The odor was attracting bugs that were attracting bats that were attracting bat-hawks.
1. Did my check-in for getyourwordsout. About 30,000 words for this past month, what with finishing up Amuse-Bouche (so many rewrites of the last 10k) and writing a coda and working on the Sex Bucket List fic. So now I'm at 70,000 out of my 200,000 words for the year goal (approximately 35%!).
2. Am gearing up for round two of i_reversebang. I hope people are still interested in participating! The official schedule and rules post will be announced soon (and artists can get started immediately, of course ;) )
3. 7 Topics/Questions given to me by mementis to answer:
Star Trek: is it Reboot-only for you, or all of Star Trek?
I actually watched quite a bit of Star Trek growing up--the originals on reruns, The Next Generation, Deep Space 9, all that. Though I wouldn't say I was a dedicated Trekkie--I just tried to catch it when it was on and I remembered.
I enjoyed the various iterations of ST to varying degrees, but none of them made me want to write fanfic until Reboot. I like that it feels fresher and more vibrant, and less turgidly stuck in its own history and years of canon and old-fashioned moralizing. It's much easier to write in Reboot because you can make up whatever you want--it's an alternate reality!
So it's freeing to write in Reboot, and I have to admit I just find the new cast sexier and more interesting (though I am still fond of some of the characters in the old casts).
Your dream crossover, purely as a reader.
Hmm, I'd love to see the Inception cast in a space opera. I find pretty much everything more entertaining if it's in space.
A crossover with Star Wars (the fandom of my heart that I don't actually write fic for) would be wonderful. I don't think I'd want anyone to play out Leia/Luke/Darth or anything like that, but maybe be Jedi/Sith/Bounty hunters who go on adventures, or set in the Knights of the Old Republic era as Darth Revan and Darth Malak. Oh god, I've ventured into ultra-Star Wars nerd territory here.
If you could magically finish any of your WIP's right now, in a way that makes you happy and proud about the way it turned out, which one would it be? i.e., which one of them do you most want to know exists as a finished product?
Gangstermoll, for sure. I will be sad for it to come to an end, finally, because I've been working on it so long. To leave the world I've developed behind is rather difficult in some ways, and even makes me a little emotional. There's a part of me that never wants to let these versions of Arthur & Eames & all the cast go, especially since I feel like it's not a universe I necessarily want to keep writing random codas or timestamps for (unlike the universe of Amuse-Bouche, where I could probably indulge myself forever).
The other story I'd really love magically finished is the Sex Bucket List fic, mostly because it's such a long overdue gift fic for chibi-lurrel I'm sure she's given up on ever actually reading it, lol. It has proven to be trickier to pin down and figure out how to write it and organize it than I expected, though, so it'd be a bit of a relief to have that all finished so I don't have to keep working at it ;)
What's your next fandom?
I wish I knew! Nothing's quite struck my fancy yet. The next ST Reboot movie is filming now, so I'll probably get back into that fandom once it releases, but in the meanwhile, I'm still on the look out. If Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy weren't so difficult to write in and the fandom weren't so small, I'd give that more of a try (Ricki Tarr/Guillam) but alas. The search continues.
Music. Yes, I know, huge topic. HUGE. Choose anything.
I have pretty wide-ranging and eclectic tastes. I like pop, hip hop, dance music, world music (particularly music in Spanish), opera, rock, instrumental, and alternative. I don't care for folk, country, or emo.
I like music for all different reasons: sometimes because the beat is good for dancing (I ballroom & latin dance), sometimes because it's fun and catchy, sometimes I just like the way it sounds, and sometimes because it has a really thought-provoking message/great lyrics. That's pretty much all I have to say about the topic, so I'm going to put some random youtube videos of songs I like, as well as the answers to the remaining questions
You knew this was coming, but: Ted. I'd love it if you talked about Ted a bit. If you're looking for something more specific, where in his life do you think he was, five years later? Ten? But really, anything about Ted would be very nice, thank you :)
Oh gosh, one of my favorite original characters ever! I still want to give him all the hugs in the world, the poor thing.
Ted was my first time developing a teenage character, and I wanted to stay away from all the typical tropes about teenagers: that they're broody and sulky, that they're full of angst or drama all the time, that they're angry or hate their parents. I also wanted him to be an actual kid, who talks like one and acts like one (as opposed to a mini adult).
