#fic writer asks meme

[missmungoe]

💌 Hello!

💌 Share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

Several of my long-running fics are close to being finished, and the first one out will be my Selkie AU, Moon and Her Maiden! On the night before leaving East Blue, Shanks encounters a selkie while skinny-dipping, get a kiss for his troubles, and then decides to stick around for a while, much to Makino's horror, who really hadn't thought that far and who now has to keep her identity a secret. Cue classic secret identity tropes, moonlit swims and water kisses, and, as always, an unhelpfully meddling crew. (It's also fairly raunchy, just fyi!)

I'm almost done editing the final chapter, which clocked in at just under 30K, and with luck I'll be posting it next week! I've already posted a snippet, but from the bonus chapter that I'm totally not writing:

Moonsongs

She wondered sometimes how her mother had managed, raising a selkie child with no knowledge of her kind, and the ways she’d differed from human children.

“Are you sure this is safe?”

The question drew her eyes from the horizon to where he stood beside her, waist-deep in the surf. He was holding their baby daughter above the water, cooing excitedly at the fish below the clear surface.

“Yeah, this seems a bit premature, Makino,” a voice called from the shore.

“She’s not even walking yet!”

Turning her head found the rest of his crew were gathered on the shore behind them, their expressions conveying similar concerns. Makino had half a mind to tell them they shouldn’t be pointing fingers, who didn’t have a prudent bone between them.

Well, there was Ben, but even he looked like he might voice his concerns. Or like he desperately needed a smoke.

Having found allies to back his case, “See?” Shanks asked. “I’m not the only one with misgivings.”

“She was born in the water, Shanks,” Makino reminded him. “And she needs to learn to change at some point.”

“But she’s so little,” Shanks said, holding her closer as she giggled and kicked her feet, her sealskin slipping into her brow, the sunlight bringing out the dappled spots in the red pelt. "What if something snaps her up?"

"There's nothing big enough to eat her for miles," Makino said, reaching up to adjust her pelt until it was sitting atop her hair, her little toothless grin beaming. "Besides, I'm not worried about that. He's looking out for her."

The look he gave her told her what he thought about this particular arrangement, but while he had a temper, the Lord of the Coast wouldn't let anything happen to her daughter.

Still not convinced, “What if a current carries her off?" Shanks asked, lifting her as Rowan made a giggling lurch for the water. "Did you think about that?"

“She’s half seal,” Makino pointed out, prim. "If it does, she'll swim back."

“I don’t see what the problem is,” Dadan said, her arms crossed where she stood on the beach behind them, her tail swinging lazily. With a nod at Ace, “I tossed you in when you were a few months old, and you turned out fine. Babies are buoyant.”

Blinking, Ace looked up at her. “You did what?”

“Explains a few things,” Sabo mused, only to get an unamused look from his brother.

"At least I float," Ace said, with a nod at Luffy. "Unlike hammer boy over here."

"Eh?" Luffy asked, and seeing their looks, "Oh, right! I can't swim."

"How did you survive this long without us?" Ace sighed, adjusting his straw hat where it had slipped into his brow.

“I still think we should wait longer,” Shanks said. “What about when she’s thirty? That sounds reasonable.”

Murmured agreement from the crew ashore, as Makino briefly considered just pushing him in, baby and all.

[redrikki]

13

13) a fandom you’re thinking about writing for

You mean a fandom which I am actively working on a story for? A Song of Ice and Fire.

You mean a fandom I'm going to be working on a story for soon? Batman

You mean a fandom I've never written for but want to try my hand at? Nothing at the moment. I've been plodding away at an original short story set in my town during WWI, but I don't think that counts.

Fic Writer Asks

[sailoreuterpe]

Ship: Makoami Prompt: Coffee 😳👉👈

"If you drink any more of that, you'll never get to sleep tonight," Makoto murmurs into Ami's hair.

Ami ignores her wife and takes another giant, noisy gulp of coffee.

Makoto sighs in affectionate defeat. "At least let me make you a new pot."

Ami smiles and lifts her face for her victor's kiss.

