A fanfic meme...
So, I've largely delegated this journal as a fanfic archive. I write too much to keep up a general blog (as what happened with my last one fizzling out because I'd burn out), but this is about fic and I'm on my week hiatus of writing anyway. So why not? Plus, I liked the questions. Stealing this tardiscrash who stole it from aralias . Without further ado, here we go.
1 - How did you first get into writing fanfic, and what was the first fandom you wrote for? What do you think it was about that fandom that pulled you in?
A friend of mine told me I had to read this story about Sailor Moon and a retelling of the Silver Millennium. I read it, fell head over heals in love with senshi/shitennou pairings and since we were all writing things anyway, I tried my hand at Minako and Kunzite. There was another fic I read about Umino-kun that made you think it was Mamoru all through out it till the very end, which is what my first fic was. I did the fic with Minako-chan being mistaken for Usagi-chan. I actually managed to fool my best friend who I had beta it, though she said she really should have known me better. XD
As to what it was about Sailor Moon... Hm. What is there not about Sailor Moon? It's female superheroes that actually kick butt and worry about girl things. I adored Sailor Moon growing up, and loved it more when I started learning about the more grown-up side of it. It was sufficiently tragic and moving as well.
Come on. You can't tell me you can watch the Japanese version of Usagi-chan telling Mamoru that she can't kiss his dead lips because her friends never got their first kiss and it wouldn't be fair without getting misty eyed. It was pretty damn good shoujo and was a lot more complex than a lot of other kid shows.
2 - Name the fandoms you've written in, and how much you've written in that fandom, and if you still write in it.
*cough* Fair warning. This is a long list...
Sailor Moon - I've only really written two fics for it (both Minako/Kunzite), but I still adore the senshi/shitennou pairings. Plus, I've done a heck of a lot of Sailor Moon role playing. A ridiculous amount actually... Usually as Minako/Mina and Artemis, though I've done Jadeite and some OC guardian cats for a semi-au roleplay. And if we're including rp's, I suppose I should add Fushigi Yuugi to that list as well... I've rp'ed as Tasuki and an OC for a reboot of it. Plus, a bit of Maron from KKJ in a mixed universe rp and some Ronin Warriors. Oh, and a Time Stranger Kyoko reboot with OC's. I do miss that rp.
Gundam Wing - Oh, Gundam Wing. I still love thee. I've written four fics for this series, two of them long ones. Mainly, I adored Heero and Duo and did a lot with their characters. Duo is still one of the easiest character's I've ever written. Seriously, we click. He's brilliant and sunny and sarcastic and dark all at the same time and it's so very easy to torment him.
Magic Knight Rayearth - One seriously frickin' odd Nova fic that still scares me a bit. Remind me never to write first person POV's from psycho characters perspective. Still, it was my first venture into the realm of Clamp, though I'd return to MKR with my Tsubasa fic. Surprisingly, I've never done a X/1999 or RG Veda fic, which is strange considering how much I adored those two as well.
Weiß Kreuz - Four posted one-shots and an insane amount of roleplaying plus short stories. Yes, I know the animation and plot was horrible. Does that change the fact that we adore the show? Heck no. Four hot guys who are florists by day and assassins by night! What's not to love? Plus, Glühen made up for a lot of the animation horrors and bad plots. Omi and Aya were my favorite two to write, but I had fun with all the Weiß guys. And we wrote copious amounts of it too.
Yami no Matsuei - One fic. And can I mention I hate this fic? Can I also mention everyone else adores it? God, it's truly some of my absolute worst writing and it's still one of my most popular fics I've ever written. It was so fluffy and pretty much exactly what everyone else wrote that I can't stand it. If I were hipster, I suppose I'd say it's mainstream. Also, my writing style in it really was awful and I got so many details wrong.
Fruits Basket - A single fic based on the anime (I hadn't read the manga at that point) of Shigure and Hatori. I thought I had a much better grip of Shigure's character than I did. Not one of my worst fics, but, well, the manga went and proved a lot of things wrong. Still, it's a cute little fic that I do kind of enjoy regardless, even if it is very choppy.
Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne - One fic that was really a collection of unconnected one-shots with a similar theme. It's unbeta'ed, probably terrible, and most definitely melodramatic at some bits, but I actually enjoyed it a lot. I'm a big KKJ fan.
Card Captor Sakura - One fic. It was definitely something different for me, making use of repetition and comparisons. It was a fic of Meiling-chan and Tomoyo-chan and their unrequited feelings.
Tsubasa Chronicle - One short, one long, epic fic that crossed over with - but didn't touch - my xxxHolic fic. My one shot was a POV from Kurogane in the Infinity arc, where things just got interesting with the characters. I could write tons in that arc. It's just that brilliant. The long fic was written along side a xxxHolic fic much like how Clamp wrote the two series, connecting but separate. I used a lot of the MKR characters in that fic in the Amazon world I created. I couldn't help it. I always felt cheated that Umi, Fuu, and Hikaru never made it into Tsubasa when Lantis, Eagle, Geo, and the Rune Gods did. Eagle making it in there did make my day though. Again, Infinity arc.
xxxHolic - Two short, one long epic fic that crossed over with - but didn't touch - my Tsubasa fic. See the above for explanation on that one. I actually really liked my two one shots, though the Doumeki one was shot out of the water in later chapters. I still like it and maintain while the details are wrong, it's still perfectly in character.
Fullmetal Alchemist - One fic, no longer posted. It was for a while, but then I took it down for various reasons. I actually really liked this fic. It was a post series Roy Mustang (before the movie came out, so again the details went wrong but the characterization was lovely) with a lot of repetition and not mentioning a certain character outright who was such a huge and silent part of the fic.
