I'm a lemming part deux
Aug. 23rd, 2014 01:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
red_lasbelinI resisted as long as I could, but then I jumped off the cliff after everyone else. Be gentle!
Pick a couple and I will answer:
A. Describe your comfort zone—a typical you-fic.
B. Is there a type of story you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?
C. Is there a type of story you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?
D. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them?
E. Share one of your strengths.
F. Share one of your weaknesses.
G. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.
H. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.
I. Which fic has been the hardest to write?
J. Which fic has been the easiest to write?
K. Is writing your passion or just a fun hobby?
L. Is there an episode section of canon above all others that inspires you just a little bit more?
M. If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?
O. If you only could write one pairing for the rest of your life, which pairing would it be?
P. Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?
Q. Do you use any tools, like worksheets or outlines?
R. Stephen King once said that his muse is a man who lives in the basement. Do you have a muse?
S. Describe your perfect writing conditions.
T. How many times do you usually revise your story/chapter before posting?
U. Choose a passage from one of your earlier stories and edit it into your current writing style. (Person sending the ask should make suggestions).
V. If you were to revise one of your older stories from start to finish, which would it be and why?
W. Have you ever deleted one of your published stories?
X. What do you look for in a beta?
Y. Do you beta yourself? If so, what kind of beta are you?
Z. How do you feel about collaborations?
AA. Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.
AB. Do you accept prompts?
AC. Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant?
AD. How do you feel about smut?
AE. How do you feel about crack?
AF. What are your thoughts on non-con and dub-con?
AG. Would you ever kill off a canon character?
AH. Which is your favorite site to post fic?
AI. Talk about your current wips.
AJ. Talk about a review that made your day.
AK. Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?
AL. Write an alternative ending to a fic you've written (specify by title, link or general description].
Pick a couple and I will answer:
C. Is there a type of story you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?
D. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them?
F. Share one of your weaknesses.
J. Which fic has been the easiest to write?
K. Is writing your passion or just a fun hobby?
Q. Do you use any tools, like worksheets or outlines?
T. How many times do you usually revise your story/chapter before posting?
W. Have you ever deleted one of your published stories?
X. What do you look for in a beta?
Y. Do you beta yourself? If so, what kind of beta are you?
AB. Do you accept prompts?
AD. How do you feel about smut?
AE. How do you feel about crack?
AF. What are your thoughts on non-con and dub-con?
AJ. Talk about a review that made your day.
AK. Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?
AL. Write an alternative ending to a fic you've written (specify by title, link or general description].
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2014-08-23 05:38 pm (UTC)R. Stephen King once said that his muse is a man who lives in the basement. Do you have a muse?
Check out my post as well. :)
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Date: 2014-08-24 08:24 pm (UTC)I have to write from start to finish, because then I'll only write the interesting parts and not want to go back and fill in the necessary bits to get to the interesting part. Plus, usually I have an idea of what the interesting part is, but by the time I've written to that point the scene might take a different shape than I realized at the beginning.
R. Stephen King once said that his muse is a man who lives in the basement. Do you have a muse?
Yes, I do. When I started in the LoTR fandom in 2004, a blond elf moved into my house. His name is Glorfindel, and he loves strawberries and long walks on the beach. He's still around, even if I don't write as much as I should.
Great questions, Alex!
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Date: 2014-08-23 05:59 pm (UTC)**hugs**
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Date: 2014-08-24 08:42 pm (UTC)"You slept with a barmaid?" Gildor inquired, barely able to keep the surprise out of his voice.
"Don't laugh. I will hurt you."
"No laughing, I promise. Just, of all the people to wind up doing that…it's really rather more the twins' style. Or mine. Maybe even Glorfindel."
"Don't be silly, he wouldn't, Gildor. And I wasn't expecting it either. But I was lonely." Erestor sat up, frustrated. "That happens sometimes, you know. Quaint thought and all. You wander the world, but I'm always here these days and you see the state Imladris is in. And she was different. She is part of this world, the new one. Time's moving on nowhere near like it used to. Much faster, like mortals now. This is their Age."
Erestor took a breath then continued more softly. "I was lonely, a touch drunk, and when I woke up the next morning I was happier than I had been in a long while. It wasn't meant to be more than one night. We were both fine with what it was."