[bisamwilson]

hey honey! 💖 sambucky and 25. things you said in front of other people!

thanks for the ask, sweetheart <3 does something over 1k words count as a snippet oops (from this list)

"I just wasn't really feelin' it, y'know?" Sam laments to the circle of older ladies around him, sighing while they all nod along knowingly.

It's the first Thursday of the month, which means the local older women's book club is meeting in a small room off the church building where Sam's daddy had preached for twenty years, and, just like every first Thursday of the month that Sam's been in Delacroix since he was fourteen years old, Sam came by to help them set up tables and chairs for all the potluck food they bring with them.

And just like every first Thursday of the last six months since Sam and Bucky had rented a little house down here for when the world isn't on fire--last month excluded, given New York City, at least, was actually on fire--the first fifteen minutes of the local older women's book club is spent lightly interrogating Sam about his love life.

"How many of these dating app first dates have you been on, Sam?" Ms. Sheryl asks from beside him, her arms crossed over her chest.

Sam looks up at the ceiling and counts them in his head, each disappointing match after disappointing match. "Twelve in the last two months, Ms. Sheryl. Thirteen if you count the woman from NOLA I met at a jazz bar and had to leave after five minutes because an emergency mission came up. She unmatched me after that."

Ms. Sheryl nods, her lips pursed, and Sam thinks he might've accidentally just proved a point he didn't know she was making yet. "And how many of those got second dates?"

Sam's saved from having to answer that disheartening, kind-of-a-rhetorical question from the late arrival of Ms. Josephine, newcomer to both the book club and to Delacroix.

She'd moved here about a month and a half ago, about half a year after her husband had passed away, looking for a new start. Every interaction Sam's had with her thus far has been honestly lovely, and he already knows she's got a soft spot for Bucky given how much of her house he'd come over to help fix since she'd moved in. Sam's had his fair share of her "thank you" cooking, and knows full well she's as wonderful a cook as she is a lady.

"Evenin', ladies," she says, holding some kind of dish in her hand that smells downright heavenly. "And Sam," she adds with a wink, smiling when Sam takes the dish from her and sets it over on the table with the rest of the food. "What'd I miss?"

"Sam was just lamenting to us about his dating woes," Ms. Jackie replies, with a tone full of sympathy but a playful twinkle in her eye, taking Sam's hand and patting it soothingly when he comes to stand next to her, leaving his previous seat open for Ms. Josephine.

Sam laughs and squeezes Ms. Jackie's hand. "You've got a son about my age, right, Ms. Josephine? Is he single?"

All the other ladies in the room chuckle along at Sam's joke, but Ms. Josephine just looks confused. "Did something happen with you and Bucky?" she asks, concerned. "He didn't mention it when he came by to fix one of my hinges this morning."

Sam's eyebrows furrow this time around. "Not that I know of? Not unless something has happened in the last thirty minutes since I checked my phone, anyway, but he's not generally the type to call in any case."

Ms. Josephine's face morphs from confusion to contemplation, and she crosses her legs at her ankles and crosses her hands over her lap. "So are y'all in one of those relationships where you can date other people then? I saw some article about that a few weeks ago. Must have some real good communication between the two of you to make both that and all your superheroing work."

She sounds almost impressed, but Sam doesn't really have the mental capacity to acknowledge that right now, not when his brain got stuck on the word "relationships" applied to Bucky and himself.

He looks around the rest of the group to see if any of them are gonna correct her while he's still stuck in his state of shock, but finds all of them just looking vaguely amused.

He shakes his head minutely. "Ms. Josephine, Bucky and I aren't dating."

Her eyes go more than a little wide. "Wait, so you did call it off?"

Sam shakes his head again, a little more vigorously. "No, ma'am. We weren't ever dating in the first place. Did Bucky tell you we were?"

Ms. Josephine shakes her head right back. "Never explicitly, Sam, but it ain't exactly hard to tell when somebody's head over heels. He talks about you like you went and hung the moon for him. Just yesterday he came by and asked if I'd seen one of the recent news segments about you, gushing about how amazin' you look flyin' up there. 'He's so fast, and nimble, Ms. Josephine,' he said to me, all moony eyed. 'It's like nothing you've ever seen before. Sometimes I swear he looks like an angel when he's got his wings spread out.'

