#fmb ask

[eli-writes-sometimes]

Question for Pheonix :)

What's the scariest thing you've ever done?

Oh, hey! Thank you for asking :)

I think that the scariest thing I've ever done would have been trusting Riley when he recruited me to the Band; I hadn't seen him in years and he told me that he wanted me to join his "taskforce" - it sounded really shady, but it worked out for the best! Turns out joining the Band was the best decision that I've ever made!!

[eli-writes-sometimes]

Happy STS! As it's the first Saturday of Pride Month, how about a little rainbow roll call? How do your characters identify?

Hey Tori! Thanks for the ask, and happy STS!

The Band are very queer, and all of them are part of the community in one way or another!

Both Riley and Kai are transmasc, and Phoenix is genderfluid

Ash is a lesbian, Phoenix is pan, and Riley is bi

Niamh is loveless aro, and Kai is demiromantic ace

Thanks for the ask and happy Pride!

[eli-writes-sometimes]

Happy WBW! I've missed the past few weeks, so what's new in your world? Any new developments you're proud of or need to rant about?

Hey Tori! Thanks for the ask, and happy WBW!

I've also not been able to write much recently, because I am in the trenches of exam season, but it's the Easter holidays now and I've been able to write a lot more!

I've been doing quite a bit of art for the Five Man Band universe and trying to flesh out the characters designs properly, and I'm pretty happy with how some of them came out! I still need to do some work on characters like Niamh and Riley, but I'm pretty happy with what I've done so far.

Thanks for the ask!

[eli-writes-sometimes]

Your mystery question is here! :)

Snowflake: What's something that your character is sensitive about?

Hey! Thanks for the ask!

Ooh, great question! I think I'll answer with Riley from the Five Man Band universe!

He's pretty sensitive about anyone bringing up his girlfriend, Carmen - she used to be part of the Band, but one day she wasn't there anymore. The A.R.A would tell you that she was doing her duty and didn't come back, Riley would tell you to drop it

In-universe, people aren't entirely sure what happened to her - the Band are very secretive about it and don't like to talk about what happened, and bringing it up is one of the few things that would make Riley snap and force whoever asked to drop the subject.

Thanks for the ask!

[eli-writes-sometimes]

Phoenix Hunter for the playlist ask game! :)

Hey, thanks for the ask! Sorry it took me a second to get to it!

Phoenix's music taste is a bit of everything, so their playlist would reflect that while they're stuck waiting at an airport.

Their top three songs would be Gimme Gimme Gimme by ABBA, Noel's Lament from Ride the Cyclone, and I'm Still Standing by Elton John.

[eli-writes-sometimes]

hi 😈😈 do the fmb perchance have favourite animals (bonus points if theyre representative of the character)

Hey!!! Sorry it took me a second to respond, I'm in the middle of nowhere in the English countryside and the wifi sucks, and I also had to think about this a lot!

This is such a good question, so here are my thoughts :D

For Riley, I think he would joke that his favourite animal is a lothcat (from Star Wars), but his favourite real animals would be normal cats, since he thinks they're adorable and he grew up with one so they remind him of home

Niamh's favourite animal would be a fox, she thinks that they're cute in a way that most people don't appreciate, and just finds them pretty cool animals - she does also have a soft spot for cats, but foxes are her favourite

I'd say Ash's would be a salamander - she read somewhere that they were often associated with fire and she fell in love with them

Kai's is probably a raven, because of the wings and he probably sympathises with how they're always seen as bad omens

I think that Phoenix would have a soft spot for phoenixes as fictional animals, and chameleons because they're the closest that the animal kingdom can come to shapeshifters

Thanks for the ask!!! :D

Sorry again that it took me ages to respond, please send more asks if you have any, I swear I'll get to them quicker!

[eli-writes-sometimes]

Happy STS! What is something you grew to love about your story?

Hey Tori! Thanks for the ask, happy STS!

This is such a good question! I'd say probably the idea that Five Man Band is turning into a whole universe rather than one story - it was supposed to be one signle novel, but as I wrote it, I realised that I wanted to turn it into a wider universe, ad it's one of the best decisions with my WIPs that I've ever made!

Thanks for the ask!

[eli-writes-sometimes]

Happy WBW! How does the environment play into your story? Does it have an active role in the plot?

Hey Tori! Thanks for the ask, and happy WBW!

The environment doesn't have too much of an active role in Five Man Band, but there is one specific spot that some of the characters, particularly Ash and Carmilla, go to - it's a small clearing in a forest a bit beyond the A.R.A., and there's a lot about the contrast between the more sterile environment of the A.R.A. and the natural world

I haven't written too much about it yet, but it's definitely something I want to develop a bit more in the future!

Thanks for the ask :)