Hi! I've read this story about three times so far, one of which was only a month ago, and I love it with every read-through! I also just realized that I forgot to like the chapters, so I just did that. XD (Also also, when I first read the story, I didn't realize who you were, and when I found out, I was like "Pixiemage? The same person who does those amazing Sanders Sides and JSE cosplays?")
Oh my goodness lol...I’m glad you enjoy it enough to read it more than once! And thank you!!! I love cosplaying about as much as I love writing, but it’s not often the two cross paths. Perhaps I’ll bring my #SamLives plot to TikTok sometime...we’ll see lol. ;)
But beyond that, I’ve been having a ton of fun writing this story! I have too many plans for it, and though the upcoming chapter has taken way longer to write (mostly due to writing characters I’m not as familiar with) I get the feeling the next few will be easier. I’ll do my best to move forward with the plot quicker this time!
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The Livestream.
Oh my god the livestream.
So, full disclosure, let me say something that I know I’ve told friends about but haven’t necessarily made a post on just yet. This story was intended to be a oneshot about Jack accidentally letting the world see that Sam was, in fact, alive. This was supposed to be a oneshot. Clearly, it has become much MUCH more than that lol. In fact, the concept of Anti being alive at all wasn’t even a thought in my head until I got to Chapter 3: “Belief”.
When I decided to continue #SamLives past the first chapter, I knew I wanted Sam to eventually meet Tiny Box Tim. I wanted Mark to come forward and say “HEY JACK LOOK I HAVE ONE TOO!” and for them to all hang out and be buddy-buddy and have fun adventures together. (Again, things have changed lol, but that’s where it started.) When I got to Chapter 3 I got a little bit of writer’s block....and I couldn’t figure out how to end the chapter. So I thought “What the hell, maybe the call gets dropped” and started writing that in...only to add a static shock and glitches.
A friend who read it freaked out and asked if Anti was showing up, and though I hadn’t been PLANNING on it, my writer’s brain lit up like a damn firework and I was like “YES DEFINITELY ANTI IS COMING WOW I LOVE THIS”.
So...the Livestream.
The Livestream was fun to write for so many reasons. First of all, I wanted Anti’s entrance to be dramatic as hell. It was dramatic on Halloween in real life, so I knew he would have a dramatic appearance in this story too. The concept of Anti appearing slowly, building up his strength, and basically haunting Jack until he exploded into the public eye was just so cool. I mean first of all, thinking you’re alone in your house only to suddenly realize you’re not so alone is a scary thought. But then thinking you’re going crazy and pretending everything is fine so you don’t freak out too much, only to THEN find out you really should have been freaking out more from the start? Yeah. Loved that.
Also, in trying to figure out how Anti would work - how he would move, his abilities, his glitching - I thought about Vanellope from Wreck-It Ralph. She, like Anti, is/has a glitch...and every time they animated her “glitching” in her movie, it always looked like she was turning into little cubes of light. Pixels. (And figuring out how to write that out and give it the feel and appearance I wanted was a process in and of itself, and a ton of fun once it was finished.) The whole pixels concept is one I’ve been slowly building on and (as you’ll see in the next update) I actually put some more in depth thought into recently. Jack still hasn’t fully explained what Anti actually is, so until then I’m gonna have fun with it!
And of course, what would any writer be without a questionable search history?
I actually did quite a bit of Google-ing and researching to figure out (A) what damage can be caused if someone tries to strangle you, (B) how long it would take for bruises like that to heal, (C) if somebody would lose their voice from it and for how long, and (D) how far can I take it for it to be serious enough of an injury that it requires recuperating, but NOT serious enough that Jack would need a damn ambulance, because I didn’t even WANT to bother writing a hospital scene. (Plus I don’t actually want to hurt our irish coffee bean that badly lol.)
I could also go on for ages about how the whole concept of Belief Brings Characters To Life actually works, but I’ll save that for another day unless somebody specifically asks about it. ^^
What's up next for Mark, Chase, Schneep and Jack? Really love what your storyline is
For now, all I can say is that I’ll be starting in on the Skype Call in an upcoming chapter. (Not the next one, because somebody else is in the spotlight for that one ;3). With Matt and Robin putting their heads together on this as well, they come to some…interesting conclusions, and get a few ideas. I also know that I want Marvin and Jackie to appear soon, but as the fans (in story) haven’t seen any hints relating to them recently on Jack’s channel or social media, there hasn’t been enough interest for them to be brought to life. Not yet. Same with JJ. In the story, Mark was playing with Chase’s gun in recent collab videos they recorded, and Henrik already had hype building in the fanbase because of when I set the story…so I suppose…
…well. I wouldn’t want to spoil anything, would I? ^^
Hey, I just wanna say that I love this?? so much?? It's so good! You write all the characters so well, I can literally picture them saying it! And the whole concept is amazing! I should probably stop now, or else I'll run out of space to type from all the wonderful things I think of this story. I just love it so much!
Ahhh thank you so much!!! That’s the one thing I always hope for, that the way I write the characters is believable. I'm not them, and I don’t know any of them personally, so I always do my best to keep true to character. So hearing that it’s coming across well means a lot! Thank you! I’m so glad you’re enjoying it! ^^
Hey!! I just wanna say that I know this is old, but I bingeread and absolutely ADORE this fic!!! You have one of the best Anti interpretations I’ve ever seen, honestly, and AHHH all the other characterizations are so good they’re all so good!!!! No pressure at all meant by this ofc, I just wanted to let you know I’m in awe at the quality of your writing, and show my appreciation!!! :D
Oh, thank you so much! #SamLives was the first fic I ever felt passionate enough and driven enough to try and write as a long-form story, and though it isn't complete, I'm still pretty proud of what I've written and shared. My biggest concern has always been staying true to the characters I'm trying to portray, so your vote of confidence means a lot!
In truth, I've always wanted to come back and finish it. Like I said, it was the first fic I wrote that ever made it that far, and there's still a big part of me that isn't quite done with it yet. I know where I want it to go and I know how it will end...but unfortunately, I don't know when the #SamLives writing bug will bite again. My only hope is that it will, because I'd hate to leave it unfinished forever. So no promises on a timeline but rest assured that you're not the only one who wants to see this story reach its end!
