30 Fanfic Questions!
This was originally a 30 Days meme, but like, nah, fuck that, that's too long son. Cut some of the longer answers for space, not content.
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?
Oh golly. The first fandom I was in was Harry Potter, back when the official movie site had exactly 5 things you could do on it, but was still the most advanced website I'd seen. I basked in the glory of the forum fanfic, the Hermione/Draco Head Boy/Girl explosion, but amazingly missed out on the shipwars, so good job me.
The first fandom I wrote for -- from a quick check of FFNet -- was LOST. I wrote three fics for it and then the show went to hell. Welp!
What pulled me in, I'll answer for both fandoms. For HP, it was that it was the big thing, although I think I got into it right at the beginning of the long wait, which meant I didn't have many people to talk to about it. After Sirius died, I lost the only person who did read it with me. (In the sense of "read & fantasized" as opposed to "were fans".) For LOST, that same friend was watching it with me, so we were both Super Into It! Then the third season came.
2 - Name the fandoms you've written in, and how much you've written in that fandom, and if you still write in it.
I shouldn't have closed that FFNet page, fuck
In order, chronologically:
Lost: 3 things, no more.
YGO: 10, and still going
CCS: 1, not really writing anymore
Batfam: 35 on AO3, idek about how many on Tumblr not cross-posted; *insert nebulous "eeeeeeeeeehhhhhh" noise for "writing more"*
Shakespeare: 3, only 1 posted; I may or may not write more, as all of these were parodies lmao
Teen Titans/RHatO: 1, would TT again; boo on RHatO
Grayson: 1, surprisingly; def gonna write more
Jupiter Ascending: 1, in the middle of another, so ye
SCMI: 1, may or may not, probably not. It was for Yuletide
Song fic: 1, but BRU, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I WANNA DO MORE OF THESE OMG
Sherlock Holmes: (shit, I haven't posted this one either ffffffffffffffffffffff) 2, both big and unpublished
TTSS: 1, may or may not (since I haven't posted for this & next, I'm gonna count what I've just *written*)
FW: 5-6, fuck yeah, this is my main fandom now, even though it's nobody fucking else's
3 - For each of the fandoms from day two, what were your favorite characters to write?
Sticking to fandoms I'm actually still interested in here.
YGO: Kaiba & Jonouchi. They're interesting to play off of, since they come from such different places, but also have so much in common. Also Ryou, b/c if there's one thing I love, it's commonly woobified characters getting to show their own dark side.
Batfam: TOO MANY, OK?? Dick is, I guess, the character I have the easiest time with. He's who I first fell in love with and is the most adaptable and normal?? of the many Bats.
JA: I haven't actually written enough characters to see, but this next fic is from Jupiter's POV and it's been very easy to write, so maybe her.
SH: Well, one's from Watson's POV and the other's from third-person, so fuck if I know. But Sherlock, as a character, is easy for me to write b/c I've been in that world since I was a wee small and I've never fallen out of love with it.
TTSS: My fic's in POV of Bill Haydon, which is hilarious since we don't spend the *book* in his, but for the fic it was easiest, and, uh, apparently it's very easy for me to write aging queers, so A+
FW: Bru. I've only written Rex and Andrew and they're both about equally easy.
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?
I... did? Sorta? When I was rp-ing, it was very easy to write Dick fics, b/c I was in that all the time. Afterwards, not really. With the continuing crossovers and tumblr following Nu52, it's got even harder. But, I've never really had a definite "muse". I have a type! But it's not really the same.
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?
I don't know that this has happened?? It's less that I have a strict control over my fics and what I write, than that it takes me so long to actually *write* anything down, by the time I do, it's already pretty solidified who's involved.
6 - When you write, do you prefer writing male or female characters?
We're gonna have fun with this, but male characters, always. I could go into my own varied queerness and identity, but, um, no. Just take it as it is.
7 - Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character?
Not really. A fic has made me ship something I didn't expect to, but never really changed my opinion. Once I make up my mind, nothing changes it.
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 write MSs b/c I'm not a cishet white man, so.
I like writing non-canon background characters because it gives a fic life. Nothing exists completely on its own, and that goes for, say, superheroes. Not everyone they're going to meet is a super, or a canon character (b/c comics don't understand that you really can have characters who don't die or turn evil to forward the plot). Sometimes a character is just a character who exists outside of the Plot of the Day.
My favorites were the Della Chiaras from Life's Sweetest Reward. While they did, in fact, service the plot (or, were the plot, rather), they were fun to play around with and hint at larger backstory, while making them, imo, super lovable.
9 - Pairings - For each of the fandoms from day two, what are your three favorite pairings to write?
Oh fuck, lemme just pick ones I'm writing. See, it's these callback questions that are the reason I'm doing this all in one post.
