Tag: ask game

Ask Game

Neon BrightLeave a comment

therealbrigeedarocks asked: Hey Bowman! You have a chance to keep something from the Human world to keep for your own (and at proportionate size, if need be): what is it, and why do you like it?

“From the human world? Most of what I’ve seen, Jacob brings when he visits. Then he tells me about all kinds of things that sound like he’s just making them up. Ropes that carry energy from dwelling to dwelling? A thing called Tea-V that has nothing to do with tea? Libraries and archives on this ‘why-fi’ that aren’t even real places? It all seems too fantastical to be real!

“But I guess it’s all true. I think if I could have something from it …. I’d want a phone thing so I could talk to people far away. I’d worry less about what happens in the village when I’m out patrolling. ”

Ask Game

Neon BrightLeave a comment

Anonymous asked: hey, bowman, does jacob ever complain about his homework/schoolwork?

“He doesn’t really complain. Jacob isn’t a complainer. I think a lot of it is blasted weird, though. It’s not enough he has to read all kinds of strange things. He has to write what he thinks about them, and that can be wrong somehow? I don’t get human ‘school’.”

“I’m supposed to figure out the subtext and stuff, dude. That’s hard to get right sometimes.”

“But it’s supposed to be what you think it means! How can you be wrong about that? It makes no sense!”

“I think you’d make class discussions pretty fun. Wanna come to school with me after break?”

“Absolutely not!”

Ask Game Part 3

Neon BrightLeave a comment

Ooof. I kind of let this blog go silent for a bit. Here’s another batch from the ask game, and if you have questions of your own, feel free to send them in!

Anonymous asked: Hey! Hey! From one ace aro to another, Jacob, big teddy bear, I love you and wish you the best. May I request a hug?

“Hell yeah, dude. C’mere!”

enby-phoenix asked: Eral, what would you do if you turned human for a day?

“Probably kick Elias’ ass first of all, because the gods know he’s earned it. Then I’d probably go to a pub and order something for myself without the barkeep giving me weird looks about it. That’d be nice.”

enby-phoenix asked: Bowman, please tell us about a time Jacob did something deserving of bops!

“It’s easier to list the times he didn’t earn a bop some days! There was that time the nestlings played hide and seek and he let one fall asleep in his pocket, and I somehow took the blame! Then once he brought this stuff called ‘peanut butter’ and the sprites that tried it couldn’t even speak for a few minutes! Oh, and there was the time …”

(He really can go on forever like this)

enby-phoenix asked: Jacob, would you give me a piggyback ride?

“Sure, why not? Try not to fall off though, I dunno if I could catch ya in time!”

enby-phoenix asked: Bowman! What’s the WEIRDEST human thing Jacob’s shown you / told you about?

“Humans do so many weird things. I really don’t know if I could actually figure out the weirdest one. I don’t get why they have paper money when the little metal ones are so much easier … for that matter, why do they even do money?”

nightmarejasmine asked: Hey Jacob, how does it feel to be a super giant

“Ha. Pretty good, I guess? The sprites are warming up to me a bit more by the day, so I feel pretty accomplished.”

Ask Game part 2

Neon BrightLeave a comment

The ask game continues! Here’s the next batch from over on tumblr.

Anonymous asked: jacob, have you ever had a negative interaction with any of the sprites that still haven’t warmed up to you? how did it go if you have?

“Nothing like a huge panic … but I have definitely startled some of ‘em once or twice. One sprite came whipping around a tree at one point and screamed when he saw me. I think the poor dude was pretty embarrassed about it, but it’s not like I’m gonna tell all the other sprites what happened. I’m a giant to them, I get why they’d be scared.”

Anonymous asked: For our big teddy bear Jacob: why is your necklace so special to you? Where’d you get it?

“Ah, this is … when I was a little kid, like five or something, my dad went home to Greece for a bit. I guess since I was upset I couldn’t go, he promised to bring something back for me. He probably bought it from some local artist that makes stuff like this for tourists and stuff, but I got super attached to it. Especially after he got sick. It keeps him close.”

Indigomasquerade97 asked: Okay, Jacob. We all know you have been exposing your exasperated winged friend to the chaos that is humanity. Have you ever exposed him to any video games? And if so, what are his (and your) favorite games to play?

“Ha, well, one of the first times I ever hung out with Bowman, he actually saw me fiddling around with my buddy’s DS. Bowman thought it was some kind of animal at first until I showed him how it worked.

“It took me a while to get him to actually try the thing himself, but I did borrow the game to bring it back just to see. I think he likes puzzle games better, since they don’t require timing and Bowman gets frustrated when he can’t reach the right buttons fast enough. He seems to have fun with the touch screen though. His wings get all twitchy.”

