Fleet Sparrow

Hello, all, I'm back!...ish.

These questions are courtesy of kindkit!

 1) You can successfully lure everyone you like into one single fandom, e.g. one comics title, one movie, one trilogy telling a single story, etc. What fandom do you choose?
Oh boy, this is a loaded question.  OK, so, of course, nothing is perfect and general caveats, but I think I'd have to go with The Darkside Detective.

Because DC breaks my heart, Yu-Gi-Oh has too many parts, but Darkside Detective is great.

NO WAIT, MAYBE MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000!

Wait, no.....

;___;

2) DW vs. Twitter as a site for fannish interaction?
Ooh, another tough one.  I think Dreamwidth is better for long-form fan interaction and event stuff, but I do like Twitter's more... laid back style of posting random thoughts and then disappearing into the ether like some kind of shitposting Ghost of Fandom Past.  Maybe it's because I don't do a lot of meta or such, I do mostly like shower thoughts type posts (thanks, ADHD, for limiting my brainpower to tweet-size comments!).  But for interaction, I think Dreamwidth does do it a little better, because it's easier to curate who finds you and who you follow.

Of course, I think Tumblr actually was the true heir to both, as it allowed random thoughts AND longform posts.  However, I wouldn't go back to that hellsite if you paid me now, so I guess this is where I live now.

3) You have to eat only one national/regional cuisine for an entire month. What do you pick? (Assume suitable accommodations for allergies, dietary needs, etc. will be offered.)
Just because I'm doing Italian this quarter on Duolingo, I'm gonna have to go with Italian food.  All the carbs.  All the meats.  All the sauces.  (and none of the olive oil because I'm fucKING ALLERGIC, THANKS DAD).  But yes, there are accommodations and I'm eating more fettucine than is possibly healthy for one human being.  I'm in carb heaven.

4) Do you think there's other sapient life in the universe somewhere? (Not a question about UFOs or alien visitors, just whether you think it exists.)
I think so.  I'd say I hope so, but I'm sure there is, because, like, the arrogance of us to think we're not only the highest pinnacle of intelligence but that we can't see it, therefore it doesn't exist is amazing!

Besides, if there isn't, it's an awful waste of space.

5) Are you a re-reader, and if so, what are your favorite books to re-read?
You know, I really don't re-read often, mostly because I'm always trying to get to new books, but--

As soon as I typed that, I realized that I've re-read the Sherlock Holmes stories, like, a dozen or more times in my life and am about to do them again, so there it is, that's my answer.  Mysteries are my comfort reads.

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?
( Answer )

2 – Name the fandoms you've written in, and how much you've written in that fandom, and if you still write in it.

( Answer )

3 – For each of the fandoms from day two, what were your favorite characters to write?

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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?

( Answer )

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~"


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?

( Answer )

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?

( Answer )

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?

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27 – Where is your favorite place to write, and do you write by hand or on the computer?

( Answer )

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!