9 replies to this topic

[Cassius Alcinder]

Welcome to my MTA thread!

I'm James aka Cassius Alcinder.

I've done a bit of sportswriting, but this is my first foray into fiction. Cassius Alcinder is my sportswriter penname; it combines the real names of two famous athletes who changed their names.

While browsing HP Wiki a few months ago, I read through the questions on the History of Magic NEWT, and there was one about a secret task force of wizards and muggles that helped the Allies win WWII. That little tidbit inspired me to start writing fanfics by giving me the plot bunny that has become "Their Finest Hour," my ongoing novel about Dumbledore's quest to defeat Grindelwald and how it fits into the bigger picture of WWII. It also tells the story of a British soldier named John Evans, who may or may not be Lily's dad

I also really enjoy writing comedy, so I have started writing comedy fanfictions as well. My first humor story on here is "Voldemort and the Epic Recession," which is about Voldemort trying to find a regular job after Harry defeats him. I have several other similar stories in the works about various characters, including Snape, Sirius, and Cedric.

I also have a few other action/adventure stories in the works, icluding one about Dean Thomas meeting some football hooligans when he's on the run in Book 7, one about young Tom Riddle when he was in Eastern Europe, and a buddy cop story about Kingsley and Mad-Eye that's equally action and comedy.

You can check out my author page here: My Stories (15+)

Feel free to ask questions, I have cookies!

Edited by Cassius Alcinder, 13 November 2011 - 03:14 AM.

[Emerald_Eyed_Bookworm]

Ok so I was just reviewing your story, Their Finest Hour, and it was really interesting to see here where you got the idea from. For such an in depth story, you obviously have to do research. I was wondering where/how you do your research for both the historical setting as well as Harry Potter lore - to make sure your characters are well established.

[Cassius Alcinder]

Good question, thanks for asking!

I'm really interested in history so I tend to read a fair amount of historical books which gives me a decent background knowledge. While writing a story like that, I'll usually have two internet tabs open; one on wikipedia and on on HP wiki so I can consult both histories and try to blend the two timelines toghether the right way, which is definetely a challenge. While wikipedia may not be the greatest source for school work, its great when you just need to know something quickly.

[Beeezie]

Hey, I have a few questions.

1. How do you think John Evans reacted when Lily got her letter from Hogwarts? Do you think that Dumbledore himself went to discuss it with them?

2. Do you see yourself writing about other wars when you finish Their Finest Hour?

3. Which eras are your favorite to write about? How about to read?

4. Do you have a story of yours that you like the best? If so, which?

[Ariellem]

Hello!

1). Who is your favorite character that you have ever written?
2). Why do you write comedy?
3).Your favorite ship?
4). What was your favorite part in Scott Pilgrim? Favorite Evil Ex?

[Cassius Alcinder]

1. How do you think John Evans reacted when Lily got her letter from Hogwarts? Do you think that Dumbledore himself went to discuss it with them?

Really good question, I'm actually working on writing this scene right now. For one thing, I imagine John being a lot closer to Lily than he is with Petunia, which might explain a lot about both of their personalities. I think he would be very proud of Lily (as Petnuia hinted at in one of the books) but I think he also be pretty upset that she's leaving home at such a young age. I'm still debating if Dumbledore would have showed up or not, I feel like Dumbledore would have wanted to keep a lot of his wartime activities secret, and obviously he never told Harry about it.

2. Do you see yourself writing about other wars when you finish Their Finest Hour?

Well I'm a big fan of historical fiction, both reading and writing, so thats a definite possibility. The next longer story I"m working on is set in Russia in the 1950's, during the wizard version of the Cold War. The MC is an OC Russian witch named Anastasia who is a special agent for the Soviet Ministry, but is also a double agent playing both sides. Tom Riddle is there as well, hiding out with the Russians since we know he was probably in Eastern Europe at this time. One of the soldiers from Their Finest Hour gets recalled by the Ministry to go on a mission with Mad Eye Moody to spy on the Russians and ends up becoming a love interest for Anastasia. I'm pretty excited about how that one might turn out.

