Our first spotlight is on McFly July-er @moonlightandstarshimmer who spent the month interpreting every prompt with an outfit in a BTTF-bounding kind of expression of character, props, movie scenes, and vibes. Fanworks aren't just fic or visual art and moonlightandstarshimmer's creations are proof of that! Her work is colorful, outside-the-box, and always remarkable! Here's a peek into her approach!
1. How many years have you participated in McFly July?
I think this is my third year participating, but my 4th or 5th year enjoying!
2. What has changed in your approach this year? Was it easier or harder?
Every year I try something new because my ideas are a little off-the-wall, and I feel like if I did them twice in a row the novelty would wear off and I’d be exposed (exposed as what? I don’t know- existential dread and all that haha), so my whole medium was what changed in my approach this year! I also planned ahead a lot, which made it a little less urgent.
This year was definitely easier than last year, where each day was some sort of food- that one took a lot of work! This year was also more fun because I adore putting together costumes, and it was like I got to do a little costume every day!
3. Did you ever actually wear any of the outfits you put together this month?
I did! Not every day because of travel/events/office attendance/weather (some of these were not conducive to the heat haha), but I did wear a good number of them!
4. Do you have a favorite outfit you created?
Yes! It’s a toss-up between July 9 “The New Blacksmith” and July 25 “Doc’s Revolver” – both examples of pieces I often use but have never put together before, but now I’m obsessed!
5. Have you ever done bttf-bounding before?
Funnily enough I have! I wanted to celebrate Back to the Future Day back in 2015, so I wore a red blouse with a longline mustard cardigan as an undercover version of Doc’s costume on the poster for Part II! Also at the BTTF 40th anniversary screening at my local theater last year, I did a toned-down Marty (jean jumper layered with a burgundy tshirt under it and a plaid shirt tied over it- I was too much of a chicken to go in full costume since none of my friends were dressing up haha)
6. If the bttf characters were in the modern day and your same age, whose style do you think would be the most similar to yours?
Oh man this one is a tough one! I think I’m going to say Clara, since she does stick with the style of the day but makes it her own in a slightly whimsical way- I didn’t see anyone else wear gorgeous purple dresses in Hill Valley!
7. What's your favorite costume in the trilogy?
The pink and red cowboy outfit 1955 Doc gives Marty to wear in Part III! It is so funny and ugly but kind of ironically great and the colors actually do work in a weird way… plus the joke of “no way, this is what cowboys wore; you’ll fit right in” is always so funny to me!
And of course I love Clara's green robe and nightgown- it is SO dreamy and fancy and almost… magical! I would cancel all weekend plans swan around home all day in that outfit!
8. If you could dress any character from the trilogy in a modern day outfit who would you pick and what would you put them in?
I would love to see what George and Lorraine would wear if they were high school students today! Their outfits were (accurately and fittingly) very respectful with not a lot of room to personalize when they went to school, so it would be really fun to see what they would choose in the more casual modern day!
I’m torn between George just wearing Star Wars Tshirts and jeans or having him trying to be cool by still wear button ups and khakis because he thinks it’s professional and adult and people-shouldn’t-bully-him-OK? For Lorraine I see her in the current teen girl staple of baggy jeans, but instead of just a plain tank or Tshirt, she’d probably have a really cute (and slightly scandalous for a teenager) shirt, like a satin-y halter top or a floral spaghetti strap crop top.
Ooof, to be honest, this feels almost sacrilegious! Good thing Doc would still absolutely fit in with his funky printed shirts- some things never change (like fashion for scientists!)
Today we're talking to McFly July-er @mythical-bookworm whose expansive post-apocalyptic BTTF fic Our Future in the End is a continuation of their fic for last year's McFly July, Us Against the End. Bookworm's approach is detailed and well-paced, and invites readers to explore the countless structural and emotional facets of the AU they've built. Here's a little insight into how their work works!
How many years have you participated in McFly July?
This is my third year participating!
2. What has changed in your approach this year? Was it easier or harder or more fun?
Not too much has changed in my approach. Probably the biggest was in the planning stage. Unlike last year I did have a vague idea of a timeline of events that I needed to apply to the prompts. I think I've also been spending more time thinking about each chapter just because everything is more connected and in chronological order. I suppose that has all made it a little bit more of a challenge this year.
