#bjb tag

[bluejaywriterboi]

four people in a manmade contraption went further from our planet than anyone's ever gone and lost comms with mission control for 40 minutes (planned) which is like wow cool plot for like a horror movie or something what'll they get up to. the hijinks! the possibilities! when they came back online they were like we've found two new craters without names we want to call one Integrity and the other one is a bright spot on the dark side of the moon that you'll sometimes be able to see from Earth and we want to name it Carroll after our crewmate's late wife and our friend. the astronauts cried and had a group hug. humans are beautiful. humans are beautiful.

[bluejaywriterboi]

10 First Lines let's go

list the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern.

tagged by the legendary @foibles-fables an embarrassingly long time ago but appreciate the heck outta you! in order of most to least recent:

over and over again into oblivion (Stranger Things - Robin/Nancy)

the very beginning of the 18 months gap

There’s a hole in the curtain around the hospital bed.

2. hounds of love are hunting (Stranger Things - Robin/Nancy)

Robin worries about Will, and her secret relationship with Nancy

Robin first sees it at a Friday night barbecue at the Wheelers’.

3. the lights you make (Arcane - Caitlyn/Vi)

teen Vi grapples with his desire to start HRT and gets cheered on

It’s only when he’s knocking on the door that he notices the hole in his sleeve.

4. laugh until my head comes off (Arcane - Sevika & Caitlyn)

Caitlyn pays Sevika a visit to finalise the council seat agreement

She almost doesn’t hear it.

5. call somebody closer to you - rated E (Arcane - Mel/Lest)

Lest finds Mel at her door on the eve of her return to Noxus

Most women, after dropping off the face of Runeterra for something like six months, would have the decency to return looking at least a little haggard.

6. sit down (stand up) (Arcane - Sevika & Caitlyn)

Caitlyn offers Sevika the Kiramman council seat; Sevika refuses

She figures there’ll be guards.

7. no more dreaming like a girl (so in love with the wrong world) - (Arcane - Caitlyn/Vi)

Caitlyn's point of view during S2 Act 1

It strikes her early on that Cassandra Kiramman is going to insist on teaching her things with the same steely-eyed determination in death that she had in life, and that Caitlyn has no way of stopping this.

8. everything changes but can't we pretend (Arcane - Caitlyn/Vi)

Vi flounders with life after Stillwater and Caitlyn's hunt for Jinx

They get the tip the same way all the others come in.

9. out of all the people in the world (Arcane - Caitlyn/Vi)

Vi is a handsome high-profile trans athlete; Caitlyn perseveres

His message arrives like clockwork.

10. your number one fan (Wynonna Earp - Waverly/Nicole)

Waverly is a sports fan and Nicole is a Waverly fan

It starts simple enough.

if i had a dollar for every time i started a fic with a character noticing holes in things i'd have two dollars. which isn't a lot but it's weird it's happened twice. nice lazy one at the end there! i try to drop into a scene/feeling as late as i can and not waste time and i think most of these do that so phew.

very no-pressure tags if folks would like to give it a go: @redpandarambles @another-april @undetaqted @becasbelt @camwolfe @connielingus423 anyone else just tag me if you see this and you wanna!

[bluejaywriterboi]

my little brother is also a huge arcane fan like me and he has been wondering if he is transmasc for a while. i directed him to your fics and he read a few and came crying to me last night saying so many things clicked into place for him. we sat down and came up with ideas for his new name and solidified he/him pronouns for him and i just wanted to say thank you <3

tell your little brother i wrote every word just for him. i bet his new name is going to be elite.

thank you, endlessly, for sharing this with me and for being such a good sibling.

[bluejaywriterboi]

hi! hope you're having a nice day. i was just wondering if you would be comfortable posting a little snippet (or anything you'd like to, a summary, etc) of part 3 from where i end and you begin. i'm super excited for it, but no pressure, take your time!! thank you <3

it is preposterous how long this has been in my inbox but i'm very grateful for the interest in / excitement for this wildly indulgent little series and always happy to share if people want. this got long but consider it my atonement for the wait.

part three of [the Sevika & Caitlyn post-canon series] where i end and you begin will probably be called burn the witch because Radiohead are formally sponsoring this endeavour. rough summary Caitlyn has a run-in with some disgruntled remnant Jinxers; Sevika finds herself forced to help. together they grapple with ghosts old and new.

Sevika sighs. Kiramman’s heavier than she looks, and long, and out cold, riddled with injuries Sevika can’t catalogue out here. They don’t have time for this. “It’s alright,” she tells the boy. “What’s your name?” “Patrick.” “You tell anyone else about this, Patrick?” Patrick shakes his head. “Good. You did good, finding me. I’m gonna get her help now, and I need you to—to go back to where you found me and tell the woman I was with about this, alright?” Sevika watches him listen. Adjusts her grip on Kiramman’s unconscious form and wracks her brains. “You tell her to meet us at… at Babette’s. Alright? Do you know where that is? Can you bring her there?” Before Sevika can curse herself for asking if a street kid knows where the local brothel is, Patrick nods and runs off back the way he came. Sevika swallows. Looks down at Kiramman’s slack, bruised face, and thinks again, Shit. //// The bouncer at the back entrance opens the door after clocking Sevika’s face through the peephole and freezes when he realises she’s not alone. Sevika turns herself sideways to fit herself through the doorway without bashing Kiramman’s head on the frame. “Is that-” “Where’s Betty?” “Uh—Out, she’s—Not here-” “Good.” “You’re fuckin’ nuts, bringing her here.” The entryway widens where it joins the main corridor. It’s dim inside, dusky, like always, the warm scent of smoke and perfume and sex blanketing everything. Sevika strides further into the building, plush carpet muffling where her boots fall, past rooms with heavy curtains pulled for privacy and lounge areas dotted with customers cosying with someone on a sofa or hosts taking a rare quiet moment to themselves. Some are dressed, some aren’t. Some look up when she passes, some don’t. It's a weekday afternoon, but there’s always a market for company, conversation, release. Sevika’d hoped it’d be quieter. Kiramman stirs in her grip, and Sevika swallows around her own heartbeat. “It’s okay,” she hears herself say, voice low. “You’re with me.” Kiramman's eyelid flutters. The fingers of the hand resting against Sevika’s chest twitch. Her other arm, hanging limp in front of them, tenses, but doesn’t move. She makes a noise, forehead creasing. Like she’s trying. And it hurts. And she’s waking up.

