took another deep breath.

20 Describe your perfect writing conditions.

Id say I do do the biggest chunks in a go of writing when i am sitting at my desk with the monitor up. Because it means alot less ow from being hunched over my laptop, but also i am Not Allowed to scroll tumblr on it, and the screen is too weird and Big for it, and that is The Writing Zone for Doing Writing. I now mostly listen to music at the same time, has to be at least a bit familiar, but loud, lyrics and distracting. Sometime semi relevant mood wise but generally not needing to be. It helps occupy what would otherwise be the 12 irrelevant extra trains of thought about random stuff and the brain wobbles of 'its all Terrible, Horrible, No Good,' so I can actually focus on the about three relevant ones. This seemingly contradictory method is because ADHD but hey it works!

I do like a cup of tea, but I usually drink it first whilst brainstorming because otherwise I completely forget about it until it goes cold (then it is sentenced to The Microwave) or I get distracted by it because hands cant be on the keyboard at the same time as holding the tea to drink it.

And yes i do have a tendency to put my feet up on my desk (because cant sit still and 'normally') but hey its my desk so no one can stop me!

I also often write bits on my phone in notes when im on the bus.

Though there is also the frenzied bursts of emotional writing that somehow just flows, but I swear that only occurs after my bedtime and is by nature pretty unpredictable. Which is kind of perfect writing conditions but Not exactly.

(AND LOOK IVE FINALLY ANSWERED AN ASK!!!)

[astranite]

For the character opinion: one for Scott and one for John :D

Thanks :D

Scott:

John:

The blank and link to the original post!