In which I ask you to ask me shit...

[therumjournals]

No idea what kind of a response this will get, but here is some meme-age for you:

Ask me a question about one of my stories. It can be absolutely anything in any fic and I will tell you the honest-to-god answer. Don’t hold back. Anything. Whatever you ask, I will try my best to answer.

Feel free to ask about anything about future projects/sequels as well.

Actually, feel free to ask me anything else too, like about me, my life, writing process, fandom, etc. Isn't there a meme that's like "what do you think you should know about me?" or something? Consider this a double meme. Ask away!

ETA: Here is my fic list, I'm about 3 fics behind in updating it though. I should probably get on that...

Comments

[pirateyes.livejournal.com]

I have a couple general questions.

What non-fanfic writing do you most like to read? Could be nonfiction, blogs, authors, books, whatever.

What's your favourite kind of rum? ;)

[therumjournals.livejournal.com]

Yay, thanks for asking me questions!

Reading - I like reading novels, I usually choose books that have been recommended to me, given to me, or that I've generally heard good things about. I've been on a mission to catch up on all the classics that I've never read, which has been great. I read plenty of chick lit and adventure-y stuff too. Christopher Moore is one of my favorite authors - his stuff his hilarious. There is not a ton of nonfiction that will hold my interest. Michael Pollan and Jon Krakauer are two non-fiction authors that I enjoy. I haven't read a book in a while though, and while I used to read a ton of blogs before fandom ate my brain, I'm not sure I would say that blogs are my "favorite" thing to read. This question is definitely serving to remind me that I need to go on a computer-free vacation and read a goddamn book ;-)

As for my favorite kind of rum, well, the best rum I've ever tasted is called One Barrel and it's from Belize. It's delicious (tastes like brown sugar), but I've never managed to find it in the US although apparently you can find it or special order it in some states. Next favorite is what is supposedly the best rum in the world, Zacapa, from Guatemala. It's aged 23 years and is definitely a sipping as opposed to a mixing rum. I first had it in Guatemala and have since found it in a bunch of liquor stores here. It's pretty expensive though. Next favorite is Sailor Jerry. That said, I enjoy the occasional flavored Bacardi, too :-D

[verizonhorizon.livejournal.com]

Talk to me about "Contact High." Anything. Personal drug use or not; drug abuse or anti-drug, original plot bunny, Kirk and Spock being hot, what motivated you when writing it, anything.

[therumjournals.livejournal.com]

Yay, I'm so glad you asked this question!!! This might be the question I was hoping to get from this meme. :-)

Let's see, where to begin - I think the first bit of inspiration came while I was listening to the song Day N Nite by Kid Cudi. It has the lyrics "the lonely stoner seemed to free his mind at night" and then later it's "the lonely loner", so i was like, hmm, that could totally be Spock. That was the first thing. The second thing is that I'm not at all confident in my ability to write first time K/S that comes across as realistic (the only other K/S fic I wrote was established relationship). So I definitely decided to "cheat" a little by relying on "mind altering substances" to have a little more freedom with what Spock realistically would and wouldn't do, in order to write first-time. The third thing was the image/idea of Kirk and Spock just kind of sloppily making out like teenagers just because it feels good, which I just found ridiculously hot. I'd say those were the main things that combined in my brain to make me start writing the fic, and then it kind of just flowed out of me. It's the longest fic I've written thus far and the scenes and ideas just came to me really easily, and I loved that.

The ending is one of the last things I decided on, after I had most of the fic written - I potentially had them keeping the pot and going back to it for special occasions or something. But then I had recently read a fic that coined the term "space it" regarding the airlock and I kind of wanted to use that, so I went with that - and the ending turned out to be one of people's favorite parts (and/or redeemed the fic) according to the comments, so I'm definitely glad I went that way. This fic wasn't really intended to be pro- or anti-drug (okay well it's anti-drug for Spock), but I think the whole "K/S love is stronger than anything" is an appropriate conclusion :-D

As for personal experience, I've smoked maybe ten times in my life and never found it that compelling. I met my husband when he was on the tail end of his drug phase and he was the first person I smoked with. A lot of the descriptions and pot-related things in the story come from him or stories he and other friends have told me (e.g. the reason they smoke from a pipe and not a bong is because that's the only way I've ever smoked, for whatever reason). Oh, the other thing was that I had been watching a lot of the show Intervention and kind of thinking how I could incorporate elements of that into ST fanfic, so I think that's where Bones' little speech to Jim came from.

