#but she’d be super into older horror movies / obscure horror movies

[ilkkawhat]

All the numbers. (If not all then pick and choose a handful to answer).

lol you’re really going for it anon, huh?? 😂 bless your heart. I’ll do all of them and then idk. if anybody wants to send any again, I’m sure I can have a different answer

(I did just answer 7 & 22 so I’ll leave those out. rest below the cut)

1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

I guess if you count all of my active WIPs that have been sitting dormant for months or years, there’s those since I like. I know what I’m doing in pretty much all of them, just as I know what I’m doing in some of my unpublished WIPs, but I think I just need to be in a certain mood/energy to do certain ones (ie, Agony esp is a very heavy fic so I gotta be able to Deal with that)

2) what work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

I deleted those 😂😂😂 but some of my reeeeeealllllly old stuff is still out there and I cringe thinking about that and though I could easily delete those too, I’m keeping them just since the harddrive that has the docs for it is corrupted lol

3) what order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

Just all over the place these days tbh. Even chapter to chapter it’ll change, I’ll write snippets in future chapters--and I’m talking like three or four chapters ahead--just to get it out there. But then there’s other days where I’ll sit and just write and not stop.

4) favorite character you’ve written

Nick Stokes, of course 💜💜💜

5) character you were most surprised to end up writing

Any of the Macgyver characters outside of Jack. Cause though I’ll claim not to all the time, I do know that I know the CSI characters (though I’m surprised I’m able to write in their POVs outside of Nick.) I grew up with them. I have a bond with them. The mac characters? I’ve only known for like. two years now and not even that well anymore since I’ve stopped watching the show. 

6) something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now

Expanding on details. Almost every fic I write, I’ll read it again later and be like “ah shit I should have run with this idea...” but I guess that’s how I can do a sequel/missing scene

8) favorite genre to write

hurt/comfort (emphasis on the hurt, really I mean we’re talking like borderline horror)

9) what, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

See I haven’t really honed in on any one particular thing that inspires me to write. It comes out of nowhere, and the following list of things doesn’t like, always work. When I’m listening to a song. When I’m driving in the car. When I’m watching something unrelated to the source material (totes got some inspiring vibes watching Falcon and The Winter Soldier yesterday tbh lmao) When I dream. When I go on a walk. When people send me asks and I just go the fuck off and suddenly ten chapters later I’m writing a fic that they probably didn’t even want (coughSpecimenStokescough)

10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?

I think the last couple times I’ve like, really written it’s been in silence. Definitely alone. Don’t got people to write around, really lmao (unless you count my parents being in other rooms with obnoxiously loud televisions and tablets)

11) what aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?

All of it. And I’m sure it’ll keep improving.

12) your weaknesses as an author

Dialogue. I don’t know how people talk 😂

13) your strengths as an author

Detail, description, and I also like to think--emotion? but idk. It’s hard for me to assess my strength tbh

14) do you make playlists for your current wips?

Oh YES! At least for the longer WIPs like Last Breath or Agony. And listen to it on a loop when I’m trying to brainstorm or write if I want to write with music on. I’ve been starting to link the playlists when I’m doing with the fic (which is not many so far)

(I think Hellbound is the only one-shot I made a playlist for that I didn’t share)

15) why did you start writing?

I honestly can’t remember, cause I think I’ve been writing stories (fan fiction or not) ever since I was in middle school?? Maybe even elementary? But I do feel like I had gotten more encouragement for it than drawing from the few people in my life that did actively cheer me on, and there’s just something about writing that is so...fulfilling? Esp since I can’t like. Just manifest the images or make the “movie” in my head, at least I can write them down and hopefully convey what I see/feel in my mind through words.

16) are there any characters who haunt you?

All my neglected OCs lmao. I did and I guess on some level still do want to make an original series.

In a chilling way Veronica also haunts me cause I realize how much of that like, darkness in myself I put in her. 

And Nick, well, he’s just always on my mind.

17) if you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?

Just fucking go for it! Don’t give a shit if anybody will read it or not. Take your time, flesh out those details. Describe what you see, what they see, what they feel. 

If you think you’re going too far...you’re not. 

keep going

18) were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they?

I mean any fan fiction I read in the past has probably influenced me on some level. I know that when I came back to CSI in 2018, reading all of kristen999′s nick whump def encouraged me cause I was like “oh...there’s others like me who like to see him hurt!?!?” and I do think that maybe sometimes after I read a fic, I might like. Try to incorporate those styles I see. The way words are described, sentences constructed. Not like, copy of course but I feel like a long time ago my writing wasn’t really idk, novel-like? very short, almost read like a script whereas now, since I’ve seen the way people write their stories (some novel length stories, too), I flesh mine out a lot more.

