Hello, Haru here! See, what you see on the front page is the end result of a HUGE amount of work, some of which actually includes book-style research (in things like "The Book of Sacred Magic of Abra Melin the Mage" and "A Dictionary of Angels" and so on). Mainly it's talking through problems and working things out. We both have a serious problem with overusing the pronoun 'he' and losing who's doing what in a sentance.
This 'process' can go in three main ways.
AOL IM messaging is by far the most common. We stay up til the wee hours talking over small details until we get things finangled out. Of course, IM Messages are also awful to HTML, so there's not as many up as we've actually discussed. In these, we often take on aspects of our characters -- Hoyden is very Mikael-like, I'm very Raphael-like, which is why she blushes and is helpful, I tease, teleport, act psychic, and am NOT helpful. Le sigh. Our AOL IM names have been changed to protect our identities. ^^
Beta reading is a much more finished tweaking. The story's already written, we just work out little details. Again, Hoyden is helpful, and I just sorta hellaround and have fun.
Finally, there's roleplaying. On the NeoTokyo MUCK, Hoyden plays Mikael and I play Raphael. We're setting it in sorta a side-universe to our universe -- we got paid vacation, took a trip to NeoTokyo, and while down there the way home vanished, which is pretty typical for Neo Tokyo. This is usually where germs of ideas come from -- usually too early to talk through, even. There aren't many MUCK logs up here at the moment because, due to the garbling that's typical with logging, it takes twice as long to HTML as it does to roleplay. So a four-hour roleplay session results in eight hours HTMLing.
Please enjoy this inside look into the processes we've gone through to get where we are now!
Working Through "Trump" and "Dare"
Harukami comments on how Trump was coming along at the time, Hoyden basically
helps her decide on a plot for Dare when it looks like it's going to lack plot
completely, and a few random conversations about Raphael's past.
Roleplay with Kal, Bele, and the Metatron
While angsting over angst, Hoyden pulls out the Metatron, Harukami pulls out her
characters Kal and Bele (from Fallen
Things), and they all start to roleplay. Kinda limey, basically a nonsense
excuse for everyone snuggling everyone else's characters.
Working through "Beginnings" and
Betaings
Harukami's betaed "No One Else Will Do" and they discuss it, at the
same time as working out what exactly caused Mikael's reaction to seeing his old
teacher again on earth. Also, Azrael and Suriel as the characters of FAKE.
Afriel, Cherior, and Devecia
We were writing our fics at the same time, and we had to figure out what the
characters meant to each other, since we were both using Cherior. Also: Cherior
the obsessive.
Sandalphon, Most Holy as Matchmaker, and Devecia
(again)
Preview of a new fic, Introduction to Sandalphon, Yenta Most Holy, and a
physical description of Devecia.
Cherior Nicknames, Fanart, and Smoky Velvet Dialogue
Thinking up nicknames for Cherior, a very enthusiastic response to Celes' fanart
to us, and a random bit of roleplay with Hoyden as Mikael and Harukami as
Raphael. Because Harukami can do an imitation of the Raphael voice one octave
too high, and Hoyden can blush.
TRUMP - Betaed by Harukami
"Poor Suri. Gets stuck with the worst job in the Realm and still has to
wash dishes."
Haru msts, teases, and voyeurs her way through the story. Mainly the voyeur
thing. Oh, and she invents whole new terms for Uriel.
NO ONE ELSE WILL DO - Betaed by Harukami
"Hey, baby. Wanna go harness some lightening?"
Haru tries to be helpful, then gives up and gets angsty for the Metatron.
DARE - Betaed by the Hoyden
"Nice description of hell. And what IS that funky smell?!"
Hoyden IS helpful. She's good at it. She also saved Mikael and Raphael's
relationship in this one...
IF IT'S NOT ONE THING - Betaed by the Hoyden
"Because I am the administrative bad-ass. Fear my wicked signature."
Hoyden needed sleep, but she was nevertheless helpful. And silly.
NOW WE'RE COOKING - Betaed by the Hoyden
"When someone says the word "anus", my mind jumps to such things
as stratified columnar epithelium, which is present in areas of the GI tract to
protect inner structures from friction."
We'd already talked this one through. She did kick me in a very helpful manner
regarding the number of times I got their names confused, though.
Dinner at the Usual
After having slept on the roof of the Usual Restaraunt, they head down to buy
some dinner from Sabin. Mikael worries about his authenticity as a teacher,
Raphael has issues with people calling him a drunk, and NikoBlue buys everyone
sake becaue Mikael and Raphael are cute together.
Mikael and Raphael belong to Tenshi ni Narumon -- we're just having fun with them. Everyone else, including ourselves, belongs to us. What?