30 days of fandom meme; part 1
Oct. 9th, 2015 03:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I need to get in the habit of remembering my poor Dreamwidth account. I did this on LJ, but forgot to post it ´here, so I do it in three chunks instead of 30 new days.
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?
I have answered this question before, so if you have been around my blog for some time you probably already know what my answer is. And it’s pretty personal and possibly TMI, feel free to skip.
I “almost” wrote fanfiction in my teens, only I had no idea it had a name or that other people did it. And I didn’t actually wrote the stories down, just synopsis and a character study. But back then I was mad about Tolkien and I constructed several heroines and imagined a lot of adventures. My first was a sister to Legolas with silver hair and eyes that changed colour with her moods and was even better than him in just about everything. A complete Mary Sue in other words.
I started to read fanfic around 2000 when I friend on a maillist (it was a looong time ago) wrote one and I realised it was a thing. But I didn’t actually, or had any plans to, write until 2004 when I was prompted by a promo pic of Jason Isaacs as Captain Hook in Peter Pan. I don’t know what it was with it that made me write, but suddenly I had a story in my head that I had to write down. And then I got another idea and another and I found myself in a writing frenzy that lasted for two years. I really spent every free moment writing.
The pull wasn’t really the fandom in itself, but the writing. It helped me deal with a date rape that occurred when I was 18, which I had largely suppressed. I wasn’t really aware of how much it had affected me and my sexuality until I started to write and all sorts of feelings bubbled up to the surface. So writing was, and to some extent still is, self-therapy for me. Katharsis, if you will. Even if writing wasn’t my sole tool for getting rid of an seemingly endless depression as well as figuring out what I wanted and not wanted when it came to sex, it was a hugely important one.
2 – Name the fandoms you've written in, and how much you've written in that fandom, and if you still write in it.
Peter Pan, 30 something fics. I’m not sure as some are pulled from the fic and some are just published on this LJ. I don’t write in it anymore. I used to think I would again, some day, but after some recent unpleasantness with a troll, I think I have lost my taste for this fandom for good.
Doctor Who, both classic and new, 23 fics. And counting as this is my current fandom.
Sleepy Hollow (the movie), 4 fics. Yes and no. I have a WIP I want to finish, but I doubt I will write any new fics.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 4 fics. I don’t write in it anymore and I doubt I ever will again. It was fun while it lasted.
The Historian/Dracula, 4 fics. I have no plans for more, but find it very likely there will be more here eventually.
Harry Potter, 4 fics. I have a WIP here and I will probably write more fics too with the right idea.
Penny Dreadful, 2 fics. It’s very likely there will be more fics from this fandom.
One fic each from the following fandoms; The Mummy, Pirates of the Caribbean and Buffy/Angel. I’d say I won’t write more from the first two here, but possibly more Buffy/Angel. I really like the fandoms and the characters and I’m not sure why I don’t write in it. Possibly because American teenage culture from the 90’s are something of a white hole from me.
3 – For each of the fandoms from day two, what were your favorite characters to write?
Peter Pan - Captain Hook. I have always loved a good bad guy. And I prefer baddies who are a bit ambiguous, not pitchblack evil.
Doctor Who - The Master, but Classics Master as acted by Roger Delgado and Anthony Ainley. Especially Delgado. As I said, I like myself a fictional bad boy. (In reality I don’t, the one common criteria for all my boyfriends are niceness, actually).
Sleepy Hollow - Lady Van Tassel. Need I say why?
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Willy Wonka. I wrote those fics after watching Burton’s version with Johnny Depp. (I never saw the one with Wilder until after) I don’t think Willy Wonka is evil, he is a very, very strange and it was fun to thr to write that strangeness.
The Historian/Dracula - Dracula. I was bitten by the vampire bug, bad pun intended, when I was eleven and it never went away. I like vampires, but I want them evil. I have no patience with romantic moony eyed vampires.
Harry Potter - Luna Lovegood. She’s one of my favourite Potter characters ever and so fun to write and really, really difficult to catch.