It was actually a really interesting challenge for me--to try to remember what my childhood was like and how I saw the world, and then try to imagine what Dean and Ted's childhoods might have been like, and how they would have seen the world. I ended up basing the character of Ted on a variety of kids I knew growing up (and a couple of adults), so he's a composite of traits I gleaned from different people: the bowl cut, the glasses, the father who was a dentist, the big house, the complete collection of action figures. This is my process for creating OC's in general--usually I imagine an acquaintence and then add/subtract traits to them until I come up with a unique character that fits my story.
The other thing I really thought about was what kind of boy Dean would be drawn to: someone sweet, generous, nerdy in a way that doesn't make Dean feel stupid but instead encourages him to succeed. And what I think what really makes Ted as a character is his vulnerability, his shy willingness to open himself up to a strange boy from a completely different walk of life.
I did have half-baked plans to someday write a sequel where Dean and Ted meet up again out on the road--perhaps Ted somehow gets involved in a random monster of the week, who knows. But since it's been a while since the spark of SPN has lit my writing fuse, I might as well talk through my outline of the story ;)
Basically, when Dean runs into Ted again, it'll be as a full-grown adult. Ted is a fairly successful dentist and married to a pediatrician. He and Dean go out to a drink at a bar where they catch up on their lives a bit (Dean says he's a traveling salesman who mostly lives out of his car), and at the end of the drink, Ted invites Dean back to their house. Dean raises an eyebrow and says, what about your wife? and Ted just rolls his empty beer bottle in his hand and says, bitterly, she's at her bookclub meeting across town. Most meetings she gets so into her--book--that she doesn't come home till morning.
So Dean and Ted eventually go back to his house, which is big and beautiful and empty, and they have sex for the first time. Ted's improved as a kisser, and it's good, the chemistry they had as kids is still there. At the end of it, Dean suggests to him that he doesn't have to live like this. Ted snorts and replies that neither does Dean, but here they both are. Living out their parents' dreams for them.
The story ends with Dean leaving town again (called away on another case). When he asks for Ted's number, Ted shakes his head and says, you know I waited for you for-- and then he stops, and says, let's not do this. We're not kids anymore--let's not kid ourselves.
When Dean goes back to the car, Sam asks, who was that and Dean replies, someone I used to know.
What's one part of canon, in any of your fandoms, that you would most like to change?
Everything they did with Castiel after season 4. I mean, I didn't care for the way they handled the Apocalypse and everything during S5 but I could live with it. It was what they did with the character of Castiel that drained any interest I had in writing Dean/Castiel, which is a pity because I was quite fond of that ship.
2. Am gearing up for round two of i_reversebang. I hope people are still interested in participating! The official schedule and rules post will be announced soon (and artists can get started immediately, of course ;) )
3. 7 Topics/Questions given to me by mementis to answer:
Star Trek: is it Reboot-only for you, or all of Star Trek?
I actually watched quite a bit of Star Trek growing up--the originals on reruns, The Next Generation, Deep Space 9, all that. Though I wouldn't say I was a dedicated Trekkie--I just tried to catch it when it was on and I remembered.
I enjoyed the various iterations of ST to varying degrees, but none of them made me want to write fanfic until Reboot. I like that it feels fresher and more vibrant, and less turgidly stuck in its own history and years of canon and old-fashioned moralizing. It's much easier to write in Reboot because you can make up whatever you want--it's an alternate reality!
So it's freeing to write in Reboot, and I have to admit I just find the new cast sexier and more interesting (though I am still fond of some of the characters in the old casts).
Your dream crossover, purely as a reader.
Hmm, I'd love to see the Inception cast in a space opera. I find pretty much everything more entertaining if it's in space.
A crossover with Star Wars (the fandom of my heart that I don't actually write fic for) would be wonderful. I don't think I'd want anyone to play out Leia/Luke/Darth or anything like that, but maybe be Jedi/Sith/Bounty hunters who go on adventures, or set in the Knights of the Old Republic era as Darth Revan and Darth Malak. Oh god, I've ventured into ultra-Star Wars nerd territory here.
If you could magically finish any of your WIP's right now, in a way that makes you happy and proud about the way it turned out, which one would it be? i.e., which one of them do you most want to know exists as a finished product?
Gangstermoll, for sure. I will be sad for it to come to an end, finally, because I've been working on it so long. To leave the world I've developed behind is rather difficult in some ways, and even makes me a little emotional. There's a part of me that never wants to let these versions of Arthur & Eames & all the cast go, especially since I feel like it's not a universe I necessarily want to keep writing random codas or timestamps for (unlike the universe of Amuse-Bouche, where I could probably indulge myself forever).
