Still planning on doing random posts...I've got a couple of ideas bubbling in my head...but I saw this and couldn't resist the idea of trying. We'll see how far I get. (I suck at these!)

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Day 18 - Where do you get the most inspiration for your fics (aka "bunnies") from?

All over the place - I think they're breeding. Actually I get them from prompts by others, overlooked quotes from the fandom itself, a desire to know "what happened then", a "what-if" that hits me, something in real life that I want to explore but need a little distance on..."bunnies" come from everywhere.

Day 17 - Titles - Are they the bane of your existence, or the easiest part of the fic? Also, if you do chaptered fics, do you give each chapter a title, or not?

In most cases, titles don't bother me. Something about the fic usually suggests a title. On a few occasions, I've gotten outside help just because nothing resonated. What worries me more is that sometimes my titles don't make sense to other people and they may get turned off instead of reading the story.

Day 16 - Summaries - Do you like them or hate them? How do you come up with them, if you use them?

Hate writing them! I know they're necessary to catch people's attention and get them to read, but I have so much trouble with these. Coming up with enough to spark a desire to read, but not enough to give the secrets away.

Ick.

Day 15 - Warnings - What do you feel is most important to worn for, and what's the strangest thing you've warned for in a fic?

There should be warnings for most of the triggery stuff - rape, abuse, torture, gore, graphic violence, as well as most of the kinks. There are ways to give those warnings so only people who highlight them can see them - allowing others who want to be surprised to skip the warning. People do need to be somewhat sensitive. (Also, ratings should be accurate...if you've got a lot of gore and violence, it is not a simple PG.)

Pairings - I think they should be listed so people have the chance to focus on what they like or avoid what they don't, but I don't think a warning is necessary. If you list the pairings, people should be able to figure out whether it's het, slash, femslash, whatever. If you want the pairings to be a surprise, then under pairings put "het pairing", "slash pairing", etc. Warnings should be reserved, I think, for stuff that might actually set off someone's anxiety.

My warnings? I don't usually write stuff that require warnings, so I have no idea.

Day 14 - Ratings - How high are you comfortable with going? Have you ever written higher? If you're comfortable with NC-17 (aka X Rated), have you ever been shocked by finding that the story you're writing is G-rated instead?

Writing or reading? Generally I write between G and PG, perhaps I might slide into a low R, but that's it. I've read pretty much every rating, though I usually skip the NC-17. As Christopher Lee put it, "very often what you don't see, is far more effective, frightening, suggestive, erotic than what you do see" - subtext, shadows, hints are wonderful things, and they let you paint pictures in your mind that are far more than an author could hope to put down in writing. Getting too explicit ruins some of the fun and fantasy for me. However, I will read them if someone I trust (or whose taste I trust) recommends them because they've got an actual plot/storyline/something that would draw me in. Pure smut or PWP is NOT, NOT, NOT my thing.

Doing two days because my first is so short.

Day 12 - Have you ever attempted an "adaptation" fic of a favorite book or movie but set in a different fandom?

No, but it's an idea...

Day 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 canon, and I stick with it in a lot of ways, but I think anything we write in fanfiction really creates fanon right then and there. We make assumption and presumptions about the way the characters would react/behave/respond and how the world would spin, but only the creator of that fandom can really determine canon. Fanon is our gift, our admiration of the canon they created. I'm not sure how canon purists handle fanfiction, fanart, etc., because to be quite frank, unless one is typing a transcript, it is almost impossible to remain canon and go beyond the framework of the fandom. I like staying true to revealed facts, but I don't want to be constrained to it, and I really love some of the fandoms (like certain comics, etc.) that have such long histories that their canons are a mishmash of space to play in.

Day 11 - Genre - Do you prefer certain genres of fic when you're writing? What kind do you tend to write most?

Depending on your terminology I suppose - I enjoy drama, friendship, family/team, and hurt/comfort. I think most of mine fall into some variation or combination of these peppered with a little bit of fluff, angst, and humor.

Day 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?