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

I don’t 😂 Thinking of my bigger projects like Agony, I do just kind make up some of it as I go with a rough outline although sometimes it is a bit more detailed--like First Flight actually has a super detailed outline but I know that once I start writing, something might come up, some twist I didn’t think of before--or even one that somebody suggests to me, but idk I feel like I do have a way of tying everything together regardless? Cause especially with those bigger WIPs I will try to go back and re-read if something seems familiar or if I’ve forgotten a detail, or if I’m planning on diving back into it after a long break from it. 

20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?

Depends. I feel more accomplished with the long sit down sessions so I target that, but lately it’s been little spurts with maybe one big dump at the end of the week.

21) what do you think when you read over your older work?

Mostly cringe, but there are times I’m like “holy shit this is really good???” 

like I remember recently I re-read Agony and loved it, when I wanted to delete it maybe like. a week before that. I think it honestly depends on my frame of mind, and why I’m going back to read the fic? Cause I’ve had times where I’m like “wait what was this one?” and then I read it and laugh at how bad it is, but then other times where I’m like, “I wanna read that one fic I did...” and then I do and it makes me happy.

But, I will always kinda criticize at the same time--”aw, I could do this better, I could have expanded on this,” etc

23) any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

My life is suuuuuuper boring so. not really lmao. One of my earliest CSI fics that actually created what I consider to be my number one OC (she’d be the lead in that original series I mentioned earlier) came out of me sitting and staring into a campfire lmao. 

also there was this teacher I had (one of those good IRL supports) that told me a story of something that happened to her (or was it her daughter?) and I turned it into a story (back in my teen days) so. I guess there are somethings. 

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

Expert? No. But I will do numerous google searches to try and figure some stuff out and get lost in a rabbit hole of “research” for a while and hope that when I do write it, it comes off as I know what I’m doing when really, I do not lol.

25) copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of

haven’t really written much in this past week, and certainly nothing to be proud of, but this line hit me like a ton of bricks for Specimen Stokes and I’m in love with it:

“Because, my dear specimen, I wanted to see if you loved the danger...or if you loved me.”

[ask-joeydrewstudios]

((Oh cool I love talking about muses weaknesses and fears in front of a bunch of people who totally don't want to use those against them. I've been putting these off for FAR too long, here's a masterpost of all the muses fears, weaknesses, and addictions. HCs under the cut ;P))

Things that apply to all the toons:   They all have to be afraid of water, acetone, and religious symbols/items. Those things can literally kill them, they count as both a fear and a weakness. There's also a learned fear that only comes into play in another 70 years after everyone from the original crew has died: they start to fear befriending people because they know they're effectively immortal, and losing people hurts like hell and they don't want it to keep happening. Bendy legitimately tries to get Henry to toon-himself in an effort to stop him from dying, he was the last one from the original group alive and none of the toons wanted to see him go. When he declines it leads to an argument, and it was a very emotional argument because the fear of loss was very real. You'd think loss would get even a little easier after its happened enough times? You... would be incorrect.

Bendy:   I've listed off Bendy's fears before, being forgotten and fading into obscurity are big ones. The studio never falls in this AU but it does take some small dips, and that terrifies him. Also, skeletons. Skeletons are scary. For addictions, I wouldn't necessarily say he's addicted to bacon soup? But he does love it... a little too much. You can bribe him with it even though it's readily available at any given moment.  Bendy's also the idiot child that begs everyone to watch a horror movie, only to end up terrified and up all night because he's jumping at every shadow or creak of the building.

Boris:

  Boris is braver than Bendy, but he’s still afraid of a good number of things. Sudden loud noises, cars, things that lurk in the dark, the dark itself, monsters, Spooky Things (October is not a fun month for him), spiders, and he shares Bendy’s fear of thunderstorms... he might be a wolf, but he’s a big scaredy-cat :P He’s afraid of way more things that he hasn’t even encountered yet. Weaknesses? Objects being thrown, specifically ball or stick shaped objects. He will always, without fail, run to retrieve it for you. He hates himself for it.

Alice:   Nobody’s quite sure why or how, but because Alice was based on her voice actress she’s picked up a few personality traits and opinions from her. Fears are not an exception, and Alice shares Susie’s fear of war and violence and her fear of heights despite not being able to be hurt from falling large distances. She’s also afraid of losing form and shape-shifting too much from her original design, she likes staying the way she is and not having a stable form is weird and gross-feeling. Remember how all the toons are afraid of water and anything else that’ll make them melt? She’s afraid of it the most.

Joey:   One of Joey's strong points is also one of his weak points, and that's his need to do the impossible. This does lead to him pushing boundaries and sometimes entirely destroying said boundaries, and he absolutely hates giving up so it'll take him a really long time to get his focus off trying to Do The Thing. Even then he never directly says he gave up on something, he says he shelved it. This stems from a strong fear of failure and not being in control, and the need to accomplish more and more as he knows he's getting older and he wants to achieve as much as possible. The studio's not in any danger but he goes above and beyond trying to make sure it stays that way, because losing his life's work is his biggest fear. Also, he's really paranoid. It's why he doesn't leave the studio too often, doesn't have a lot of friends, and forces the toons to stay inside for years. He's afraid of heights and flying too.

