Rchan has thinky thoughts
Dec. 10th, 2012 08:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eirenicalOK. Ever see one of those fandom/fanfic memes that you just know is going to turn into a monster of babbling that NO ONE will want to read through if you answer it, but you really want to answer it, anyway?
List all the fandoms you have written in:
Oh, my. Let's see if I can track this back, hm? Only including published works, because if I include the unpublished ones, this will get ridiculous VERY quickly. Listed years are when I first published in those fandoms as near as I can track it back. I've gone back and revisited old fandoms (hell, I just wrote a SM story this year ^_~), but I didn't double list.
Published: Sailor Moon, 1996-7ish; Fushigi Yuugi, 1997-8ish; Yuu Yuu Hakusho, Star Wars, Inuyasha, Power Rangers (PRiS, MMPR), 1999; Gundam Wing, 2000; Tokyo Babylon, 2001; CLAMP Campus Detectives, 2001; Fruits Basket, 2002; The Mighty Ducks (movie), 2003; Harry Potter, 2004; Weiss Kreuz, 2004; Slayers, 2004; Gundam Seed, 2005; Peter Pan and the Pirates, 2005; Prince of Tennis, 2005; Chronicles of Narnia, 2006; Suikoden III, 2006; Party of five, 2008; Hair, the musical, 2010; Abraham Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party, 2010; Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, 2011; Eloise at Christmastime, 2011; Book of Mormon, the musical, 2011; Power Rangers (PRDT), 2011; Newsies, the musical, 2011; Solarbabies, 2011; Legend, 2011; Switched at Birth, 2011; Miranda, 2011; Doctor Who, 2012; Jesus Christ Superstar, 2012; Broadway RPF; Firefly, 2012; X-men: First Class, 2012; Teen Wolf, 2012
How many published fics have you written?
Ugh. Someone (I won't mention any names, but he has four paws and whiskers :-P) kept key-smashing my computer and walking across my chest while I was trying to flip between webpages and count everything. After restarting 3 times, I gave up, but it's somewhere around 90. That's… well, that's more than I thought I'd written. O_o;;;
In terms of wordcount, in which fandom have you written the most?
Oh, good grief. I don't even need to count that. Hair. Without question. -.-;;;
At the moment, which one of your fics is your favorite/you are the most proud of? (you can include unpublished fics)
Oh, I hate those kinds of questions. -.-;;; It's like asking someone to choose a favorite child. -.-;;; Sticking with my published works, though, I think I'd have to say it's a toss up between When You Are Old and Grey and Full of Sleep, Darkness Beneath the Skin and Alternate States of Consciousness. The first is my Jeanie/Sheila Hair story, the second my Legend story for Yuletide last year, and the third is my Adam POV Priscilla, Queen of the Desert fic.
Most of what I like about these three boil down to language. When I first started writing, my stories were very plot driven, very dialogue driven, big on exposition. Hell… I talk a lot. That's kind of my thing. ;) So, my writing reflected that. As I got older, as I changed, so did my writing. Like myself, it turned inward, became more focused on imagery and introspection than plot, action and dialogue. These days I often write stories that have very little dialogue, or dialogue mostly in flashbacks -- Alternate States is one such. However, where I would like my writing to settle eventually is partway between those two and I'm slowly working my way there.
I'm not sure I can put into words what it is that I like best about these three except to say that the rhythm is right. I've always loved the tradition of oral storytelling. And a story with the wrong rhythm can't be read aloud… and if it can't be read aloud, it never reads right in my head. I can live with that in someone else's story, but it bothers me tremendously when it happens in my own. These three have that rhythm and flow and still manage to fit in the dialogue and/or plot when it needs to be there.
Which writer (fanfiction or not) inspires your own work?
Honestly, too numerous to count. Anne Bishop, C.S. Friedman, Carol Berg, Steven Brust, Ellen Kushner, Patrick Rothfuss.
What was your first fanfic about?