Only if you count writing pairings at all. My main thing is friendship/team/group type fics, so pairings (except background/previously established) didn't really hit my radar until I kind of fell into writing in the Tin Man fandom and DG/Wyatt as well as Az/Jeb really started pushing buttons. It kind of spilled from there.

Day 9 - Pairings - For each of the fandoms from Day 2, what are your three favorite pairings to write?

I haven't written all of these pairings - some yes - some not yet. I also don't always have three pairings in a fandom.

The Avengers - Clint/Darcy, Tony/Pepper, Steve/Natasha
Tin Man - Wyatt/DG, Jeb/Az
The Magnificent Seven - Chris/Mary, JD/Casey, Buck/Inez
Leverage - Eliot/Parker
The Hunger Games - Peeta/Katniss
Harry Potter - Harry/Hermione, Draco/Hermione, Harry/Luna
Stargate Atlantis - Ronon/Jennifer, John/Elizabeth, John/Teyla
Torchwood - Jack/Gwen
Glee - Puck/Rachel, Mike/Tina, Artie/Brittany
The Bourne Legacy - Aaron/Marta
Chronicles of Narnia - Eustace/Jill
The 10th Kingdom - Wolf/Virginia
The Sentinel - I don't have pairing in this fandom
Labyrinth - Jareth/Sarah
Star Trek - ??? possibly Spock/Uhura, but I much prefer GEN.
Criminal Minds - Hotch/Prentiss, Rossi/Garcia, Reid/JJ
CSI:NY - Mac/Stella, Danny/Lindsay
Firefly - Mal/River, Simon/Kaylee, Wash/Zoe
Buffy Crossover - Oz/Willow, Dean/Tara, Chris/Serenity
LotR - Aragorn/Arwen, Faramir/Eowyn, Eomer/Lothiriel

Day 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.

Yes, I do. In my Buffy crossover, the main character is an OFC. She is my eyes & ears into Buffy's world because I don't really connect with any of the characters from the Buffy-verse even though I adore them. As far as avoiding making her a Mary Sue?

Huh...well, if by Mary Sue, you mean she's too perfect? I'm trying to avoid that by basing her characteristics on people I know. People I love but also occasionally want to shake. She's a character who has learned patience and humor the hard way - taking some definitely knocks. I'm not far enough along to have it all obvious to people yet, but I've shown a few things. Her ability to keep secrets, even after people maybe should have been told; her desire to sometimes slip out of the overprotective cocoon her family wants to wrap her in; her stubbornness in staying in a fight. There will be a few more issues show up as the story progresses. I hope she's not too unlikely.

I have a problem with the "Mary Sue" concept in general though. Too often characters are labeled as "Mary Sue" within the first couple of chapters. Now, if those chapters are all about how pretty she is, how talented she is, how....etc., then I get it. However, if those chapters are her dealing with a problem, and she actually CAN handle it in a realistic way, then I don't think it's fair to label her a "Mary Sue" - after all, we girls can usually find a way to handle things. I think, mostly, "Mary Sue" has become too easy an insult/critique to throw out there these days. If someone is going to label a character a "Mary Sue" (is there even an equivalent for male characters?), then they should have something more than "she's such a Mary Sue!" Okay, great? Why?

(Yes, a bit of a touchy thing...I don't mind people not liking characters, but if you can't offer some type of constructive criticism, just don't review. Saying it that way is as bad as just saying "Your story sucks." Hopefully as readers we are more articulate than that.)

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

A fic I wrote? No, I don't think so.

However, I learned to look deeper at characters by reading fanfiction...looking beyond their basic lines to what they reveal in their actions, word choices, even what part they played and how.

Some characters are Darcy Lewis, Eliot Spencer, Graham Miller, Ezra Standish, & Phil Coulson.

Day 6 - When you write, do you prefer writing male or female characters?

Generally I prefer female characters because it is difficult for me to get into a guy's mind/thought processes. I am so very much a girl, and it carries over in how I write. There are a couple of fandoms I can write guys (Mag 7, Stargate Atlantis), but it's because I have some trait, quirk, or history they share. I can reach through that. I still have to watch my word usage though, and pick something more "guy-like" to be real.