Torchwood - Two fics, one short, one long and on-going. I liked my one shot and am enjoying my long fic. Plus... You know how I mentioned copious amounts of Weiß roleplay? Imagine that times 100. No, I'm not kidding. That's not even including the short (and one insanely long 65k) fics I've written just to amuse the other roleplayers. I usually knock off at least 1,000 a day for the roleplay, if not more. Hell, we've had posts that have gone up to four pages...
Doctor Who - Um... Twenty-six according to Teaspoon, though that's not including one anon I refuse to claim, and four fics I've yet to post. All of this in less than a year. Damn, I write too much. Also, more insane amounts of roleplaying, though not quite as much (yet) as Torchwood.
Series I really should write for: The Tales Of video game series. Really, with as much as I adore those games, I should write something for them. But alas. I never have, for some reason. Also, a few Clamp fandoms I really should do something with.
As to what I currently write... It's mostly Doctor Who, but I'll write for anything I've got a compelling idea for. So I wouldn't say I've stopped writing for any of those fandoms (except for maybe Yami... >.> ). It's just whatever suits my fancy at the time, and for the past year it's been DW.
3 - For each of the fandoms from day two, what were your favourite characters to write?
Do you have any idea how hard this question is when you've written as many fandoms as I have? Alright, let's try some of these...
Sailor Moon - Minako and Kunzite were really the only characters I actively wrote... Oh, yeah. And Jadeite. I did enjoy him a lot actually. He's so bland character-wise in the manga that you could really go anywhere with him, so I did. <3
Gundam Wing - Duo. By far, Duo. He's probably the character that I've been closest too and have felt the most natural writing. Quatre on the other hand... I love him, I do, but I can't write him to save my life and for some reason I kept trying. -_-;;;
Magic Knight Rayearth - Umi, even though I made her into a bitch in my Tsubasa fic. Ascot was also pretty fun to write. I kind of liked all the characters I've attempted to write for them, actually.
Weiss Kreuz - Omi/Mamoru, if just because I've written so much for him. He's always been my favorite character. Aya was pretty easy to write too.
Yami no Matsuei - We're not going there.
Fruits Basket - Hatori, because Shigure ended up being a lot harder than I thought he'd be. T_T
Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne - Hands down, Access Time. I adore Access and I got to write both angst and humor for him with those one-shots. And yes, I did make him get trapped in a cookie jar. Maron was a lot of fun to write as well, along with Fin Fish. Maron is just one of those very strong, yet so very fragile characters and I love her. I also really enjoyed writing the POV I did of Kaiki. Chaiki's dad was always one of my favorite characters. I never did get to try Noin...
Card Captor Sakura - Um... of non-Tsubasa CCS characters, I only really tried Tomoyo-chan and Meiling-chan, and that was an odd fic. So no real preference here, I suppose?
Tsubasa Chronicle - Real Syaoran. I also had a lot of fun in Kurogane's head. It was so very angsty in there...
xxxHOLiC - Watanuki. Definitely spazzy Watanuki. God, I love writing him. Also, Doumeki was fun to write when he worked with me. It took me about five starts at my Doumeki fic before he finally started to work with me, but once he did we were brilliant together.
Fullmetal Alchemist - I've really only done Roy? No real preference...
Torchwood - Surprisingly enough, Owen. I found an outlet for my biting sarcasm I don't generally have a place for in him, plus being nasty on occasion is fun. I didn't like or dislike his character all that much before I wrote him, but then I loved him once I had.
Doctor Who - Oh, this could be a long list. Three-era seems to be my home. Three is my Doctor and my love for the Brigadier is epic in nature. Everyone tells me my Delgado Master is excellent too. Jo occasionally gives me trouble, but it's generally nothing my beta's can't sort out. Turlough, surprisingly, even though I've only done a few lines of him. I need to attempt him more. I didn't really like him, but he stole my heart in the LJ fic. Amy is also fun to write, though I'm not too sure on my Eleven voice. I'm told my Ten is also very good and he's pretty easy to write. Simm Master can be a bit trickier, but I don't have a lot of problems with him. I'm not too sure how I've done on Evelyn, but I had fun writing her with Fivey (even if my Fivey is horrid).
Am I missing any? Hm... I'm just going to pretend I'm not, because that took far to long as it is.
4 - Do you have a "muse" character, that speaks to you more than others, or that tries to push their way in, even when the fic isn't about them? Who are they, and why did that character became your muse?
Duo. Duo has run away with me in my For the One You Love fic and he's brilliant. I have no idea why he's so easy for me to write, but he is. As for characters who have run away with my fics... *stares at the Brigadier* And yet I can't blame him because he's awesome and amazing and I adore him too much. -_-;;; I don't really have a muse, per se. Sometimes characters just turn up and they usually decide how they want to be written, regardless of what I want. Three does that on occasion too.
5 -If you have ever had a character try to push their way into a fic, whether your "muse" or not, what did you do about it?
Well, in the very recent example of the Brigadier, I just sort of let him take over. He had absolutely no purpose in the fic and shouldn't even have been there in the first place, but he came in and told me I was doing it all wrong and then proceeded to make it ten times longer than it should have been. My beta reader tells me it's condensed awesomeness. For the GW fic, it was originally just a one-shot. Then Duo decided, hey, I've got a plot for you! and I went along for the ride. I still love that fic, despite it not being one of my better ones. It was just fun to write. Haruka-san from xxxHolic also got away with me, on occasion. He's just awesome though, so I forgive him.
Generally, when characters start to force their way, I let them. Fighting with them is no fun at all (and a headache) and if they really want to go there, who am I to say no? I find it's generally better when the characters decide they're going to do something anyway.
6 - When you write, do you prefer writing male or female characters?
Um... I don't really have a preference? I find it depends more on the character than the gender. If I can get into the character's head, then I'm generally good. I've written a lot of guys, but that's because I happen to like those characters.