A couple other things about the story - I was so proud of myself for coming up with the title, with its multiple layers of meaning. One of my favorite images from this fic is when Jim is taking care of Spock and they're both wearing hoodies and pajama pants and cuddling in bed. Also, this was the first fic I actually had someone beta, and it was an interesting experience. It was a random person from the kirkspock community and I'm not sure how helpful it was to the overall fic. The one thing that came of it is she suggested that I remove an entire scene, which I did end up doing. I think it was definitely a good decision, but it felt very strange to remove an entire scene that I'd written.

[verizonhorizon.livejournal.com]

That was fun to read. I like knowing the background of things sometimes. For me, there are good mind-altering substance Spock stories and bad ones. In general, I'm more of a forced-bond fan than a drug-induced fan, but yours is one that I liked. The 'k/s love is ultimate power in the universe' surely played a role in that, but I would have liked it even without that, too. And yeah, your title is awesome. Be proud :)

[lizzie-marie-23.livejournal.com]

Tell me about Beyond Measure. Was it tough to keep to the strict word limit? Did it make you cry when you were writing it? How do you manage to tear my heart out of my chest every single time I read it?

Does anyone in real life know you write slash? What would you do if they ever found out? Also, what was your first fandom?

Tea or coffee? Your money or your life? Cake or death?

[therumjournals.livejournal.com]

hi, i wrote you the longest answer ever :-) First of all, I would love to talk about Beyond Measure!! OMG, the word count, I can't even tell you how many times I had to read through each one trying to figure out which precious words to take out to make it exactly 100. I'm telling you, like 104 words was the bane of my existence there for a while. I probably still have so much of the story memorized just because i had to read each drabble over and over again. At the same time, it was an amazing challenge to my writing because it really came down to which words to leave in or take out or how to change a whole sentence just so i could take out 1 or 2 more words. The word count was actually really helpful because it let me just do the scenes that i wanted to do and i didn't have to pull them together with much extra plot or description. Then again, I had to make sure everything I wanted came across in so few words, and I did have to make some sacrifices of things I wanted to include. oh, and can i tell how frustrating it was that the word count would be one thing at work on a PC and then change by 2 or 3 words when I opened it at home on my Mac? ARGH.

You didn't really ask this, but here is the origin of the fic - when I first watched Star Trek XI and started reading the fanfic, I found Kirk/McCoy much more believable than Kirk/Spock. Then I read Home and a couple other things that really drove home the "destiny" aspect of Kirk/Spock. I knew I couldn't choose between them in terms of an OTP, but I had never really read a fic where Kirk couldn't choose between them (and I also found the "threesome" fics I'd read unbelievable). So I came up with the scene/image in the very first drabble of Torn and started writing it down as a fic - then realized I could do it without a bunch of extra description that was clogging it up, so I decided to challenge myself to 100 words. Then I kept getting more ideas and the result was Torn. I billed it as Kirk/Spock, and Kirk/McCoy instead of Kirk/Spock/McCoy because I really couldn't see all three of them coming together in any realistic way. But as I wrote it, I started to see how that relationship would develop organically, and well, you know the rest. A lot of the directions I took it in were inspired by comments - the idea of sex / a threesome i probably wouldn't have tackled but i knew people wanted one :-) and then people responded so emotionally to the angst, it was very rewarding as a writer that i could make people feel that, so then i was like, damn, i should put more angst up in here ;-) So, sorry about that :-) yeah, i didn't actually cry while i was writing it but there were definitely parts that were stressful and after i wrote them i needed a strong drink or something.

My first fandom...well, i followed a lot of random people on LJ before I got into fandom, so I read some LoTRips (or however you say that) and some Harry Potter, but I consider my first fandom Pirates of the Caribbean, because that was the first one that I really cared about. The fandom was definitely past its prime in terms of activity (although there is still new stuff being written), but i loved all of the fic that I found for my OTP and it was amazing (and was also the first time that fic made me have, omg, emotions!) But Torn was the first thing I ever actually wrote (and i can barely read it without flinching now. i think it's probably the weakest part of Beyond Measure, but i would never go back and change it).