   Also, Henry may not get drafted in this AU (I HC that he does in the main game, which is what pulled him from the studio) but that’s by sheer luck. When the US got involved in WWII and people started getting drafted, neither of them knew if Henry would be among them, and Joey was utterly terrified that he would be. Henry picked up on it but never said anything.

Henry:   Henry's probably the most fearless of everyone, his biggest fears are falling behind and being a disappointment. Demons and witchcraft would be scarier if he wasn't exposed to it on a daily basis, he found them a lot more unnerving when Joey first starting messing with them but now its just a part of life. His workaholic habits partially come from the first fear, he knows he's super lucky to basically be HANDED this job (his dream job) and he really doesn't want to let anyone down, especially not Joey. As someone who values security he also fears death, not so much his own but the sudden death of his friends, family, and other important figures in his life. He's also got an acute fear of storms, but he doesn't get nearly as afraid of them as Bendy or Boris. Sometimes said toons huddle under his desk while he works when it storms, and Henry talks to them and tells stories so they can all feel more calm. Weaknesses and addictions? Caffeine.

Sammy:   Right off the bat I can tell you Sammy's got a bad nicotine addiction. That's not a surprise to anyone. He starts getting antsy pretty quick if he tries not to smoke, and if he's already stressed out it only happens faster. He's terribly dependent on his cigarettes, they help his anxiety. He's also afraid of large crowds of people, which is why he prefers to go out later in the day and doesn't like going to studio events and parties. He usually has to anyway, but he doesn't like them and sticks close to Susie when he does. He doesn't like flying either, and he's afraid of something happening to Susie. If she ends up in trouble he will literally do anything to make sure she stays safe. He's not so much afraid of rodents as he is half-afraid, half-disgusted by them. He still jumps onto a chair or desk if one comes near him though.

Susie:   Susie might be able to defend herself, but she's by no means unstoppable. She's afraid of walking around the city after dark alone (she’s afraid of being alone in the dark in general, as a kid she was afraid of the dark itself and it never entirely left her), if she misses the trolley she'd rather crash at Sammy's place than make the long and dangerous walk home. War is also terrifying to her, everything about it is upsetting - the unstable political nature of it, the way thousands of people are shipped out to fight and a lot of them don't come home, and their poor families... the ones that do come home, they're never the same. It's nothing but a terrible thing. Her dad is a vet from the great war (WWI) and she remembers being a kid, worried with her mum and older brother and sister about whether or not he'd come home. She's terrified of another war breaking out, and even more terrified about the people she cares about getting sent out and possibly dying. Also heights. Fuck heights. She's the most terrified of heights out of everyone at the studio.

Wally:  Wally absolutely cannot stand being alone for more than maybe three minutes, and he hates small spaces (claustrophobia) and being trapped anywhere. He rarely closes a door behind him and if someone else closes the door he will immediately drop what he's doing to reopen the door. If the door is somehow locked, that's what he has his keys for - if he loses his keys as he so often does, or he can't pick the lock... he might literally kick down the door, or at least break the lock. He's also afraid of commitment (hence why he doesn't like starting romantic relationships, and when he does they fail within a month) and he's very dependent on money, because money is security and he grew up in the depression with six siblings and exhausted parents and he doesn’t want to be that poor ever again. He'll do almost anything to make a quick buck.

Norman:  In his age he's gotten over a lot of fears, but if there's two things he'll be afraid of until he dies its bugs and the paranormal and otherwise unknown. Bugs make his skin crawl, and the paranormal and unknown... well, it's unknown. There's all kinds of spooky shit going on there. You can probably figure he wasn't too happy to hear Joey was messing around with witchcraft and demonic rituals, he actually almost quit when he did. A pay-raise and some convincing later, he pushed his worries aside - he only half regrets that decision now.

Shawn:

   Shawn’s also a bit of a scaredy-cat if you can believe it. He screams at sudden loud noises, gets quickly unnerved at weird shadows out of the corner of his eye, and hates being in total darkness. Both the “not being able to see his surroundings” and “not being able to see what might be lurking in his surroundings” aspects of that last one really get to him, he always sleeps with the bedroom curtains open to let the moonlight in. His wife had to make a rule for how many stuffed animal comfort objects he’s allowed to have on the bed at once. Tell him a decent enough scary story and he’ll have trouble sleeping for a couple days. He’s a bit of a mess.

Thomas:

   Thomas isn’t afraid of much, actually. It’s a perk to being mostly emotionally dead. He’s afraid of losing his dog, abandonment, and snails. Snails are just gross. Slugs are even worse. He’s not gonna scream if he sees one, he just really hates them.