Penny Dreadful - With just two fics it’s a bit hard to say, but both contain Sir Malcolm Murray and Vanessa Ives, so I’ll go with them.
The Mummy - Well, Imhotep as he is in it.
Pirates of the Caribbean - I don’t know. Neither Barbosa nor Elizabeth Swann is any favourite of mine.
Buffy/Angel - Willow, I guess as she features in the one and a half fics I have written in this fandom.
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?
No, not really. I can get a hang-up on a certain character and write several fics about him/her, but I don’t see it as the work of a muse. It’s more like a want to explore a certain character in different ways.
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’m not sure I have ever introduced a character in a fic that I hadn’t intended to include, but I have certainly had minor character’s getting more room than I had planned. I let them and just go with the flow. If I try to resist a fic going a certain way, then I usually feel dissatisfied with it in the end.
6 – When you write, do you prefer writing male or female characters?
I don’t think I have a preference. I write more fics from a female point of view, but I probably write roughly 50/50. I like an interesting character, whatever gender.
7 – Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character?
Hmm, no, not really. I have occasionally read fics that offers a viewpoint I haven’t thought about before, but I can’t say it has radically changed my opinion.
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.
If we define a Mary Sue as a (according to Wikipedia) “idealized character, often but not necessarily an author insert and/or wish-fulfillment”, then my original characters are not Mary Sue’s, but I do write OC occasionally. I write them when I get an idea that doesn’t fit any character in a fandom. My Dracula fics all have original female characters and I guess it could be argued that Clara may have a self insertion as the main character is a librarian. Professor Keller and Little Miss Sunbeam, both Doctor Who-fics have original characters as they take place at times when the Doctor isn’t around, so there wasn’t any good characters to pick from. Dudley’s girlfriend in Dudley’s Cousin is someone we know is around as Dudley marries and get children in Harry Potter, though we know nothing about her in person. But I must confess to have written one Mary Sue, a very deliberate choice as it is a parody fic called Captain Hook and the Mary Sue.
The first fanfic I ever read had an OC as main character and it was a very good fic, so it took me some time to realise that original characters often gets dismissed as Mary Sues. I think that is rather unfair. If a person isn’t skilled enough to write an interesting character, then s/he can’t write other people’s character’s interesting either. I have, for example, read a number of Harry Potter fics where Hermione is nothing like she is in the books. Usually she has “over summer” developed an interest in makeup, push up bras and pop singers. And, of course, a skilled writer can make any character, self invented or not, engaging.
9 – Pairings – For each of the fandoms from day two, what are your three favorite pairings to write?
Isn’t three pairings a bit much? I don’t have three for all the fandoms I have written in.
Peter Pan. Captain Hook/Wendy Darling, Captain Hook/Mrs. Darling and captain Hook/Tinker Bell
Doctor Who. Difficult. The only pairing I feel strongly for is the Doctor/the Master, but I’ve only written a short fic that touches this. However, whenever I write the Master paired with someone else, I always write with the view that the person the Master really wants to get at is the Doctor, regardless of form. I can’t say I have real favourite, but the pairings I’ve had the most fun writing was the Curator/Sarah Jane Smith, Ainley!Master/Sarah Jane Smith and Delgado!Master/Lis Shaw.
Sleepy Hollow. The Hessian/Mary van Tassel and that’s it.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Willy Wonka/Mr. Bucket
The Historian/Dracula. Dracula/anyone, really.
Harry Potter. Lucius Malfoy/Luna Lovegood
Penny Dreadful. Sir Malcolm Murray/Vanessa Ives
The Mummy. Imhotep/Evy
Pirates of the Caribbean. None, actually.
Buffy/Angel. The only fic I have written doesn’t really have a pairing, but I have a half written one with Giles/Willow.
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?
I’ve never found that I couldn’t write a pairing I had set to write. As for pairings I don’t like, I don’t like Captain Hook/Peter Pan, but did at a request of a friend who expressed herself pleased. I’ve also written some slash smut that has passed muster even if I don’t care much for it myself.