7 - Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character?
Reading a fic? No, not really. Writing a fic. Yes, actually. I've already mentioned Owen, but Wufei was a character I hated. And then I wrote a scene by him and found that I really liked his quiet honor (the Japanese version also helped, where he's characterized a bit differently). I've found a lot of characters I liked better for writing them.
8 - Do you write OCs? And if so, what do you do to make certain they're not Mary Sues, and if not, explain your thoughts on OCs.
Well, I don't generally write romance. I write action-y things a lot, which generally necessitate villains a lot. I've also written for OC contests in the past and generally prefer to role play my own characters. Mary Sues... I'm not overly concerned with. I avoid reading them like the plague and writing them? I've never found much of a need for them. I've written some flat characters in my time simply because it wasn't worth filling them out, but Mary Sues aren't interesting. I did write a Gundam Wing fic that was a satire of Mary Sue and a 15 year old finding out that her Mary Sue-ish-ness in her daydreams really don't work out in reality and it won best comedy for that particular contest.
I generally don't set out to write OC's unless I'm looking for a new roleplay or am writing something of my own, but I don't mind them when they do pop up. I enjoy writing them from time to time.
9 - Pairings - For each of the fandoms from day two, what are your three favorite pairings to write?
First of all, I'm not going through that list again. Second, before DW, I didn't really write pairings. Romance was something I avoided in general, preferring Gen fics. I will go through what I have written though, I suppose.
Senshi/Shitennou. Yeah, I still ship that. Let's face it, they were my first major pairings and I did really like the Shitennou in the first season. They were brilliant villains and made even more lovely with their backstory in the manga of actually being Mamoru's guardians before they were evil. Of the pairings, Minako/Kunzite and Rei/Jadeite were my two favorites, though Zoicite was also fun. Nephrite... Well, him I didn't care for too much, but I could deal with him.
Doctor/Master. I suppose? I'm really running out of pairings, to be honest...
Oh, oh! Access Time/Fin Fish. Those two are just cute and adorable little angels.
10 - Pairings - Have you ever gone outside your comfort zone and written a pairing you liked, but found you couldn't write, or a pairing you didn't like, and found you could?
Pairings in general are out of my comfort zone. The Doctor/Master pairing actually falls into that category, despite how much I've written for them now. I'd never really written anything with that much focus on a romantic relationship before Who. As for the other parts of that question... well, like I said, I don't write a lot of them. ^_^;;; Though, I did do a bit of Roy/Riza for the FMA one, and I didn't care for that pairing too much in the end.
11 - Genre - do you prefer certain genres of fic when you're writing? What kind do you tend to write most?
Angst. Lots and lots of angst. Hurt/comfort a lot too, if just because I like fixing what I've broken. I really do like writing action scenes too. And suspense... Oh, suspense. I could live off suspense. I love that power trip of having people on the edge of their seats. Double cliff hangers are fun and once I even convinced the majority of my readership that I had killed Duo off despite my constant reassurances that I don't like killing other people's characters. That was fun. It's a total power trip and I do adore it.
12 - Have you ever attempted an "adaptation" fic of a favorite book or movie but set in a different fandom?
Um, not that I know of? I do tend to steal bits though and I've done a few cross overs...
13 - Do you prefer canon or fanon when you write? Has writing fanfic for a fandom changed the way you see some or even all of the original source material?
This is an interesting question. Over all, I'm going to sit to canon. Characterization is one of my major must haves while writing, so I'm going to pull as much from the source material as I can. Though, with DW, canon is a very, very loose term. I've used Audio canon before and some book canon for my Torchwood fics. Basically, if I can use the reference to my advantage, I will. That, and I'm ever so fond of The Dark Path for the Master's backstory.
I've been told a few times that my fics have changed the way other people viewed the original though. I don't know if that counts, lol.
14 - Ratings - how high are you comfortable with going? Have you ever written higher? If you're comfortable with NC-17, have you ever been shocked by finding that the story you're writing is G-rated instead?
Sex is... hm. It's not something I really enjoyed writing? I tired it, I can say that much, and I won't shy away from it if I really need it, but over all I'm perfectly happy with fade to blacks. It just doesn't thrill me all that much. Teasing now, teasing I don't mind. I'm apparently a flirt, lol.
15 - Warnings - What do you feel it most important to warn for, and what's the strangest thing you've warned for in a fic?
Death, sex and what kind (consent issues, bondage, and the like), gore, sometimes spoilers. Let's see, the strangest thing I've warned... I do a lot of fluff/crack warnings. And cliff hanger warnings, for my long fics. There was my bitch warning on that Three fic a while back. Context warnings are also fairly frequent for me. I guess the strangest thing I've warned for was the appearance of a tentacle monster.
16 - Summaries - Do you like them or hate them? How do you come up with them, if you use them?
Sometimes? I generally don't have too hard a time for it, but I also don't like a lot of my summaries. I just try to come up with a non-spoilerish description, generally of the first few paragraphs or set up.
17 - Titles - Are they the bane of your existence, or the easiest part of the fic? Also, if you do chaptered fic, do you give each chapter a title, or not?
Depends on the fic. Sometimes I've got the perfect name for it, sometimes I don't and I have to scramble around for one like a cat chasing after a laser pen and can't really get hold of it. I usually do give chapters their own titles... My current Torchwood fic being the exception to this because I was lazy.
18 - Where do you get the most inspiration for your fics (aka "bunnies") from?
They just happen. Really, they do. The rabid plot bunnies take me hostage and I have no choice but to write as the demons in my head tell me to.
19 - When you have bunnies, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?
