4 I’ve done here: http://flintsredhair.tumblr.com/post/164581642287/1-what-are-you-currently-working-on2-summarize
7 I’ve done here http://flintsredhair.tumblr.com/post/164579332807/3-5-7-for-the-writer-ask-meme, but I’ll reiterate – oh fucking hell no I’m not living in the 18th century. fuck that, I like being alive and also not being hanged for… probably something, I’m basically everything that no 18th century person would find acceptable.
1 I’ve answered here: http://flintsredhair.tumblr.com/post/164579599987/1-5-10-kat.
2. summarize your current project: hmm. I’ve summarized some of them above, but the fluff fic I haven’t, or the sequel for Battle Raven, so here goes: the fluff fic prompt is that the Walrus happens across the ship taking Thomas to the plantation before it can ever reach it. Thomas is recruited to the crew, and James steps aboard the ship as its new captain only to be pretty much tackled by his extremely overjoyed husband. The Battle Raven sequel goes thus: I’m basically fixing everything related to the women in the show, because they all deserved better, so there. Miranda, James, and Madi attempt an invasion of Nassau only for things to go badly wrong. Canon events happen, leading to James and Miranda discovering that their reason for fighting might actually be still alive.
3. Summarize your current project poorly: I’m a sucker for these, I really am. Reclamation: A Pirate Captain, a former Admiral, and a Princess all walk into a bar… Eventual Whitechapel Crossover Fic: Police Detective cannot for the life of him understand why he wants to punch kidnapping victim’s father, attempts to solve 300-year-old case in an attempt to find kidnapper, solve murder. Battle Raven sequel: Local Woman has no chill. Teams up with other women who have equal lack of chill to save the world.
4. Describe your favorite character or characters: Ok, so, I haven’t gushed about Madi today and that just… can’t stand. She’s amazing. I love her calm. I love her anger, and how she handles it. I love how completely in command of a room she is from the moment she walks in the door. Being inside her head is like being in the best kept command center you’ve ever seen in your life, or a really, really well-organized library. She’s incredibly perceptive, very, very intelligent, and she doesn’t mince words, ever.
And then there’s James. He’s a mess. Like – think the worst psychological mess you can imagine and then dial that up a notch and then realize that he’s still somehow functioning through pure stubborn refusal to lie down and die. He’s got incredible willpower, he’s dead on his feet 98% of the time, and he’s constantly, always absolutely devastated and in both CotD and Reclamation, I get to change that. This is probably the first time I’ve gotten to write him where he’s not wallowing in grief and is, in fact, starting to think, “hey, maybe I can, you know, be a human being again that feels things and gets enough rest.”
Thomas is the best. He’s just… every time I write him, I think I know what he’s doing, and then he shakes his head, gets this look on his face in my head that’s a cross between polite disagreement and semi-amusement, and then does his own thing, and it’s wonderful. I write what he tells me, period, full-stop, just like with Madi. He’s stubborn as hell, kinder than he has any reason to be after what he’s been through, and positively not here for anyone’s ridiculous unsubstantiated argument. He’s quiet but it’s not always comforting quiet – it’s thinking, planning, doing quiet, usually, unless he’s upset. He’s seldom ever completely inactive, and he’s not as fearless as he appears to be on the surface, just he’s very, very good at hiding it and acting despite it.
Miranda is Miranda and I love her, because when I need someone’s POV to write from, she’s absolutely one of the easiest choices to make. I get her. She feels trapped for a lot of the series. I know that feeling. She loves books and music – so do I. She adores Thomas and James – obviously, I don’t think anyone’s in any doubt that I understand that completely. She’s got a lot of anger about what’s happened to her that she hasn’t tapped into in a while, and oh my gods I feel that so hard. Her rage is familiar, so is her melancholy, her loneliness, her desire to protect her men. I get her.
And then last but certainly not least – Admiral Hennessey. He’s a no-nonsense, brusque, but proper type with a distinct temper running underneath and I like the solid, sensible nature of him as a character. He takes no bullshit, doles none out in return, and would, I think, very much like to just spend his days with a good pint of something suitably strong and a few treatises on naval strategy, hearing about the exploits of his adoptive son while James proceeds to carry on his legacy but he doesn’t get that, so instead he has to make do with knocking heads together and trying to keep James and company safe as much as he can while not losing sight of his duty to the other men in his command.