3. Your fic, Our Future in the End, almost reads like a novel! About how long did you take writing/editing each chapter?
Generally I think I'll spend anywhere from 1.5 - 4 hours actually writing depending on the chapter's final word count. However, I tend to do the majority of my writing in the evening. The whole rest of the day beforehand I'm thinking about the chapter. My previous planning all consists of 1-2 sentences per prompt, so I have to mentally flesh everything out. So my life has just been McFly July lol. I eat, drink, and breathe it. Editing takes probably 15-30 minutes, which I do the next morning before posting.
4. Why a post-apocalyptic au? What draws you to that concept?
Fast surface level answer? Doc and Marty just fit perfectly in such a world. They already have each others' backs even in the worst situations. Doc can deus ex machina any technical requirements of survival, and Marty is a cockroach in which nothing of the apocalypse can kill him.
How I came to this fully developed AU? That is actually a bit of a story.
The first iteration of the AU was created as an entry for the Febuwhump 2024 challenge. I did this month's challenge since at the time I was struggling with writing whump concepts. Well I died on it and then came back to finish it in June. It was the second to last prompt "No…Not Like This". Where I went with this was Doc and Marty surviving in the zombie apocalypse, only one stupid mistake of Marty's leads to Doc being scratched by a zombie. (And if it makes this any better, no, Doc makes sure he won't become the undead). So first of all, let us applaud me for getting over my whump problems, and know that this AU could be a whole lot rougher for Marty lol. While obviously a lot has changed from that one story, there's still a lot of kept elements. Like for example Marty has Batty and Doc has a rifle.
That same summer, I was reading Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. While the world is not wiped out by a zombie virus, it is a fast spreading fast killing sickness. The story jumps around time following different parties surviving in the new world and coming to terms with it versus the old one. This book ruined me. I couldn't see the world the same again. And I saw apocalypses in a totally different light.
So, newly inspired by this book, I decided to continue this zombie apocalypse idea in the "YOUTH JAILED" prompt entry for McFly July 2024, which I think I actually wrote in either August or September, writing with a new understanding the book gave me. And I loved it. I had so much fun writing it. That year one of the McFly July participants was fishunderthesea with their fic "a nice place to live". This fic used the prompts in a full connected plot. I thought it was super cool and kinda wanted to figure out how to do that for McFly July 2025. At some point it hit me, to do the zombie apocalypse AU. After all, I didn't really know where I wanted to go with it. McFly July prompts could give me direction. So I wrote Us Against the End. And then this year I realized I wanted to conclude the AU, so here I am now with Our Future In The End!
5. Do you have a favorite moment you wrote this year?
I really enjoyed writing Marty's final goodbye to his family and home in Day 3: Saw It On a Rerun. But I've also had a lot of fun writing any of the interactions between Marty and Mia. They are both so fun together!!!
6. If you could have any person in the world read this fic, who would you wish to read it?
Uhmmmmmm I'm gonna be honest nobody really comes to mind. This fic is very…niche to say the least. Everyone who would understand it and appreciate it for what it is have already been reading it, aka the fandom. Please don't EVER show this to anyone on the bttf cast, or I think I'd implode from embarrassment XD
7. Did you find that writing plot (and writing Marty) into such a confined setting (the bunker) was constraining? Or was it artistically challenging in a fun way?
Less confining and more complicated. I don't have a whole lot of time to really flesh out the bunker and how it functions, and it more has to be developed as I go. Let alone making sure it's all realistic. It was a bit of a challenge using a completely original setting instead of a canon, already developed location (aka Hill Valley)!
8. You’ve been working toward Marty reuniting with Jennifer since last year! Did you feel any pressure or joy once you got to write that moment?
I'd been so hyped to write them reuniting! Then when I got there I did get a little bit of cold feet. But overall super exciting. They deserve each other, even in this world :)
9. Can Marty’s bunker band perform at next year’s Mcfly July opening party? What songs would they play?
Oh totally, they'd be happy to! Of course they'd play Power of Love and Johnny B. Goode. They've gotten real good at Message in a Bottle. A lot of covers, but they'll throw in a couple originals here and there.
Throughout July, as I continually refreshed the #mcflyjuly tag, and was continually buried alive in the astonishing work everybody was making, I couldn't help but wonder about the creators behind them. I had so many questions; questions about your methods and your goals, your favorite pieces and your artistic opinions. I realized I basically wanted to interview everyone and so that's what this is!
Throughout the month of August, I'm gonna be posting lil interviews spotlighting McFly July creators because I'm such a big fan of you all! <3 HAPPY MCFLAUGUST