Gildor watched Erestor, eyes tracing the line of his back and shoulders. Up was now down, nothing was quite as he imagined it. He sighed and sat up, his back against the headboard. "But Aedan came along."
"I received a letter from her some months after. She was sure he was mine." Erestor said simply. "I brought her here. She didn't have much family, the thought of paying her didn't feel right, and…I wanted to see my child."
"He's gorgeous, truly. He'll probably take after you in all the wrong ways," Gildor offered with a small smile.
Like this because it tells a whole story in a little space, and speaks of a friendship and closeness that goes back a long way. Still one of my favorite stories.
M. If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?
If my modern times medical soap opera was finished, I'd say that, because it would really work for TV. But, since it's not finished, I'd say Autumn Leaves. It'd probably be in more of a Lifetime movie vein, because Hal's the responsible guy who has family issues and goes off and finds love with Dan in an exotic realm.
(Runner up would actually be The Call, because Hal and Erestor, after the War of the Rings, dealing with loss and change and love would make a nice, bittersweet story.)
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Date: 2014-08-24 09:45 pm (UTC)Your medical soap opera would make an awesome movie! :D
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Date: 2014-09-08 09:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-23 06:15 pm (UTC)E. Share one of your strengths.
O. If you only could write one pairing for the rest of your life, which pairing would it be?
AI. Talk about your current wips.
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Date: 2014-08-24 09:06 pm (UTC)It's not a unique strength, but I really love the people I write and I think it shows. Something a little more unusual: I write bittersweet things well.
O. If you only could write one pairing for the rest of your life, which pairing would it be?
Probably Erestor/Glorfindel. You can tell a lot of different stories with them and the balance is pretty classically appealing. And I love them. But I'd find it really hard to only write one pairing. To never write Gildor or Hal pairings, swap things around...
AI. Talk about your current wips.
That was just below the belt, dear.
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Date: 2014-08-24 10:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-25 01:56 am (UTC)AL re What Happened Last Night.
Should have answered the wip thing, yes :D
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Date: 2014-08-28 12:14 am (UTC)Carefully, Erestor considered his response before replying. "I’m not sure there’s anything to be done here. We are friends, aren’t we?"
"Yes, of course. This wouldn’t change that," Glorfindel answered without hesitation, before pulling on his clothing. They had all dressed up in formal robes for the wedding which obviously made sneaking back into his own rooms that much harder.
"Would one night make us lovers? We’ve never really looked at each other like that before in all of this time and I don’t want our friendship to change. Surely if we were meant to be lovers we’d have done this sooner? Perhaps not needed all of the alcohol either…"
"Now, now, I’ve always found you attractive. And I know that you adore me…" Glorfindel snatched the brush from Erestor’s hand and started brushing his own hair, which had become quite tangled as the night had progressed.
“Adore? Ha, not quite.” Erestor watched as he slowly turned the tangled mass of gold into a respectable fall of long, wavy hair. “Put up with, rather.”
“Adore.” Glorfindel said firmly, giving the brush back to him. “And no, one drunken, lustful night doesn’t make us lovers. We could walk away from this, remember it as a great night and I go back to exploring the possibilities life has to offer and you go back to loving Elrond from afar.”
There was a weighted pause after he finished, and Erestor guessed what he did not say. But he was never good at letting things go, unraveling a stray thread from a rug until he had a pile of thread on his lap and no rug in sight.
“Just say it.”
Glorfindel shook his head and sat on the messy bed. His robes were wrinkled, but they still looked good on him, Erestor noticed, rich green with darker thread, embroidered patterns and highlights of gold. “I promised I’d leave it alone, as you told me.”
“He will sail soon and be reunited with his wife. And what place will there be for me? No space, except trusted friend and advisor, as always.” The words left his mouth, hung in the air with bitterness and self-pity, and Erestor closed his eyes and leaned against the vanity table. His head really did hurt.
Silence. He listened to the noisy bustle of palace life outside the guestroom door. It was late in the morning, and he was sure that he had things he needed to do, but the hangover made remembering impossible.
“Unrequited love is a safety net, you know.”
