Once upon a time...

Oops, I apparently forgot one. XD My brain is not helping me out today. I woke up at like 8AM after only getting about 2 hours of sleep because I was having horrific zombie dreams. Didn't help that a murder of crows was cawing out in the parking lot. *grumble-grumble*



Day 7: In your own space, create a list of at least three fannish things you'd love to receive, something you've wanted but were afraid to ask for - a fannish wish-list of sorts. Drop a link to your wish-list in this post. Maybe someone will grant a wish. Maybe you will grant a wish. If any wishes are granted, we'd love it if you link them to this post.

1. Probably the thing I'd like most is a manip for my Versailles Undone. Something with Spike in a corset with Charise (I imagine her looking like plus-sized pin-up model Natalie Alvarado when she has black hair) and lots of pinks and mint greens and fluffiness and delicious petits fours... I've drawn a few things for a banner over time, but like the fic, it just never seems to get itself finished. XD

2. I'm the kind of lover of cute things that gets excessive squee from fics in which Spike has been age-regressed. Oh, you know that William was an adorable kid! No bravado, no bad memories, just pure, unadulterated fluff.

3. I also quite enjoy fics in which Spike is just a little bit under-the-weather or injured and needs to be taken care of... either by Fred or by a reluctant Angel.

I heard about this challenge from velvetwhip and dragonyphoenix



Day 1

In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator. Drop a link to your post in the com.

I decided to pick 2 artworks and 2 fanfics...
Art:
1. Cirque du Slay. Worksafe. Under the big top with the Buffyverse characters.
2. The Heart That Seeks Pleasure First. Spike/Vamp!Spike/William. Not worksafe. Spike, as a character, has always sought a single pleasure- love. Not just physical love, but the pleasure of being loved and loving someone else.

Fic:
1. The Cinnamon Hippo. Spike/OC. Worksafe. How Spike and Ursula met in my London Calling comic.
2. Madness Within Reason. Not worksafe. Élisabeth-Martine is the Slayer in 1793, and she's about to become the Revolution's latest victim.

Snagged from shakensilence
1. Think of up to 20 'ships you support.
2. List them using descriptions of the characters involved rather than their names.
3. Have your f-list guess as many of the ships as they can.
4. Fandom hints will be given if asked in the comments.">

( Click here for the descriptions... )

I can't believe this is the last one! This has been really fun! :D

30 – Do you have a favorite fic you've written? What makes it your favorite? And don't forget to give us a link!

Automated Utopia is my favourite fanfic that I've written. I think it's my favourite because it felt like an accomplishment as the first long!fic I finished, and I really got such positive feedback about it that it encouraged me to continue writing fics.

Also, writing in a steampunk AU was an interesting experience. I enjoyed taking the characters out of the comfort zone I was used to writing them in and putting them in a brand new world. I got to do a lot of fun research into Victorian England and steam technology. It's provided a lot of inspiration for future fics and made me feel more confident in my writing.

( Cut for the answer to Days 1-29... )

I just realized that the start day for the prompt I wrote a ficlet for is the 16th not the 15th! Darn it! *impatient*

29 – What is your current project or projects?

Currently finished but still posting: Acceptable Losses and Versailles Undone

Currently finished but unposted yet: Automated Utopia II and as-of-yet-untitled Paper Pusher sequel, and Spin the Baby Bottle I and II (ficlets).

Currently editing: As-of-yet-untitled circus alternate universe fic, Hemp Widows, Man of Letters (ficlet), Snowbankrupt (ficlet), Patently Romantic (ficlet), and as-of-yet-untitled Caprica ficlet.

Currently still writing: Congressional Foreplay, These Chains of Lace (Versailles Undone sequel), and as-of-yet-untitled ficlet about a Slayer during the Stonewall Riots.

( Cut for the answer to Days 1-28 and the other 1 question for the upcoming day... )

28 – Have you ever collaborated with anyone else, whether writing together, or having an artist work on a piece about your fic?

I've never done a writing collab, but I have done a collaboration with whichclothes on The Heart that Seeks Pleasure First for the nekid_spike tag-team challenge. She did the writing, and I did the art.

I also did an artwork for lilithbint's Preschool and another for whichclothes's Memento Mori: Hominem Te Memento. :D I hope that my fics will one day inspire someone to do art!

