#there aren't as many of those in oafc

[aparticularbandit]

I think

If I finish the chapter I'm in

That might be the last chapter?

And then the epilogue

And the Nagito chapters?

Maybe?

Maybe?????

[aparticularbandit]

This is a little late so it's totally okay if you're not taking these anymore! But for the unique writing asks: 5, 8, 10, 18, 24, 26, and 30?

Hope you're doing well 💖

Unique Writing Asks

DEFINITELY STILL TAKING ASKS. JUST SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO GET TO THEM.

ALSO YES. I'm doing well! I hope you are, too!!

5) Would you rather write a happy ending that soothes the soul or a tragic ending that hurts the heart?

I would rather a bittersweet ending that does both but this is an either/or question so. A happy ending that soothes the soul. Which you would probably not expect from what I write. But it is still true. Even for villains. I want a happy ending.

It just might take a lot of tragedy to get there.

8) Favorite dialogue in your wip? (If asked more than once, respond with a new piece each time)

Uh. Let me go look through Of A Fatal Captivity for stuff.

...nope, not that, that's spoilers, can't do that one. ...I also will not cheat and give you remembered dialogue from Of An Endless Infinity that is in OAFC but. HM.

Okay, I have a non-spoilers segment (well, mostly non-spoilers) that I will share, but like. I'll put it at the end beneath the cut because it's long. But it's harder to find favorite dialogue in OAFC compared to OAEI because OAEI has. so much Junko being Junko, and so many of her lines are gold. And so much of her stuff with Kyoko is gold.

And then there's OAFC.

10) What scene was the most fun to write for you and why?

In my current WIP? There are so many fun scenes, but like. I honestly think the memory scenes are my favorite to right. They hurt. A LOT. because like. We as the readers know where things are now, we know the extra stuff that the people in the memories don't know (yet), and the memories are just. so. ugh. In OAEI, it's Kyoko gaining a gf and then trying to keep her through the end of the world (mostly). And in OAFC, so far it is baby Ryoko being a kid and just. kid stuff, which you know I love writing. But I love those scenes the most, I think.

(Also in general, not just in the duology, I love writing scenes with kids. Whether it's visiting the MCs as kids or having them interact with kids. Just like. I love writing kid scenes.)

18) What writers have inspired you with their use of language? What are some of your favorite quotes?

I know I have had you read the first Fairyland book, so when I mention Catherynne M. Valente, you know why. Like. Every time - every time - we get the narrator. Especially in the last book. And the section in the third book about fate and the little book. (I know you have not read these, this is unfair of me.) And like. So much of Deathless.

I'm gonna try and quote off the top of my head, so they aren't going to be word perfect but like (okay, I lied, I'm looking them up because reasons) - You will always fall in love, and it will always be like having your throat cut, just that fast. and In the dark, I have pored over the loss of you like pale gold. and I will not speak because I love her, and when you love someone, you do not make them tell war stories. and just. SO MUCH OF DEATHLESS. there is a reason that's the book that got brought up in The Nature of Soulmates.

(Because this is about inspiring and not just generally Bandit, quote your favorite books, I won't go off on The Little Prince but also The Little Prince is a huge influence in terms of how it is written like a children's book but it is not a children's book. You can read it to a child but you get different stuff out of it the older you get? Like. Ugh. The Little Prince.)

Also just - This Is How You Lose The Time War. I'm not sure if I'd either author individually, which sounds bad, but like. The way that book is written and the layers of it and just how it meshes together and just the poetry of it. I love it. You know this.

...and then because I'm gonna pull classic literature in here - John Steinbeck, specifically East of Eden and how he writes Cathy, how his narrator writes about Cathy. It is easy to say she was bad, but it means nothing unless we know why. and I believe there are monsters in the world born to human parents. and Maybe her life was her language...indecipherable. If she was running to something or running from something.... and the bit about how we might always wonder what it's like to fly but that's not the same thing as a bird that loses a wing. How monster is only an unaccepted deviation from the norm? UGH. IT'S SO GOOD.

...and I'm gonna stop now because I will just ramble on writers. XD

24) Do you let your story evolve as you write or do you meticulously plan everything prior to writing the first draft?

Oh, it evolves as I write.

Even when I try to meticulously plan everything (which mostly happens with longer series or complicated crossovers - so the OUAT/PMMM crossover that I never finished but had to figure out how the different magic systems played with each other, I meticulously planned a good chunk of that, the Roisa HP AU I still have...oh goodness, the timeline alone is 36 pages and nearly 19k words - and that's just a couple of examples), things still. evolve as I write. (Speaking of the Roisa HP AU, the second book? decided that mandrakes were going to be actually a big deal which was NOT in the plan, I will have you know but it doesn't matter because I didn't finish that! :D

But yeah, part of the joy of writing the thing is figuring things out as it goes. If I know everything ahead of time, I...tend to not finish it? Because then I already know the whole of the story. I like learning as I go!