It depends. I have far too many to actually write, so unless I feel an actual desire to write it I tend to ignore them. If it's something I do plan to write at a much later date, I'll write it down. If not, I'll generally just keep it in my head until I'm ready to write. When I start writing largely depends on how much backlog of writing I've got to do.
20 - Do you ever get bunnied from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?
Hm, not so much? Occasionally, like with my first fic and my CCS fic, but for the most part I've got my own thing.
21 - Sequels - Have you ever written a sequel to a fic you wrote, and if so, why, and if not, how do you feel about sequels?
I have, actually. It all depends on if there's more plot left. If there is, I'll write it. If not, I don't worry about a sequel.
22 - Have you ever participated in a fest or a Big Bang? If so, write about your favorite experience in relation to one. If not, are there any you've thought about doing? And if not, why not?
Um... I've heard the terms before, but beyond a general idea I'm not all that sure of what they entail?
23 - When you post, where do you post to? Just your journal? Just an archive? Your own personal site?
ff.net, lj, teaspoon... teaspoon, largely because I don't post a lot of my Who fics on ff.net and I might as well get a bigger readership for them. Sadly, not many people read my lj. XD I had a personal site to archive a lot of it, but then geocities died and I never bothered to find another free hosting. It made me a sad panda.
24 - Betaing - How many betas do you like to use to make sure there aren't any major flaws in your fic? Do you have a Beta horror story or dream story?
I usually only have one per story. It can be difficult though, when I don't know anyone who enjoys that fandom. Sometimes I've been forced to just let it go unbeta'ed, which always annoys me. I do have a horror story, actually. For my epic xxxHolic/Tsubasa fics, I lost two beta readers. They just disappeared from the face of the planet and I never heard from either of them again. I was very sad, ended up having to post the endings without betas because I didn't want to keep my readers waiting any longer. Apparently, my fic was that bad, lol.
25 - Music - Do you listen to music while you write? Do you make playlists to get into a certain "mood" to write your fic? Do you need noise in general? Or do you need it completely quiet?
I can't have anything with singing, because that distracts me and I'll start to sing along. I do like to listen to a lot of soundtracks/OST's though. Depending on the type of fic I'll choose something that more or less fits... I like a lot of anime and video game music for writing and listening to. I've got a few that help me when I'm really struggling and music can help focus me at times.
26 - What is the oddest (or funnest) thing you've had to research for a fic?
Oh, dear. I've researched a lot of odd things. Most recently, the chemical make up of milk. But I've also researched puzzle boxes, historical time periods, flowers, bushes, trees, and various plant life, sex (oh, yeah. That was interesting), fencing terms, cultural differences, knots, computer pick up lines... The list can go on for quite some time.
27 - Where is your favorite place to write, and do you write by hand or on the computer?
I can write pretty much anywhere. I prefer to write it out by hand though. There's just something about the feel of the pen sliding across paper that I'm addicted to and I'm always less distracted away from the computer. I do write things on the computer though. Most of my roleplaying for one, but also some stories. It just depends what's at hand and how much I'm struggling with it, really.
28 - Have you ever collaborated with anyone else, whether writing together, or having an artist work on a piece about your fic?
We're not going to answer this question, because then I'd have to go into all that roleplaying and the sheer volume of work I've done for that, and I really don't want to realize how much that is, lol.
29 - What is your current project or projects?
Well, I'm currently on a writing hiatus for a week since I'm burning out too easy and need a break. Have I mentioned I've written over thirty fics in less than a year and that's not including roleplaying which I've also been active in? I do have several fics waiting to be beta'ed though. I've got my Torchwood fic, which is finished writing, but not in betaing and posting. I've got my Three/Delgado Master/Simm Master fic that I really want to post, but am waiting on betaing. I've also got my Fivey meets Evelyn fic that was spurred by the BFA The Gathering. You guessed it, betaing. The drabble response I wrote is waiting on me to get off my break. It's been beta'ed, but still needs a lot of work since I'm turning it into two fics instead of one (*cough*all the Brigadier's fault*cough*). Other than that... I did have plans for a few anon responses, but I'm not sure which I'd start on next yet.
30 - Do you have a favorite fic you've written? What makes it your favorite? And don't forget to give us a link!
Hm... favorites. I do have a few, actually. It's not my best piece of writing, but I do love For the One You Love. It's Duo and it's all over the place because it was only meant to be a one-shot, but I loved it. There was such a rift between the slash fans and the het fans of Gundam Wing. You were either on one side of the line or the other and you hated the rest of the fandom passionately. This fic bridged that and got both slash and het fans. Granted, I wrote it to get flames one way or the other (because one gay character falling in love with a straight character he's normally paired with totally should have earned me at least one flame from the hard core slashers/het people) and was disappointed that everyone loved it, but hey. The fact that it did act as a bridge was fantastic and it was weird having Relena fans reading. XD
Stray Cat Blues I also liked if just for spazzy kitten Watanuki. Actually, that goes for xxxHolic side of my epic fic as well. xxxHolic side was definitely the stronger of the two stories.
A Far Off Memory It's short, but it really hit everything I wanted it to. I don't do a lot of first person POV's, but this letter from Mamoru/Omi to Aya really just worked for me. I had a reviewer once tell me it captured the atmosphere Glühen so perfectly. Because Glühen was so different from the original series, but there were times you just had to love it because you could see a spark of the original characters and Omi was especially hard for that, and my fic managed to bridge this beautifully for her. Also, timing wise for the letter I nailed it. I really did. XD Writing Omi and Mamoru as one complex character instead of two separate personalities of the same character was challenging, but worth it in the end.
As for Who, I really, really like my Three/Delgado Master/Simm Master fic, but it's not posted yet. Without You would be my next favorite, if just for awesome Brigadier times. I actually like a lot of my Who fics, especially some of the shorter, more humorous ones. I did end up fairly proud of Broken Reality too, I suppose...
