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 (Especially as my current fave is as of yet unpublished.)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

[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.)