The other story I'd really love magically finished is the Sex Bucket List fic, mostly because it's such a long overdue gift fic for chibi-lurrel I'm sure she's given up on ever actually reading it, lol. It has proven to be trickier to pin down and figure out how to write it and organize it than I expected, though, so it'd be a bit of a relief to have that all finished so I don't have to keep working at it ;)
What's your next fandom?
I wish I knew! Nothing's quite struck my fancy yet. The next ST Reboot movie is filming now, so I'll probably get back into that fandom once it releases, but in the meanwhile, I'm still on the look out. If Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy weren't so difficult to write in and the fandom weren't so small, I'd give that more of a try (Ricki Tarr/Guillam) but alas. The search continues.
Music. Yes, I know, huge topic. HUGE. Choose anything.
I have pretty wide-ranging and eclectic tastes. I like pop, hip hop, dance music, world music (particularly music in Spanish), opera, rock, instrumental, and alternative. I don't care for folk, country, or emo.
I like music for all different reasons: sometimes because the beat is good for dancing (I ballroom & latin dance), sometimes because it's fun and catchy, sometimes I just like the way it sounds, and sometimes because it has a really thought-provoking message/great lyrics. That's pretty much all I have to say about the topic, so I'm going to put some random youtube videos of songs I like, as well as the answers to the remaining questions
Click to viewYou knew this was coming, but: Ted. I'd love it if you talked about Ted a bit. If you're looking for something more specific, where in his life do you think he was, five years later? Ten? But really, anything about Ted would be very nice, thank you :)
Oh gosh, one of my favorite original characters ever! I still want to give him all the hugs in the world, the poor thing.
Ted was my first time developing a teenage character, and I wanted to stay away from all the typical tropes about teenagers: that they're broody and sulky, that they're full of angst or drama all the time, that they're angry or hate their parents. I also wanted him to be an actual kid, who talks like one and acts like one (as opposed to a mini adult).
It was actually a really interesting challenge for me--to try to remember what my childhood was like and how I saw the world, and then try to imagine what Dean and Ted's childhoods might have been like, and how they would have seen the world. I ended up basing the character of Ted on a variety of kids I knew growing up (and a couple of adults), so he's a composite of traits I gleaned from different people: the bowl cut, the glasses, the father who was a dentist, the big house, the complete collection of action figures. This is my process for creating OC's in general--usually I imagine an acquaintence and then add/subtract traits to them until I come up with a unique character that fits my story.
The other thing I really thought about was what kind of boy Dean would be drawn to: someone sweet, generous, nerdy in a way that doesn't make Dean feel stupid but instead encourages him to succeed. And what I think what really makes Ted as a character is his vulnerability, his shy willingness to open himself up to a strange boy from a completely different walk of life.
I did have half-baked plans to someday write a sequel where Dean and Ted meet up again out on the road--perhaps Ted somehow gets involved in a random monster of the week, who knows. But since it's been a while since the spark of SPN has lit my writing fuse, I might as well talk through my outline of the story ;)
Basically, when Dean runs into Ted again, it'll be as a full-grown adult. Ted is a fairly successful dentist and married to a pediatrician. He and Dean go out to a drink at a bar where they catch up on their lives a bit (Dean says he's a traveling salesman who mostly lives out of his car), and at the end of the drink, Ted invites Dean back to their house. Dean raises an eyebrow and says, what about your wife? and Ted just rolls his empty beer bottle in his hand and says, bitterly, she's at her bookclub meeting across town. Most meetings she gets so into her--book--that she doesn't come home till morning.
So Dean and Ted eventually go back to his house, which is big and beautiful and empty, and they have sex for the first time. Ted's improved as a kisser, and it's good, the chemistry they had as kids is still there. At the end of it, Dean suggests to him that he doesn't have to live like this. Ted snorts and replies that neither does Dean, but here they both are. Living out their parents' dreams for them.
The story ends with Dean leaving town again (called away on another case). When he asks for Ted's number, Ted shakes his head and says, you know I waited for you for-- and then he stops, and says, let's not do this. We're not kids anymore--let's not kid ourselves.
When Dean goes back to the car, Sam asks, who was that and Dean replies, someone I used to know.
What's one part of canon, in any of your fandoms, that you would most like to change?
Everything they did with Castiel after season 4. I mean, I didn't care for the way they handled the Apocalypse and everything during S5 but I could live with it. It was what they did with the character of Castiel that drained any interest I had in writing Dean/Castiel, which is a pity because I was quite fond of that ship.