YGO: I'm puppyshipping all the way, I don't even give a fuck. It was my heart then, it's my heart now. I am, actually, interested in Kaiba/Ryou (one loves the occult! one made an entire sub-section of themepark about death! match made in fucking heaven), and my old stomping ground, tabloidshipping, but I haven't written any of those (yet).
Bats: Bruce/Dick is/was my all-time go-to, and when I can finally get the headspace to write them, I love them bunches. Dick/Helena is my new OTP5EVA, and I have about 5 different fics started with the two of them (I keep trying for plot, but it's all sexings. So much sexings.) that I really want to get to. When I'm not shouting from the rooftops Jason+Cass=Twins, I actually enjoy writing them as a pairing, because I have Thoughts on how much stuff they've each gone through that the other has, plus I think Cass would be the hardest at getting Jason to not kill to come back to the fold (even though nuBruce seems to be A-OK with murder.....). As in the hardest on him, to good results. (I ship Cass with everybody, tho, so it's not surprising.)
JA: Ngl, writing Seraphi/Balem was the best fucking thing, b/c I have a Thing for immortal space incest and changing relationships once you're, y'know, fucking immortal. Kalique/Jupiter is turning out to be fun, b/c Kalique comes off as very playful (very Greek nymph-esque), and Jupiter is basically me in fictional form, so 10/10, would make out with immortal space babes again.
FW: I only have two pairings, and both involve a character who died in the same episode he was introduced, so. Although I guess you could call the sometimes-triad as a third pairing? Aw yeah~~ (These would be Rex/Andrew, Foyle/Rex, Rex/Foyles, plural.)
I suddenly realize that I'm letting y'all in on a Lot of my personal kinks like it's some kind of secret club, b/c I sure as shit haven't written half this stuff.
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?
Um...no? Well, kinda, I guess. I have yet to successfully write TigerDick (heheh) even though the concept is V Good. I haven't finished any Helena/Dick, but that's more b/c I haven't finished anything in about a year.
I'm ambivalent about Dick/Tim, but I wrote them for a commission and did greatly enjoy it, so, I guess, yes?
Mostly, though, through Yuletide and Rarepairs, I've been able to write pairings I didn't even think of until suddenly pinch hits are up and I'm like, "...Hey now~"
11 - Genre - do you prefer certain genres of fic when you're writing? What kind do you tend to write most?
Slice of life, I guess. Rambling bits of character development over plot are super my thing. I'd say mystery, but I've never read a successful mystery fic (not fanfic fault, I think; it's a failing of modern mystery-writing in general). I, uh, tend to write what I like, which is mostly rambly character-based fics, which I'm discovering are not, in fact, everybody's thing. Whatevs.
12 - Have you ever attempted an "adaptation" fic of a favorite book or movie but set in a different fandom?
YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH THIS IS MY THING
This is something I do all the time in my head, but never write. Well, I started writing it, but it hasn't gone anywhere. I very much want to, and I have so many thought of, but, well, they're a lot more time exhausting than writing something that isn't. (Oh, wait, the Real Doll fic. I'm so thinking of doing a Pygmalion of that, and BOY!)
ADVICE TIME: One pitfall for a lot of writers who attempt this is that they rely on the original text to, well, fill out the text of the new story. You can't just c/p whole parts of the story (not even just b/c of plagiarism b/c there are plenty of public domain works) and stick them in as part of it, b/c your writing style will never imitate correctly, and you'll just give your reader literary whiplash. That's OK! It shouldn't match! Even writing pastiche, it will never completely match the original. SO, you need to take those sections and rewrite them in your own way. The meanings can stay exactly the same, but the words and style need to be yours, fully.
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?
I enjoy both, and I will, in fact, fight for fanon to exist at all costs. Fanon is what gets people writing when they enter a new fandom. Fanon is how people break into writing, letting them play around without worry of "screwing up". Fanon is good and great on the whole and should be protected as an institution. Personally, I enjoy a mix of both. For some fandoms, I'm very canon-strict. For others, I let my freak flag fly and use an amalgam of whatever I like.
I don't know if it's fanfic, my own queerness, or both, but I do look at source material more often from a queer perspective, i.e. finding all the queer subtext in everything (seriously, if you can watch Foyle's War and think Foyle ISN'T lowkey flirting with everybody, then you're a better man than I, Gunga Din). Maybe it's more that, since fanfic and fandom (as a whole and the parts I've carved out for myself) encourages subtext-hunting, I'm more aware of it than ever.
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?