Anonymous asked: Hey hey, Bowman, we all know Jacob’s a really calm and gentle guy, but what do you and the other wood sprites think of him eating meat, and maybe hunting animals while in the woods with you and about humans being omnivores in general?

“Well. Just because I don’t eat meat, doesn’t mean something else can’t. There’s a lot of things in the forest that are way less … I dunno, respectful about it than Jacob is, I guess. He goes away from the village when he’s going to eat anything. I’m just glad humans don’t eat sprites.”

Anonymous asked: My best friend wanted to ask you, Bowman: have you ever had ice cream?

“Ice scream? I’ve yelled when my friends throw snow on my wings. That’s the worst feeling! But I always get them back for it.”

Anonymous asked: hey bowman, has jacob told you about human myths/fairy tales/etc?

“Yes. I can’t believe how close and yet far away you humans are from the truth. At least maybe it helps keep you out of sprite business!”

Anonymous asked: Buddy boy Bowman, how much do you know about Jacob’s family? Would you ever want to meet them?

“I know his mother is really nice, and his father died. It would have been interesting to meet his dad, since apparently Jacob tries all the time to be just like him. I’d have to give him some feedback. Or maybe I’d have to bop them both, depending.

“I might meet his mother and her new mate someday? But I’m not rushing into even more giants knowing about me or anything.”

Anonymous asked: Lord Cerul, hi! In the BoW book, when Bowman first reports of giants who he believed were carnivores, and the elder who was present told legends of humans eating and caging sprites, you were the first who was willing to give us a chance and thought we might be reasonable despite this. Why is that, sir?

“Ah. I suppose I have a few reasons. Wellwood has stood for a long time, and I’ve no doubt that the sprites have changed since it was first established. Why should the giants have stayed exactly the same? Also, as someone who’s read quite a bit of the Archives myself, I know that they are often written in the emotion of the moment, which could color the claims made against any giants. Sadly, it really only takes one bad human to cause us insurmountable trouble.

“Lastly, it was clear to me that Bowman had his own doubts about the legends, and he would be curious himself. I merely gave him some small protection from the backlash should he act on his curiosity.”

Ask Game

Neon BrightLeave a comment

Over on my tumblr, I did a small ask game in which people could send in questions directly to my characters and I would answer in the character’s voice. I decided to compile what I have so far into one post over here.

@therealbrigeedarocks Asked: Hey Oscar, we know you’re pretty good at sewing but are there any other hobbies you’d like to try?

“W-well, I really like it when people watch the, um, there’s cooking shows on TV sometimes, and someday, if I could, I would wanna try to cook something all by myself. Not, um, not the ones that … some of ‘em are kinda stressful ‘cause they’re trying to win a prize, and they’re not as fun to watch…”

Anonymous asked: For Bowman: do sprites know what airplanes are? Have they seen them fly over the forest?

“We never knew what the big white birds were until Jacob told me one time. We just knew sometimes they were loud and could pull the clouds around, and that is just ridiculous and it makes way more sense that it’s humans’ fault.

Jacob also told me the fairy lights that fly so high up in the middle of the night are ‘air planes’, too, but I don’t think that’s right.”

Anonymous asked: For my BOY Jacob: do you ever just lie to bowman about random stuff about human society just because you know he can’t prove you wrong. Like “hey, you know humans have cloud factories that make and produce clouds all the time, right?” And just watch as Bowman tries to rationalize what you said.

“Oh man, all I can think of is him finding out. I’m not great at lying but like, Bowman asks a lot of questions about everything and sometimes I don’t actually know the answer. So I’ve made some stuff up sometimes. Honestly I have no idea what he will be skeptical about and what he’ll just accept, y’know? Like he knows what airplanes are now but doesn’t believe me that the lights moving in the sky at night are also airplanes.”

Anonymous asked: For the ask game! Question for Bowman and Rischa: have you ever heard Jacob casually say something fatalistic, like “kill me now” or “this makes me wanna jump off a cliff”? Because this is so casual with humans, and if one of my friends says something like this, my typical answer is “same”.

Rischa: “Wh-what? That sounds awful! Why would someone say something like that?”

Bowman: “Don’t worry, Birdie, it’s like sarcasm. I think. Some kinda human thing. Pretty sure I’ve heard him say something like ‘I guess I’ll die’. But usually he saves his jokes to try to tease me and he thinks he’s so funny when he does.”

Anonymous asked: Yo, Lord Scar Sir, have you ever had to scold Jacob for just teenage shenanigans? What’s that like?

“Ha. That giant is better behaved than some of the sprites around here, if I’m honest. I don’t have to say much if he’s wandering too close to somewhere he shouldn’t.

