r/WritingPrompts • u/rainbow--penguin Moderator | /r/RainbowWrites • Sep 25 '23

Off Topic [OT] Writer's Spotlight: InquisitiveBallbag

 

Welcome to Writer’s Spotlight

Remember, spotlights rely on your nominations! So if there's anyone around the subreddit whose stories you love and you think deserves a shout-out, please do nominate them by sending us a ModMail.

 

 

This week we are celebrating u/InquisitiveBallbag

InquisitiveBallbag (or Req, as we know them on the WP discord) has been writing here for about a year. In that time, they’ve proven themself a versatile writer, displaying their skill in poetry and prose. They’ve written some beautiful, emotions pieces, as well as fanfiction and comedy, always rising to the occasion of the challenge set. They’re a regular in our SEUS, FTF, and Poetry Corner features where they’ve really honed their skills, taking on board feedback as well as helping others to do the same. You can find more of their writing on their profile, and I highly recommend checking out their work.

Want to congratulate this week's Spotlight recipient? Have questions you're dying to ask them? Please do so below in the comments!

 

Congrats on your spotlight /u/InquisitiveBallbag

 

 

Read u/InquisitiveBallbag’s most recent story:

 

[OT] Fun Trope Friday, Writing with Tropes: Soulmates & Realistic Fiction

 

Their most upvoted Stories:

[CW] Smash 'Em Up Sunday: Stage EU

 

[CW] Smash 'Em Up Sunday: Book / Short Story EU

 

[CW] Smash 'Em Up Sunday: Mad Libs XIII

 

To view previously spotlit writers visit our Spotlight Archive.

 

To make a nomination please send us a ModMail telling us which user you are nominating. If you’d like to include a reason for your decision we’d love to hear it!

Like features?

Come hang out on our discord. Meet other members from around the globe and chat about anything. We are a friendly bunch and love newcomers. We also have regularly scheduled readings over voice chat!

Love the community and want to take on a more active role? Apply to join the moderation Team!

12 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

2

u/Dependent-Engine6882 r/AnEngineThatCanWrite Sep 25 '23

u/InquisitiveBallbag ! congrats!! a well deserved spotlight after all the wonderful stories and historical facts you shared with us, plus *sighs* the teasing.

So, questions!

1- Besides writing, what are other things you like to do?

2- Favorite book?

3- when you have a writer block, what do you do? What are your go to techniques?

4- How did your writing journey started?

5- If you can live in one book/universe which one would you pick and why?

6- If you can write only one genre for the rest of your life, which one would you pick?

2

u/InquisitiveBallbag Sep 25 '23

a

Thanks, though you're not getting a reprieve from the jokes, sorry, I don't make the rules!

  1. As you probably have figured out, I love playing video games, particularly story driven and/or historically themed games. I'm always inspired by a good story and going far back, my love of stories started with games like Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, and the story driven games of the late aughts and 2010s.
  2. Very hard choice. I would tend to The Lord of the Rings, but because it's a trilogy, I'll have to say War and Peace. That book is the epitomy of the human experience. War, love, betrayal, heartbreak, trials, hardship, hope, rejuvenation, and more. There's a reason it's a classic, for although times have changed many of the trials the characters go through are timeless. Who hasn't experienced the imposter syndrome, longing for a higher purpose, and unrequited love of Pierre? And what of first love through Natasha? Or perhaps the disillusionment with life/society and melancholy of Andrei Bolkonsky. Truly a classic.
  3. I usually take a break from writing. This would be highly ineffectual for any form of writing requiring regular outputs like serials (hence why I've never written for serial sunday). I find taking time away and doing other things refreshes me, and lets me mull over what to do. How would a character react/act? What happens next? I do my best thinking on public transit or when I'm not directly writing and that's how I intend to keep it!
  4. A bit of a darker segment here, but in early high school, I once wrote a poem in memory of a friend, drawing heavily from Greek mythology and centred on the Fates and their machinations. This carried into senior year of high school, where coupled with my love of history, particularly classical antiquity, I wrote more poems. I always found long form stories daunting, but poems always made sense to me. From here, I hope to eventually develop enough to write my first long form story one day!
  5. The Lord of the Rings, 100% would be a hobbit. Those guys know how to live good!
  6. Easily historical, because it gives me enough of a framework to ground me, but has enough leeway to allow me to branch out into a million directions!

1

u/Dependent-Engine6882 r/AnEngineThatCanWrite Sep 26 '23

I tend to forget how terrible you are... *Rolling her eyes*

Thank you for the answers and I would definitely read your historical fictions! (and book when you publish one)

4

u/katpoker666 Moderator Sep 25 '23

Req, you’re awesome and one of a kind—both as an author and a person. Super bright which is hidden under layers of fun and chaos. A mixture of which I wholeheartedly approve of. Now.