"And that's not even countin' the things he says about you when you've been home for a bit. He's always talkin' about whatever fishin' you've done recently, or charity work you've been doin' around here or in NOLA, or how excited you were to buy new cat toys the week before. Every time I ask him if he's got any special requests for thank you meals, he always asks for something with a spice level I'm still not sure he can handle, tellin' me all about how it's been one of your favorites since you were a kid. Bucky's spent at least four days a week at my house pretty much since I've moved in, Sam, and I'm pretty sure I know more about you than I do about him, given how much he talks about you."

Sam's world is starting to tilt on an axis, but he's saved from having to speak up by Ms. Jackie throwing in her two cents. "You know he hates the smell of the flowers he buys from me for y'all's table every week," she says, tone full of faux nonchalance. "Says they're a little too fragrant for his nose because of the serum, but he buys 'em anyway because you always smile when you see he's brought home fresh ones."

Ms. Sheryl's lips quirk up. "You know he replaced damn near every faucet in my house as payment for me helping him with some of the most complicated bits of that sweater he knit you for Christmas. Said it had to be perfect because he knew how cold you always get any time you have to go north of here."

Ms. Maybelle comes in with the final blow, and it hits Sam like the steel chair in all the WWE shows AJ insists on watching every week. "And it ain't like you don't do the same things neither, Sam. Every time I see you it's, 'Hey, Ms. Maybelle, how you been? You wanna see this cute picture I got of Bucky and the cats earlier? They fell asleep on the porch swing he built for us.' You spent the first five minutes of the book club session two months ago debating whether or not Bucky should grow his hair out because he wanted new opinions that weren't yours, and at least half of that was you trying to explain how nice he looked before with the long hair even though it was greasy, but how you like the way the short hair feels when he has his head in your lap on movie night."

Sam doesn't really know how he can defend himself here, but he's got some argument on the tip of his tongue about how their couch was just a little too small for the both of them and their cats, so the head in the lap was the obvious solution. He doesn't think it'll do much damage control, but he thinks he should at least make the attempt.

Instead, he turns back to Ms. Josephine kind of on autopilot. "He called me an angel?" he asks, his heart a little fluttery, and Ms. Josephine just smiles.

"I'll, uh, see you all here same time next month?" he asks as a kind of permission to leave. "I think I might need to go see what my roommate is up to."

"Bring your boy with you next time, Sam," Ms. Sheryl replies, nodding him towards the door. "It's much more fun to tease you both together."

[sssammich]

13 and 16 for the ask game:)

thank you very much! mm let's see let's see

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

lmao in fics, aside from various heavy or dark themes, i find writing children is very difficult because so many children end up being So Precocious and i do not jive with that too much. that's also why i don't veer into writing any kid fic or anything of that sort.

as for easy subject matters, idk if there's any one thing that's super easy to write. i basically just handwave my way through explaining stuff and keep it vague. so i guess instead of a subject matter, i just vaguely make my way downtown through the fic. but that's not very satisfying, i reckon. food, maybe??

16. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

lmaooo oh i'm a dog ear the page kind of person

but i've used an unopened banana before just as a thing to hold my spot in the book haha

ask meme

[tsukimefuku]

I’d like to poll something about love “triangles” (more like a V) in fiction. No hidden agenda whatsoever promise

What do you think about the way authors solve them?

[hypnotisedfireflies]

