✧ Longfic Author Interview ✧
✧ Just wanna say thank you to @andromedaancunin for the tag, I love reading anything about Andie and the whole concept of The Melancholy Bard. You're amazing! 💚 And to @larvatuss for the tag as well, I love learning more about your fic and you're fantastic! 💜 I also wanna give credit (and say thanks for the tag lol) to @njuta for creating a cool idea of making an interview for all of us writers. You are also amazing. 🫶🏼🫀 The template is right here if anyone wants to check it out! 💙 ✧
I'll try my very best to answer as clearly as I can bc my way of explaining things is sort of shit. lol
✰ The fic ✰ With Your Boots Beneath My Bed ✰ Rating ✰ Explicit ✰ Pairing ✰ Astarion x Tav ✰ Completion status ✰ Ongoing. It's probably not gonna be completed until like 2 years. LOL (which I'm okay with 💙)
✰ Plot Summary ✰
A love story of a Tav with a western accent and everyone’s favorite pale elven vampire. Together, they go through many obstacles. Love, heartbreak, happy days, and getting revenge against their own abusive masters/bosses later on. It’s not just Astarion who's got permanent scars, Evie has one of her own. Both of them see themselves as the odd ones out of the group (even though the band is full of weirdos). Astarion sees himself as the monsterous one while Evie sees herself as the freak because of her dagger chain powers that comes out of her wrists - inspired by Spiderman and Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. They may have come with complications or emotional baggage, but they help each other overcome through hard times.
✰ The ✨viibees✨ ✰
Two dumbasses trying to survive with other dumbasses (affectionate) but also yearn for each other so bad it's irritating. A fighter/monk who speaks in a western accent and a 200 year old vampire either bump heads, talk sweet like honey to each other, or basically... fuck. Their dynamic is basically bipolar. Nah but fr tho, the story is filled with romance, dark pasts, heavy trauma, humor that is inspired by adult cartoons/shows and sitcoms. A few pop culture references and the feeling of reading a comic book (to me, idk about everyone else who have read comics before), and fight sequences with a sick background song as if they're in a James Gunn movie. (Thank you, Guardians of the Galaxy) At times it can be silly but there'd be also times when I do a complete 180 real quick and sometimes I annoy myself for that, but hey, I gotta do it for the plot, ya know? LOL
✰ Short Snippet ✰
👀
✰ What other media inspired this fic? ✰
How much time do we have?... 👀 First and foremost, it was Taylor Swift's music that helped me built up Evie's name and background lore (specifically her album, evermore). Tay Tay's lyricism and her form of storytelling has always fascinates me so I wanna make something similar of my own. I first thought it was just a silly little hobby to hyperfixate over a tav but then once I comsumed more media, I just kept going and going until she actually became so serious to me. LOL X-Men is one of the big factors, as well as other comics, the MCU, bits of Red Dead Redemption 2, and bits of Mortal Kombat when it comes to storytelling of focusing the characters individually but also focusing on romantic relationships. Then later on (which I believe was one summer ago), when i realized I have a cowgirl tav who's in love with a vampire, I knew how unique and different the trope is so I fell in love with two even more. I also love funny media like sitcoms and adult cartoons (as I said earlier here) so I wanna sprinkle in some humor to cope with their scary situation which is obviously we know is the tadpoles and later on the Absolute. I grew up with Mexican novelas so their way of romance arcs excited me because sometimes it can come off as unexpected and I wanna do the same for this story time to time. I grew up with media that involves with both romance and action so I thought it'll be cool to have something of my own which I am very proud of the work I've done. 💙 It was also an excuse to show off my music taste when I link them as chapter songs or music the companions play. LOL
✰ What character trait did you amplify or minimise to make your version of a character work for your story? ✰
I think I've made Astarion a little bit more of a bitch than he already is. LOL I also made him a tad bit softer, especially when it comes to Evie. He is a little more protective over her earlier than he usually is in-game but, ya know, I'm okay with that bc homegirl can be stubborn and reckless at times. I've DEFINITELY made Evie more depressed than I already planned. The more I organized her past and how it shaped her for who she is, I think it's best that she can be gloomy. Specifically in private bc she tries to paint this image of a strong leader who can do no wrong. (like baby, it's okay to break down. 💙)
✰ How did your understanding of the characters change while writing this? ✰
For Evie, and I just realized this recently, she switches personalities depending on the environment. If she's in battle, mamas is like Wonder Woman and basically being a fucking tank. If she's alone, she's sad no matter the reason or no reason at all. If she's with Astarion,... it honestly depends on where their relationship stands, but no matter what stage they're in, she's a lot more herself. Battle: a furocious fighter. Alone: a simple girl who is insecure of herself and wants to disappear bc of her past decisions. Astarion: radiant and hopeful (the pun was very much intent but it is overall true) but also very careful and can argue back when he's being a bitch. lol For Astarion, I never realized how anxious he is. How much stuff he keeps himself in. Which I know is a very obvious factor about him but I'm just pointing it out since I started writing in his POV. I also realized how he keeps Evie grounded. There were plenty of people who have done that job throughout her life but Astarion does a big one when he actually takes care of her, whether emotionally or physically. (Does that make sense?) For the two combined, they're two sides of the same coin. Sure, Evie was a player and she has these unique powers while Astarion has his vampirism. But... they have masters they cannot escape from unless they do something about it. They couldn't escape during their time and they couldn't escape the nightmare when they're away from them. They also have scars they're really insecure of; Evie with her E-chip green diamond chip behind her neck and Astarion with his back scars.
✰ What’s one thing you put in—trope, character beat, scene—that was just extra shamelessly self-indulgent? ✰
Evie's anxiety and depression. 👀👉🏼👈🏼 And her reading comics (in this case, reading off from Baldur's Mouth Gazette- a HC I've made).
✰ What’s the structural choice you made on purpose—POV, timeline, chaptering—that most shaped the story? ✰
I guess switching their POVs back and forth or sometimes have it both or sometimes having one's POV for the next 2 to 3 chapters and I switch to another character to give it a good balance. Their inital thoughts are also a big factor and how they feel in the same situation.
✰ Which theme emerged accidentally, and which one did you pursue deliberately? ✰
Accidentally: There were some things I wrote on the spot like Evie's new friend in my most recent chapters but I can't say too much about it bc it's spoilers. lol (hopefully this answers the question.) Deliberately: Numerology. I use that as a sense of foreshadowing. 😗 And the mystery behind Evie's first love, "Lenny" when it is not actually his real name at all. 👀
✰ What was the biggest risk you took with this fic? ✰
Plublishing this fuckin' story for the first time. LOL I was sort of insecure of how I would put Evie into the world bc she truly is like no other. I always thought her and the story itself was too niche for others to read but then I read Until You by my now very good friend @bloodinwine (hi, luv 👋🏼 lol) and her story helped me to just suck it up and post it anyway, which I'm glad I did. 💙
✰ In a hypothetical scenario where you are forced to rewrite the whole story from scratch, what would you do differently? ✰
I honestly hoped I wrote the onomatopoeia words (it's words like BAM! or POW! or CRASH!- especially in comics) and caption boxes (also like in comics) from the very beginning because I didn't start doing that until chapter 4 or 5. Other than that, everything that's been out in the world right now seems perfectly fine to me. 💙
✧ No Pressure Tags ✧ @xxnashiraxx, @vividiana, @bby-bel, @anacdoce, @bloodinwine (sorry but I hope you don't mind getting tagged the second time LOL), @arzen9, @nerdallwritey, @khywren, @emmy-and-the-tieflings