5.. Post a line of your current work without context:
Reclamation:
“What I had to!” Jack snaps. His dark eyes burn into Charles, utterly fixed on Charles’ face, despair and anger and sorrow all rolled into one roiling in them. “Everything I could – all that and more, to bring you home again! To see Anne safe!”
Fluff Fic to be Titled:
“The only thing you were going to have out of him in the next two minutes was his guts,” Gates answered. “Don’t take me for a fool. Go on. Get out of here before I have you up before crew council for helping him in the captain’s cabin to fuck us all.”
thanks for the ask! I’ve answered all of these here: http://flintsredhair.tumblr.com/post/164579332807/3-5-7-for-the-writer-ask-meme and here: http://flintsredhair.tumblr.com/post/164578915827/9-and-10-for-the-writers-ask-meme but let’s answer number 9 again for some other stuff I haven’t done yet since I’ve got a lot on my plate:
9: what’s the aesthetic of your current work?
Reclamation (aka that fic where Vane lives past canon): muggy, humid days. Anger. Shouting and hands gripped around coat fronts to shake some sense into someone. Conversations had over a decent amount of alcohol, weeping, grief-stricken silence. Glances shared between odd allies, hands meeting for the first time, unexpected laughter, books opening and closing, relieved hugs.
Fluff fic: the aftermath of an attack on a merchant ship. Pained groans, coins clinking, arguments behind closed doors, wood splintering. A noisy tavern, the smell of rum, a flash of red hair and relieved, happy sobbing.
5 I’ve answered here: http://flintsredhair.tumblr.com/post/164579332807/3-5-7-for-the-writer-ask-meme and 10 is here: http://flintsredhair.tumblr.com/post/164578475347/10-for-the-writers-ask-meme
1. what are you currently working on?
So, I’m sure you all know about Cup of their Deserving, which is my fix-it fic for the finale. Basically, Madi makes the decision to go back to Skeleton Island, catches Silver about to drag Flint to the plantation, and shuts down his bullshit before it can properly get started, and then they get to deal with the aftermath. I’m currently writing the final chapter of that. I’m also trying to finish up Full of Grace, which is a fic where James and Thomas are both sent to Bedlam and Miranda and Admiral Hennessey team up to bring their family home. I’ve got a project that’s been languishing for a while called And the Sea With Its Deepness, wherein James is sent to Bedlam instead of Thomas and Thomas is forced to go to Nassau as governor. We find them ten years later, when Thomas is fighting to outlast a siege of the island, Miranda has become a pirate captain, and James is finally, finally found having been pulled out of Bedlam long after everyone thought him dead. I’m also working on the side on another fix-it set post-canon wherein Charles Vane is alive and Not Amused at the end of the war. He, Madi, and someone from Flint’s past team up to set what they can to rights when they find out Flint is not dead. I’m also in the outlining stage for a sequel to Battle Raven. Oh, and there’s a quick fluff fic that I’m working on for @penflicks.
3: Summarize your current project poorly
Cup of their Deserving: Man screws over best friend and girlfriend, has the nerve to look surprised when girlfriend wrecks his ass. Best friend and girlfriend team up to save the world mostly out of spite with the aid of best friend’s husband and assorted others.
Full of Grace: Local Douchebag wins Horrible Excuse for a Father of the year award, pisses off the wrong two people in the process.
And the Sea With Its Deepness: Man Thought Dead miraculously turns out to be alive. Man’s husband, father, and wife conspire to ruin a perfectly good evil plan while being Very Mad at each other.
5.
post a line from your current project without any context
CotD:
“Governor Rogers,” he greets. “Oh good. Everyone I want to shout at in one place.”
Full of Grace:
“I’ll start negotiations with the rats immediately.”
And the Sea With Its Deepness:
“All the things I have done to make this possible. All the people I have
failed -” He shakes his head. “I can’t let it all mean nothing,” he
says, opening his eyes again to look at Hennessey.
7.
would you want to live in the world of your current work? Oh hell no. there isn’t enough money in the world for me to willingly go live in a world where I would neither be taken seriously or be actually able to stay healthy given the distinct lack of the meds that keep me from living a short, unpleasant life. My best bet would be to pull an Anne Bonny and make everyone afraid to fuck with me and I’ve done that once. It wasn’t a good time.
