30 Days of Fandom Meme

[osprey_archer]

escritoireazul is doing this 30 days of fandom meme, and it looks like fun, so I nabbed it.



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?
2 – Name the fandoms you've written in, and how much you've written in that fandom, and if you still write in it.
3 – For each of the fandoms from day two, what were your favorite characters to write?
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?
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?
6 – When you write, do you prefer writing male or female characters?
7 – Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character?
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.
9 – Pairings – For each of the fandoms from day two, what are your three favorite pairings to write?
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?
11 – Genre – do you prefer certain genres of fic when you're writing? What kind do you tend to write most?
12 – Have you ever attempted an "adaptation" fic of a favorite book or movie but set in a different fandom?
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?
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?
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?
16 – Summaries – Do you like them or hate them? How do you come up with them, if you use 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?
18 – Where do you get the most inspiration for your fics (aka "bunnies") from?
19 – When you have bunnies, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?
20 – Do you ever get bunnied from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?
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?
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?
23 – When you post, where do you post to? Just your journal? Just an archive? Your own personal site?
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?
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?
26 – What is the oddest (or funniest) thing you've had to research for a fic?
27 – Where is your favorite place to write, and do you write by hand or on the computer?
28 – Have you ever collaborated with anyone else, whether writing together, or having an artist work on a piece about your fic?
29 – What is your current project or projects?
30 – Do you have a favorite fic you've written? What makes it your favorite? And don't forget to give us a link



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?

The first fandom I wrote fic for was West Wing; I wrote one of my high school friends a Josh/Donna fic where aliens or possibly robots invade the White House and naturally it leads to Josh and Donna admitting their love for each other (although not in an Aliens Made Them Do It kind of way).

But the first fandom I actually posted fic for and made fandom friends in was Torchwood, in my freshman year of college. I mostly wrote Owen/Ianto fic about their totally dysfunctional relationship, although there was also a Jack/Ianto fic about how their relationship was totally dysfunctional, which was a less popular interpretation of their relationship than it was for Owen/Ianto. I think one of the things that drew me to Owen/Ianto, actually, was that even the fans thought it would be a trainwreck, and I do love fics about relationship trainwrecks.

I also liked the fact that the setting was such that anything could happen - one of my stories involved the team acquiring some pet brontosauruses, because why not - and the canon was, how shall I put this, unintimidating. I actually watched the show because I'd read some of the fic; if it had been the other way around, I doubt I would have gone looking for fic afterward.

Comments

[evelyn-b.livejournal.com]

Aww, this sounds like fun! I kind of wish I wrote enough to be able to answer these questions.

I tried to watch a few episodes of Torchwood a while back, but couldn't get into it. Would you recommend trying again? The main thing that bothered me was how unethical everyone was being in the first couple of episodes.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't really, unless you have a burning desire to watch it for other reasons. I think the show backs off some of the spectacularly unethical stuff in the first episodes (no one uses the date rape alien spray again, say), but they never really get better at it, and the quality is very uneven.

In that sense it was a very good first fandom to write in; it wasn't hard at all to feel that I was doing just as well as the show.

[evelyn-b.livejournal.com]

Fair enough! I might have expected too much -- I loved Doctor Who from the first moment of the first episode, so even though I tried not to have expectations, part of me still thought the same thing would happen with Torchwood. And no.

In that sense it was a very good first fandom to write in; it wasn't hard at all to feel that I was doing just as well as the show.

Hah. My first fandom was the same, in that sense. Even 13-year-old me could manage to be subtle and complex when my comparison point was Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Hahaha OH PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Not very subtle, no.

[entwashian.livejournal.com]

Haha, I think your Torchwood was my Stargate Atlantis. Definitely would not have ended up watching it if it weren't for the fic; ended up writing an AU where the team were all Hostess brand snacks.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Stargate Atlantis had all the weirdest AUs. I remember there was also one where they were girl scout cookies.

[entwashian.livejournal.com]

Haha, yeah, I pouted about that one because it came out while I was writing MY baked-goods AU.

[lycoris.livejournal.com]

Oh man, Owen/Ianto. Such glorious trainwreckness ... I'm not sure I ever read any, I may have to remedy that! And Jack/Ianto was kind of dysfunctional too, I am on your side.

Ah Torchwood, so many strange happenings, so many possibilities!

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I've never gotten over the fact that they skipped from Ianto screaming "I'm going to kill you!" at Jack to Ianto proposing stopwatch sex. Like, show your work, writers!

[konstantya.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I like this (and might have to steal it for myself).

Don't really have much to say in response to your answers, but I do find these sorts of things terribly interesting to read about, so expect me to be silently lurking if nothing else.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I think the one problem with these memes is that they're fun to read, but they really can be hard to comment on, especially for the questions that are lists. It's like, what can you say to that? "I see you used to write Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fic. I used to write Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fic too!"

[konstantya.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Like, West Wing! I watched a couple episodes and never read any fic! Yay?