Fic Writery Thing

I haven't done this one in awhile. Thanks for tagging me, @adhdprincess!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 22! 2. What's your total AO3 word count? 967,602 3. What fandoms do you write for? These days, just TLOU, but I used to write a lot of LOTR, DW, SW ... there used to be variety. 4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Drifter's Dawn Snowqueen of Texas Drifter's Dusk If On a Clear Day A Door Once Opened 5. Do you respond to comments? Yep, always! 6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Probably Dawn, I guess? 7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? ... The Legend of Charro? 8. Do you get hate on fics? I don't get hateful comments, no. 9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yeah, I write smut, but it's usually plot-driven. I'm not writing smutty one-shots these days. 10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? No, not my jam. 11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Yeah, and it was a fic I'd taken down, and the person had only posted as many chapters as they'd saved and swapped the fandoms. That was pretty hurtful, because they'd obviously liked my fic enough to save it, and it was in a very obscure fandom so I guess they thought nobody would see it and tell me. Also, readers really liked the story and were heaping praise on this person for it. Ouch. I contacted AO3. 12. Have you ever had a fic translated? No. 13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yeah, I love collaborative fic writing. 14. What’s your all time favorite ship? I don't deal in absolutes, okay. :p 15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? If On a Clear Day, but that's only because I lost all my notes and I have no idea where that story was going anymore. 16. What are your writing strengths? I'm persistent. 17. What are your writing weaknesses? I'm persistent. 18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Big yes! Thank you @bignosebushybrows who translates my Spanish dialogue in Snowqueen and makes the story so much richer for it, and to @flckrsoflight who translates into French for IO. With their help, I can add a layer of detail and authenticity I cannot achieve myself. xx (Can I also point out the work they actually put into it? Neither just blindly translates, they check with me for context and make sure it has the right flow and meaning, and say things like, 'okay but it would make more sense if...' etc. So like, major effort and care goes into it.) 19. First fandom you wrote for? I want to say Star Wars? By it honestly may have been Police Rescue. 20. Favourite fic you’ve written? That absolutes thing again! I really don't know. I try to challenge myself in a different way in each, so I feel they've each got favourite components for me?

Tagging @march-flowerr @seethesunny @ameerawrites@oliviassunrise

[thetimemoves]

20 questions for fic writers

I was tagged by @raina-at @discordantwords and @totallysilvergirl, thank you!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

20

2. What's your total A03 word count?

57, 682. Not a lot for 20 works, but 10 of them are 221b ficlets. I only have one fic over 10k (it's just over 11.3k).

3. What fandoms do you write for?

BBC Sherlock

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Never Trust to General Impressions

Abditory

Feel My Heart Banging Like a Gun

Out of Every Nowhere

Forth They Went Together

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, I do. I'm so thrilled to get them and appreciate it when someone takes the time to leave a comment. It makes me giddy, it does!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I like to end on a happy, or at least hopeful, note but occasionally angst comes out on top. I think it's probably a tie between these two: Paperweight, which is Sherlock's POV when Molly gives him John's letter at the end of TST; and With Regrets, which is John's POV as he says goodbye to Sherlock in the hospital after the beating in TLD.

Both are 221b ficlets, so at least it's a sharp punch of angst and not an extended bout? Not kidding about that punch, though (sorry not sorry).

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

This is a tough one, but I think these are probably the happiest:

bitter, sweet

Feel My Heart Banging Like a Gun

Abditory

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, thankfully. Hopefully that continues.

9. Do you write smut?

I love me some good smut, but I don't write it (yet). Certain bits in Feel My Heart Banging Like a Gun and Steady as They Go are the closest I've come so far, but they're not smutty.

10. Do you write crossovers?

No. I don't. One of my WIPs is a Stand By Me/The Body (Stephen King) fusion, but I'm not interested in writing any crossovers right now.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, which amazes me! Two have been translated into Russian.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

@splix71 and I began to plot out a Sherlock bounty hunter AU I had initially come up with back in 2019. We had so much fun coming up with names and theories and plot points, so much fun. Unfortunately, she had to step back due to health reasons (FUCK CANCER) and afterwards I couldn't bring myself to go back to it. I doubt I ever will, as clever as I think some of the things we came up with were. I don't know that there is a place anymore for Baker Street Bonds, Yarders Bail Service, or Reichenbach Bail, but I will always treasure the time we spent on it together (that she, a most amazing writer, wanted to write something with me, still blows my mind).

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Mulder/Scully and Sherlock/John.

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have a Sherlock/John hunt the Bogeyman fic I've been poking at for YEARS. I love a lot of what I've written, but I wrote myself into a corner and haven't quite figured out how to get out. At this point I despair of ever finishing it, but never say never.