( Cut for the answer to Days 1-27 and the other 2 questions for the upcoming days... )

I can't believe we're down to the last few days with this meme! Seems like it just started yesterday! XD

27 – Where is your favorite place to write, and do you write by hand or on the computer?

I like writing in my bed. I have a wrought iron daybed with a big magenta and purple puffy sari embroidered comforter with enormous overstuffed pillow, and it's a very comfortable place to write. As I've mentioned before, I am an obsessive notebook keeper. I have notebooks in all shapes and sizes, and generally I write down the outline of my fics along with any research or important plot elements in a notebook to keep my thought process straight. I always use Pilot Precise V5 extra fine tipped pens to write exposition with, and then I use a Japanese multi-tipped (pink, purple, blue, green, and brown) Uni Style*Fit gel pen for corrections and dialogue. I type everything up later.

For my longer fics, I always make sure that each one has an individual notebook for each. Automated Utopia and its upcoming sequel are housed in two very thick, pink leather-bound notebooks. Paper Pusher is kept in a tall, teal hard-bound notebook with a white hummingbird and orange flowers on its cover. Acceptable Losses is in a blue hard-bound book with multi-coloured flowers on its cover. Versailles Undone is in a spiral hard-cover with a watercolour painting of daffodils in a blue vase on its cover. I have several moleskin journals that I use to keep my notes about my canon/fanon for Spike's backstory and history, including his education, family background, and locations throughout the years. For shorter fics, I will use cheap spiral college-ruled one subject notebooks (the five-for-a-dollar variety).

I feel like writing everything out by hand allows me to think longer about what I'm writing, and later typing it helps me refine it, get it perfect.

( Cut for the answer to Days 1-26 and the other 3 questions for the upcoming days... )

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?

Yes, indeed I do listen to music while I write; I kinda have to. I have a tendency to make playlists if I'm writing a longer multi-chapter fic. For Automated Utopia, I was listening to a lot of steampunk-related bands like Abney Park and Clockwork Quartet. For Paper Pusher, my playlist was almost entirely made up of Rasputina. For Acceptable Losses, I listen to a lot of Lemon Demon, Modest Mouse, and Blink 182 (their later stuff). For Versailles Undone, my playlist is pretty much the two CD set from Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette along with a lot of Mozart and Beethoven.

Here are YouTube links to some of my most-played songs from my iTunes fanfiction playlist:
* Rasputina's "In Old Yellowcake."
* Say Hi to Your Mom's "Angels and Darlas."
* The Smiths' "William, It Was Nothing."
* Lemon Demon's "Ben Bernanke."
* Lemon Demon's "Eighth Wonder."
* Panic! At the Disco's "The Ballad of Mona Lisa."
* Aphex Twins' "Jynweythek Ylow."
* Neko Case's "Margaret vs. Pauline."
* Abney Park's "Sleep Isabella."
* The Gaslight Anthem's "Great Expectations."
* Clockwork Quartet's "The Doctor's Wife."
* Ursula's "Tiffer."


26 – What is the oddest (or funnest) thing you've had to research for a fic?

I always seem to be researching odd things for my fanfictions. I've researched how to perform an autopsy, the differences between impulse turbines and reactionary turbines in steam drills, and how pantelegraph machines work. I think I've got quite the personal costume dictionary for various time periods, and I've probably gotten basic grasp of how the educational system in Victorian London operated as well as what a typical banquet would consist of at the Palace at Versailles during the reign of Louis XVI. Probably the weirdest was when I had to research the history of Personal Digital Assistants for Versailles Undone to make sure that PDAs could receive alphanumeric pager messages in 2000 when Season Four would take place because text messaging was not yet available on them. It was weird because something that sounds so simple turned out to be very difficult to research as I kept getting contradictory information about different brands of devices. It bothers me that I still might have gotten it wrong.

( Cut for the answer to Days 1-24 and the other 4 questions for the upcoming days... )

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?

I don't think I've ever used a beta for proofreading. I probably should 'cause I tend to get the computer blindness after a while of looking at a monitor (I would be a horrible beta). Sometimes I do like to have some of my pals read my fic or just sections of chapters just to make sure the tone or characterizations are right before I post. With that, I'd like to give hugs to lilithbint, sockmonkeyhere, sistercuervo, kidcyclone, and everyone who's read over my ideas and made me feel less crazy about what I've written. I heart you all! *giant enormous squishy hugs*

( Cut for the answer to Days 1-23 and the other 6 questions for the upcoming days... )