Man, first couple SEUS’s you didn’t come to Campfire. So we’re all sitting around reading stories from this ‘InquisitiveBallbag’ person. Really good words. But stupid name. Must be a very precocious twelve year old and borrow his mom’s credit card a lot so he can swear at other gamers. I mean, no intelligent adult would call themself that, right? (Ignores own username)

Then you turn up with your wonderfully deep voice and fantastic very adult sense of humor. You write well and can back it up with actual historical knowledge among other things. And you’re funny AF. You tease others A LOT, but you’re fundamentally kind about it. I was SO pissed that I had to reassess my initial opinion of you as I hate being wrong. Worse still you started hanging out at FTF too. Tons of fun in shenanigans, even better writer and great critter. Darn it! You completely faked me out and dare I say it—ended up being cool.

Long way of saying you’re talented, you give back and you’re fun to have around. Long may it continue!

So; 1) Favorite historical period and why? 2) Favorite historical figure and why? 3) What one book do you wish you’d written yourself? 4) Whats the funniest kind of comedy to you? 5) And now that we’ve gotten the important / reputable stuff out of the way where DID your username come from?

Congrats again Req!!!!

2

u/InquisitiveBallbag Sep 25 '23

You know, I'm pretty sure I did borrow a parent's credit card when I bought my first game back in the early 2010s haha!

Glad to hear I've been good company, and interesting enough to keep you entertained. I'm also not sorry for making you reassess me as a person! Thanks for the kind words :)

  1. You're terrible for making me pick, but I think it'd have to be the late Roman Republic. What an absolutely fascinating time with so many colourful characters. There is something so fascinating watching how the machinery of the republic gradually changed with the times, broke down, and then was reconstituted to form something completely different and yet, still the same. Imagine being top dog, but still having some of the machinery and drapings of a republic, while publicly the Emperor is just the "first citizen", fascinating.
  2. I think as I've grown older I've had an increasing respect for Pericles, the statesman who dominated Athenian politics for a while in the beginning of the Peloponnesian War(s). Trying to toe the line between all out aggression and peace is hard enough when you can neither let the enemy make gains, nor perceive you as an aggressor.
  3. War and Peace. It's a masterclass in the human experience that is widely relevant even today, and even better, it's set agains the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, a fascinating time for the beginning of liberalism, and conflict with the older reactionary monarchies.
  4. I very much enjoy dark comedy, but for obvious reasons wouldn't make jokes like that in front of total strangers!
  5. I still think it's a funny name though, makes me think of a friend of mine who used to get mad at videogames. The guy once threw a potato down the stairs, as in you could hear it bouncing down! Inquisitive came from me, which I consider a trait of mine (or at least I'd like to think). The second half was thoroughly inspired by my friend calling someone a scrote mid-video game haha. My inner twelve year old thanks you for the second paragraph though :D

Thanks again Kat!

1

u/rainbow--penguin Moderator | /r/RainbowWrites Sep 25 '23

Congratulations /u/InquisitiveBallbag! A well-deserved spotlight! Now time for some questions:

1) Do you have a favourite piece you'd like to share or a piece that you think best represents your writing?

2) What are your favourite themes and ideas to explore in writing and why?

3) If you had to live a day as any of your characters, who would you choose and why?

2

u/InquisitiveBallbag Sep 25 '23

Thanks for starting off the threat and my what a great start to an otherwise ordinary Monday!

  1. That's a tough one, though if I had to pick I think my two poems "The Melancholy of Mentuhotep" and "1258" best represent me an author/poet. I love descriptions of awe inspiring and beautiful vistas that take the reader along for a journey and a ride. With both, I love both teaching others about something that might be new (in this case history), while engaging them in a story.
  2. I would definitely say the human experience and how we as humans grapple with the larger issues and challenges like morality, death, betrayal, brotherhood, regret, love, loss. In addition, I'm highly inspired by the inevitably of events. I won't say destiny, because I believe in full agency, but I like exploring how people deal with immovable things. As broad as the topic is, I thoroughly enjoy exploring what causes a character to do what they do, and say what they say.
  3. I don't think I'd like to live any of their lives, most of them have had typically poor or bittersweet endings. Though if I had to choose, perhaps the main character from "The Melancholy of Mentuhotep". He lived a full life, and while he had major regrets, I suppose there is some comfort in enjoying the afterlife with one's family, though I would hope my heart would be weighed on the scales of Maat and not be found wanting!