(I know people want to minimize the differences between male & female, but that's just not realistic. We do things differently; we have different speaking patterns, different outlooks, and different ways of focusing - even when we are considering the exact same thing and hold the exact same opinion...we will express it differently.)

Day 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?

Usually I go with it - I figure its my subconscious telling me I need to add this or that quality to the story which the character brings with it. Only when it seriously won't work or the character is from an entirely different fandom do I ignore it.

Day 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 become your muse?

Rodney from Stargate Atlantis ALWAYS shows up in my SGA fics, but that could be because I relate better to him than the others.

I have an OC character in my Buffy crossover who I can feel wanting to push into fics I write and fics I read, but she's pretty much my alter ego, so I'm not sure if that's a "muse" character.

I'm not sure I have a "muse" character. To me, a "muse" is a source of inspiration rather than a character. It is someone or something that you see, hear, smell, feel, or taste and it wakes up your brain with an idea, a thought, a "I want to write that with (fill-in-the-blank character)!" thing.

I usually have "plot bunnies" instead - herds of them some days - that pester and interfere with my thought processes and I get sidetracked from the story I'm trying to work on.

Day 3 - For each of the fandoms from Day 2, what were your favorite characters to write?

The Avengers - Clint Barton, Darcy Lewis
Tin Man - Jeb Cain, Azkadelia
The Magnificent Seven - Chris Larabee, Ezra Standish
Leverage - Parker, Eliot Spencer
The Hunger Games - Haymitch
Harry Potter - Hermione Granger
Stargate Atlantis - Rodney McKay
Torchwood - Gwen Cooper
Glee - Puck, Rachel Berry
The Bourne Legacy - Aaron Cross, Marta Shearing
Chronicles of Narnia - Edmund
The 10th Kingdom - Wolf
The Sentinel - Jim, Blair
Labyrinth - Sarah
Star Trek - Bones McCoy
Criminal Minds - David Rossi, Penelope Garcia
CSI:NY - Mac Taylor
Firefly - River Tam, Mal Reynolds
Buffy Crossover - Willow, Oz, Cordelia
LotR - ?? (Haven't written enough to have one)

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

The Avengers - 5 one-shots and 1 WIP
Tin Man - 7 one-shots and 1 WIP
The Magnificent Seven - 11 one-shots and 3 big bangs
Leverage - 6 one-shots and 1 big bang - WIP in progress
The Hunger Games - 3 one-shots
Harry Potter - several shorts and a couple of one-shots
Stargate Atlantis - 3 one-shots
Torchwood - 2 one-shots
Glee - one big bang story & a crossover big bang with M7
The Bourne Legacy - one-shot
Chronicles of Narnia - one-shot and 1 WIP
The 10th Kingdom - one-shot
The Sentinel - 5000+ word one-shot
Labyrinth - one-shot
Star Trek - one-shot
Criminal Minds - one-shot
CSI:NY - one-shot
Firefly - one-shot
Buffy Crossover - WIP in progress
LotR - WIP in progress

All of these are open to play in, and I've got notes for 3 more Avengers stories, 3-4 more M7 stories, and a huge crime show crossover.

Want to play? Full meme is HERE

Stolen from signs_of_life

Day 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've been making up fanfic for ages, but I never knew what it was called. Someone recommended a story to me online, and suddenly I'm gobbling up fanfic like regular books. (Considering I could start a small library with my collection, I figure that's impressive.)

I'm thrilled when I find a diamond in the rough ~ even more, I love it when I discover a whole new fandom through someone's writing.

First fandom I actually wrote for? Magnificent Seven or Harry Potter I think.

That fandom pulled me in for several reasons - untapped potential, a balance of drama, angst, and humor, plus the main cast was made up of some sexy guys.

I always fail at these - run out of steam, lose track, whatever. Hey, its 'shipping! Guess I'll try again.

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It might happen...