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Date: 2014-08-28 12:15 am (UTC)Glorfindel seemed unfazed by the glare. “Bri was always going to be waiting for him, and you were always going to wind up here. Didn’t have to grow and stretch with another person who could meet you half way.”
“That’s funny coming from someone who has the attention span of a butterfly with his lovers.” Defensive - and Erestor knew it.
Glorfindel shrugged, shoulders rolling back in a smooth movement. “Maybe I like a varied diet of flowers and sweet things.”
Erestor remembered his leg over around one of those shoulders, a large hand on his thigh, spreading him wider…he felt a flush creep high on his face and started to pace. “Easy, sweet things. Not the fruits with a bitter peel or a hard shell.”
“Are you saying I’m lazy?” Glorfindel asked, an eyebrow raised. “Or that I only sleep with people who are easily brought to bed.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He picked up a pillow off the floor and tossed it on the bed. “Besides, aren’t those the same thing?”
Glorfindel’s hand moved, quicker than Erestor expected and wrapped around his wrist. “Stop moving around, you’re making my head swim.”
“Poor baby,” Erestor said unsympathetically. Glorfindel’s response was a sharp tug on his arm, sending him tumbling onto the bed. When recalling this later, Erestor would deny that he squawked, but Glorfindel would insist that he did. He lay there on his back, waiting for the room to stop spinning and felt the bed give as Glorfindel lay down beside him. He had a moment of sharp clarity – he really wasn’t a good person – when he jabbed his elbow into Glorfindel’s side.
“Bastard.” Glorfindel wheezed, shoving his arm away.
“Takes one to know one.”
They lay there quietly for a few moments, looking up at the unfamiliar pattern on the ceiling. Erestor supposed it was a new Gondorian style.
Finally, Glorfindel spoke up. “So I’m lazy and like the easily obtained, and you like the safety of the unattainable.”
“That sums us up, yes. At least we know who we are. No identity crises or something stupid.”
“Well, you were worried about us being lovers after one night.” Glorfindel rolled onto his side, propping his head up with an elbow. “Been reading a lot of romance stories, have you?”
“Don’t make me hit you again.”
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Date: 2014-08-28 12:16 am (UTC)No one moved first; instead, together. Their mouths met, held and Erestor tangled his fingers into the sun-yellow hair falling on him. Glorfindel encircled him with an arm and pulled Erestor into himself. Headache forgotten, he sank into the kiss, memory lighting up like fireflies in the wake of Glorfindel’s mouth, tongue and touch.
It ended too soon, soft lips pressed one more time on his and then Glorfindel sat up. Erestor stayed where he was, certain the world had begun spinning again. His eyes followed Glorfindel as he walked to the guestroom door, opening it a crack and looking out.
“What was that?”
Glorfindel looked back over his shoulder. “Tasting the flower?”
“I am no flower, Glorfindel. I’m a walnut, with a shell you can break your teeth on.” Erestor pulled himself up, reluctant to face the day, but he realized that the world was fast encroaching.
“I know that, but it sounded better than tasting your sweet meat.”
Erestor laughed in spite of himself. “You have a point there.”
“We should do this again sometime.” It was casual - off hand, even - and Erestor was caught off guard. Nothing had really gone the way he’d expected, right from the beginning of his brandy-soaked night.
“You don’t do difficult.”
“Sometimes life calls for an exception,” Glorfindel replied, with a glance outside the door. “Well, now’s my chance. I’ll see you at the meal, after a shower and fresh clothes.”
“All right.” A thought struck him. “Glor?”
“Hmmm?” Half way out the door, Glorfindel turned around to look back at him.
"You’ve got a nice ass." Erestor grinned, a decidedly devil-may-care attitude developing in the wake of his hangover.
"Thank you." Glorfindel took it in stride, but as he slipped out the door he added a wiggle just for Erestor’s benefit.
"Go!" Erestor laughed, shaking his head. He wasn’t sure what to make of these developments, or what Glorfindel’s suggestion would lead to. But he was curious, and while that habit had perpetually gotten him into trouble, he was too old to change now. If nothing else, maybe life in Valinor wouldn’t be boring.