I don't know what's higher than immortal space incest, but I've probably got that fic half-written and waiting. I write everything, in all ratings. I don't think I've ever been "shocked" to find I'm writing not-porn when porn is what I started with, because that's generally how 99% of my fics go. Even when I plan it, I've got to devote at least 5,000 words to character development and plot and oh god, why can't you two just bone already, why do I need anotHER CHAPTER, FUCKDAMMIT THIS WAS DUE YESTERDAY
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?
I warn for general major triggers in any fic that warrants it (including a fic that hasn't even got there, hmm). I think the most different was "I cannot stress this family's incest enough I'm so sorry", along with the regular warning tags.
Now, if you're asking what I've tagged fic as, that is another, very humorous story:
16 - Summaries - Do you like them or hate them? How do you come up with them, if you use them?
I'm ambivalent. Sometimes it's annoying when I'm all set to post a fic and I don't have a summary and goddammit I just want this fic to go up why does it need a fucking summary just fucking read it. But most of the time I'm just like, OK. I don't generally do summaries that are like, full back-of-the-book blurbs, because I just don't. Usually, I just come up with a sentence or two that loosely ties up what's going on, or sets the mood. I don't spend much time on them.
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?
Bru, I fucking love titles. 99% of my titles are song lyrics or slightly-tweaked song lyrics, b/c that's my jam. I know so many songs, bru. So many. I don't think I've ever titled something and then didn't like it later, even if sometimes it's confusing when I get the "You Got Kudos!" e-mail and I'm like, "fuck which fic is that" lmao
I don't generally for chaptered fics, but I do for original work. If it's a long, involved fic, I will, b/c I love titled chapters, but I ain't getting paid for it, so.
18 - Where do you get the most inspiration for your fics from?
...Myself? For the things I don't write, from movies, books, songs, what have you. For the things I do write, sometimes art (fan or otherwise), usually from things that just pop into my head. I wrote a few back in my rp days that were prompts given or chat ideas/text posts that I had to write, but I find I do that less now. This is probably b/c I'm in a fandom of 1 with a ship of 1. :I
19 - When you have story ideas, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?
AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHJFASHKJFHASHFLKAJKFL
Oh god, no. Have y'all seen me publish anything lately? Didn't think so.
My mom lovingly bought me an idea box, which I used once, and which is now supporting other boxes in a tower of boxes in my room. Sometimes I'll jot maybe a sentence or a couple words into a Gdoc, but that's about it. As soon as I write things down, I forget about them or stop thinking about them, which is really not conducive to fic writing. That's not to say I don't have 500 unfinished Gdocs sitting there waiting, b/c I do eventually write things down, it's just that I usually wait and wait until I can't wait and have to write in one giant rush and then stop writing for the next 10 years.
20 - Do you ever get story ideas from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?
Oh, I guess I answered this, whoops. But yeah, I do, especially fic. Fic I enjoy usually becomes, "Oh, I like that plot, but what if instead this happened?" (I'm all about fic remixes, even though I've never done one b/c most people seem very :< about them ;__; ). Fic I don't becomes, "Fuck you, I can do that better."
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...haven't? I think?? Most of my stories are one-shots or chaptered fic, so I haven't needed to sequel (altho I do have a half-finished commission sequel that I need to do, whoops). There is one I would like to write, I guess, a sequel to: Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows. I just haven't got around to it (like everything else).
I enjoy sequels, but I think, like movies often fail to escape from, you risk needing to make your sequel bigger and better than the original, which, IMO, isn't the purpose of a sequel at all. Sequels should either, 1) continue an over-arching story (in which case, that sequel better have been planned b/c you'll fall flat and die otherwise), or 2) take your characters into a new adventure. It doesn't have to be a big adventure; SLR sequel will just be Dick and Bruce exploring their relationship now that it's established and learning more about how they interact and relate to one another. It doesn't have to be something grandiose, just playing with the characters established.
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?
Bru. I'm in the middle of, like, 5.
I find I enjoy BBs less, b/c I don't write long fics (and stress even harder when I try to). I love Yuletide, tho, and generally Rarepair, altho this year life just decided to do a giant "haha, fuck you" on me, so. Right now, I have a LOTR mini-bang (*cries*), a BDSM BB (I'm not very consistent with my preferences), Season of Kink (which I have already failed at and have just accepted it), YULETIDE WHICH IS MY TIME TO SHINE MOTHERFUCKERS, and Couples BB (b/c I never fucking learn) where I have no idea what I'm gonna do.
I really need more small fandom fic things. Or there need to be more out there, one of the two.
That all said, NaNo can go fuck itself.
23 - When you post, where do you post to? Just your journal? Just an archive? Your own personal site?
I used to post on FFNet waaaaaaay back in the day (2005, oh hell). Now, I post to my Tumblr (well, sorta; there's a shitton of fics there that haven't been posted anywhere else that I need to get to), but mostly to Archive of Our Own. I'm thinking of making a Fanfic Masterlist here & LJ, tho; just a nice place to have them all together.
