Answers to Stuff I Get Asked on A Regular Basis~!
This sort of assumes that you've gotten through both SWAN and ISH, so if you have a question after just reading SWAN, I would suggest just reading ISH to answer it, and then checking back here. This may also spoil little things.
Q. When was SWAN written?
A. SWAN was 'published' from February 22, 2005 to February 22, 2008.
ISH was first published in May of the same year. It was finally finished in May, 2012.
The quick ones in the audience will realize that this means they're kind of old and not necessarily a great example of what I'm doing now, and that the early chapters of SWAN in particular make me want to punch myself in the face.
Is your stuff on Fanfiction.net?
A. Yeah, I'm here. But for the love of fuck, don't go there. They change things so often that they've really ruined the formatting of everything and I lack the patience to fix it knowing it'll just get wrecked again. If you'd like to read SWAN/ISH somewhere that isn't here, go to my AO3 instead!
Q. Can you review my fic?
A. If I've read it and have something to say. I don't read a ton of fic, despite writing a couple novels worth of fic myself.
Q. Can you beta my fic?
A. If you're specifically Nny/Edgar, maybe. I don't have a lot of time, but I do like getting more of this pairing out into the world, so if you've got something cool, maybe! Send me an email or IM me or something, I don't mind.
Q. Will you write *pairing/subject/genre*?
A. I have no idea! I'm always up for ideas, just know there are some things I won't go anywhere near.
Q. What other stories have you written?
A. Whatever else I've messed with in written form is linked on the writing page here. It's not a ton since I'm pretty skittish about posting stories and art tends to have a higher focus for me.
Q. Why doesn’t Edgar remember Scriabin?
A. Yeah, I’ve actually gotten this question enough to need to post it here. Scriabin is from Zarla’s Vargas, and is not part of the SWAN continuity at all. Some people had some idea that Vargas was contained in the second life described in SWAN, but this was not the case. SWAN is its own universe.
Q. Why don’t you have Dib/Gaz/Zim do this/that/the other thing?
A. This isn’t an Invader Zim fic. While I think that the universes are the same one for various reasons, and thus I felt that including Dib wouldn’t make this a crossover, it is still not about him or any one around him. He’s there for a reason, but the reason is not to be a main character. Sorry!
Q. How much time has passed between the lives, and between certain chapters?
A. From the canon JTHM timeline to the second lifetime is hard to place. It’s really more like things picked up and just restarted a lot later. No one survived the first life. From the second life to this current one is a measurable amount of time, but it’s off in places. Some people who were alive for Edgar’s second life are still alive for his third, though some of them have questionable life spans.
Time between the original verison of SWAN's time skipping chapters is usually vague on purpose, which I thought a good decision at the time. This is being solidifed in reSWAN, but at the very beginning of Original Chapter 11, starting with Devi’s section, time has moved two years, as mentioned somewhere in that first paragraph. Some time, maybe 6 months or something, passes during SWAN 15. Between 16 and 17 is two-ish years.
Q. Where the hell did you come up with this?
A. The Homicides is the accidental combination of Johnny and Jem in my Astronmy class in 2004 while a friend and I weren’t paying attention. The original doodle of Homicides!Nny is in my scraps on dA, along with the writing of myself and my partner in Johnny/Jem crime. After I made the Homicides, a highschool idea wouldn’t leave me alone, and after a while, SWAN formed and wouldn’t shut up until my lovely friend Lana abused me about it and I went along with it. SWAN was primarily written for her.
Q. Can I make a fan-fanfic/fanart/songs/cosplay?
A. Yes, of course! It's not like I can stop you through a screen and I wouldn't want to! I’m rather flattered you’d want to take the time to do it, to be honest. I’d like to see it, and be credited with the universe if you plan on putting it up for the rest of the internet, though! I’d also like to put it up here eventually, if you’ll let me. Of course, you're also entitled to have it just between us if you just want to send me something. Whichever you like! Places to send things are on my About Me page. Just make sure you put something identifiable in the subject line of e-mails so I know you aren't porn spam!
Q. I have an idea for a story you should write!
A. It's lovely that you have so much faith in me! If you've got an idea though, write it! We all know that small fandom is small and more fic would be awesome. If there's some specific SWAN thing you want to see - like the first time people other than Edgar met, or some scene from someone else's POV, or a birthday party or something - let me know and I'll add it to the list of things to someday do extra blips of!
Q.What's the "Everyone here..." quote on the main page there?
A. It's a bit from Squonk Opera's 'Inferno', which provided both 'Above All the Silence' and 'Behind Your Skin' to SWAN.
Q.What's this Other! Edgar and Johnny stuff I keep hearing about?
A. That would be the insanely drama-filled AU of the AU that I dreamed and cultivated afterward with PolyesterRage, my beta for ISH. It supposes there is a reincarnation after the lives in SWAN/ISH and said reincarnation is done properly, where both Johnny and Edgar have parents and are visible. There are scrap versions of it on dA in my scraps and I've done a little writing based on it that I've squirreled away and linked to in a few hidden places. Perhaps when ISH is done, I'll post links to this mess.
Q. You do know that *canon JtHM detail*, right?
A. This will apparently surprise you, but I did read - and enjoy/appreciate! - the source material to write all this stuff. I know canon Johnny is quite damaged and doesn't have the capacity or desire for a lot of the things that SWAN!Johnny does/can do, but that was part of the experiment of all this - finding something Johnny-like once he was slightly removed from a thick shell of crazy. It's more like a thin veneer of crazy now.
Q.What is Banshee doing in all those CK pictures?
A. Since Banshee is my character, I had an intense urge to see her interact with my other characters, even if their universes are different. The crossover is not SWAN/ISH 'canon' or anything, don't worry. It's just silly fun for me.
Q. I have a Q that is not FA enough to be here!
A. That’s cool. IM me or e-mail me or post comments on dA and LJ, I don’t mind. Honestly, I love geeking out over this whole thing, so questions and such are quite welcome. Just try to keep it legible and don't send me e-cards.
-LYX
TO BE ADDED TO...!