Author: atothebean

This blog is for my fandom stuff... I write fanfic and enjoy reading it. I mostly write for 00q at the moment, but I read in any number of fandoms.

platypushko replied to your post “For the author meme: 9, 10, 12/13, 20, 21 :)??”

Thanks for answering all of them! I’m a nosy bitch lol. I always enjoyed your moodboards / inspo pic collection posts! (ie the ones for bleary verse and now for 00Q)

Oh, that’s lovely to hear!  Thank you!

And I’m always happy to answer questions about fic/fandom.  I was honestly surprised so many people asked…I’ve been so inactive on tumblr lately and have posted things like that before and gotten crickets.  I was thrilled to wake up to so many questions.  Thanks again!

For the get to know your author meme! 4, 11, 23, and 24 because I’m indecisive

Tumblr just ate all my answers, so I’ll try to recreate them all here, but also wahhh.

4) favorite character you’ve written  Don’t make me chose between my babies!!  No seriously,  right now I’m having a tin of fun with my various versions of bamf!Q surprising the hell out of Bond, but I am always in love with my characters… otherwise, I couldn’t let them in my head so long.  And since I initiated each “break up” by ending their stories, they are all basically old lovers that I had great relationships with, who were all important to me and helped shape me, so I really can’t choose.  Edward and Carlisle changed the most over the arc of their stories, so part of me wants to say them, but really, if that were true, wouldn’t I still be writing them?  So no.  Can’t choose.  Sorry.

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

I’ve been writing mysteries for 00q, and it’s forced me to plot more before I start.  I’ve always been one to know major inflection points in stories, but for the most part just let the characters lead me around.  But with mysteries, I really need to know what is happening so I can plant the clues early.  I need to know the details of what happens, even if the characters and readers don’t.  I still like to let some details emerge organically as I write, but I’ve had to get a bit tighter with my outlines.

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

Well, places I’ve been often creep into my stories.  A Bleary, Hopeful Universe was completely informed by my experiences as a parent of a young infant and someone who’s worked through issues in a marriage, but neither of those experiences is particularly obscure. 

This may be tmi, I will say that I’ve seen a lot of criticism online lately about women not being able to write gay sex realistically and I would just like to remind those critics that men are not the only ones who can write anal sex from a place of experience.  That is all.

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

I’ve answered this one already, but here it is again, with a few additions:

OMG so many times.  My first long fic, as I’ve said in another answer, was for Twilight, and featured Carlisle and Edward circa 1918 through about 1930 (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6254265/1/Prelude-in-C). Edward is a pianist, and I love piano music, but the music basically became another character in the story, charting Edward’s progress as a character, his emotions, his ability to think beyond his own needs… it was all shown through the music.  I became a complete expert on Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Litz, the jazz of the 20s and 30s.  Back when I was posting, I had a playlist for readers to enjoy, but that’s all long defunct.  If I were ever to drag it over to AO3, it would be in part to link all that music and some historic photos I used as inspiration, since the archive deals with that so much better than ffnet ever did.

More recently, for the last 00qRBB, I wrote Stained Glass, which involved researching stained glass windows all over the world and making them part of the set of the story.  That was good fun, and at least a few readers chased the links and saw the windows along with Bond.

Thanks so much for the asks @solarmorrigan !!

For the author meme: 9, 10, 12/13, 20, 21 :)??

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

I tend to get inspired by visuals.  I’m more likely to fill an art prompt or picture prompt than a word prompt, though I think I’m getting better.  I also enjoy filling in the spaces so often left in canon… how did this character get that way, what happened during these missing weeks between scenes, etc.  I occasionally write short aus, but I’m much more tempted with tweaking the canon.

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

Generally alone, sometimes in silence, but often music can help me set the moot, especially if the characters are in particularly emotional places.

12) your weaknesses as an author  I think it’s hard to know one’s own weaknesses, but I can think of a few.  I don’t think I’m particularly good at (or at least have sort of gotten away from) describing scenes and creating moods.  I think it’s easy to assume in fanfic that the reader already knows a place, so there’s no need to describe it, but that’s not always the case, and while we should avoid describing the canon and boring our readers, sometimes it’s nice to remind them or show them what’s different in this version.  I fear that if I ever write anything original, where this is actually important, I’ll have forgotten how to do it.