And that took me over two hours, largely due to how many frickin' fandoms I've written for. Ah, well. It saved me from getting frustrated in my video game. XD
1 - How did you first get into writing fanfic, and what was the first fandom you wrote for? What do you think it was about that fandom that pulled you in?
A friend of mine told me I had to read this story about Sailor Moon and a retelling of the Silver Millennium. I read it, fell head over heals in love with senshi/shitennou pairings and since we were all writing things anyway, I tried my hand at Minako and Kunzite. There was another fic I read about Umino-kun that made you think it was Mamoru all through out it till the very end, which is what my first fic was. I did the fic with Minako-chan being mistaken for Usagi-chan. I actually managed to fool my best friend who I had beta it, though she said she really should have known me better. XD
As to what it was about Sailor Moon... Hm. What is there not about Sailor Moon? It's female superheroes that actually kick butt and worry about girl things. I adored Sailor Moon growing up, and loved it more when I started learning about the more grown-up side of it. It was sufficiently tragic and moving as well.
Come on. You can't tell me you can watch the Japanese version of Usagi-chan telling Mamoru that she can't kiss his dead lips because her friends never got their first kiss and it wouldn't be fair without getting misty eyed. It was pretty damn good shoujo and was a lot more complex than a lot of other kid shows.
2 - Name the fandoms you've written in, and how much you've written in that fandom, and if you still write in it.
*cough* Fair warning. This is a long list...
Sailor Moon - I've only really written two fics for it (both Minako/Kunzite), but I still adore the senshi/shitennou pairings. Plus, I've done a heck of a lot of Sailor Moon role playing. A ridiculous amount actually... Usually as Minako/Mina and Artemis, though I've done Jadeite and some OC guardian cats for a semi-au roleplay. And if we're including rp's, I suppose I should add Fushigi Yuugi to that list as well... I've rp'ed as Tasuki and an OC for a reboot of it. Plus, a bit of Maron from KKJ in a mixed universe rp and some Ronin Warriors. Oh, and a Time Stranger Kyoko reboot with OC's. I do miss that rp.
Gundam Wing - Oh, Gundam Wing. I still love thee. I've written four fics for this series, two of them long ones. Mainly, I adored Heero and Duo and did a lot with their characters. Duo is still one of the easiest character's I've ever written. Seriously, we click. He's brilliant and sunny and sarcastic and dark all at the same time and it's so very easy to torment him.
Magic Knight Rayearth - One seriously frickin' odd Nova fic that still scares me a bit. Remind me never to write first person POV's from psycho characters perspective. Still, it was my first venture into the realm of Clamp, though I'd return to MKR with my Tsubasa fic. Surprisingly, I've never done a X/1999 or RG Veda fic, which is strange considering how much I adored those two as well.
Weiß Kreuz - Four posted one-shots and an insane amount of roleplaying plus short stories. Yes, I know the animation and plot was horrible. Does that change the fact that we adore the show? Heck no. Four hot guys who are florists by day and assassins by night! What's not to love? Plus, Glühen made up for a lot of the animation horrors and bad plots. Omi and Aya were my favorite two to write, but I had fun with all the Weiß guys. And we wrote copious amounts of it too.
Yami no Matsuei - One fic. And can I mention I hate this fic? Can I also mention everyone else adores it? God, it's truly some of my absolute worst writing and it's still one of my most popular fics I've ever written. It was so fluffy and pretty much exactly what everyone else wrote that I can't stand it. If I were hipster, I suppose I'd say it's mainstream. Also, my writing style in it really was awful and I got so many details wrong.
Fruits Basket - A single fic based on the anime (I hadn't read the manga at that point) of Shigure and Hatori. I thought I had a much better grip of Shigure's character than I did. Not one of my worst fics, but, well, the manga went and proved a lot of things wrong. Still, it's a cute little fic that I do kind of enjoy regardless, even if it is very choppy.
Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne - One fic that was really a collection of unconnected one-shots with a similar theme. It's unbeta'ed, probably terrible, and most definitely melodramatic at some bits, but I actually enjoyed it a lot. I'm a big KKJ fan.
Card Captor Sakura - One fic. It was definitely something different for me, making use of repetition and comparisons. It was a fic of Meiling-chan and Tomoyo-chan and their unrequited feelings.
Tsubasa Chronicle - One short, one long, epic fic that crossed over with - but didn't touch - my xxxHolic fic. My one shot was a POV from Kurogane in the Infinity arc, where things just got interesting with the characters. I could write tons in that arc. It's just that brilliant. The long fic was written along side a xxxHolic fic much like how Clamp wrote the two series, connecting but separate. I used a lot of the MKR characters in that fic in the Amazon world I created. I couldn't help it. I always felt cheated that Umi, Fuu, and Hikaru never made it into Tsubasa when Lantis, Eagle, Geo, and the Rune Gods did. Eagle making it in there did make my day though. Again, Infinity arc.
xxxHolic - Two short, one long epic fic that crossed over with - but didn't touch - my Tsubasa fic. See the above for explanation on that one. I actually really liked my two one shots, though the Doumeki one was shot out of the water in later chapters. I still like it and maintain while the details are wrong, it's still perfectly in character.
Fullmetal Alchemist - One fic, no longer posted. It was for a while, but then I took it down for various reasons. I actually really liked this fic. It was a post series Roy Mustang (before the movie came out, so again the details went wrong but the characterization was lovely) with a lot of repetition and not mentioning a certain character outright who was such a huge and silent part of the fic.
Torchwood - Two fics, one short, one long and on-going. I liked my one shot and am enjoying my long fic. Plus... You know how I mentioned copious amounts of Weiß roleplay? Imagine that times 100. No, I'm not kidding. That's not even including the short (and one insanely long 65k) fics I've written just to amuse the other roleplayers. I usually knock off at least 1,000 a day for the roleplay, if not more. Hell, we've had posts that have gone up to four pages...