3. Which eras are your favorite to write about? How about to read?

I don't know if I can really single out one particular era, but I like to read and write about eras and topics that I consider gaps in canon, parts of the story that aren't really told. I fell like the Hogwarts era is pretty well covered in the books, unless you write about one of the lesser known characters. I like to read Marauders stories that incoporate the first war, and pretty much anything about minor characters we don't see much. I like next gen stories that are a little bit different and avoid the cliches, and I'll probably try my hand at writing one at some point.

4. Do you have a story of yours that you like the best? If so, which?


If I had to pick one, i think it would have to be Voldemort and the Epic Recession, because it started out as just a crazy idea I had and ended up spwaning a whole AU series thats still ongoing.

1). Who is your favorite character that you have ever written?

I would have to say my AU version of Voldemort (defeated, virtually powerless, and trying to become a functional member of society) because its just so much fun to write.

2). Why do you write comedy?

Comedy is definetley my favorite genre and its really what comes most naturally to me, plus its pretty fun to write as well.

3).Your favorite ship?

My favorite ship would have to be Ron/Hermione, I think its the best developed ship in the series, and I love the slow buildup over theirs years of spending all their time togther and how it finally culminated in the end. Ron is so much better for her than Draco.

4). What was your favorite part in Scott Pilgrim? Favorite Evil Ex?

Probably when he tricks the vegan guy into drinking milk, so clever, although the twins were probably the most epic of the exes.

[GinevraMollyPotter]

Hey I've r&r'd all of the Voldermort series!

1) Where do you find inspiration for your humour stories? Through comments you hear or from other influences?

2) Why did you decide to do a StarWars/HP crossover? (Just interested as it's quite an unusual concept)

3) Do Mary-Sue's in a story which is not intended to be humorous put you off?

4) Do you prefer writing one-shots or novels?

[Cassius Alcinder]

1. I just try to imagine the most ridiulous scenarios possible (like Voldemort working at Tesco or recording a Christmas album) and take things from there. Sometimes the most random things will give me an idea, and I really just try to picture characters in situations that they really don't belong in.

2. Well I'm a big fan of both HP and Star Wars, and I think there are a lot of similarities between Voldemort and Darth Vader's characters (with the key difference being that Vader still had some good in him and was capable of loving, but that's a way too serious theme for the purposes of my stories haha) I actually got the idea for this paritiuclar story when I was debating with a few friends who would win various battles between fictional characters, and we were stuck on Voldy vs. Vader for a while. It's so fun to imagine how the two of them would interact.

3. I think Mary Sues can definetaly take away from a story, but there are a lot of elements that go into forming the perfect Mary Sue (beautiful, popular, cries out for sympathy, has a dark past, is in love with a major canon character, is best friends with a canon character like Lily or Rose, etc.) and I've seen a lot of characters with one or two of these elements but I think its rare to see one with all of them, unless it was intentional like I did with Mary Sue Slytherin.

4. I actually enjoy writing both, but one-shots come a lot easier to me, especially since all mine are humorous they don't really require a whole lot of planning, its relaly just coming up with a crazy idea and running with it, wheras novels take a lot more preparation.

[Cassius Alcinder]

Hey Deeds, great to see you back!

My favorite color is blue, no wait yellow! arrrrggggghhhhhhhh!

1. Isn't Russian history just fascinating!?! It's really fun getting to explore Russia's history and culture in my latest story "Behind the Curtain" I'm also really into 1800's Britain, colonial America and ancient Greece, but I have yet to think of ways to incorporate these into fanfics.

2. Sports writing is a lot of fun! I mostly write about basketball, but I try to work in a little bit of everything when I can.

3. I took Spanish in school and I speak it ok I guess. I also picked up a little bit of German just for kicks.

4. It definetely is a bit of challenge to piece everything together. It really helps me to write an outline and figure out where I want the story to go before I start writing it, but I still have to figure out a lot of the details as I go along. Also, it is always challenging to try to incorporate the magical world into the historical timeframe, but at least with WWII and Grindelwald JKR gave us some pretty big hints.

5. I've thought about possibly making an apic novel about Voldemort's post war woes, but we'll just have to see. As for other characters, I think Lee Jordan is very underrated.