#underwing anons

[elliothandsomewitt]

Hello! I'll probably be a bit sporadic later on, but here's the first question I have for the Challenge: What's the history behind the Contest? Why did it first start? Is there a particular reason it's on Apollos rather than the other planets?

Hi! Thanks for your question!

The most important thing to note is that the Rehan System was originally an Earthen colony (which is a detail that's become more solidified the more the plot is clearing up in my own notes). By the time technology advanced enough for the Inner Circle to start taking permanent residents, the medical advancements that allowed humans to sustain life-threatening injuries were just starting to be sold. The Contest's first "season" was a test run of the tech, but once it proved to be successful, the tech was revealed to the public (specifically those who could afford to be brought back from the brink of death), and the Contest with it, now rebranded as a celebration of how far humanity had come.

It's hosted on Apollos because it's the most Earth-like of every planet in the system, despite the fact that most people now living haven't actually seen their species' planet of origin.

[elliothandsomewitt]

Hi Jack, day 10 ask for the Underwing Challenge. Any particular books or authors you draw inspiration from for your WIP, Hijack?

Hey FourteenZero! Sorry I'm answering this so late, but day 10 is day 10!

Funny you should ask, actually, I was just thinking along these lines earlier today. See, the Hijack Project started out as a fanfic (there wasn't originally a bloodsport, that's how far removed it is now). It's got a lot of bits and pieces from media I love, but I think I owe a whole lot to the Lunar Chronicles. That series has stood the test of time and has remained my favorite YA series from the time i first picked up Cress. The more I think about it, the more little odes to it I find in my work. If nothing else, I definitely owe the books for starting me down the path of adoring reading and writing.

[elliothandsomewitt]

hey jack!!! heres a question: how long has the Contest been going on for in Hijack? what made a bunch of people decide the best way to test life-saving tech is to make people fight? im so curious!

Hello again Pheonix! Nice to see you in my inbox again! :)

At the time the story begins, the contest has been going on for eighty-seven years (and therefore, one hundred and seventy four seasons). Now, logically, the only way to really tell of a medical practice worked was to test it out on someone injured. A handful of tests were conducted on those already in intensive care, but then the manufacturers began to push the limits of the tech. Could they be used to heal very recent injuries? Old scars? Missing limbs? Of course you can't exactly get someone to hurt themselves without a little incentive. And so the Contest was devised.

It's cool, I think, to be able to relay all this stuff and then see that that little push of limits is being almost repeated in the story itself ;)

[elliothandsomewitt]

Hi Jack, missed sending an ask yesterday, I was busy. Here's the ask for day 12 of the underwing challenge. Which do you like the most in your WIP Hijack: worldbuilding, characters, or plot?

Hey FourteenZero! Don't worry about it, trying to keep up with everything in life is stressful; I understand.

I have a soft spot for each of those, but I think it's most fun to construct the plot. I partially design characters through plot, that being when I put them into scenarios (usually conflict), parts of their personalities tend to shine out or come more naturally for me to grab onto.

It's also the thing that's probably most developed out of the three. The Hijack Project is still very much in its planning stages, and there are still incidents and developments in the story that, while I'm certain of them happening, I have yet to share them with writeblr so that they get built into the overarching stories properly (and they'll probably get introduced in character introductions, or if someone specifically asks for it, depending). Writing plot gives me this in-control feeling that keeps sparking creativity in the way that one conflict naturally leads to another.

[elliothandsomewitt]

Hello! What are some specific skills that each of the twins has that the other doesn't?

Hey there! Thanks for your question! "Skill" is a rather broad term, but I'll list a handful for you.

Ty's got the better time management skills and excells at cooking where their sister prefers baking. Tina also has a higher pain tolerance and better hand-eye coordination. Ty has a decent tenor voice when they sing and tends to triumph when card games are played. Tina's double jointed, and has a much easier time hiding a lie from her sibling than the other way around.

Of course, most of these won't come up in the story itself (or, at least, not in the way you expect it. :])

[elliothandsomewitt]

Here's your underwing questions! The medical advancement is so cool! I'm really interested in what other kinds of tech you show off in Hijack! Is there anything you're super excited to show off? Or what about tech that might go unnoticed since it's not as 'flashy' as other stuff, but still is super neat in how it works?