Doctor Who - Um... Twenty-six according to Teaspoon, though that's not including one anon I refuse to claim, and four fics I've yet to post. All of this in less than a year. Damn, I write too much. Also, more insane amounts of roleplaying, though not quite as much (yet) as Torchwood.
Series I really should write for: The Tales Of video game series. Really, with as much as I adore those games, I should write something for them. But alas. I never have, for some reason. Also, a few Clamp fandoms I really should do something with.
As to what I currently write... It's mostly Doctor Who, but I'll write for anything I've got a compelling idea for. So I wouldn't say I've stopped writing for any of those fandoms (except for maybe Yami... >.> ). It's just whatever suits my fancy at the time, and for the past year it's been DW.
3 - For each of the fandoms from day two, what were your favourite characters to write?
Do you have any idea how hard this question is when you've written as many fandoms as I have? Alright, let's try some of these...
Sailor Moon - Minako and Kunzite were really the only characters I actively wrote... Oh, yeah. And Jadeite. I did enjoy him a lot actually. He's so bland character-wise in the manga that you could really go anywhere with him, so I did. <3
Gundam Wing - Duo. By far, Duo. He's probably the character that I've been closest too and have felt the most natural writing. Quatre on the other hand... I love him, I do, but I can't write him to save my life and for some reason I kept trying. -_-;;;
Magic Knight Rayearth - Umi, even though I made her into a bitch in my Tsubasa fic. Ascot was also pretty fun to write. I kind of liked all the characters I've attempted to write for them, actually.
Weiss Kreuz - Omi/Mamoru, if just because I've written so much for him. He's always been my favorite character. Aya was pretty easy to write too.
Yami no Matsuei - We're not going there.
Fruits Basket - Hatori, because Shigure ended up being a lot harder than I thought he'd be. T_T
Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne - Hands down, Access Time. I adore Access and I got to write both angst and humor for him with those one-shots. And yes, I did make him get trapped in a cookie jar. Maron was a lot of fun to write as well, along with Fin Fish. Maron is just one of those very strong, yet so very fragile characters and I love her. I also really enjoyed writing the POV I did of Kaiki. Chaiki's dad was always one of my favorite characters. I never did get to try Noin...
Card Captor Sakura - Um... of non-Tsubasa CCS characters, I only really tried Tomoyo-chan and Meiling-chan, and that was an odd fic. So no real preference here, I suppose?
Tsubasa Chronicle - Real Syaoran. I also had a lot of fun in Kurogane's head. It was so very angsty in there...
xxxHOLiC - Watanuki. Definitely spazzy Watanuki. God, I love writing him. Also, Doumeki was fun to write when he worked with me. It took me about five starts at my Doumeki fic before he finally started to work with me, but once he did we were brilliant together.
Fullmetal Alchemist - I've really only done Roy? No real preference...
Torchwood - Surprisingly enough, Owen. I found an outlet for my biting sarcasm I don't generally have a place for in him, plus being nasty on occasion is fun. I didn't like or dislike his character all that much before I wrote him, but then I loved him once I had.
Doctor Who - Oh, this could be a long list. Three-era seems to be my home. Three is my Doctor and my love for the Brigadier is epic in nature. Everyone tells me my Delgado Master is excellent too. Jo occasionally gives me trouble, but it's generally nothing my beta's can't sort out. Turlough, surprisingly, even though I've only done a few lines of him. I need to attempt him more. I didn't really like him, but he stole my heart in the LJ fic. Amy is also fun to write, though I'm not too sure on my Eleven voice. I'm told my Ten is also very good and he's pretty easy to write. Simm Master can be a bit trickier, but I don't have a lot of problems with him. I'm not too sure how I've done on Evelyn, but I had fun writing her with Fivey (even if my Fivey is horrid).
Am I missing any? Hm... I'm just going to pretend I'm not, because that took far to long as it is.
4 - Do you have a "muse" character, that speaks to you more than others, or that tries to push their way in, even when the fic isn't about them? Who are they, and why did that character became your muse?
Duo. Duo has run away with me in my For the One You Love fic and he's brilliant. I have no idea why he's so easy for me to write, but he is. As for characters who have run away with my fics... *stares at the Brigadier* And yet I can't blame him because he's awesome and amazing and I adore him too much. -_-;;; I don't really have a muse, per se. Sometimes characters just turn up and they usually decide how they want to be written, regardless of what I want. Three does that on occasion too.
5 -If you have ever had a character try to push their way into a fic, whether your "muse" or not, what did you do about it?
Well, in the very recent example of the Brigadier, I just sort of let him take over. He had absolutely no purpose in the fic and shouldn't even have been there in the first place, but he came in and told me I was doing it all wrong and then proceeded to make it ten times longer than it should have been. My beta reader tells me it's condensed awesomeness. For the GW fic, it was originally just a one-shot. Then Duo decided, hey, I've got a plot for you! and I went along for the ride. I still love that fic, despite it not being one of my better ones. It was just fun to write. Haruka-san from xxxHolic also got away with me, on occasion. He's just awesome though, so I forgive him.
Generally, when characters start to force their way, I let them. Fighting with them is no fun at all (and a headache) and if they really want to go there, who am I to say no? I find it's generally better when the characters decide they're going to do something anyway.
6 - When you write, do you prefer writing male or female characters?
Um... I don't really have a preference? I find it depends more on the character than the gender. If I can get into the character's head, then I'm generally good. I've written a lot of guys, but that's because I happen to like those characters.
7 - Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character?
