slr2moons

23 – When you post, where do you post to? Just your journal? Just an archive? Your own personal site?

I post in lots of places. In my early ficcing days, I posted to my LJ/DW, but with more interest given to my work and art here, these days I stick to ficcing in archives.

( AO3, FF.net, Lunaescence, and Skyehawke. )

I'm glad I can post to multiple archives, as that means if one goes (or I'm deleted...), the others are up for people to find. ^^ I also find it fascinating how each site has a favored fic. FFaaFR is ignored pretty much everywhere, except Luna, where it's bizarrely popular! The difference between the other favorite fics isn't as extreme, but none of them are front-runners for being a fave on the other sites. Crazy!

19 – When you have bunnies, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?

Almost always the later. I have all sorts of papers and notebooks and random text files filled with fic notes. I really do control how much fic I write, and scribbling down notes is the best way to assuage the bunny and possibly even write an amazing story at some point in the future. ^^

Every so often I'll give in and immediately write, but it happens rarely. Only when the stars are in the proper alignment to provide the coming together of bunny, time to write it, and all-important energy to do so. And also the lack of guilt that I'm spending my creative energies on fanfic instead of art. Now that I've figured out I fic for fun, the guilt hits much less often. Yay!

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?

What, no middle ground is possible for this answer, meme writer? :P

Titles are fine. Like the summary, they are usually rather easy for me, but some have given me trouble. It took me two days to settle on "Not as Nice as Me" for my Bleach fic. I ended up changing the title of my very first fanfic, "Distracting and a Great Bother" from "No Good Deed", because I liked DaaGB more. (Also there were several fics with that title on FF.net, but mine is the only DaaGB!) I try to have unique titles, for pride and practical reasons.

( More titles discussion. Apparently I felt like talking tonight... )

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?

Oooh, warnings. There's a wank-filled issue, particularly these days when it seems you have to warn for every little thing.

( Warnings babble, shorter than I thought it would be. )

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?

All of my fics so far start off grounded in canon, except one. A particular episode of Tantei Gakuen Q made me see the innocent genki male lead in a new, rather sneaky light, and that is how I write him in my fic "It's All an Act, You Know." The title explains it rather well. *laughs* I find it rather fun to write him as a grabby secret horndog, something which definitely is not in canon. X3

That's my only true case so far of fanon over canon. Also, this question is kind of related to #7, which asked if writing a fic changed my opinion of a character. I've already answered that, so let me switch it to if reading a fic changed my opinion.

DEFINITELY. The most extreme example is in Harry Potter. Before fanfic, I accepted canon's portrayal of Dumbledore as a fighter for good, doing his best to defeat evil, regardless of the price. He might regret his actions, but it's all for a good cause. Fanfic made me see him as a calculating manipulator, training Harry up to be a blindly devoted unquestioning little sacrifice. YIKES.

I also prefer fanon's interpretation of the Slytherins, particularly Draco and Snape. I fully believe JKR backlashed against their popularity in fandom, and that adversely affected their roles in the final volume. (Every Slytherin forced to be locked in the dungeons because no way would ANY of them want to fight against Voldie?? PLEASE.)

Also the now semi-famous interpretation of Disney's Aladdin, introduced to me through a fanfic. When the Genie says "Ten thousand years will give you such a pain in the neck!" and yet he knows of Shakespeare, and fashion designers, cars, Jack Nicholson, Groucho Marx, and all these other pop culture references. Clearly Aladdin isn't set in the past, but in the distant post-apocalypse future.

Fanfic is wonderful for reinterpreting canon in ways that might not occur to a fan, and ways the creator might not have been able to do! (Or not wanted to, out of resentment. JRK, I'm looking at YOU.) When it comes to my own writing, I start with canon, and go from there. Granted, if I ever write HP fic, I'll probably go with the deeper and more rounded fanon interpretation of Slytherins (namely they aren't all shallow evil little rich snobs). Harry wouldn't be the altruistic good boy at heart, either. Ha! Shallow characterizations are boring. *sniffs*

11 – Genre – do you prefer certain genres of fic when you’re writing? What kind do you tend to write most?

Let's look at the numbers:

Comedy: 1 (Forgetting, Flirting, and a Frash Raive)
Drama: 3 (At the End of Climbing Trees; Maturation's Matriculation; Perceptions and Misconceptions)
Horror: 1 (Doesn't Mean Anything)
Romance: 2 (It's All an Act, You Know; One-Sided, Two Ways)
Suspense: 3 (Distracting and a Great Bother; Not as Nice as Me; Something in the Silence)
(Some of these span more than one category, so I went with the main one for each fic.)

Seems like I lean towards serious fic, with occasional bits of humor mixed in. Thinking of my WIPs, I have three more dramas in the works, though one will have strong elements of comedy in it.

I do believe, I'm a drama author!

( And since the previous questions were OH SO FOCUSED on romance, let's divide my fics by that... )

7 – Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character?

Yes. In fact, I say as much in the author's note. ^^

( Because of AtEoCT, I went from hating to sort-of-kinda-though-I-don't-really-want-to-but-GAAAH liking Sasuke. )

Behold, the power of fanfic!!! *waves hands mysteriously*

(Though Sasuke's reaction to the ultimate truth revealed later in Shippuuden almost reversed that liking. Recent chapters MIGHT redeem him, though. We'll see.)

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?

It's never happened. I've had characters already present do something that I never planned (Kyuu suddenly being all manly and mature in chapter 4 of It's All an Act, You Know, for example), but none have ever forced their way in.

I suspect the whole "muse" thing, and a beloved character shoehorning themselves into whatever fic an author is writing--regardless of fandom--is something that happens to younger writers. Maybe since I'm all grown up and boring with next to no spontaneity, my characters behave. *laughs*