Rose: Uncle Harry, can you quiz me? I’ve made special flash cards and a rewards system to help myself memorize Hogwarts: A History. If I get 5 questions right, I get a handful of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. If I get 10 right, I get three Chocolate Frogs, and if I get 20 right, I get two slices of treacle tart.

Harry: *silently wondering how someone can be so Hermione and so Ron at the same time* No problem, moppet.

Fic Writer Interview

Thank you @mina-roman for tagging me!!

Fandoms I write for: Harry Potter (Romione only with golden trio and Hinny weaved through on occasion), Smallville (Clana only), Sherlock, HSM, and the occasional Avengers or Gossip Girl fic

Two-Shot:I don’t think I’ve have a two-shot posted, but I have several in progress for Romione.

Most popular multichapter: The Ancient and Most Noble House of Prewett, a Post-War Romione mystery that was seriously the most therapeutic thing I did during 2020. To summarize: buried secrets come back to haunt the Weasley clan and the Wizarding World as a whole

Worst part of writing: I’m a perfectionist. I write, rewrite and then I rewrite again, I’m never convinced it’s ready or good enoough or even coherent. I have to take a step back from it and then start again. This also means my update pace is frozen mollasses in the wintertime.

How you choose your titles: It depends on the story. With House of Prewett, the chapter title is always a line from the chapter itself, one that I feel best summarizes the central point of the chapter. For that one, the chapter title was always chosen after it was written, a way of putting the lid on that part of the story.

With The One and Seventh Son, there are quotes. With The One, very specific quotes because of the inspiration of the story and also because most of the turmoil takes place inside Hermione’s mind and heart and what better way to sum that up than with lyrical quotes. With Seventh Son, similarly although the quotes aren’t taken from one specific place, they all sort of surmise Ron’s thinking on what happens in that chapter. With the The Strategist, the Chapter Titles outline the theme of the chapter, but are not directly taken from the chapter itself.

Do you outline: In my head only. The way inspiration hits me is kind of I see the beginning and the end of the story. The middle comes as I write. I’ll see bulletpoint moments and then try to workout how I get there, almost like drawing a map.

Ideas I probably won’t get to but it would be nice: Way too many to count. For every story I’m physically typing, there are like seven I am not trying not to write in my head.

Callouts @ me: I do this thing where I constantly write Fred when I mean to say George. I have no idea why. I think I’m subconsciously fighting against a plotline I hate. Additionally, a misspelled word or two. I rewrite so much that sometimes things I meant to delete will still be there.

Best writing habits: I don’t know, I think I’m good at adding twists and turns, supsenseful moments, etc. I also try to make it so my stories don’t seem all that similar to each other,

Spicy tangential opinion: I go on enough rants about the fandom and the horrible, unwarranted Ron hate so I’m not going to do that here. What I will say that in my stories, I decide what I’m writing so if you find it unpleasant, impossible, unrealistic, or whatever please do not feel the need to DM me and tell me what you think I should change, or how I should change a plotline etc. There’s an entire universe of fanfiction out there. Go find one that suits your fancy or better yet, write your own.

Dear Instagram accounts,

I really don’t mind helping to provide you with content, and I’m glad that you like my stuff, but please provide credit and give me a follow? I’m coming up with this rubbish myself, so send some love my way if you want to use my blog for your pages. Thanks! :) 

- palindromic-geek

Gryffindor:

Does extra reading but forgets to read mandatory texts / “Damn I’m stressed, better meditate for a bit” *breathes in* *SCREAMS* / On a first-names basis with all their teachers and the lunch ladies / Always tries to help friends with work / Wants to study in a group, knows they’ll get distracted / Has tried the ‘study then reward’ method, ended up eating the reward before studying / Day-dreams of the best end-of-year prank

Ravenclaw:

Doodles in the margins / Actually enjoys silent working time / Gets inspired when they get a project, procrastinates until they can’t fulfil their vision / Coffee as a meal replacement / Knows how to solve the problem, they just can’t verbalise it / They either study for 1 minute or 1 day, nothing is done by halves / Wants to make a breakthrough in science or archaeology or literature etc. but DAMMIT this class may kill them first

Slytherin:

Understands the complex material better than the basics / Would rather hand something in late than done wrong / Wants to be open to new ideas, but they know that theirs are better / Really enjoys doing extra research / Can write eloquently, but memorise things better if they use slang and the occasional curse (”foot-fetish-Philip Larkin was the voice of the working class, but he was a miserable cheating b*stard”)

Hufflepuff:

Work harder for teachers they get attached to / Getting praise puts them on cloud 9, but they find it hard to recover from well-meant criticism / They either know everything or nothing, and they’re not embarrassed to admit the latter / Put effort into every task, but they can’t help when they’re feeling more inspired / Tend to get consistent grades / Studying can feel very relaxing for them, but small distractions drive them nuts

It may be early, but it’s already beginning to feel autumnal where I live, so I’m feeling excited!!! :D

Gryffindor:

Wants to jump into the BIGGEST leaf pile and carve the SCARIEST pumpkin / Starts to subtlety smell of bonfires and spice / Buys their sparklers and fireworks in bulk / Jams out to ‘ Monster Mash’ and ‘Time Warp’ in the lead-up to Halloween

Ravenclaw:

Want to sit in a café and read whilst sipping a seasonal drink / Gets in the mood for Halloween by reading conspiracies and Creepypasta, and watching Buzzfeed Unsolved / Loves wearing extra scarves / Their chilled evenings-in feel so much more satisfying when it’s cold outside

Hufflepuff:

Overdoses on Halloween sweets / Wants to watch as many horror films as possible (will probably end up watching Disney after they’ve finished traumatising themselves) / Looks cute in oversized jumpers / Cold weather is the best excuse for them to drink hot chocolate every day

Slytherin:

Feels more powerful when Halloween is in the air / Has ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ on loop, and likes to yell out ‘THIS IS HALLOWEEN’ at any given moment / They start to play with even darker make-up and clothing / Feels safe when they’re wrapped up inside and it’s miserable outside