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?
I have answered this question before, so if you have been around my blog for some time you probably already know what my answer is. And it’s pretty personal and possibly TMI, feel free to skip.
I “almost” wrote fanfiction in my teens, only I had no idea it had a name or that other people did it. And I didn’t actually wrote the stories down, just synopsis and a character study. But back then I was mad about Tolkien and I constructed several heroines and imagined a lot of adventures. My first was a sister to Legolas with silver hair and eyes that changed colour with her moods and was even better than him in just about everything. A complete Mary Sue in other words.
I started to read fanfic around 2000 when I friend on a maillist (it was a looong time ago) wrote one and I realised it was a thing. But I didn’t actually, or had any plans to, write until 2004 when I was prompted by a promo pic of Jason Isaacs as Captain Hook in Peter Pan. I don’t know what it was with it that made me write, but suddenly I had a story in my head that I had to write down. And then I got another idea and another and I found myself in a writing frenzy that lasted for two years. I really spent every free moment writing.
The pull wasn’t really the fandom in itself, but the writing. It helped me deal with a date rape that occurred when I was 18, which I had largely suppressed. I wasn’t really aware of how much it had affected me and my sexuality until I started to write and all sorts of feelings bubbled up to the surface. So writing was, and to some extent still is, self-therapy for me. Katharsis, if you will. Even if writing wasn’t my sole tool for getting rid of an seemingly endless depression as well as figuring out what I wanted and not wanted when it came to sex, it was a hugely important one.
2 – Name the fandoms you've written in, and how much you've written in that fandom, and if you still write in it.
Peter Pan, 30 something fics. I’m not sure as some are pulled from the fic and some are just published on this LJ. I don’t write in it anymore. I used to think I would again, some day, but after some recent unpleasantness with a troll, I think I have lost my taste for this fandom for good.
Doctor Who, both classic and new, 23 fics. And counting as this is my current fandom.
Sleepy Hollow (the movie), 4 fics. Yes and no. I have a WIP I want to finish, but I doubt I will write any new fics.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 4 fics. I don’t write in it anymore and I doubt I ever will again. It was fun while it lasted.
The Historian/Dracula, 4 fics. I have no plans for more, but find it very likely there will be more here eventually.
Harry Potter, 4 fics. I have a WIP here and I will probably write more fics too with the right idea.
Penny Dreadful, 2 fics. It’s very likely there will be more fics from this fandom.
One fic each from the following fandoms; The Mummy, Pirates of the Caribbean and Buffy/Angel. I’d say I won’t write more from the first two here, but possibly more Buffy/Angel. I really like the fandoms and the characters and I’m not sure why I don’t write in it. Possibly because American teenage culture from the 90’s are something of a white hole from me.
3 – For each of the fandoms from day two, what were your favorite characters to write?
Peter Pan - Captain Hook. I have always loved a good bad guy. And I prefer baddies who are a bit ambiguous, not pitchblack evil.
Doctor Who - The Master, but Classics Master as acted by Roger Delgado and Anthony Ainley. Especially Delgado. As I said, I like myself a fictional bad boy. (In reality I don’t, the one common criteria for all my boyfriends are niceness, actually).
Sleepy Hollow - Lady Van Tassel. Need I say why?
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Willy Wonka. I wrote those fics after watching Burton’s version with Johnny Depp. (I never saw the one with Wilder until after) I don’t think Willy Wonka is evil, he is a very, very strange and it was fun to thr to write that strangeness.
The Historian/Dracula - Dracula. I was bitten by the vampire bug, bad pun intended, when I was eleven and it never went away. I like vampires, but I want them evil. I have no patience with romantic moony eyed vampires.
Harry Potter - Luna Lovegood. She’s one of my favourite Potter characters ever and so fun to write and really, really difficult to catch.