HELLO again >:)

A piece of tech that's in the works right now is the district separation system (thinking of calling it just that for the sake of simplicity lol). It's the big electrical gate that, as implied, keeps Mylda's different districts divided. It's also the bit of tech that gets hijacked with the parade. Under normal circumstances citizens would just have to flash a piece of identification when passing through, and this is the part that I'm working on, exactly how it does it and what kind of ID you need. Either way the whole grid's been overridden so no motorized vehicles can't get in or out. In a city planet like this one, it's very much an inconvenience!

The Manifold has a handful of cool stuff inside of it as well. One of my favorite gadgets I've designed for the shop is designed to scan any mechanical device and reproduce a holographic image of it deconstructed, allowing for the mechanic to pinpoint the problem before deconstructing the actual object. It's usually used for more delicate repairs, but Ty tends to favour it, so there is that!!

[elliothandsomewitt]

heyyy so here's a question for the underwing challenge! i really like the grenadier and was curious if there's any fun dynamics he has that you're excited to write? i'm curious how he gets along with the others and if it changes a lot

Hey, Pheonix! You have unlocked a whole treasure trove!

I absolutely do love my little bombastic disaster so thank you for the opportunity to talk about him! Out of the three protagonists he's the one who's grown desensitized to violence, which puts him at odds with Ty right away. Four whole years he's been competing in the Contest - that kind of does something to a person, y'know? Having to watch the tentative friend-coworker relationships fall apart because someone's got a gun in their hands, over and over - he prefers not to think about it, which means most of his disgust has long since been repressed. It only partially registers with him that other people aren't like that, so when Ty objects to defending themself in fear that they'll end up killing someone, it just ends up a big circle of misunderstandings and arguements. But still, they defended their shop and him by extent, so he owes them now, in his mind, and that means helping them through whatever they've just gotten themselves into. Aside from the violence bit, he's got a solid moral compass, which does irritate Ty, because how can someone be so sure of what's right and wrong but then manage to bring someone to the brink of death? (He's on a personal journey to prove to Ty that he's worthy of respect despite it. It's gonna be a long one.)

Tina, on the other hand - she used to be BIG into the Contest. Her interest fell away as she got older and started taking on more responsibilities in the shop, but she's the first to sort of recognize exactly who the Grenadier is - and despite the seriousness of the situation, she's a little bit excited. It's not every day you get to meet a celebrity, yknow? It's not every day the celebrity invades your home and you get to interrogate them. It's really surprising for Gideon to meet someone who cares about him, even if it's only as fan/influencer type relationship - or it least, it starts that way. They become buddies officially late in the story, and share a habit of coping with humour. She's the one he ends up opening up to about his rocky past instead of his charge - you know, he hasn't had the chance to really do that to anyone in... years. Literal years. That's probably not good for his mental health. But then again, neither is the murder. He'll be okay. Maybe.

[elliothandsomewitt]

Hi Jack, hope you're doing well. This will be my fist question to you for the Underwing Challenge: What's Ty and Tina's dynamic as siblings like, and does it cause tension in the plot?

Hi! I hope you're doing well too!! :)

As far as sibling dynamics go, Ty and Tina are those two that someone, probably an old relative, say are as "different as night and day", but that's only on the surface. In reality they share a good handful of minor interests and get along quite well under normal circumstances. They tease, they argue over minor things, they rock paper scissors to do the difficult chores and refuse to acknowledge when they lose.

As much as Ty knows and understands that Tina's an adult and is responsible and knows what she's doing, even - and especially - when she's having fun, there's always this little part of them that sees her as the immature "baby" sister, which translates into a little bit of overprotectiveness (that then becomes a LOT of overprotectiveness when they're inducted into the Contest). Up until now they've done everything side by side, hand in hand, in a way that lets them split the tasks between the two of them. They work through a problem differently, but come together in the end for a united project.

Now, Ty is going somewhere Tina cannot follow - and shouldn't follow, honestly! Bloodsports, as the name implies, involve blood! Of course Tina doesn't really intend on letting her sibling go through it all alone. Their conflicting plans to outlast and evade the hijacked Contest is what brings their relationship under fire - their goals are similarily driven, but their actions grate against each other CONSTANTLY.

I have a little brother myself and intend to bring some of that personal experience into the writing, make it feel a little more lifelike. Thanks for your question!