13) your strengths as an author

I think I generally do a good job with dialogue, though it often takes a few times through (i.e., first I just write the back and forth, then I go back and add in looks, pauses, characters doing something in the environment to help show their headspace, which makes dialogue much more bearable to read and allows you to get rid of a bunch of tags and adverbs.

As an aside, I once wrote an entire story in texts, and it was really hard NOT to have those character movements.  I had to rely on “…” to show a character struggling for words or otherwise being delayed in responding… those ellipses had to do so much work.

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

OMG so many times.  My first long fic, as I’ve said in another answer, was for Twilight, and featured Carlisle and Edward circa 1918 through about 1930 (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6254265/1/Prelude-in-C).  Edward is a pianist, and I love piano music, but the music basically became another character in the story, charting Edward’s progress as a character, his emotions, his ability to think beyond his own needs… it was all shown through the music.  I became a complete expert on Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Litz, the jazz of the 20s and 30s.  Back when I was posting, I had a playlist for readers to enjoy, but that’s all long defunct.

More recently, for the last 00qRBB, I wrote Stained Glass, which involved researching stained glass windows all over the world and making them part of the set of the story.  That was good fun, and at least a few readers chased the links and saw the windows along with Bond.

Thanks so much for the asks @platypushko!

25

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

Well, you know this bit, but it was still the first thing that came to mind that won’t give away an ending to a fic (slightly abridged:

“How are you feeling, 007?” She takes his chart from the end of the bed and looks it over.

“I’m still stiff and sore, but nothing that requires constant medical attention, I think. I’d really apprecia—”

“Dr. Hasanain agrees,” the nurse interrupts, replacing the chart and folding her arms across her chest.

“She… she does?” An incredulous hope starts to build in his chest.

“Yes. You’re to be released, but only into someone’s care. You’re still too close to your concussion to be completely alone.” And the hope sinks, bitterly. Alec is back out on mission, and Bond has a reputation of being an insufferable patient. Well earned, at that.

As resignation sets in, the door opens again to reveal Q pushing a wheelchair, the athletic bag from James’ locker draped across his shoulder.

“Pip pip, Bond. Let’s beat the traffic, shall we?”

“You’re releasing me?” he asks as Q dumps the bag on his lap.

“I had to beat off the other volunteers with a stick,” Q claims.

“Really?”

“No.”

The nurse looks wickedly amused, but Bond doesn’t even care. “I’ll go get his medications, Quartermaster,” she says. “And I’d keep that stick around, just in case.”

Thanks for the ask @midrashic !

For the author asks – 1, 5, 21

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

I have roughly 30k words written for the ending of Home (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5071703/1/Home), a fantastic spirk story that was abandoned before it was finished.  It’s so good, it really deserves an ending, and I probably have 3 scenes left to finish it, and have even found a beta to help me… but I keep putting off finishing and posting it.  I tell myself it’s because I’m working on other projects, but I suspect I’m also nervous about trying to end someone else’s beloved fic, even if they seem long gone and disinterested.

5) character you were most surprised to end up writing

Frankly, Pinto.  I’m not generally a fan of RPF and to this day have never been tempted by any other rp pairing.   Now that I’m not in its throes, I sort of tilt my head at it.  Then I see an old interview of the two of them and I’m all “oh right…now I remember.”

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

My first long fanfic (back in 2010?) was for Twilight and featured Carlisle and Edward circa 1918.  It was 1) in first person (because the source material was) and 2) much more descriptive and flowery in its language, because both characters seemed to demand it, both of which feel strange now.  When I look back on it now, some of it feels sort of stilted, but I also wonder if I’ve lost something in dedicating myself to characters who seem to prefer snarky dialogue to long introspective paragraphs.  Maybe I’ll find more balance at some point.

Thanks for the asks @captainkatieb !

send an ask: get to know your author

polyamoryavengers:

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

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

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

4) favorite character you’ve written

5) character you were most surprised to end up writing

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

7) when asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

8) favorite genre to write

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

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

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

12) your weaknesses as an author

13) your strengths as an author

14) do you make playlists for your current wips?

15) why did you start writing?

16) are there any characters who haunt you?

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

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

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

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

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

22) are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?

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

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

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