16. What are your writing strengths?

221b ficlets. I think I've done well with these in conveying lots of emotion in little moments.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Clever case fic and complicated plots. I can also get a bit wordy in my beginnings sometimes (ironic, considering my ability to write a strong 221b ficlet) and need a gentle nudge to cut to the action.

Also, if I'm going to be brutally honest, I tend to walk away too quickly when I get stuck and don't make myself work out the problem right then. Hence my many languishing WIPs.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I've not done it yet and don't see it happening down the road either.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

For published fic, BBC Sherlock. There might be some self-insert stories with River Phoenix in my very distant past.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Ooof, this is a hard one because every finished fic is a victory for me. That said, I'll always have a soft spot for Abditory. I had been in love with Sherlock since 2011 and devoured fic at an unholy rate, but was never dared write my own until 2017, after the last series. Better late than never, right? I also really loved writing Never Trust to General Impressions, with its slice-of-life looks at Sherlock and John's evolving relationship in relation to canon (with a not-so-canon twist on TRF). Funnily enough, both are 5+1 fics.

This was fun! I have loved reading all of these from everyone too. I'm going to be That Person and tag everyone who wants to do this but hasn't been tagged yet. Please do share!

[exhuastedpigeon]

Send me a title and ship and I’ll tell you what the fic would be about.

[xariarte]

Who are some of the married couples who you think need fic 👀

Well anon, this might be a long list, so buckle up. 😭😭

Couples That Have Zero Fics (and my explanations on why they should):

Milwaukee Bucks - Khris Middleton/Giannis Antetokounmpo

Steph and Klay have played together for thirteen years, and behind them, Khris and Giannis have played together for eleven years. Their partnership is wonderful, so tender and soft. You just have to look at their photos together to see that. Giannis said that once Khris retires, it will be so sad for him, since he has never played a single game without him.

Brooklyn Nets - Cam Johnson/Mikal Bridges

They sparked a friendship in 2019, were on the Phoenix Suns together for four years, then they were traded ~together~ for KD onto the Nets. They do everything together, to the point where they've been called twins. They were even together playing at the FIBAWC last summer on Team USA!

Dallas Mavericks - Dwight Powell/Maxi Kleber

I don't know if you have ever gone into Mavs Tumblr, but Dwight and Maxi have so many intricate rituals together that I am surprised that nobody has ever written fic about them. They've both played together for seven years. There's lots of evidence that they both hang out off-court together, and a video of them playing golf together too!

New York Knicks - Jalen Brunson/Josh Hart

Are these two married...? I mean, they have old married couple vibes so I'm just going to sneak them in here anyway. If you've paid attention to the nba tumblr community rumbles, then you've seen them. I even made a text post meme on them. They were college roommates, then became friends, now they're on the same team, and they have a podcast together.

Oklahoma City Thunder - SGA/Dort and J-Dub/J-Will

They are new, so I understand why there's nothing. But, SGA and Lu Dort are both Canadian and they are open about their bromance. They have known each other since high school and were roommates together. They also play for the national team. Meanwhile, J-Dub and J-Will were drafted together, plus they have similar names and have a budding twin-like friendship.

Couples That Aren't Married But Are A Pair:

Luka Dončić and Devin Booker

Even though they don't have much history together irl, this gifset of them and also the text post meme I made (which...btw, is my most popular one so far) single-handedly proves that they need way more than one single fic written about them.

Couples That Have Fic But I'd Like More:

Boston Celtics - Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown

Denver Nuggets - Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray

Chicago Bulls - Coby White and Patrick Williams

Houston Rockets - Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr. (I am very biased about this one, I'm afraid)

[mllekurtz]

3 & 4 for the fic writer asks! 🫶

3) how you feel about your current WIP

4) a story idea you haven’t written yet

Oh this is fun! So the other day I was on a long train ride and listened to a whole podcast about a marine biologist who, as part of his research, took a submarine to the bottom of the Pacific ocean, and it was stunning and so interesting and spawned a whole au in my mind. I would love to some day make something out of it.

[sailoreuterpe]

BLT - Beach

"It's a myth, Teddy!" Bob exclaims, startling a flock of seagulls nearby.

Linda tries not to laugh; Teddy's in pain, after all.