Reading a fic? No, not really. Writing a fic. Yes, actually. I've already mentioned Owen, but Wufei was a character I hated. And then I wrote a scene by him and found that I really liked his quiet honor (the Japanese version also helped, where he's characterized a bit differently). I've found a lot of characters I liked better for writing them.
8 - Do you write OCs? And if so, what do you do to make certain they're not Mary Sues, and if not, explain your thoughts on OCs.
Well, I don't generally write romance. I write action-y things a lot, which generally necessitate villains a lot. I've also written for OC contests in the past and generally prefer to role play my own characters. Mary Sues... I'm not overly concerned with. I avoid reading them like the plague and writing them? I've never found much of a need for them. I've written some flat characters in my time simply because it wasn't worth filling them out, but Mary Sues aren't interesting. I did write a Gundam Wing fic that was a satire of Mary Sue and a 15 year old finding out that her Mary Sue-ish-ness in her daydreams really don't work out in reality and it won best comedy for that particular contest.
I generally don't set out to write OC's unless I'm looking for a new roleplay or am writing something of my own, but I don't mind them when they do pop up. I enjoy writing them from time to time.
9 - Pairings - For each of the fandoms from day two, what are your three favorite pairings to write?
First of all, I'm not going through that list again. Second, before DW, I didn't really write pairings. Romance was something I avoided in general, preferring Gen fics. I will go through what I have written though, I suppose.
Senshi/Shitennou. Yeah, I still ship that. Let's face it, they were my first major pairings and I did really like the Shitennou in the first season. They were brilliant villains and made even more lovely with their backstory in the manga of actually being Mamoru's guardians before they were evil. Of the pairings, Minako/Kunzite and Rei/Jadeite were my two favorites, though Zoicite was also fun. Nephrite... Well, him I didn't care for too much, but I could deal with him.
Doctor/Master. I suppose? I'm really running out of pairings, to be honest...
Oh, oh! Access Time/Fin Fish. Those two are just cute and adorable little angels.
10 - Pairings - Have you ever gone outside your comfort zone and written a pairing you liked, but found you couldn't write, or a pairing you didn't like, and found you could?
Pairings in general are out of my comfort zone. The Doctor/Master pairing actually falls into that category, despite how much I've written for them now. I'd never really written anything with that much focus on a romantic relationship before Who. As for the other parts of that question... well, like I said, I don't write a lot of them. ^_^;;; Though, I did do a bit of Roy/Riza for the FMA one, and I didn't care for that pairing too much in the end.
11 - Genre - do you prefer certain genres of fic when you're writing? What kind do you tend to write most?
Angst. Lots and lots of angst. Hurt/comfort a lot too, if just because I like fixing what I've broken. I really do like writing action scenes too. And suspense... Oh, suspense. I could live off suspense. I love that power trip of having people on the edge of their seats. Double cliff hangers are fun and once I even convinced the majority of my readership that I had killed Duo off despite my constant reassurances that I don't like killing other people's characters. That was fun. It's a total power trip and I do adore it.
12 - Have you ever attempted an "adaptation" fic of a favorite book or movie but set in a different fandom?
Um, not that I know of? I do tend to steal bits though and I've done a few cross overs...
13 - Do you prefer canon or fanon when you write? Has writing fanfic for a fandom changed the way you see some or even all of the original source material?
This is an interesting question. Over all, I'm going to sit to canon. Characterization is one of my major must haves while writing, so I'm going to pull as much from the source material as I can. Though, with DW, canon is a very, very loose term. I've used Audio canon before and some book canon for my Torchwood fics. Basically, if I can use the reference to my advantage, I will. That, and I'm ever so fond of The Dark Path for the Master's backstory.
I've been told a few times that my fics have changed the way other people viewed the original though. I don't know if that counts, lol.
14 - Ratings - how high are you comfortable with going? Have you ever written higher? If you're comfortable with NC-17, have you ever been shocked by finding that the story you're writing is G-rated instead?
Sex is... hm. It's not something I really enjoyed writing? I tired it, I can say that much, and I won't shy away from it if I really need it, but over all I'm perfectly happy with fade to blacks. It just doesn't thrill me all that much. Teasing now, teasing I don't mind. I'm apparently a flirt, lol.
15 - Warnings - What do you feel it most important to warn for, and what's the strangest thing you've warned for in a fic?
Death, sex and what kind (consent issues, bondage, and the like), gore, sometimes spoilers. Let's see, the strangest thing I've warned... I do a lot of fluff/crack warnings. And cliff hanger warnings, for my long fics. There was my bitch warning on that Three fic a while back. Context warnings are also fairly frequent for me. I guess the strangest thing I've warned for was the appearance of a tentacle monster.
16 - Summaries - Do you like them or hate them? How do you come up with them, if you use them?
Sometimes? I generally don't have too hard a time for it, but I also don't like a lot of my summaries. I just try to come up with a non-spoilerish description, generally of the first few paragraphs or set up.
17 - Titles - Are they the bane of your existence, or the easiest part of the fic? Also, if you do chaptered fic, do you give each chapter a title, or not?
Depends on the fic. Sometimes I've got the perfect name for it, sometimes I don't and I have to scramble around for one like a cat chasing after a laser pen and can't really get hold of it. I usually do give chapters their own titles... My current Torchwood fic being the exception to this because I was lazy.
18 - Where do you get the most inspiration for your fics (aka "bunnies") from?
They just happen. Really, they do. The rabid plot bunnies take me hostage and I have no choice but to write as the demons in my head tell me to.
19 - When you have bunnies, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?
It depends. I have far too many to actually write, so unless I feel an actual desire to write it I tend to ignore them. If it's something I do plan to write at a much later date, I'll write it down. If not, I'll generally just keep it in my head until I'm ready to write. When I start writing largely depends on how much backlog of writing I've got to do.