Oh "Generals' Hour"… *laughs* *shakes head* Oh, that story. "Generals' Hour" was based off of the DiC dub of Sailor Moon. The basic plot premise was that the Generals weren't the ones who betrayed the Silver Millenium. It was Princess Serenity and the Sailor Scouts, instead. The only scout who didn't betray the Queen was Sailor Jupiter and in so standing her ground, became an "Upper Scout" and a direct avatar of her god. It can be found in the "R.I.P." section of my (now mostly defunct) webpage if you're really interested, but the coolest thing about this story was that it was the first one for which someone drew me fanart. ^_^ Unlike the story, the artwork is actually very well done. Here, see?
Out of all the characters whose POV you have written, which one do you feel you identify the most with?
Claude Bukowski from Hair. No question. Part of the reason I obsessed so completely and so immediately with that show was because I identified so wholly and completely with him. To some extent, I had always felt trapped in my own life, like I'd let myself be swept along by everyone else's expectations and by my own sense that certain things were "acceptable" career paths and others were not. By the time I'd graduated veterinary school and been in practice for several years, I'd finally realized that that was not a great way to live your life. I was constantly under stress, constantly sick, constantly in pain, overweight to the point of health consequences, and desperately unhappy and I had no idea what to do to make myself feel any better. All I knew was that I felt like I was trapped in a situation and there was no out but to duck my head down and keep pretending everything was fine when it wasn't.
It all came to a head when I injured my back in December of 2009. And to borrow a sentiment from the movie "Center Stage," on some level, I was relieved that I'd been injured. Because that (again), took the decision of whether or not to leave my current career out of my hands. For the sake of my own health, I couldn't stay in that profession. I had to find something else to make me happy. Only… I wasn't ready to do that, yet. I didn't know how. And I was starting this spiraling tailspin of panic that what I'd wanted to do and trained to do my whole life was NOT was I was going to be doing from here out and I had no idea which way to turn. I spent several months sitting in the proverbial corner, kicking and screaming.
Enter Hair.
I said in that audience in January of 2010 and looked up on that stage and saw myself. Fictitious, perhaps, and magnified a thousand-fold from my own petty problems, but I saw myself in Claude. And do you know what I realized? My problems, while gargantuan to me, were petty. In the grand scheme of the world, they were grossly unimportant. Also, by watching how Claude handled his own trapped and cornered state, I realized that what I was doing was equally ridiculous and ineffective… and I was my own worst enemy. I had people around me -- just like Claude did -- who cared for me and wanted to see me happy. Only, I had to be the one to decide to be happy. I was the only one who could make that happen.
So, I did.
^_^
*coughs* There's, uh… more in that vein, but I think I'll stop. ^_~
What do you feel is your biggest challenge when writing?
Fandom ADD. Seriously. If I don't get it down within a week, maybe two, the odds of me getting distracted by a newer, shinier fandom or story idea is very high. And if that happens… I'm not getting back to the original one any time soon and the likelihood that it will be finished is slim.
Do you generally outline your fics or do you prefer to write spontaneously and then revise?
Write spontaneously and revise. Even when I do outline, I generally end up off the outline within half a chapter. ;)
Which one of your fanfics has the most hits? the most comments? the most kudos? (if applicable)
That's tough. My stories are kind of scattered all over the place and no archive really monitors those things the same way. Also, most of my earlier stories were posted strictly on LJ or on my webpage before hit counters really came into play. :-P So, with the understanding that the data is skewed…
From AO3:
Most hits: A Simple Life, X-men: First Class, then If You Keep On Believing, Teen Wolf.
Most kudos: A Simple Life, X-men: First Class, then If You Keep On Believing, Teen Wolf. ^_~
Most comments: A New Day Dawning, Newsies the musical, then Spice Up Your Life, Miranda.
From ff.net: (And this is mega skewed, b/c ff.net counts each hit to a chapter as a new hit for the story and each hit on a different day by the same IP address as a new hit, so obviously, stories with the most chapters get the most hits :-P)
Most hits: A Rose By Any Other Name, Power Rangers, then Turn It Off, Book of Mormon the musical.
Most favorites: Forget Me Not, Power Rangers in Space, then Flash Those Baby Blues, Switched at Birth.
Most reviews: The Zorya, Hair the musical, then A Rose By Any Other Name, Power Rangers.
From LJ… oh, yikes. Impossible to say without a lot more effort than I feel like putting into this. O_o;;;
What proportion, if any, of your fics are rated M or above (# of M-plus fics/ total # of fics)?