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?
Oh, now the secrets come out.
I don't. Ever.
Practical reason is that I'm a much better editor than a writer, and only I know what I want the story to do, so I don't let people read it. The other reason is, well, I am the only one who knows what I want and there is nothing that pisses me off more than someone reading my story and going, "But what if they did THIS instead?" What if I kick your ass, how 'bout that? This is why I do not do well in creative writing classes and critique bullshit (and writer groups in general).
The only other person I have read over any fics (generally the long ones) is my mom, b/c she doesn't give a shit about what the characters are doing and focuses instead on proofing, if something didn't make sense, and generally making sure the story is coherent.
You want horror stories? The friend who constantly read my novel and wanted two characters to pair up when they were never, ever, going to. Never. No matter how many times you beg, they're not doing it. (This goes along with the comments I get occasionally that ask for radically different things than I'm doing including a/b/o shit nah bru)
(Sometimes it's sad b/c friends will offer to beta in thanks for my proofing and I just go, "sure, some time" b/c I never will. It's not you, it's me. It's all me.)
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?
Uh, nes. Yo. Sorta. Sometimes, if there's one song that I just really really feel for a fic, I'll play that on repeat until I'm done (with the fic, that is; I'm probably past done with the song by then). I've never been a big playlist person, as in making a playlist for a fic or for mood, b/c I don't work that way. But I will just turn on a random playlist or album that I know for some background. The quieter it is, the more likely I am to get distracted by my own brain.
26 - What is the oddest (or funnest) thing you've had to research for a fic?
Street and place names, always for DC fanfics (thank god for maps, even if they do constantly change shit). I also have a shitton of books on WWII, Battle of Britain, Spitfires and their pilots, POWs, historical & military queerness, and four giant books of British slang from 1567-1984. This all started to write a large Foyle's War fanfic, but now it's spawned into a lowkey obsession (seriously, I still have more books to get). I'm, uh, thinking of abandoning the fic idea and just making this my giant queer WWII historical series.
I enjoy acquiring research things without doing the actual reading of them. Hm.
I do a lot of little weird research for fics; songs that would've been out at a certain time, looking for a certain word (different from general word-searching), comic history for just some really obscure shit I can throw in for less than a line that nobody else will ever notice but it makes me happy, just general historical tidbits to throw in (learning New Math, Dick you poor soul). I did research what kind of pseudo-makeout party games were around in the '60s for SLR.
27 - Where is your favorite place to write, and do you write by hand or on the computer?
I won't lie, tablets/smartphones were the best thing that ever happened to bathrooms. I've written some good shit while taking a good--
I'll start over.
Anywhere writing actually gets done is a good place to write. I don't have a particular place (altho once I finally clean up my room and rearrange it, I will have a bitchin' new desk).
I love writing by hand. When I had desks and structured days, I wrote so fucking much, man. So much. Now that I don't have either, and I've been writing more on my tablet/phone, because it's at least similar to the feel of writing by hand. Once I've got something going, though, I do prefer to type it, since I type ridiculously fast. I used to write by hand, then type it up on the computer, but then I'd end up changing things instead of just transcribing it, which would then throw off my handwritten sections.
28 - Have you ever collaborated with anyone else, whether writing together, or having an artist work on a piece about your fic?
I have not, but gosh, I would love to! The idea of collaborated fics is something I've wanted to do for a long time, but it's never worked out. I have had art done for my fics during BBs, but not in a working together sense.
29 - What is your current project or projects?
Oh shit, son, too many. I kinda listed what I'm doing in the answer to 22, and in the research question, because that's my next big thing. The BDSM fic is a long Bruce/Dick one that I've had kicking around for a while (it's the wordcount that's gonna make me cry). The LOTR one is going to be Tom Bombadil and Goldberry, b/c my heart belongs to characters nobody else cares about. The Couples BB is either going to be Foyle's War or maybe it'll be a big Helena/Dick fic (probably the latter). I don't know what Yuletide will be, but I'm SO FUCKING READY and waiting is suffering.
30 - Do you have a favorite fic you've written? What makes it your favorite? And don't forget to give us a link!
I, uh... I think my favorite fic hasn't been posted yet, so, uh, whoops? Don't worry; I'll make a masterlist soon!
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?
Oh golly. The first fandom I was in was Harry Potter, back when the official movie site had exactly 5 things you could do on it, but was still the most advanced website I'd seen. I basked in the glory of the forum fanfic, the Hermione/Draco Head Boy/Girl explosion, but amazingly missed out on the shipwars, so good job me.
The first fandom I wrote for -- from a quick check of FFNet -- was LOST. I wrote three fics for it and then the show went to hell. Welp!
