Giving this a shot as a weekly warmup exercise before I get into writing for the day. Since I’m trying to post less short-form content on Masto, I figure doing these in a batch on my blog would be a much easier way to get all my thoughts out — without the constraint of a word count. Plus, it’ll be handy when I want to look back at past prompts, because sometimes I surprise myself in answering these things.
Anyway, without further ado, let’s get into it!
29/1 – Did you write stories as a kid?
All. The. Time. Once upon a time, I had a couple of handwritten, hand-drawn, and hand-bound “books” that I’d made in a first grade class. I once wrote my elementary school best friend a story about herself and a tiger (which was her favorite animal) on a grand adventure. Having access to a computer and the internet at a young age, I was always writing fanfic and role-playing with friends. When even that wasn’t enough, I would scrawl scenes in notebooks during classes that were particularly dull. If I had a pencil/pen, a blank page, and just five minutes alone with my brain I would be writing. Things didn’t dry up until after college and the “real world” said it was “time to put childish things away”…
30/1 – Has your main genre changed with time?
In a way, I suppose I could say yes. Also, no. I’ve always written some kind of fantasy. Fairies, angels, witches, magical girls. The only non-fantasy I’ve really written was some Gundam Wing fanfic and Greenhouse Museum. I didn’t really dabble in magical reality until I actually encountered the concept in college thanks to Murakami. There were some aspects thrown in, especially when we’re talking writing magical girl fiction, but I didn’t really start embracing it until college.
I’ve mentioned it once in the past, but magical reality is really what I’m aiming for. If I can create something that feels liminal, magical, and still somehow feel real then I’ve succeeded. Looking back, in some way I think I was always chasing that. The only difference between then and now is just being aware that it’s my goal.
31/1 – Would you ever cosplay one of your characters? Which?
Totally! Does that make me a vain writer? lol
It’s a tough toss-up between Robert and Vic. Surprise surprise. Both are fairly practical in their sartorial choices, so at least it wouldn’t be too elaborate of a costume to make. Heck, if someone were already a Victorian/Edwardian era costumer they could easily pull it off. Outside of those two, there’s a character that hasn’t been introduced yet (and wont until the last book) that I could also see cosplaying. Again, it’d be simple and very comfortable.
Are we sensing a theme? I just like writing characters with practical, comfortable wardrobes 90% of the time. That way if there’s a “magical transformation” it feels much more exciting.
1/2 – Introduce your MC as a fighter in the ring.
Over the speaker system, ‘Blood on the Ground’ by Incubus starts to feed in. A giant LCD screen flashes suddenly as trailing vines creep in from the sides. Standing center stage is Vic, holding a book and twisting a curl. The camera pans to her, she slams the book shut and tosses it over a shoulder before making her way down the walkway.
“What’s this crawling into the ring?” The announcer cuts in over the music. Vic starts popping the buttons of her blouse to cheers from the audience, revealing a deep green spandex suit underneath. “The choke-hold champ, your one and only viney vixen, weaving her way into the ring. She’s studied it all, knows exactly how to pin them so they can’t get away! Give it up for Victorious Vic.”
The crowd goes wild!
2/2 – If your MC stayed at your place for a few weeks, what would be their favorite room and why?
I could see Vic absolutely loving the bedroom as much as I do. We live in a long, kinda narrow, 900-ish sq ft apartment. Our bedroom faces south and so it gets the most sun during the day. It also has the clearest view of some very tall trees.
As for why…it’s also generally the quietest spot in the apartment during the day. Perfect for reading, plenty of natural light. All the plants live back there and Vic is a green-thing appreciator. The only thing she’d gripe about is not having a proper reading chair, which is a perfectly fair criticism. Still, I think she’d find it very relaxing.
2/3 – Your antagonist has to choose something from your wardrobe. What and why?
Hah, he’d probably hate all of it! I wear a lot of dresses and skirts these days, which for a gentleman of Christophe’s tastes would probably not go over too well. And the couple of pairs of yoga pants I do own for walks are all some sort of polyester blend…definitely not up par with the fine fabrics he’s used to wearing.
If he could get over the skirt issue, I could see him wearing my favorite green corduroy skirt, paired with a black long-sleeve shirt. Or maybe the one navy blue cotton dress I own. They’re definitely the best in my collection in terms of fabric, and they’re also the least showy. Everything else I own is brightly patterned in some way, which I really don’t think he’d go for. He’s flashy, definitely, but he reminds me more of a bourgeois politician than a hippie.
That’s it for this week! Next week I’ll try to get this out on Sunday rather than Monday. Hope you all have a good week!
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