18: Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations?) Tell us about them.
Aaah, the multiverse of my own fics. 😅
I've touched on this a few times before. For example, I wrote a "trivia" post about how Mind, Body, and Soul was originally going to end. (Spoiler, it was originally going to be much different and MUCH shorter.) And I also am REALLY sorry (still) for what happened to Halfsteel in my Alt Modes and Alchemy series, and wrote a "sorry for killing you off" fic to fix my own fic.
But one that I haven't talked about (I think) was from The Spark Remembers. I'll put the details about this one behind a cut for spoilers. :3
So in the published fic, Bluestreak was put into a different body at Prowl's direction, on purpose. But when I was originally outlining this story, it was an accident. Prowl thought that the spark they found was Bluestreak (in fact, I think I was going to make it clear that Bluestreak was the one who shot down Bluestreak v.2), and had that spark put into Bluestreak's body... only to discover that it wasn't Bluestreak at all.
When I was explaining this idea to Spouse though, he rightly pointed out that this turned it into Prowl's story... Not Bluestreak's. And considering that I really wanted to make Bluestreak into the main character, designing this plot this way meant that he was basically just along for the ride.
So I changed the whole idea and wrote it that way... and I think it turned out a much better story for it. ✨
I've had this sitting in my inbox for a while. Oops!
Blaster! Hah. I love Blaster but my headcanon for him is "stereotypical bachelor/bachelorette," even when he's in a relationship. He's not great at housecleaning. He doesn't know how to cook anything more than the basic convenience meals (and he doesn't really care to learn). He loves going out clubbing with friends, or staying in and playing video games all night (and well into the morning). And his sleep/recharge schedule is a disaster.
💛 What is the most impactful lesson you’ve learned about writing?
💌 Is there a favorite trope you like to write?
💛 What is the most impactful lesson you’ve learned about writing?
Honestly? Just get the words down.
I write a lot more freely when I'm just writing to write. I don't worry about coherence or styling or language; I just try to get my 'vision' down as fast as I can. Then I clean it up later.
When I'm writing something that I'm intending to show to other people (like fanfic) I write much more slowly because I am self-editing as I go. I stop, delete things, start over, rehash bits over and over.
I ALWAYS have to keep reminding myself to get the words down first... THEN I can do the editing. I find editing to be a lot more fun because I can shape the vaguely story-shaped pile of words into something I think is beautiful.
But the words need to be there before I can do that.
💌 Is there a favorite trope you like to write?
Hmm. I was going to say something like "hurt/comfort" or "friends to lover" but I think I love writing about people finding themselves. Either figuring out something about themselves that they didn't know before, or finding a path for themselves that they didn't even know they wanted.
Not sure that's really a trope but I find versions of that coming up in my writing a lot.
My favourite thing about your casual hand writing is that sometimes you just throw in a capital "A" in the middle of a word instead of lower case. Keeping things interesting I see.
For just basic writing, I have a mixed playlist that is mostly retro synthwave and trance that's called my "Writing Playlist." I typically cannot listen to ANYTHING with lyrics when I'm writing, because my brain just starts singing along instead of writing. (Similarly, when I'm working - my job involves a lot of writing - I just play a lofi station for the focus. Occasionally I'll use that when writing fiction, too.)
There are some exceptions to this, though. If the story was inspired by a specific song or album, I'll often listen to that song a lot while writing. For example, the first part of Mind, Body, and Soul was heavily inspired by the soundtrack to the game Gris, so I played that album a lot. When I'm writing fight scenes, I'll often dip into soundtracks: the Transformers: Prime and WFC: Siege soundtracks are ones I frequently listen to. (I'm a little peeved that the Siege soundtrack got pulled from Tidal. What's up with that?)
And one of my WIPs is being inspired tonally by an album the same way that MBS was inspired by the Gris soundtrack: G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END! by Godspeed You! Black Emperor. One song in particular, “GOVERNMENT CAME” (9980.0kHz 3617.1kHz 4521.0 kHz), always stops me in my tracks, and I've been trying to capture its vibe for the emotional arc for the main character. 🥺 I don't know if I'll be able to do it to my own satisfaction, but I'm sure as hell gonna try.
Attempting a sideslip during the Ark’s uncontrolled descent into Earth’s atmosphere is my headcanon for how Sideswipe crash-landed the Ark into the volcano.
I thought you would enjoy that thought.
That is perfect.
And he hops on the intercom and yells "Everyone lean to the LEFT!"
@balloonarcade was kind enough to take one of my less successful screenshots and turn it into a reflection (and did a bunch of other stuff to it so now it looks awesome instead of what it did when I took it). Look at it look amazing, oof.