What pulled me in, I'll answer for both fandoms. For HP, it was that it was the big thing, although I think I got into it right at the beginning of the long wait, which meant I didn't have many people to talk to about it. After Sirius died, I lost the only person who did read it with me. (In the sense of "read & fantasized" as opposed to "were fans".) For LOST, that same friend was watching it with me, so we were both Super Into It! Then the third season came.
2 - Name the fandoms you've written in, and how much you've written in that fandom, and if you still write in it.
I shouldn't have closed that FFNet page, fuck
In order, chronologically:
- LOST
- Yu-Gi-Oh!DM ('course, it was the only one then....)
- Card Captor Sakura
- Batman/Batfam
- SHAKESPEARE, FUCK
- Teen Titans/Red Hood and the Outlaws (it was a fanart fic)
- Grayson
- Jupiter Ascending
- Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated
- Songfic/Music fandom
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (book)
- Foyle's War
Lost: 3 things, no more.
YGO: 10, and still going
CCS: 1, not really writing anymore
Batfam: 35 on AO3, idek about how many on Tumblr not cross-posted; *insert nebulous "eeeeeeeeeehhhhhh" noise for "writing more"*
Shakespeare: 3, only 1 posted; I may or may not write more, as all of these were parodies lmao
Teen Titans/RHatO: 1, would TT again; boo on RHatO
Grayson: 1, surprisingly; def gonna write more
Jupiter Ascending: 1, in the middle of another, so ye
SCMI: 1, may or may not, probably not. It was for Yuletide
Song fic: 1, but BRU, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I WANNA DO MORE OF THESE OMG
Sherlock Holmes: (shit, I haven't posted this one either ffffffffffffffffffffff) 2, both big and unpublished
TTSS: 1, may or may not (since I haven't posted for this & next, I'm gonna count what I've just *written*)
FW: 5-6, fuck yeah, this is my main fandom now, even though it's nobody fucking else's
3 - For each of the fandoms from day two, what were your favorite characters to write?
Sticking to fandoms I'm actually still interested in here.
YGO: Kaiba & Jonouchi. They're interesting to play off of, since they come from such different places, but also have so much in common. Also Ryou, b/c if there's one thing I love, it's commonly woobified characters getting to show their own dark side.
Batfam: TOO MANY, OK?? Dick is, I guess, the character I have the easiest time with. He's who I first fell in love with and is the most adaptable and normal?? of the many Bats.
JA: I haven't actually written enough characters to see, but this next fic is from Jupiter's POV and it's been very easy to write, so maybe her.
SH: Well, one's from Watson's POV and the other's from third-person, so fuck if I know. But Sherlock, as a character, is easy for me to write b/c I've been in that world since I was a wee small and I've never fallen out of love with it.
TTSS: My fic's in POV of Bill Haydon, which is hilarious since we don't spend the *book* in his, but for the fic it was easiest, and, uh, apparently it's very easy for me to write aging queers, so A+
FW: Bru. I've only written Rex and Andrew and they're both about equally easy.
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?
I... did? Sorta? When I was rp-ing, it was very easy to write Dick fics, b/c I was in that all the time. Afterwards, not really. With the continuing crossovers and tumblr following Nu52, it's got even harder. But, I've never really had a definite "muse". I have a type! But it's not really the same.
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?
I don't know that this has happened?? It's less that I have a strict control over my fics and what I write, than that it takes me so long to actually *write* anything down, by the time I do, it's already pretty solidified who's involved.
6 - When you write, do you prefer writing male or female characters?
We're gonna have fun with this, but male characters, always. I could go into my own varied queerness and identity, but, um, no. Just take it as it is.
7 - Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character?
Not really. A fic has made me ship something I didn't expect to, but never really changed my opinion. Once I make up my mind, nothing changes it.
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 write MSs b/c I'm not a cishet white man, so.
I like writing non-canon background characters because it gives a fic life. Nothing exists completely on its own, and that goes for, say, superheroes. Not everyone they're going to meet is a super, or a canon character (b/c comics don't understand that you really can have characters who don't die or turn evil to forward the plot). Sometimes a character is just a character who exists outside of the Plot of the Day.
My favorites were the Della Chiaras from Life's Sweetest Reward. While they did, in fact, service the plot (or, were the plot, rather), they were fun to play around with and hint at larger backstory, while making them, imo, super lovable.
9 - Pairings - For each of the fandoms from day two, what are your three favorite pairings to write?
Oh fuck, lemme just pick ones I'm writing. See, it's these callback questions that are the reason I'm doing this all in one post.
YGO: I'm puppyshipping all the way, I don't even give a fuck. It was my heart then, it's my heart now. I am, actually, interested in Kaiba/Ryou (one loves the occult! one made an entire sub-section of themepark about death! match made in fucking heaven), and my old stomping ground, tabloidshipping, but I haven't written any of those (yet).
