2. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?
I’ve had this plot in my head for a while now... I would like to explore a multiverse trope where people (and in my head it’s Jjong for now) are inevitably and unconsciously connected even though they are in different universes, but they live simultaneously and I’d want to explore how an event could bridge these parallel lives.
17. Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?
I can’t write scenes out of order, so it’s always start to finish. I’ve wanted to do that, but it doesn’t feel right for me, because my characters always end up having a life of their own so I can’t cut up their lives like that in my head in a chaotic order, like if an event happens first and another one happens after, I have to write it with their mindset through that logical course of events (I don’t know if I’m clear but yeah XD).
20. Describe your perfect writing conditions.
Tbh, I rarely can meet these conditions now. Because ideally, I write later in the night when everything is silent and it’s just me and my laptop, but I can’t stay up till like 4 or 5 am because I have to go work and on the weekends if I do that, I pay the whole day after because I’m old now. XD So right now, my ‘ideal conditions’ are having no distractions (weirdly, I find that writing in my office is very helpful these days), so I’m not listening to anything and there is no one around. Oh yeah, and I have to have a few hours ahead of me with nothing to do. ^^
Seriously tumblr is so shit it even cuts off asks now. 22, 31, 40.
22. Choose a passage from one of your earlier fics and edit it into your current writing style. (Person sending the ask is free to make suggestions).
This is an excerpt from my fic It Started With a Song - I always felt like it was not one of my best written fics, so that’s why I chose it. It’s from four years ago... I can definitely see how different my writing has become. XD
Original :
It was a Thursday afternoon. The sky was grey and the clouds thick and heavy. A recurrence over the last couple of days. A man with an expression matching the spreading darkness above was walking down a busy street, minding his own business. His thoughts were filled with loneliness and self-deprecation, something that happened quite too often for someone who always put on a happy face. It was his well guarded secret; he wasn't a man content with his life, he was a man who was just going through it with the hope that one day he'd find what he was looking for. But at 26 years old he was starting to think that his hope was a ridiculous thing.
He walked and walked and walked, his head tilting downwards. He was tired and hungry, but he had no desire to satisfy those basic needs. He wanted something to pull him out of his routine, to make him remember why it was important for him to stay alive. He just needed something new. He turned the corner, freeing himself from the horde of people that was invading his personal space. This street was almost empty and so he could hear his steps echo against the concrete, the sound relieving him from the tension accumulating in his body. He was almost too focused on it to hear anything else, but he couldn't block out the voice that suddenly reached him. He stopped in his tracks and looked ahead. There was another man there. He was sitting on the sidewalk, a guitar in hand, his voice coming out sweet and melodious for the world to hear.
He remained still for a few seconds, just watching. He didn't know the song, but he was instantly drawn to it. He was still far away so he couldn't fully make out the words that were leaving the other's mouth, but he could gather that the song wasn't about gambolling in the park. He finally started walking again, his gaze still straight ahead, his mind putting aside all the sorrow he had been wallowing in to give his full attention to the song he could hear better and better with every step he took.
He was now standing before him, watching his profile as he kept singing with a passion that sent chills down his spine for a brief second. The other's eyes were closed, making him oblivious to his presence which made it much easier for him to just enjoy his voice. As well as his soft-looking blonde hair, his sharp jaw line and high cheekbones and last but not least, his attire which was constituted of a white t-shirt, ripped at the knee skinny jeans and Timbs. It was a far different look than his sky blue dress shirt, black trousers and lacquered shoes. He was totally fitting in while the other proudly stood out.
Their eyes suddenly met. The other had finally picked up on his presence and had stopped to look right at him. Silence stretched out for a few seconds, neither of them breaking the contact their gazes provided.
Edited to my style now :
It was a Thursday afternoon. Usually, that day meant a weekend soon to come, but for one particular man it was a day like any other. It was another page turned in the never-ending book of his life. Every breath he took, every step he made, gave him the false impression that he was walking towards something, that the book actually had meaning, and some days, he actually bought into that illusion.
But not today.
Maybe it was the grey sky that stretched above them or maybe he was just tired and hungry, but something about this particular day made it incredibly hard for him to find any meaning to his life. To any outsider, these very thoughts would’ve come as a shock. To any outsider, he probably looked like one of the happiest men alive.
But that was a lie.
The biggest one he had ever told and that he would probably continue to tell. Until…
He took a deep breath as the familiar swell in his chest bloomed like a flower. He hated this version of himself. The one that was always longing for more, but never knew where to look. All he could see right now were hordes of people buzzing around him, filling his space uninvited. He wanted out.
His body instinctively turned to the right, engaging him on another sidewalk, on another street. He felt himself breathe a little more easy as the emptiness of this one stretched out before him. He kept walking, enjoying the sound of his heels clicking on the concrete, making him almost forget about his previous musings.
He was almost too engulfed in the pleasures of quasi-silence to notice other sounds at first, but his body was brought to a sudden halt as a voice reached him, airy but poignant. His gaze shifted towards it and that’s when he saw him. The other man. One who was sitting on the sidewalk, guitar in hand, lost to his own voice and music.
He had no choice but to remain still, just watching, feeling. The song didn’t ring any bells, but he instantly felt drawn to it. The words didn’t fully make it to where he was, but the sound of it told him everything he needed to know. It was like the song was meant to match his own sorrow, his own existence.
He had no choice but to start walking again, to hear it better, to feel it closer. It was only a few steps before he was standing before him, gazing upon his profile as he kept singing with a passion that sent chills down his spine.
The other’s eyes were closed, making the bridge between their two worlds not yet tangible. But the bridge was there through his voice travelling to his ears, to his soul. It couldn’t have been more perfect. In this moment, he realized how different they were, despite not knowing anything about the other.
There was just something about the way he looked and the way he sang that let him know that this man wasn’t afraid of living life. The completely opposite of him.
Before he could keep on with his observations, the song fell silent as their eyes suddenly met. He had been caught.
Silence stretched out for a few seconds, neither of them looking away.
___________________________________________
31. Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant?
I definitely take liberties XD Like I try to give a faithful portrayal of the characters as I view them though, but I love to experiment with these portrayals in different settings, situations and show their personal characteristics in different lights.
40. Write an alternative ending to [insert fic title] (or just the summary of one).
[SPOILER ALERT FOR THE SELFISHNESS OF OUR HEARTS]
I’m going to share the summary of the original ending actually that I had thought of even before writing the fic. And I’ve shared it on AFF before, but I’ll share it here too.
So, basically, the original ending was that Jinki was going to leave and actually never meet up with Jjong again, because their love simply felt impossible. Then a few weeks later, Jjong would’ve gotten a package in the mail and when he would’ve opened it in his apartment, he would've found Jinki's book (The Selfishness of Our Hearts) in it (and it would've been completed).
So the very last scene, was actually Jjong crying over the fact that they could never be together and holding the book tight as he realized that it would be the only keepsake left from the love for each other (which is why Jinki sent it to him).
TFW your best friend thinks you’ve fallen asleep on the phone with him, so he proceeds to tell you that he thinks he likes you. But that if he does, he’ll have to pull away from you a bit because he’d rather have you at arms length than date you.