20 - Do you ever get bunnied from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?
Hm, not so much? Occasionally, like with my first fic and my CCS fic, but for the most part I've got my own thing.
21 - Sequels - Have you ever written a sequel to a fic you wrote, and if so, why, and if not, how do you feel about sequels?
I have, actually. It all depends on if there's more plot left. If there is, I'll write it. If not, I don't worry about a sequel.
22 - Have you ever participated in a fest or a Big Bang? If so, write about your favorite experience in relation to one. If not, are there any you've thought about doing? And if not, why not?
Um... I've heard the terms before, but beyond a general idea I'm not all that sure of what they entail?
23 - When you post, where do you post to? Just your journal? Just an archive? Your own personal site?
ff.net, lj, teaspoon... teaspoon, largely because I don't post a lot of my Who fics on ff.net and I might as well get a bigger readership for them. Sadly, not many people read my lj. XD I had a personal site to archive a lot of it, but then geocities died and I never bothered to find another free hosting. It made me a sad panda.
24 - Betaing - How many betas do you like to use to make sure there aren't any major flaws in your fic? Do you have a Beta horror story or dream story?
I usually only have one per story. It can be difficult though, when I don't know anyone who enjoys that fandom. Sometimes I've been forced to just let it go unbeta'ed, which always annoys me. I do have a horror story, actually. For my epic xxxHolic/Tsubasa fics, I lost two beta readers. They just disappeared from the face of the planet and I never heard from either of them again. I was very sad, ended up having to post the endings without betas because I didn't want to keep my readers waiting any longer. Apparently, my fic was that bad, lol.
25 - Music - Do you listen to music while you write? Do you make playlists to get into a certain "mood" to write your fic? Do you need noise in general? Or do you need it completely quiet?
I can't have anything with singing, because that distracts me and I'll start to sing along. I do like to listen to a lot of soundtracks/OST's though. Depending on the type of fic I'll choose something that more or less fits... I like a lot of anime and video game music for writing and listening to. I've got a few that help me when I'm really struggling and music can help focus me at times.
26 - What is the oddest (or funnest) thing you've had to research for a fic?
Oh, dear. I've researched a lot of odd things. Most recently, the chemical make up of milk. But I've also researched puzzle boxes, historical time periods, flowers, bushes, trees, and various plant life, sex (oh, yeah. That was interesting), fencing terms, cultural differences, knots, computer pick up lines... The list can go on for quite some time.
27 - Where is your favorite place to write, and do you write by hand or on the computer?
I can write pretty much anywhere. I prefer to write it out by hand though. There's just something about the feel of the pen sliding across paper that I'm addicted to and I'm always less distracted away from the computer. I do write things on the computer though. Most of my roleplaying for one, but also some stories. It just depends what's at hand and how much I'm struggling with it, really.
28 - Have you ever collaborated with anyone else, whether writing together, or having an artist work on a piece about your fic?
We're not going to answer this question, because then I'd have to go into all that roleplaying and the sheer volume of work I've done for that, and I really don't want to realize how much that is, lol.
29 - What is your current project or projects?
Well, I'm currently on a writing hiatus for a week since I'm burning out too easy and need a break. Have I mentioned I've written over thirty fics in less than a year and that's not including roleplaying which I've also been active in? I do have several fics waiting to be beta'ed though. I've got my Torchwood fic, which is finished writing, but not in betaing and posting. I've got my Three/Delgado Master/Simm Master fic that I really want to post, but am waiting on betaing. I've also got my Fivey meets Evelyn fic that was spurred by the BFA The Gathering. You guessed it, betaing. The drabble response I wrote is waiting on me to get off my break. It's been beta'ed, but still needs a lot of work since I'm turning it into two fics instead of one (*cough*all the Brigadier's fault*cough*). Other than that... I did have plans for a few anon responses, but I'm not sure which I'd start on next yet.
30 - Do you have a favorite fic you've written? What makes it your favorite? And don't forget to give us a link!
Hm... favorites. I do have a few, actually. It's not my best piece of writing, but I do love For the One You Love. It's Duo and it's all over the place because it was only meant to be a one-shot, but I loved it. There was such a rift between the slash fans and the het fans of Gundam Wing. You were either on one side of the line or the other and you hated the rest of the fandom passionately. This fic bridged that and got both slash and het fans. Granted, I wrote it to get flames one way or the other (because one gay character falling in love with a straight character he's normally paired with totally should have earned me at least one flame from the hard core slashers/het people) and was disappointed that everyone loved it, but hey. The fact that it did act as a bridge was fantastic and it was weird having Relena fans reading. XD
Stray Cat Blues I also liked if just for spazzy kitten Watanuki. Actually, that goes for xxxHolic side of my epic fic as well. xxxHolic side was definitely the stronger of the two stories.
A Far Off Memory It's short, but it really hit everything I wanted it to. I don't do a lot of first person POV's, but this letter from Mamoru/Omi to Aya really just worked for me. I had a reviewer once tell me it captured the atmosphere Glühen so perfectly. Because Glühen was so different from the original series, but there were times you just had to love it because you could see a spark of the original characters and Omi was especially hard for that, and my fic managed to bridge this beautifully for her. Also, timing wise for the letter I nailed it. I really did. XD Writing Omi and Mamoru as one complex character instead of two separate personalities of the same character was challenging, but worth it in the end.
As for Who, I really, really like my Three/Delgado Master/Simm Master fic, but it's not posted yet. Without You would be my next favorite, if just for awesome Brigadier times. I actually like a lot of my Who fics, especially some of the shorter, more humorous ones. I did end up fairly proud of Broken Reality too, I suppose...
And that took me over two hours, largely due to how many frickin' fandoms I've written for. Ah, well. It saved me from getting frustrated in my video game. XD