I only started writing M and up rated stories within the last year or two, so overall, probably not many.
Starting the count since I started writing, 10 of about 90 total stories were rated M and above.
Starting the count since I started writing M and above stories? 10 out of 30 or so. ^_~
Finally, tease us with the title of one of your upcoming fics:
Oh, good grief. I don't write the titles until I finish the story. How about a straight up teaser, instead? ^_~
"Now…?" Joe prompted.
"Now I just found out that I have a son. A real son. A son who's *mine*, not borrowed like Cheryl. And his mom knew he was mine even before I left and never told me," Claude said, "I don't know what to do with that, Joe. I don't even know how I feel about it. They all *knew* and they didn't tell me. Didn't they think I should have had a say in my own future?" He slammed a fist down on the cardboard beneath him, "Fuck, it's like my father, all over again!"
Joe was silent for a minute before responding, "So… if she'd told you then, you'd have stayed with her? Were you even *with* her? I thought you were with the other two -- Berger and Sheila?"
Claude sighed, "That's why I said it was complicated, Joe. I understand why she did what she did and part of me appreciates it, but… I just can't accept it yet. I need a little time to process. And on top of everything *else* I'm trying to process… this is just too big, OK?"
Joe nodded, "Yeah. I get that. So, tonight…?"
"Tonight I just needed to be around someone who gets it." Claude snorted out a bitter, self-directed laugh, "Someone whose 'Soldier's Heart' is just as tired as mine."
Joe rolled over then, looked Claude right in the eye and burst out laughing. When he finally calmed, he poked Claude in the shoulder and said, "You are one hokey-ass son of a bitch, you know that, Claude?"
Claude punched him in the shoulder in return and rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Yuk it up. See if I ever open up to *you* again."
Joe rolled his eyes in return as he turned over to once again attempt sleep, "Spare me, man. I don't think I can handle much more of this heart-to-heart crap. Save it for someone who gives a shit."
Claude just smiled, said softly, "Yeah… yeah, I'll do that. And Joe…?" When Joe made no response, Claude ducked his head and murmured the rest into the blankets, "…thanks, man."
tl;dr?
This was one of those memes. ;)
List all the fandoms you have written in:
Oh, my. Let's see if I can track this back, hm? Only including published works, because if I include the unpublished ones, this will get ridiculous VERY quickly. Listed years are when I first published in those fandoms as near as I can track it back. I've gone back and revisited old fandoms (hell, I just wrote a SM story this year ^_~), but I didn't double list.
Published: Sailor Moon, 1996-7ish; Fushigi Yuugi, 1997-8ish; Yuu Yuu Hakusho, Star Wars, Inuyasha, Power Rangers (PRiS, MMPR), 1999; Gundam Wing, 2000; Tokyo Babylon, 2001; CLAMP Campus Detectives, 2001; Fruits Basket, 2002; The Mighty Ducks (movie), 2003; Harry Potter, 2004; Weiss Kreuz, 2004; Slayers, 2004; Gundam Seed, 2005; Peter Pan and the Pirates, 2005; Prince of Tennis, 2005; Chronicles of Narnia, 2006; Suikoden III, 2006; Party of five, 2008; Hair, the musical, 2010; Abraham Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party, 2010; Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, 2011; Eloise at Christmastime, 2011; Book of Mormon, the musical, 2011; Power Rangers (PRDT), 2011; Newsies, the musical, 2011; Solarbabies, 2011; Legend, 2011; Switched at Birth, 2011; Miranda, 2011; Doctor Who, 2012; Jesus Christ Superstar, 2012; Broadway RPF; Firefly, 2012; X-men: First Class, 2012; Teen Wolf, 2012
How many published fics have you written?
Ugh. Someone (I won't mention any names, but he has four paws and whiskers :-P) kept key-smashing my computer and walking across my chest while I was trying to flip between webpages and count everything. After restarting 3 times, I gave up, but it's somewhere around 90. That's… well, that's more than I thought I'd written. O_o;;;
In terms of wordcount, in which fandom have you written the most?