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Date: 2014-08-28 01:11 am (UTC)Thank you :)
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Date: 2014-09-08 09:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-10 07:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-23 06:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-24 09:15 pm (UTC)A bittersweet story with two elves, usually set in the Fourth Age. PG-13 or light R. No action scenes, just a lot of talking. :P
V. If you were to revise one of your older stories from start to finish, which would it be and why?
The very first stories I ever wrote were a series of PWPs with the barest thread of a story. I'd redo them, cut back on the smut and add a hell of a lot more story.
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Date: 2014-08-23 07:28 pm (UTC)I and J?
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Date: 2014-08-24 09:36 pm (UTC)Toss up between The Look of Love (http://red-lasbelin.livejournal.com/61377.html) and Ghosts That We Knew (http://archiveofourown.org/works/1184631). Look of Love, because it was a birthday gift for someone special and I really had to work to describe the visual element of the story - descriptions are hard for me!
Ghosts because I was coming out of a thick depression and the story grabbed me and wouldn't let go, but forcing myself to write, not give up and finish it was very difficult.
J. Which fic has been the easiest to write?
What Happened Last Night? (http://red-lasbelin.livejournal.com/35687.html) I wrote this story the night it was due for one of the Slashy Swaps in 2006. (Way before I ever dreamed I'd be a mod for the exchange.) It was not easy in that I didn't have a story idea until last minute, but once I had the idea, the story rolled off the page and I was able to submit in time, due to
Thanks, Elleth! They were great questions, I had to think about them.
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Date: 2014-08-25 10:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-23 08:32 pm (UTC)How about
S. Describe your perfect writing conditions.
and
Z. How do you feel about collaborations?
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Date: 2014-08-24 09:52 pm (UTC)I'm going to be brutally honest here and say that my ideal writing condition is having an external deadline. If I have a deadline to meet, I'll do whatever it takes, but just on my own steam, I can be very 'eh'. Otherwise, a space with someone not talking to me and ideally the internet shut off so I don't procrastinate.
Z. How do you feel about collaborations?
I think collaborations can be wonderful things. Personally, I've collaborated with Kei several times - coauthored a fic, she wrote a mirror fic for one of mine, and I've done art for one of her stories. In general, I think collaborations with other artists is great and inspirational. Particularly art, playlists, podfics, or separate works of fiction.
I don't tend to read straight up co-authored fics these days though, because I've read too many fics where it reads like RP with characters/writers alternating paragraphs. Not my cup of tea anymore and jolts me out of a story.
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Date: 2014-08-25 09:02 am (UTC)I see what you mean about collaborations. I asked because you and Kei are so close and it seems to work pretty well. Also, because I tried co-writing three times and only once, with Jaiden, did it turn out nice and didn't leave me grating my teeth. I like your perspective on collaboration... I think it works better than co-writing.
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Date: 2014-08-23 09:00 pm (UTC)G. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.
U. Choose a passage from one of your earlier stories and edit it into your current writing style. (Person sending the ask should make suggestions).
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Date: 2014-08-24 10:02 pm (UTC)They rediscovered each other that night, with mouth and hands, pausing briefly at Troy’s scar. He could tell the absence of the tattoo hurt Fin, but he didn’t ask, didn’t talk about it, only pressed deeper into Troy and made him cry out from the sharp-edged pleasure. Fin had more tattoos since they had been together, but there wasn’t time and space to really look. Their joining was not slow and sweet, but with a hunger that was born of complications, heart pain and absence.
There was a little time, before slumber, where they lay sated and tucked together, Troy running fingers over inked skin. Fin still had the matching tattoo on his left arm, Glorfindel, in that script from their dreams.
“Turn over, I want to see.” He pushed at Fin’s shoulder and received grumbling softened by sleepiness in reply, but he got what he wanted. He swept away blond hair, tucking it over Fin’s shoulder to get the full picture and his hands faltered as that picture came into view. A phoenix with wings that spanned his shoulders blades and down to mid-back, rising from fire and ash, and a long, black cord, and… Troy followed the length of the cord, neatly woven into the design, to the monster that held the end of the whip, a horned beast, something straight out of the pit of Hell.
“No, Fin. Not that. Why did you get that?” He was caught off guard at the depth of emotion in him, beyond him, to the part of him he used to call another person.