10 I answered here: http://flintsredhair.tumblr.com/post/164578475347/10-for-the-writers-ask-meme
9! what is the aesthetic of your current project?
Hmm. Cup of their Deserving: Sunlight. Soft blankets. Comfortable quiet. Comfort. Healing. That feeling you get when you wake up after a long, hard night with the knowledge that the day marks the end of it.
Full of Grace: Darkness. Cold. Snow, and tension, and crackling fire in the hearth but no comfort to be had off of it for what’s being discussed. Half-drunk glasses of whiskey and whispers. Breathe hanging in the air and screaming, tears and angry shouting. Blood spilled and horses rushing over cobblestones.
And the Sea With Its Deepness: Sea. The sound of wooden ships creaking and groaning, sails flapping in the breeze, cannon fire, swords clashing, tense meetings in alleyways, insects chattering and a breeze blowing through an open balcony door. Maps spread over tables.
*hugs* thank you!
10. What song sums up your current work the best?
For Cup of their Deserving, the best song is undoubtedly this one:
For Full of Grace, this is the best song:
And for And the Sea With Its Deepness, I honestly have no clue what song I would use – it’s going to eventually be a triumphant returning of one James McGraw to his family and a reunion between James, Thomas, Miranda, and Admiral Hennessey after a great deal of trouble and sorrow. Maybe this one?
1. Answered here: http://flintsredhair.tumblr.com/post/162841758592/147
8.
what musical artists have you most felt connected to over your lifetime? I spent a lot of my childhood listening to Loreena McKennitt and Gordon Lightfoot. Myths and legends and rambler’s songs and bits of poetry from history – not exactly surprising I turned into a historian, is it?
12.
dog person or cat person? – Both! I love animals (or at least most animals. big scaly things can fuck right off).
18.
what’s your patronus? – According to Pottermore, a grey squirrel. Which, I mean – ok? I like squirrels, I guess – we have a crazy one I call Weird Larry that licks the paint off my porch and another where I work called Splat because that’s what’s going to happen to him if he doesn’t stop playing in the road. If I had to choose, though – I really love crows and other large birds a lot, so probably something rather more airborne.
19.
which Harry Potter house would you be in? or are you a muggle? Again, Pottermore claims I’d be a Ravenclaw and on a good day I guess that’s true but try me on a bad and I’m more of a Slytherin.
1.
if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to? This is going to be a fairly long list, I think. If you really want to understand me, try watching The Hobbit – not the newer live action movies, the old Rankin Bass ones. There’s a line in there – “To go and see the great mountains, and hear the the pine trees and waterfalls – to wear a sword instead of a walking stick – just once.” I remember hearing that line when I was in eighth grade and I haven’t spent a spring or autumn since without getting the overwhelming urge to just get up and go. I still love that version of the dwarves’ song best. Try watching Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, too. One of Eowyn’s lines says everything when she’s asked what she fears: “A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them, and all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire.” I won’t get into it much but suffice to say the older I get the more I understand her. Also watch the intro song/narration from The Sword in the Stone and Beauty and the Beast, as those were both favorites of mine. As for reading material, the Harry Potter books with particular emphasis on the third one, which I loved so much I literally wore the color off of the cover of my first copy. Also the Belgariad – go read that. To listen to: honestly, I love music so very much that we’d be here forever if I told you every song I’ve ever cried about/put on repeat over and over again, but go listen to Heather Dale’s music, Loreena McKennitt, and Seanan McGuire for starters.
4.
do you like your name? is there another name you think would fit you better? Honestly, I’ve never been terribly fond of my name, if only because the full version perpetually sounds like it belongs to a little girl and I really don’t know many adult women with the same name who don’t shorten it to Meg for that reason. That, and it seemed like every third girl was named the same thing all through school.
7.
do you care about your ethnicity? Only insofar as I understand that it grants me a lot of privilege that I need to be aware of.
Thanks, Nonnie! I’ll take being associated with Flint, Thomas, and/or Miranda any time, although if I had to pick which one I’m like I’d say probably Miranda. Thanks for the support!
Meg's Mumbles 