26) What do you feel like you need to work on as a growing writer? How can you improve?

I suck. at plots. I suck at plots a lot. I would rather just take a couple of characters and let them vibe off of each other.

And literally a couple of characters, because I'm also bad at trying to have multiple characters in one place at one time. That's hard.

Also making sure that characters sound distinctly themselves and don't all sound the same.

Also interacting with the environment and description stuff. I used to be purple prose and now I'm the opposite end of things and I need to find a good middle ground.

Also also getting better at introducing readers to a new world.

...there's a lot of things. ><;;;;;;

30) What is some of the best writing advice you’ve read or received? Why does it work for you?

See, this is hard for me, because I read a lot of reading advice on here and like it and carry it on (usually in this tag), but like. I don't always. keep it in mind?

Don't edit the thing until you get finished is one I like a lot. Because you can get stuck in the trap of editing the same thing over and over or starting it over and over instead of continuing going. (-sighs about latf scrub-)

Everything you write is beneficial, even if you don't finish it. Which has been nice in terms of - sometimes a thing I'm writing does what I needed it to do, even if I didn't finish it. For Fake, for instance, I will probably not go back and finish because it did what I needed it to do and now I'm done with it. And that's okay! I don't need to beat myself up about stuff I didn't finish. Which has been really nice.

I used to really like Write as far as you can go and then write for another twenty minutes. because that's like. sometimes you will find that your brain will supply the stuff you don't know or fill things in or the characters already know, even if you don't. I don't really time myself anymore, though. XD

And now for the snippet of dialogue that I mentioned above (the one that is mostly not spoilers). Below the cut!

A Long Time Ago.

(Her Whole Life Is A Tragedy.)

“Ryoko?” Mukie asks as they sit on the steps just outside Ryoko’s house.  She leans back on the palms of her hands and looks up at the sky as the sun slowly sets, painting it in varied rose pinks and lavender purples as everything grows steadily darker.  “Do you like your name?”

Ryoko shrugs.  She takes another dandelion from the pile between them and blows the seeds from it without making a wish.  (If she does not do this, then there will be no dandelions next year.  She knows something of seeds and being planted, of the wind taking them and whisking them away where she cannot see.)  “It doesn’t fit right,” she says.  “It’s all itchy and scratchy, and it tastes bad.”

“I don’t think it tastes bad.”  Mukie glances to her and then quickly away.  “Your name’s like bubblegum or sour candy, the kind that’s all sweet in the middle.”

“Bubblegum fades if you chew on it too much, and you always spit it out when you get too bored.”

“Sour candy, then.  With the sweet once you get past the sour.”

Ryoko giggles, reaches over and shoves Mukie lightly.  “That’s you!  I’m like…like cotton candy!  All sweet and sugar and—”  She cuts herself off, frowns.  “I don’t want to melt when I’m wet, though.”

“I know!”  Mukie’s eyes light up as she turns to her, a big smile on her face.  “You’re like my favorite, like blue raspberries!  You only ever find them in candy, and they’re sweet and tangy and the most bestest shade of blue!  And!”  She leans forward like it’s a secret.  “They’re so special that they’re only candy!”  She leans back on her hands again, stares up at the sky, and kicks her feet a few times.  “I’ve never seen a real blue raspberry.  I don’t know what I’d do if I did.  If I’d eat it or if I’d try to save it up somewhere nice.”

Blue raspberries aren’t real, Ryoko knows, but that would just hurt Mukie, so she doesn’t say it.  “If you try to save it,” she says instead, “it’ll just get all moldy and nasty and then it won’t even be blue anymore!  Just all covered in fuzz!”

“Blue fuzz!” Mukie says, and she giggles like a rocket, like an explosion, like something burning.

~

After Mukie leaves, too afraid that Ikusaba-sensei will catch them if she makes him go out looking for her (but that’s not it, is it?  Ryoko knows that’s not it), Ryoko hides in the house, slipping her shoes off, and looks up at her mama with the most pained expression.  “Someday, I’m gonna make a blue raspberry.”

“That’s impossible, honey.” Ryoko’s brow furrows, and she clenches her hands, and she stomps her feet in the way that only children can.  “Then!”  Then she looks up at her mama again, red eyes the color of blood.  “Then I’m gonna do the impossible.”