Oh, good grief. I don't even need to count that. Hair. Without question. -.-;;;
At the moment, which one of your fics is your favorite/you are the most proud of? (you can include unpublished fics)
Oh, I hate those kinds of questions. -.-;;; It's like asking someone to choose a favorite child. -.-;;; Sticking with my published works, though, I think I'd have to say it's a toss up between When You Are Old and Grey and Full of Sleep, Darkness Beneath the Skin and Alternate States of Consciousness. The first is my Jeanie/Sheila Hair story, the second my Legend story for Yuletide last year, and the third is my Adam POV Priscilla, Queen of the Desert fic.
Most of what I like about these three boil down to language. When I first started writing, my stories were very plot driven, very dialogue driven, big on exposition. Hell… I talk a lot. That's kind of my thing. ;) So, my writing reflected that. As I got older, as I changed, so did my writing. Like myself, it turned inward, became more focused on imagery and introspection than plot, action and dialogue. These days I often write stories that have very little dialogue, or dialogue mostly in flashbacks -- Alternate States is one such. However, where I would like my writing to settle eventually is partway between those two and I'm slowly working my way there.
I'm not sure I can put into words what it is that I like best about these three except to say that the rhythm is right. I've always loved the tradition of oral storytelling. And a story with the wrong rhythm can't be read aloud… and if it can't be read aloud, it never reads right in my head. I can live with that in someone else's story, but it bothers me tremendously when it happens in my own. These three have that rhythm and flow and still manage to fit in the dialogue and/or plot when it needs to be there.
Which writer (fanfiction or not) inspires your own work?
Honestly, too numerous to count. Anne Bishop, C.S. Friedman, Carol Berg, Steven Brust, Ellen Kushner, Patrick Rothfuss.
What was your first fanfic about?
Oh "Generals' Hour"… *laughs* *shakes head* Oh, that story. "Generals' Hour" was based off of the DiC dub of Sailor Moon. The basic plot premise was that the Generals weren't the ones who betrayed the Silver Millenium. It was Princess Serenity and the Sailor Scouts, instead. The only scout who didn't betray the Queen was Sailor Jupiter and in so standing her ground, became an "Upper Scout" and a direct avatar of her god. It can be found in the "R.I.P." section of my (now mostly defunct) webpage if you're really interested, but the coolest thing about this story was that it was the first one for which someone drew me fanart. ^_^ Unlike the story, the artwork is actually very well done. Here, see?
 |  | |
| Upper Sailor Jupiter | Upper Sailor Mars |
Out of all the characters whose POV you have written, which one do you feel you identify the most with?
Claude Bukowski from Hair. No question. Part of the reason I obsessed so completely and so immediately with that show was because I identified so wholly and completely with him. To some extent, I had always felt trapped in my own life, like I'd let myself be swept along by everyone else's expectations and by my own sense that certain things were "acceptable" career paths and others were not. By the time I'd graduated veterinary school and been in practice for several years, I'd finally realized that that was not a great way to live your life. I was constantly under stress, constantly sick, constantly in pain, overweight to the point of health consequences, and desperately unhappy and I had no idea what to do to make myself feel any better. All I knew was that I felt like I was trapped in a situation and there was no out but to duck my head down and keep pretending everything was fine when it wasn't.
It all came to a head when I injured my back in December of 2009. And to borrow a sentiment from the movie "Center Stage," on some level, I was relieved that I'd been injured. Because that (again), took the decision of whether or not to leave my current career out of my hands. For the sake of my own health, I couldn't stay in that profession. I had to find something else to make me happy. Only… I wasn't ready to do that, yet. I didn't know how. And I was starting this spiraling tailspin of panic that what I'd wanted to do and trained to do my whole life was NOT was I was going to be doing from here out and I had no idea which way to turn. I spent several months sitting in the proverbial corner, kicking and screaming.
Enter Hair.
I said in that audience in January of 2010 and looked up on that stage and saw myself. Fictitious, perhaps, and magnified a thousand-fold from my own petty problems, but I saw myself in Claude. And do you know what I realized? My problems, while gargantuan to me, were petty. In the grand scheme of the world, they were grossly unimportant. Also, by watching how Claude handled his own trapped and cornered state, I realized that what I was doing was equally ridiculous and ineffective… and I was my own worst enemy. I had people around me -- just like Claude did -- who cared for me and wanted to see me happy. Only, I had to be the one to decide to be happy. I was the only one who could make that happen.
