Meme

[extrapenguin]

(Rewatchalong episode 37! The final three will likely involve some further schedule juggling for logistical reasons, but the schedule'll be posted later. Perhaps with episode 38's rewatchalong.)

So, this is technically a favorite fic meme, but whatever, ask me about any of my fics! (Especially as my current fave is as of yet unpublished.) Give me a fic and I'll answer the questions 2-10 below for it – extra questions also welcome! (Works page.)

1. Of the fics you’ve written, which is your favorite and why?
2. Which scene was your favorite to write in [fic]?
3. Which part of [fic] was hardest to write?
4. If you could change anything in [fic], what would it be?
5. Did you make an outline for [fic]? Did you stick to it?
6. Which scenes did you cut, and which were added in [fic]?
7. Who was your favorite character to write in [fic]?
8. Which came first, the title or the fic?
9. Which idea came to you first in [fic]?
10. What are some facts readers may not know about [fic]?

Meme provided by journalmemes.

Fics done:
Eddies in the Stream of Time
Overwritable
Drowning Depths Blazing Blue
Optimization

Comments

[phyrry]

Eddies in the Stream of Time? Particularly #2.

[extrapenguin]

2. Which scene was your favorite to write?
The one where Shen Wei's alien eyes reveal there's a map! It had some wonderful worldbuilding and wonderful snark from Zhao Yunlan. (Second place would go to the “Look, I'm a card-carrying member of the League for Dixing Liberation. Could you please do something more constructive than threaten people who agree with you?” scene.)

3. Which part of the fic was hardest to write?
Tbh, I mostly wrote it in a panichaze due to deadline panic (very motivating!) and everything went decently enough. If I had to pick, though, then the scene where Shen Wei finds Ye Zun in the past, since I had to handwave a lot in that space, such as how this unarmed Zhao Yunlan fit in.

4. If you could change anything in it, what would it be?
Give myself a month to write the longfic version of it, basically. I can write compact things, but fandom seems to prefer the loose and long type of thing.

5. Did you make an outline for it? Did you stick to it?
Yes, I did, and yes, I did! I find that anything longer than 1-2 scenes, I really need to outline, and I generally stick to my outlines, especially with stuff under 20k.

6. Which scenes did you cut, and which were added in the fic?
Given that it was for a flash exchange, I didn't have the time to add any scenes. Had I had the time, I'd have added a scene to the start where Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei meet in the pre-mission training so I could split the infodumps and make the relationship progression less rushed. I also didn't delete anything, since I generally don't cut stuff.

7. Who was your favorite character to write in the fic?
Zhao Yunlan! So curious, so inquisitive, so snarky.

8. Which came first, the title or the fic?
The fic. Always the fic.

9. Which idea came to you first in the fic?
The alien temple thing (the walls of which could have an alien map readable only by alien eyes), upon which I then built the canon plot variant.

10. What are some facts readers may not know about the fic?
I actually really struggled with finding a good note to wrap it up on! I wanted at least a hopeful ending, but, uh, had worldbuilt in some misery and had to think a lot.

[phyrry]

Ah yes, the alien eyes prompt! That idea was a lot of fun and you did a great job with it! Flash exchanges are difficult as there's never enough time to expand the fic to the size it'd like to be; I sympathize. And I always enjoy writing Zhao Yunlan too; he has such a great outlook.

[extrapenguin]

I'm just glad I'm a moderately fast writer and not prone to verbosity. *g* Makes flash exchanges much more viable.

(Though I do like the concept of alien eyes and Shen Wei accidentally outing himself as Dixingian under multiple circumstances... Might have to write/request it again.)

[maggie33]

Overwritable, please. I've just re-read it and it's delightful. :)

[extrapenguin]

2. Which scene was your favorite to write?
ALL THE YE ZUN BITS! Especially the bit where he doesn't know what pregnancy is and theorizes that Bai Suxia ate a kid, and the end bit where he's utterly oblivious to Zhu Jiu's pantsfeels.

3. Which part of the fic was hardest to write?
Figuring out how to set up the Ye Zun bits with the Zhao Yunlan POV. It wasn't that hard, but harder than the Ye Zun hilarity.

4. If you could change anything in it, what would it be?
IDK if I'd change anything? Uh, change reality so I have the time to write the Ye Zun/Zhu Jiu sequel where Ye Zun eavesdrops on a sex fantasy and decides he and minion should try this sex thing?

5. Did you make an outline for it? Did you stick to it?
No real outline beyond a set of mental ideas re: what hilarities Ye Zun should indulge in.