Some in the village are wondering if he’ll lend some of that mildness to the Leafwing boy, but I’m not holding my breath.”

Anonymous asked: Hey, Bowman, since there are Wellwood sprites who are still a bit distrustful of your giant, have you ever got into an argument/fight with someone because they called Jacob a monster or something?

“Most of us aren’t fighters in Wellwood, but some of the parents with nestlings that always want to see Jacob … they’ve scolded me a lot. As if I’m somehow the reason their nestlings are so curious about the giant that visits the village sometimes. Usually I have to fly out of the village to get away from them when they’re on that nonsense. I can’t control a whole giant any more than I can control some people being afraid of him.”

Ask Game for Writers

Neon BrightLeave a comment

9. Least favorite trope to write.

I hate reading/writing the types of relationship dynamics where one side is just … horrible to the other, but the reader is supposed to forgive them for a flimsy reason (the Edward/Bella dynamic from Twilight, for example). I really really need to see a lot of work put in by the character to earn that sort of redemption and “they’re the protagonist/protagonist’s favorite person” just doesn’t cut it for me.

15. Where does your inspiration come from?

I suppose I could waffle on this one forever, but at the end of the day my inspiration comes from me, the things I want to see written and the things I’ve seen or done and thought “I could make this into a story somehow”.

30. Favorite line you’ve ever written.

Gosh, any number of lines could pop into my head for this one, but right now it’s a tie between two:

“I broke the tangle!” – Bowman Leafwing, distressed upon accidentally folding over the corner of a piece of paper; found in the Brothers Asunder AU written with @nightmares06.

“The enemy is strong, and he is dangerous, but he will be strong and dangerous whether we cower and doubt ourselves or fly out to meet him!” – Scar Wolfblind, wood sprite badass, when he’s trying to get someone pumped up to go fight. It’s appeared in a couple AUs and also the original Bowman of Wellwood story.

37. Most inspirational quote you’ve ever read or heard that’s still important to you. 

I don’t really know why, but a quote from the Velveteen Rabbit (one of my favorite stories as a kiddo) has always stuck with me:  “ Real isn’t how you are made. It’s a thing that happens to you.”

I guess it probably has a lot to do with the way I (and writers, in general) make things real. Maybe.

Ask Game for Writers

Neon BrightLeave a comment

18. What’s your revision or rewriting process like?

Depending on the story, my process varies a little bit. For the quick stories and crack AUs (like Size Swap, for example) I don’t do a ton of editing beyond a few proofreading runs–seeking out misspellings and the like to make it presentable. Those are more fast and loose writing wise.

For full projects, including those I cowrite with others, I usually like a chance to read through once or twice to proofread and also make sure little details and sentences are in the order I want them to be in. I can get pretty picky when I’m rearranging stuff in a scene to make it look its best for me.

My first novel went through 6 or 7 major drafts, and that doesn’t count the little bursts of editing small portions of it here and there over time.

29. Who do you write for? 

At the risk of sounding super sappy, I write for my close friends. Before I put something out there for the general public to read, I always want to know what my friends think of a thing I’ve worked hard on. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of accomplishment when someone I trust says they think I did a good job.

Ask Game for Writers

Neon BrightLeave a comment

Anonymous: 1. Favorite place to write and 6. Favorite character you ever created!

( Ask Game For Writers ) 

( Answer to 6 )

My favorite place to write …. That’s a tough one! I really like being at home, as most hermits like me tend to, but I also go to a local coffee shop every Sunday to write for a couple hours, and I’ve done some great stuff there! I always get a hot chocolate in winter months and an Italian soda in the warmer months.

Ask Game for Writers

Neon Bright1 Comment

( Ask Game For Writers )

6. Favorite character you ever created.

Ha! I think every single response I got to this game so far went for #6.

The answer for this has to be Bowman Leafwing. He’s had his ups and downs, and he’s changed a lot from the first inkling I ever had of him, and he’s my baby. I have a lot of really close candidates for the top spot here, but I have to stick with my roots and say it’s the leafy boy.

8. Favorite trope to write.

Without a doubt I love writing the character who is physically weak/small/frail/etc but is also the most outgoing/bold/SASSY out of anyone. Tiny, but fierce!

31. Hardest character to write.

I would say Bobby Loran might be the toughest one for me to write. Other than his scenes where he goes off the rails, he could really go in any direction and I don’t often know until a scene is in progress.

32. Easiest character to write. 

99% of the time the answer to this one is Jacob Andris. He’s such a chill dude, and his gentle nature makes him easy and fun to write for. He saves room for cheekiness sometimes, and even then it’s all in fun and he never means any harm. It’s hard not to get along with Jacob eventually.