[bluejaywriterboi]

am I too late for the get to know your writer asks??? if not, I would LOVE 7 and 11 :)

hello legend. never too late! you picked some doozies.

'Get to know the writer game'.

7. How do you motivate yourself to write?

with difficulty these days. getting out of my own way long enough to get words down is a lot harder than it used to be. textbook perfectionism + a splash of 'what if there's no audience for it'. so motivation mostly comes from figuring out ways to ignore alla that. generally it means gritting my teeth and reminding myself this is supposed to be fun. i already have a job with emails and meetings and emails about meetings; if fic starts feeling like another Job i take a break from it until it stops feeling that way. i stay off most social media and online fandom spaces as it crowds my brain with pressure/comparisons and i have trouble getting started or feeling like the idea i have isn't substantial or original or [pointless qualifier] enough. i need time and peace so i try to create space for both to coexist. forgetting that there even is an audience is key. reminding myself i can just write what i'd want to read and knowing well enough by now that it means others would want to read it too. a blank page or a bunch of notes has to be exciting/interesting/fun and not paralysing/daunting/pointless. short answer killing the cop in my head?

sometimes there is no motivation to be had and i rely on its evil cousin, discipline. i'm generally a believer in not forcing yourself to be productive or creative when it's not coming naturally as whatever you write tends to reflect when every word was blood from a stone. but 'the only way out is through'-ing is an important part of the process too.

11. What's your favorite thing about writing?

in the literal sense, writing dialogue.

writing itself... playing with characters. sitting with a character so long they feel real. meaty ridiculous stupid beautiful flawed humans that we all are. finding something in their brain or past or identity that helps you get to know yourself or someone else that bit better. or maybe they're totally different to me and it's just fun to fuck around for a bit. writing as a means of figuring something out. i've said this before but sometimes someone reads something you wrote about a feeling or a problem or a decision and responds "oh my god it's not just me" and you think "oh my god it's not just me". stories as connectors, and as empathy machines.

[bluejaywriterboi]

Item: The Glowing Code Rarity: ✦ Uncommon

What video game can you not complete without cheat codes?

Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.

how silly. vivid memories of looking up cheat codes a millenia ago for like Quake III on PC or Crash Bandicoot on PS1 but nought since then.

[bluejaywriterboi]

Seeing trans people write trans fics makes me so happy.

Hope you have the best TDOV ever 🏳️‍⚧️

Also what are the characters you write for?

you and me both! a very happy TDOV to you too. trans people being trans are a gift and i love being trans highly recommend to all.

at this point i've written from the POV of a few different characters and i don't consider myself Done with any of 'em. in no particular order, Caitlyn, Vi, Sevika and Lest (Arcane), Mizu (Blue Eye Samurai), Nicole and Waverly (Wynonna Earp), Robin and Nancy (Stranger Things) and Greta from League Of Their Own. think a Carol From Pluribus or a Rumi KPDH one might be added to the mix soonish.

[bluejaywriterboi]

for the fic writer asks: 4; 17; 19; 27.

hello and of course:

(from fic writer asks!)

4. a story idea you haven’t written yet

far too many but let's say either getaway driver Cait/bank robber Vi (i watched Drive again recently) or dipping my toe into the KPDH world.

17. talk about your writing and editing process

this one is already here! if there are any specific qs you have feel free to ask.

19. the most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic

i have such genuine awe and admiration for those who do research for their fics. any time i read a fic that's lavishly detailed or downright Interesting i'm like waow could never be me. i make it a task to do as little research as humanly possible or it starts to feel too much like work. i try to avoid anachronisms or something jarring--i looked up when Diet Coke was invented for a Stranger Things fic recently because apparently that sort of inaccuracy is where i draw the line--but that's it. if i'm writing about injuries or illness i do a bit of reading around that as i know if i'm a reader i can have trouble suspending my disbelief all the way if a character like, should probably have died at a point. and i do find that interesting. but most topics don't compel me down the research route if i can rely on Vibes. currently i'm going against my instincts and i have a tab open for 'components of a suit of armour', and am really hoping nobody who reads my fics knows anything about blacksmithing. which no doubt is interesting.

27. your favorite part of the writing process

i answered this one before too but i'll add in here to say that when you've got that one perfect song on loop and your headphones on and your notifications switched off and your phone in the other room and you're on your couch building a world with your keyboard and time means absolutely nothing--the Flow State--it's really something. has it been an hour? has the weekend ended without me? what year is it? who knows. who cares.