No one knows I write slash. My brother knows I've read ST fanfic. My husband knows I'm obsessed with Star Trek and I've shown him some of the macros that i've made. Those two are the only people that i would want to find out, and if they did i would probably feel a bit relieved. i do wish I could show off my writing to them or at least tell them that there are people out there admiring my work! but i would be nervous that i wouldn't be able to write/read as much as i do right now. i have some rl friends that i could probably get into it, but i kind of want to keep it for myself.

thanks for letting me ramble on about myself :-) hope you enjoyed!

[bloodless-eyes.livejournal.com]

Question: So, at least in the case of your Kirk/McCoy fics, McCoy seems to basically be channeling me. ARE YOU STEALING MY BRAINWAVES WOMAN?! I guess the more serious angle is, is that how he just comes out when you write him, or is he also somewhat influenced by someone from your life? (Feel free to illuminate if is the case for any of the other characters as well. ;))

Comment: I just want you to know how fucking funny your work is. A month ago or thereabouts, I was reading Jim Kirk's Massive Cock, but it was like three in the morning and my roommates were sleeping, so I had to enjoy it quietly rather than laugh raucously at all the hilarity. Once, something was so funny that I tried to respond in the form of pounding my fist on the desk. But I kind of missed and swiped it on the metal edge of retractable surface. It drew blood and left a mark there for a few weeks and it's ALL YOUR FAULT. So there you have it: your humorous writing is so fucking hilarious that it actually injures people.

[therumjournals.livejournal.com]

HA HA HA! I love your comment/story!! I mean, I'm really sorry that I made you injure yourself! But at the same time, I can't help but be a little proud :-D Mostly I just hope that whenever you see the scar, you think of Jim Kirk's Massive Cock (either the story or the actual, ya know, thing). But anyway, thanks for telling me that, totally made my day :-)

As for your question, I'm not gonna lie, I spent all day thinking about it and wrote this long ass rambling answer that made no sense so I started over. The simple answer is, that's just how McCoy comes out when I write him, he's not influenced by anyone really, although there are definitely aspects of myself in his characterization (and yet, I would also say that there are aspects of myself in how I write Jim as well in some fics). I think what it comes down to is that I absolutely love Jim Kirk in ST:XI, and so it's easy for me to write about other people loving him - which is probably why I find myself writing from McCoy's perspective so often).


It's so interesting that you see your brainwaves in my McCoy ;-) What aspects of his personality are you thinking of? And what fics? In answering your question I've mostly been thinking of the Therapy AU. I see parts of myself in both Jim and Bones in that one, as well as aspects of my relationship, although none of it is really conscious. I feel like I write these characters with slightly different personalities depending on the fic, but now that I think about it, my characterization of Bones might be relatively consistent across fics. Anyway, I'm not sure if that really answers your question, but it's really made me think, so thanks!! I love it :-)

[bloodless-eyes.livejournal.com]

Well, by now it's healed over, and I admit, I was sad to see it go, because everytime I saw it and thought about it, I thought of that and the good times. XD That and there was always the temptation to brandish it at people and demand, "Do you know what this is from?!?!!" and after they alarmedly stumbled for an answer, declare "SLASHFIC!!" I never did that though. But it would've been funny.

Well, I guess in general (like from the actual series) Bones has some things in common with me part of why I like him, like how 2000% stubborn he is and a smartass while still caring about people. In the case of your fics, particularly in the ones such as Jim Kirk's Massive Cock and the Christmas gift ones, wherein we see his response to the beginning of his crush on Kirk, it's how he handles his lust that is so reminiscent of me--in other words, how he goes "DAMN NO WHAT THE FUCK I WILL NEVER GIVE IN, DAMMIT!! IT WILL GO AWAY IF I IGNORE IT!!" XD And continuing to make hilarious grim humor commentary in his head as he suffers.

But hey, glad I asked such a good question! Not that I meant to stump you, but it's cool it made you think about your creative process some more! ^.^