Bats: Bruce/Dick is/was my all-time go-to, and when I can finally get the headspace to write them, I love them bunches. Dick/Helena is my new OTP5EVA, and I have about 5 different fics started with the two of them (I keep trying for plot, but it's all sexings. So much sexings.) that I really want to get to. When I'm not shouting from the rooftops Jason+Cass=Twins, I actually enjoy writing them as a pairing, because I have Thoughts on how much stuff they've each gone through that the other has, plus I think Cass would be the hardest at getting Jason to not kill to come back to the fold (even though nuBruce seems to be A-OK with murder.....). As in the hardest on him, to good results. (I ship Cass with everybody, tho, so it's not surprising.)
JA: Ngl, writing Seraphi/Balem was the best fucking thing, b/c I have a Thing for immortal space incest and changing relationships once you're, y'know, fucking immortal. Kalique/Jupiter is turning out to be fun, b/c Kalique comes off as very playful (very Greek nymph-esque), and Jupiter is basically me in fictional form, so 10/10, would make out with immortal space babes again.
FW: I only have two pairings, and both involve a character who died in the same episode he was introduced, so. Although I guess you could call the sometimes-triad as a third pairing? Aw yeah~~ (These would be Rex/Andrew, Foyle/Rex, Rex/Foyles, plural.)
I suddenly realize that I'm letting y'all in on a Lot of my personal kinks like it's some kind of secret club, b/c I sure as shit haven't written half this stuff.
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?
Um...no? Well, kinda, I guess. I have yet to successfully write TigerDick (heheh) even though the concept is V Good. I haven't finished any Helena/Dick, but that's more b/c I haven't finished anything in about a year.
I'm ambivalent about Dick/Tim, but I wrote them for a commission and did greatly enjoy it, so, I guess, yes?
Mostly, though, through Yuletide and Rarepairs, I've been able to write pairings I didn't even think of until suddenly pinch hits are up and I'm like, "...Hey now~"
11 - Genre - do you prefer certain genres of fic when you're writing? What kind do you tend to write most?
Slice of life, I guess. Rambling bits of character development over plot are super my thing. I'd say mystery, but I've never read a successful mystery fic (not fanfic fault, I think; it's a failing of modern mystery-writing in general). I, uh, tend to write what I like, which is mostly rambly character-based fics, which I'm discovering are not, in fact, everybody's thing. Whatevs.
12 - Have you ever attempted an "adaptation" fic of a favorite book or movie but set in a different fandom?
YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH THIS IS MY THING
This is something I do all the time in my head, but never write. Well, I started writing it, but it hasn't gone anywhere. I very much want to, and I have so many thought of, but, well, they're a lot more time exhausting than writing something that isn't. (Oh, wait, the Real Doll fic. I'm so thinking of doing a Pygmalion of that, and BOY!)
ADVICE TIME: One pitfall for a lot of writers who attempt this is that they rely on the original text to, well, fill out the text of the new story. You can't just c/p whole parts of the story (not even just b/c of plagiarism b/c there are plenty of public domain works) and stick them in as part of it, b/c your writing style will never imitate correctly, and you'll just give your reader literary whiplash. That's OK! It shouldn't match! Even writing pastiche, it will never completely match the original. SO, you need to take those sections and rewrite them in your own way. The meanings can stay exactly the same, but the words and style need to be yours, fully.
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?
I enjoy both, and I will, in fact, fight for fanon to exist at all costs. Fanon is what gets people writing when they enter a new fandom. Fanon is how people break into writing, letting them play around without worry of "screwing up". Fanon is good and great on the whole and should be protected as an institution. Personally, I enjoy a mix of both. For some fandoms, I'm very canon-strict. For others, I let my freak flag fly and use an amalgam of whatever I like.
I don't know if it's fanfic, my own queerness, or both, but I do look at source material more often from a queer perspective, i.e. finding all the queer subtext in everything (seriously, if you can watch Foyle's War and think Foyle ISN'T lowkey flirting with everybody, then you're a better man than I, Gunga Din). Maybe it's more that, since fanfic and fandom (as a whole and the parts I've carved out for myself) encourages subtext-hunting, I'm more aware of it than ever.
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?
I don't know what's higher than immortal space incest, but I've probably got that fic half-written and waiting. I write everything, in all ratings. I don't think I've ever been "shocked" to find I'm writing not-porn when porn is what I started with, because that's generally how 99% of my fics go. Even when I plan it, I've got to devote at least 5,000 words to character development and plot and oh god, why can't you two just bone already, why do I need anotHER CHAPTER, FUCKDAMMIT THIS WAS DUE YESTERDAY
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?