Teddy hops around on one foot and almost falls over onto the dead jellyfish.

"If you really love me, Bob, you'll pee on my leg!"

"Oh my God."

[saggitary]

Do any other authors be them original authors or fanfic authors, sit and daydream and plot how best they are going to devastate their readers in the upcoming plot and cackle like a mad witch while doing so?

[sssammich]

3 & 5 :)

ah thanks, friend!

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

lmao the way that i write out of order within the fic, i also do not really have a ritual. things literally just show up and then i just write it. when it's something longer, even if i have a document, i end up writing bits and pieces on my phone or in a random notebook i carry around with me. lol the only consistent thing i do is write at least 3-4x a week hahah

5. Do you have any writing superstitions? What are they and why are they 100% true?

i don't know if i have a superstition, but this is an offshoot of my writing ritual in that if the typing experience doesn't feel good to me, i stop writing. or it just turns me off of writing and so i have to do something else.

sam, what's the typing experience, you say? i look at the sound and the feel of the board that i'm typing. if i'm typing on my laptop, it depends on what surface the laptop is on (a proper table, a makeshift table, etc). so if i'm at my desk at home, i switch through the keyboards i have to get the right feel and sound. and if the typing vibes are just off and i can't pick a board (or i'm outside and only on my laptop), even if the idea is good, i switch to handwriting or type in my notes app. LMAO

ask meme

[luthordamnvers]

I'm greedy, so 9 for the writing game;)

Of course you are....

9. a passage from a WIP

Lena chuckled, because, of course Kara loved 'singing with the muses'. She nodded and picked up the plate with potstickers from the service cart, just before following Kara to the bed.  Kara found the movie and pressed play, only to look at Lena immediately. She didn’t ask for the potstickers, she waited for Lena to sink on the mattress next to her, and then interlocked their fingers together once the potstickers were safely on the mattress. Lena was happy to just… exist next to the Kryptonian, for the time being. She could at least try to see if it worked out, because for Lena, Kara was absolutely worth it.  “You are my favorite too, by the way.” Lena whispered. “I know. Potsticker me?”  “I don’t wanna use my fingers.” “That’s what she said.” “Oh God, you are terrible.”

[ariadne-mouse]

I know you'll probably have some fun stories to tell with 14 and 19 for the fic writer asks!

Hallooo!

14. where do you get your inspiration?

All over! I get some atmospheric inspiration from places I've been (there is an IRL doohm rock reference from mercaleb, as you know), tidbits and themes from life experiences I want to explore from various angles, themes from canon that leave room for more exploration, idle daydreams, whatever other media I'm watching and go "hmmm what if I put a blorbo in that situation". Sometimes it's escapism and sometimes it's reflection and sometimes it's both. Other creators inspire me (like you!) with beautiful writing and art that makes a thriving fandom ecosystem. I've written snippets for art and drawn art for others' writing, circle of life, etc. I love great art prompts from followers when I'm doing doodles (thank you to everyone who has ever sent one!). Sometimes my inspiration for any creation is just "hehe wouldn't it be SO stupid if I just-" and then I do. Highly recommend.

19. the most interesting topic you've researched for a fic

It's gotta be everything volcanically related for Volcaleb. All the materials I watched and read for that were interesting, whether or not they made a reference in the fic. I watched videos of scientists who simulated lava flows with their own materials melted in a massive drum & poured down concrete slopes. Lots of folks hiking around active lava flows in a variety of heat gear, taking samples. Drone footage over active fantastical eruptions. Stumbled on a really unfortunate series of AI images of "people eating lava" (do not recommend). Timelapse footage of slow-moving pahoehoe which has this fascinating chrome color to the cooling surface in some lights. There was one 20min Youtube video about contractors in Hawaii talking about how it was dangerous to move construction equipment in some areas of the islands because you could unexpectedly have a big hollow chamber somewhere under you at any time and the weight of the machinery could collapse the whole thing. I watched the whole thing and used none of it lol. I learned about long-term land use recommendations as official documents in areas where geological variables are at play - this actually did get a mention! Anyway, volcanoes and lava are cool (heh).