6. Which scenes did you cut, and which were added in the fic?
This was basically flashfic, so I didn't really cut or add anything.

7. Who was your favorite character to write in the fic?
Ye Zun! :D He's wonderful.

8. Which came first, the title or the fic?
The fic, as usual

9. Which idea came to you first in the fic?
The original idea was actually probably Ye Zun Peggy Sue-ing into episode 20ish for a canon divergence, and then I decided i'd make it crack with Ye Zun as an anthropologist from the Crab Nebula. *g*

10. What are some facts readers may not know about the fic?
Uh ... honestly, idk. It was written in a fit of inspiration for fun?

[maggie33]

2. Which scene was your favorite to write?
ALL THE YE ZUN BITS! Especially the bit where he doesn't know what pregnancy is and theorizes that Bai Suxia ate a kid, and the end bit where he's utterly oblivious to Zhu Jiu's pantsfeels.

These are my two favorite scenes, too. :)

Uh, change reality so I have the time to write the Ye Zun/Zhu Jiu sequel where Ye Zun eavesdrops on a sex fantasy and decides he and minion should try this sex thing?

Oh, I like that idea very much. Here is hoping you will find time in the future.

[extrapenguin]

I have so many other ideas on what to include (Ye Zun going to the SID and being distracted by asking them about sex ed, Zhu Jiu dying of embarrassment while Ye Zun's all "minion, what is that emotion?", giving gege a few conniptions more) that I better find the time, lol. I did just take most of December off from work, hmm...

[jo_lasalle]

It's maybe a little short for this many questions, but I'll go for Drowning Depths Blazing Blue!

[extrapenguin]

2. Which scene was your favorite to write?
Yu Ziyuan destroying the Thousand Arms! I really love Yu Ziyuan getting to be her Violet Spider self and destroying all the problems.

3. Which part of the fic was hardest to write?
The action scene. I think I need more practice on that in general. (Even if I did enjoy writing it, too.)

4. If you could change anything in it, what would it be?
I guess I might extend it/do some research and swap the Thousand Arms for some monster I did not make up in 15 minutes out of wholecloth.

5. Did you make an outline for it? Did you stick to it?
No outline, as it was small enough I could just hold it all in my mind.

6. Which scenes did you cut, and which were added in the fic?
Flashfic, so I didn't really cut or add anything.

7. Who was your favorite character to write in the fic?
Yu Ziyuan, though the competition is stiff. Baby Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng are also adorable!

8. Which came first, the title or the fic?
The title, actually – or rather, it came midway through.

9. Which idea came to you first in the fic?
I knew I wanted to write BAMF Yu Ziyuan, and there was the tag "Killing Monsters Together" which I matched on, so I went and came up with some nice pre-canon scenario Yu Ziyuan could save the day in.

10. What are some facts readers may not know about the fic?
Jinzhu and Yinzhu canonically don't have swords like the other characters have, so they're either running down below or standing one-legged on their knives!

[bonesofbirdwings]

Hey, this is an old fic of yours, but my fav Goblin Emperor fic of yours was Optimization. I'm especially interested in question #4 for it!

[extrapenguin]

2. Which scene was your favorite to write?
Okay, so my memory might be faulty, but – Karo in the library, looking things up, coming up with plans to fix them.

3. Which part of the fic was hardest to write?
The plan for fixing required the most research and was the slowest, but nothing was especially hard.

4. If you could change anything in it, what would it be?
I might extend it and go into more details, or I guess give Karo a girlfriend/accomplice, but it works as it is, and any major changes would change the cut of its gib. It could be a bit less pat?

5. Did you make an outline for it? Did you stick to it?
No outline, as it was basically flashfic.

6. Which scenes did you cut, and which were added in the fic?
Short and unoutlined, so I wrote exactly what I intended, no more, no less.

7. Who was your favorite character to write in the fic?
Karo Voskhodin! I just love engineers and scientists and problem-solvers. (And I got to name her after the Voskhod spacecraft.)

8. Which came first, the title or the fic?
The fic, as usual.

9. Which idea came to you first in the fic?
I wanted to poke at the pneumatic system worldbuilding and then did some research and decided the best idea on how to write a fic was to figure out some way to improve upon them.

10. What are some facts readers may not know about the fic?
Two-way pneumatic tubes are generally considered too cost-inefficient in real life. I handwaved that because it was my best idea for a plot. Oh,and I used the Prague pneumatic post as a sort of inspiration.