So, I did.
^_^
*coughs* There's, uh… more in that vein, but I think I'll stop. ^_~
What do you feel is your biggest challenge when writing?
Fandom ADD. Seriously. If I don't get it down within a week, maybe two, the odds of me getting distracted by a newer, shinier fandom or story idea is very high. And if that happens… I'm not getting back to the original one any time soon and the likelihood that it will be finished is slim.
Do you generally outline your fics or do you prefer to write spontaneously and then revise?
Write spontaneously and revise. Even when I do outline, I generally end up off the outline within half a chapter. ;)
Which one of your fanfics has the most hits? the most comments? the most kudos? (if applicable)
That's tough. My stories are kind of scattered all over the place and no archive really monitors those things the same way. Also, most of my earlier stories were posted strictly on LJ or on my webpage before hit counters really came into play. :-P So, with the understanding that the data is skewed…
From AO3:
Most hits: A Simple Life, X-men: First Class, then If You Keep On Believing, Teen Wolf.
Most kudos: A Simple Life, X-men: First Class, then If You Keep On Believing, Teen Wolf. ^_~
Most comments: A New Day Dawning, Newsies the musical, then Spice Up Your Life, Miranda.
From ff.net: (And this is mega skewed, b/c ff.net counts each hit to a chapter as a new hit for the story and each hit on a different day by the same IP address as a new hit, so obviously, stories with the most chapters get the most hits :-P)
Most hits: A Rose By Any Other Name, Power Rangers, then Turn It Off, Book of Mormon the musical.
Most favorites: Forget Me Not, Power Rangers in Space, then Flash Those Baby Blues, Switched at Birth.
Most reviews: The Zorya, Hair the musical, then A Rose By Any Other Name, Power Rangers.
From LJ… oh, yikes. Impossible to say without a lot more effort than I feel like putting into this. O_o;;;
What proportion, if any, of your fics are rated M or above (# of M-plus fics/ total # of fics)?
I only started writing M and up rated stories within the last year or two, so overall, probably not many.
Starting the count since I started writing, 10 of about 90 total stories were rated M and above.
Starting the count since I started writing M and above stories? 10 out of 30 or so. ^_~
Finally, tease us with the title of one of your upcoming fics:
Oh, good grief. I don't write the titles until I finish the story. How about a straight up teaser, instead? ^_~
"Now…?" Joe prompted.
"Now I just found out that I have a son. A real son. A son who's *mine*, not borrowed like Cheryl. And his mom knew he was mine even before I left and never told me," Claude said, "I don't know what to do with that, Joe. I don't even know how I feel about it. They all *knew* and they didn't tell me. Didn't they think I should have had a say in my own future?" He slammed a fist down on the cardboard beneath him, "Fuck, it's like my father, all over again!"
Joe was silent for a minute before responding, "So… if she'd told you then, you'd have stayed with her? Were you even *with* her? I thought you were with the other two -- Berger and Sheila?"
Claude sighed, "That's why I said it was complicated, Joe. I understand why she did what she did and part of me appreciates it, but… I just can't accept it yet. I need a little time to process. And on top of everything *else* I'm trying to process… this is just too big, OK?"
Joe nodded, "Yeah. I get that. So, tonight…?"
"Tonight I just needed to be around someone who gets it." Claude snorted out a bitter, self-directed laugh, "Someone whose 'Soldier's Heart' is just as tired as mine."
Joe rolled over then, looked Claude right in the eye and burst out laughing. When he finally calmed, he poked Claude in the shoulder and said, "You are one hokey-ass son of a bitch, you know that, Claude?"
Claude punched him in the shoulder in return and rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Yuk it up. See if I ever open up to *you* again."
Joe rolled his eyes in return as he turned over to once again attempt sleep, "Spare me, man. I don't think I can handle much more of this heart-to-heart crap. Save it for someone who gives a shit."
Claude just smiled, said softly, "Yeah… yeah, I'll do that. And Joe…?" When Joe made no response, Claude ducked his head and murmured the rest into the blankets, "…thanks, man."
tl;dr?
This was one of those memes. ;)