Fin was quiet for a few minutes, and Troy would have thought he was asleep, but Ery knew he wasn’t. “Was a while after you left. I kept seeing him, even when I wasn’t high, followed me into my dreams. Thought maybe it would help to put him behind me.”
Troy remembered the times they had come out of their high and Fin was curled up on the bed, talking about fire, burning and no air and darkness. He remembered the sketches, hastily done, but vivid in their starkness. He was struck then as now by the sense of déjà vu, the sense that in another time, another place they’d been there before, Ery comforting Fin.
He couldn’t breathe suddenly, the air was just out of reach. He hadn’t had anything remotely like a panic attack for a while, but he felt the beginnings of one. Fin rolled over, and the image was gone, and in its place was Fin reaching for him, pressing kisses against his forehead, cheeks and mouth. “It’s okay, Ery. It’s all right. I’m here, and you are too. Everything is fine.”
Pulled from Ghosts, it's the last thing I've written so far, and one of my strongest stories in general, I think. This particular passage is my favorite because it tells a lot about Erestor and Glorfindel's relationship contrasted with their present reality, plus Erestor's panic attack, and Glorfindel's method of embracing one of his darkest memories/nightmares. And I'm proud of the tattoo idea.
U. Choose a passage from one of your earlier stories and edit it into your current writing style. (Person sending the ask should make suggestions).
I can take a crack at it, but I need a suggestion first?
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Date: 2014-08-24 10:40 pm (UTC)How about something from Insanity Lurks?
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Date: 2014-08-25 12:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-25 02:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-27 08:33 pm (UTC)I dunno, I don't really consider myself a stylish writer in general. Functional, I guess.
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Date: 2014-08-24 10:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-25 12:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-23 09:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-24 10:08 pm (UTC)Mike! *hugs*
Like we talked about before, a serious multi-chaptered story, posting a chapter every ten days or so. Intimidates the hell out of me.
Otherwise, I'd really love to do one of those Five Times X Happened stories. Those stories can be so good, but I haven't found the right prompt to get me going.
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Date: 2014-08-24 10:25 pm (UTC)I don't get the Five X Happened Stories. What's the point of those?
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Date: 2014-08-23 10:45 pm (UTC)AH. Which is your favorite site to post fic?
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Date: 2014-08-24 11:50 pm (UTC)I don't tend to write in areas or time periods where canon is clearly detailed, but in general, I like to respect the canon and comply where I can, but if a bunny veers off wildly into the unknown or I think of a twist, I like the room to play with it. Since Tolkien was constantly doing that himself, I think it's fine for other people to as well. Also, the research it would take to do some fics... I think of your bios and am always impressed with that level of work!
AH. Which is your favorite site to post fic?
I'm old school, I think Livejournal is still my favorite, but AO3 these days comes as a close second. Livejournal for habit, friends and love of comments and AO3 for the reaching a bigger audience of people I don't know.
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Date: 2014-08-25 01:39 am (UTC)Thanks so much. The bios mean a lot to me and I am always so happy when someone appreciates them!
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Date: 2014-08-23 10:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-25 12:44 am (UTC)Maybe not a specific episode, as such, but the Fourth Age, the Elves leaving, the rise of Men and the aftermath of terrible war...the mood and the world in transition always appeals to me and I've written the most stories in that time period.
AC. Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant?
I don't tend to write in areas or time periods where canon is clearly detailed, but in general, I like to respect the canon and comply where I can, but if a bunny veers off wildly into the unknown or I think of a twist, I like the room to play with it. Since Tolkien was constantly doing that himself, I think it's fine for other people to as well. Also, the research it would take to do some fics...
Thank you for the questions, Rhaps. *hugs tight*
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Date: 2014-08-23 11:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-25 03:30 am (UTC)Keiliss - have said before, even if I wasn't her beta, I'd still be following her writing and reading everything. Uh - I read pretty widely so it's hard to name favorites. Not sure if you're familiar with Asolat or Starlingthefool, but they're two good ones as well. Not LoTR, though.
AG. Would you ever kill off a canon character?
Sure, if the story was good. I killed off Erestor once, a long, long time ago, in a 'too-angsty-to-be-believed' kind of way.