I warn for general major triggers in any fic that warrants it (including a fic that hasn't even got there, hmm). I think the most different was "I cannot stress this family's incest enough I'm so sorry", along with the regular warning tags.
Now, if you're asking what I've tagged fic as, that is another, very humorous story:
- "science babes; being cute; solving science mysteries; being disappointed in supervillains; rubber chickens; terrible attempts at portmanteaus"
- "Stalking is how Bats say I love you"
- "The Waynes have a collecting problem; Dammit Damian you can't bring home every animal you see"
- "surprise dead brother; it's not really that much of a surprise tbh"
- "Daily lives of superheroes; I just like non-evil Joker ok?"
- "look it's just a lot of sex alright?"
- "oh god I'm so sorry y'all; I don't know what's happening; but it is; whoops"
- "Bruce if you don't capture the merman; He'll capture you"
- "It's the Real Doll one; gdi Bruce you're creepy"
16 - Summaries - Do you like them or hate them? How do you come up with them, if you use them?
I'm ambivalent. Sometimes it's annoying when I'm all set to post a fic and I don't have a summary and goddammit I just want this fic to go up why does it need a fucking summary just fucking read it. But most of the time I'm just like, OK. I don't generally do summaries that are like, full back-of-the-book blurbs, because I just don't. Usually, I just come up with a sentence or two that loosely ties up what's going on, or sets the mood. I don't spend much time on them.
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?
Bru, I fucking love titles. 99% of my titles are song lyrics or slightly-tweaked song lyrics, b/c that's my jam. I know so many songs, bru. So many. I don't think I've ever titled something and then didn't like it later, even if sometimes it's confusing when I get the "You Got Kudos!" e-mail and I'm like, "fuck which fic is that" lmao
I don't generally for chaptered fics, but I do for original work. If it's a long, involved fic, I will, b/c I love titled chapters, but I ain't getting paid for it, so.
18 - Where do you get the most inspiration for your fics from?
...Myself? For the things I don't write, from movies, books, songs, what have you. For the things I do write, sometimes art (fan or otherwise), usually from things that just pop into my head. I wrote a few back in my rp days that were prompts given or chat ideas/text posts that I had to write, but I find I do that less now. This is probably b/c I'm in a fandom of 1 with a ship of 1. :I
19 - When you have story ideas, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?
AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHJFASHKJFHASHFLKAJKFL
Oh god, no. Have y'all seen me publish anything lately? Didn't think so.
My mom lovingly bought me an idea box, which I used once, and which is now supporting other boxes in a tower of boxes in my room. Sometimes I'll jot maybe a sentence or a couple words into a Gdoc, but that's about it. As soon as I write things down, I forget about them or stop thinking about them, which is really not conducive to fic writing. That's not to say I don't have 500 unfinished Gdocs sitting there waiting, b/c I do eventually write things down, it's just that I usually wait and wait until I can't wait and have to write in one giant rush and then stop writing for the next 10 years.
20 - Do you ever get story ideas from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?
Oh, I guess I answered this, whoops. But yeah, I do, especially fic. Fic I enjoy usually becomes, "Oh, I like that plot, but what if instead this happened?" (I'm all about fic remixes, even though I've never done one b/c most people seem very :< about them ;__; ). Fic I don't becomes, "Fuck you, I can do that better."
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...haven't? I think?? Most of my stories are one-shots or chaptered fic, so I haven't needed to sequel (altho I do have a half-finished commission sequel that I need to do, whoops). There is one I would like to write, I guess, a sequel to: Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows. I just haven't got around to it (like everything else).
I enjoy sequels, but I think, like movies often fail to escape from, you risk needing to make your sequel bigger and better than the original, which, IMO, isn't the purpose of a sequel at all. Sequels should either, 1) continue an over-arching story (in which case, that sequel better have been planned b/c you'll fall flat and die otherwise), or 2) take your characters into a new adventure. It doesn't have to be a big adventure; SLR sequel will just be Dick and Bruce exploring their relationship now that it's established and learning more about how they interact and relate to one another. It doesn't have to be something grandiose, just playing with the characters established.
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?
Bru. I'm in the middle of, like, 5.
I find I enjoy BBs less, b/c I don't write long fics (and stress even harder when I try to). I love Yuletide, tho, and generally Rarepair, altho this year life just decided to do a giant "haha, fuck you" on me, so. Right now, I have a LOTR mini-bang (*cries*), a BDSM BB (I'm not very consistent with my preferences), Season of Kink (which I have already failed at and have just accepted it), YULETIDE WHICH IS MY TIME TO SHINE MOTHERFUCKERS, and Couples BB (b/c I never fucking learn) where I have no idea what I'm gonna do.