Penny Dreadful - With just two fics it’s a bit hard to say, but both contain Sir Malcolm Murray and Vanessa Ives, so I’ll go with them.
The Mummy - Well, Imhotep as he is in it.
Pirates of the Caribbean - I don’t know. Neither Barbosa nor Elizabeth Swann is any favourite of mine.
Buffy/Angel - Willow, I guess as she features in the one and a half fics I have written in this fandom.
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?
No, not really. I can get a hang-up on a certain character and write several fics about him/her, but I don’t see it as the work of a muse. It’s more like a want to explore a certain character in different ways.
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’m not sure I have ever introduced a character in a fic that I hadn’t intended to include, but I have certainly had minor character’s getting more room than I had planned. I let them and just go with the flow. If I try to resist a fic going a certain way, then I usually feel dissatisfied with it in the end.
6 – When you write, do you prefer writing male or female characters?
I don’t think I have a preference. I write more fics from a female point of view, but I probably write roughly 50/50. I like an interesting character, whatever gender.
7 – Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character?
Hmm, no, not really. I have occasionally read fics that offers a viewpoint I haven’t thought about before, but I can’t say it has radically changed my opinion.
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.
If we define a Mary Sue as a (according to Wikipedia) “idealized character, often but not necessarily an author insert and/or wish-fulfillment”, then my original characters are not Mary Sue’s, but I do write OC occasionally. I write them when I get an idea that doesn’t fit any character in a fandom. My Dracula fics all have original female characters and I guess it could be argued that Clara may have a self insertion as the main character is a librarian. Professor Keller and Little Miss Sunbeam, both Doctor Who-fics have original characters as they take place at times when the Doctor isn’t around, so there wasn’t any good characters to pick from. Dudley’s girlfriend in Dudley’s Cousin is someone we know is around as Dudley marries and get children in Harry Potter, though we know nothing about her in person. But I must confess to have written one Mary Sue, a very deliberate choice as it is a parody fic called Captain Hook and the Mary Sue.
The first fanfic I ever read had an OC as main character and it was a very good fic, so it took me some time to realise that original characters often gets dismissed as Mary Sues. I think that is rather unfair. If a person isn’t skilled enough to write an interesting character, then s/he can’t write other people’s character’s interesting either. I have, for example, read a number of Harry Potter fics where Hermione is nothing like she is in the books. Usually she has “over summer” developed an interest in makeup, push up bras and pop singers. And, of course, a skilled writer can make any character, self invented or not, engaging.
9 – Pairings – For each of the fandoms from day two, what are your three favorite pairings to write?
Isn’t three pairings a bit much? I don’t have three for all the fandoms I have written in.
Peter Pan. Captain Hook/Wendy Darling, Captain Hook/Mrs. Darling and captain Hook/Tinker Bell
Doctor Who. Difficult. The only pairing I feel strongly for is the Doctor/the Master, but I’ve only written a short fic that touches this. However, whenever I write the Master paired with someone else, I always write with the view that the person the Master really wants to get at is the Doctor, regardless of form. I can’t say I have real favourite, but the pairings I’ve had the most fun writing was the Curator/Sarah Jane Smith, Ainley!Master/Sarah Jane Smith and Delgado!Master/Lis Shaw.
Sleepy Hollow. The Hessian/Mary van Tassel and that’s it.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Willy Wonka/Mr. Bucket
The Historian/Dracula. Dracula/anyone, really.
Harry Potter. Lucius Malfoy/Luna Lovegood
Penny Dreadful. Sir Malcolm Murray/Vanessa Ives
The Mummy. Imhotep/Evy
Pirates of the Caribbean. None, actually.
Buffy/Angel. The only fic I have written doesn’t really have a pairing, but I have a half written one with Giles/Willow.
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?
I’ve never found that I couldn’t write a pairing I had set to write. As for pairings I don’t like, I don’t like Captain Hook/Peter Pan, but did at a request of a friend who expressed herself pleased. I’ve also written some slash smut that has passed muster even if I don’t care much for it myself.