I really need more small fandom fic things. Or there need to be more out there, one of the two.
That all said, NaNo can go fuck itself.
23 - When you post, where do you post to? Just your journal? Just an archive? Your own personal site?
I used to post on FFNet waaaaaaay back in the day (2005, oh hell). Now, I post to my Tumblr (well, sorta; there's a shitton of fics there that haven't been posted anywhere else that I need to get to), but mostly to Archive of Our Own. I'm thinking of making a Fanfic Masterlist here & LJ, tho; just a nice place to have them all together.
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?
Oh, now the secrets come out.
I don't. Ever.
Practical reason is that I'm a much better editor than a writer, and only I know what I want the story to do, so I don't let people read it. The other reason is, well, I am the only one who knows what I want and there is nothing that pisses me off more than someone reading my story and going, "But what if they did THIS instead?" What if I kick your ass, how 'bout that? This is why I do not do well in creative writing classes and critique bullshit (and writer groups in general).
The only other person I have read over any fics (generally the long ones) is my mom, b/c she doesn't give a shit about what the characters are doing and focuses instead on proofing, if something didn't make sense, and generally making sure the story is coherent.
You want horror stories? The friend who constantly read my novel and wanted two characters to pair up when they were never, ever, going to. Never. No matter how many times you beg, they're not doing it. (This goes along with the comments I get occasionally that ask for radically different things than I'm doing including a/b/o shit nah bru)
(Sometimes it's sad b/c friends will offer to beta in thanks for my proofing and I just go, "sure, some time" b/c I never will. It's not you, it's me. It's all me.)
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?
Uh, nes. Yo. Sorta. Sometimes, if there's one song that I just really really feel for a fic, I'll play that on repeat until I'm done (with the fic, that is; I'm probably past done with the song by then). I've never been a big playlist person, as in making a playlist for a fic or for mood, b/c I don't work that way. But I will just turn on a random playlist or album that I know for some background. The quieter it is, the more likely I am to get distracted by my own brain.
26 - What is the oddest (or funnest) thing you've had to research for a fic?
Street and place names, always for DC fanfics (thank god for maps, even if they do constantly change shit). I also have a shitton of books on WWII, Battle of Britain, Spitfires and their pilots, POWs, historical & military queerness, and four giant books of British slang from 1567-1984. This all started to write a large Foyle's War fanfic, but now it's spawned into a lowkey obsession (seriously, I still have more books to get). I'm, uh, thinking of abandoning the fic idea and just making this my giant queer WWII historical series.
I enjoy acquiring research things without doing the actual reading of them. Hm.
I do a lot of little weird research for fics; songs that would've been out at a certain time, looking for a certain word (different from general word-searching), comic history for just some really obscure shit I can throw in for less than a line that nobody else will ever notice but it makes me happy, just general historical tidbits to throw in (learning New Math, Dick you poor soul). I did research what kind of pseudo-makeout party games were around in the '60s for SLR.
27 - Where is your favorite place to write, and do you write by hand or on the computer?
I won't lie, tablets/smartphones were the best thing that ever happened to bathrooms. I've written some good shit while taking a good--
I'll start over.
Anywhere writing actually gets done is a good place to write. I don't have a particular place (altho once I finally clean up my room and rearrange it, I will have a bitchin' new desk).
I love writing by hand. When I had desks and structured days, I wrote so fucking much, man. So much. Now that I don't have either, and I've been writing more on my tablet/phone, because it's at least similar to the feel of writing by hand. Once I've got something going, though, I do prefer to type it, since I type ridiculously fast. I used to write by hand, then type it up on the computer, but then I'd end up changing things instead of just transcribing it, which would then throw off my handwritten sections.
28 - Have you ever collaborated with anyone else, whether writing together, or having an artist work on a piece about your fic?
I have not, but gosh, I would love to! The idea of collaborated fics is something I've wanted to do for a long time, but it's never worked out. I have had art done for my fics during BBs, but not in a working together sense.
29 - What is your current project or projects?
Oh shit, son, too many. I kinda listed what I'm doing in the answer to 22, and in the research question, because that's my next big thing. The BDSM fic is a long Bruce/Dick one that I've had kicking around for a while (it's the wordcount that's gonna make me cry). The LOTR one is going to be Tom Bombadil and Goldberry, b/c my heart belongs to characters nobody else cares about. The Couples BB is either going to be Foyle's War or maybe it'll be a big Helena/Dick fic (probably the latter). I don't know what Yuletide will be, but I'm SO FUCKING READY and waiting is suffering.
30 - Do you have a favorite fic you've written? What makes it your favorite? And don't forget to give us a link!
I, uh... I think my favorite fic hasn't been posted yet, so, uh, whoops? Don't worry; I'll make a masterlist soon!