Happy Halloween! (and comics)

Happy Halloween! Or Samhain. Or All Hallow's Eve. Or All Souls Day. Or my grandpa's birthday. Or whatever you like to call it :-)



( More Red & Rover comics )

Fanfic questions

:-) Gacked from Hermione whose answers are pretty much exactly opposite mine. LOL!

What fandoms do you generally read fanfiction for?
Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Highlander, Stargate, various anime

- What makes you want to read/not read a particular fanfic?
Basically, the header. If it's a fandom I don't know, or a pairing I don't like (or het), or has warnings I don't like, or spelling errors in the summary, I'll not even think about giving it a chance. I just don't have the time to read everything out there. But if the pairing is one I love or the genre rocks I'll dive right in. Heck, if h/c is mentioned AT ALL I'll dive in immediately!

- Are there any pairings you will almost automatically read/avoid?
Automatically read: Remus/Sirius, Legolas/Gimli, usually Legolas/Aragorn, Qui/Obi. Harry/Neville
Automatically avoid: Harry/Snape or really most HP fic that crosses generation boundaries with its pairings. Obi/any Sith really isn't my thing, either. Even Xanatos.

- Does the rating matter?
Yes and no. If it's rated R or above I'll probably jump right into it. But I like when PWP smut is written well. And I certainly do read the lesser ratings. Most times I don't even look at the rating unless I want to know what to expect from a fic I've already decided to read.

- Do you look for fics by particular favourite authors?
Not really. I have favorite authors where I JUMP and read immediately when I see something new of theirs posted. And when I find an author I like I read everything of theirs. But I don't NOT read anything because I'm busy reading fics by particular authors. I'll read fics by anyone (assuming the warnings and ratings and lack of spelling/grammar errors all fit in) but there are authors I jump VERY happily in my chair at the chance to read a fic from.

- Are you more or less likely to read fics by people on your friends list?
Neither. I read just as many from people on my friends list as not. I probably review more for people on my friends list than I do total strangers, though! Both because I know them and because I friend them when I like their fics, etc. so they're likely to write things I love.

- What genres do/don't tend to appeal?
I won't read Mary Sue's. I won't read non-canon character death fics. I've been in a mood to read happy fluff a lot lately, you see. AU's. I definitely dislike AUs. I don't like Mpregs but sometimes I'm curious and DESPERATE for h/c so I'll read the parts after the baby's created and before the birth.

- How important is the fic summary in influencing your decision to read/not read that fic?
Unless there are huge cliches or errors in the summary, all it does it tell me what to expect. If I get as far as reading the summary, I'm going to read the fic anyway. Sometimes I skim the summary, start the fic, and then go back and read the summary because I'm surprised at how the fic is going, though.

- Does it matter if you don't like the author as a person?
Unfortunately, yes. Halfway through enjoying the LOVELY Inuyasha fic on the sneezeslash list I stared going "Man I wish I could enjoy this more but the author stole $40 from me. GRRR!" and that totally ruined the whole experience for me. Just an example. That doesn't happen much, though.

- Do you prefer multi-parters, one-shots, drabbles, epics...?
lately I like one-shots. Just because it's the most bang-for-the-buck so to speak. I don't need HOURS invested and I can be all warm and fuzzy at the end. Most one-shots are high-angst or high-fluff or high-pr0n all of which are my favorites to read right now. For every epic multi-part I read I read about 50 one-shots.

- What sort of things will make you want to completely avoid a certain fic?
If the pairings are ones I don't like. If there's het. If there are warnings of non-canon character deaths or if it's an AU. I feel like I'm repeating myself here...

- Are there things that will make you give up on a fic once you've started reading it?
If there are horrible spelling or grammar errors as I read that make it painful. If it sounds like 100 other fics I've read.

- Where do you mainly tend to look for/read fics? (Eg ff.net, adultfanfiction.net, LJ)
Sneezefic, lotrhpsneeze, sneezeslash, serotica (I visit every month or so). Then there's:
HP: SBRL Yahoo List and Marauders_Slash, pervy_werewolf(love love LOVE this group!), nevillosity Yahoo group, Fuh-Q-Fests for Remus/Sirius and Neville and Harry/Neville and Weasley twins, nevillosity, marauders_slash, sbrl_glovesmack, remus_centric, remusxbill, remusxsirius, pornish_pixies, Azkaban's Lair, Happy Valley Puppy Farm, Dark Side of the Moon, The Restricted Section, The Sugar Quill, FictionAlley, friends' LJ's
SW: Master-Apprentice Yahoo group/page, tpm100
LotR: Axe_Bow Yahoo group/page almost exclusively, though also ALSlash Yahoo group
Anime: Wolf's Rain Slash Yahoo group & archive, various personal sites for WK and WR, wolfsrain_ff, wryaoi
Highlander: highlander100, highlander_fic
Stargate: ugh, tons of sites like The Comfort Zone
If anyone has any list/archive recommendations... feel free to drop them my way!

The Ondarian Virus Notes

Here are my notes on the fic. For those of you who might find it amusing to see what I started with as an outline and what each part became based off them.

1- Leaving Ondari
2- In ship, on the way home, bad fever
3- Layover in space station
4- Examination with Tala where he explains 30 days
5- Working on not working
6- Backrub & stuffiness
7- Qui-Gon leaves for the first time, Obi's clingy
8- Qui comes home to find Obi-Wan feverish and fainting
9- Normal sponge bath
10-2 weeks and no sex, Obi helps Qui out
11-Tries to do more work/catch up on correspondances- doesn't turn out too well
12-Obi POV- watching Qui work and wishing he could help
13-Qui POV- wishing he could help more but trying to work
14-Putting on cream, sexy massage
15-Halfway mark- Qui brings presents (ice cream)
16-Qui & Tala talk over Obi w/ a thermometer in his mouth during halfway check-up
17-Relaxing report
18-Relapse during the day
19-Obi watching Qui do katas (stifles his sneezes a bit so he won't disturb)
20-Just plain having a bad day, looking out of the window longingly
21-Shower- warm towel, laundry day
22-Bored from being inside
23-Qui finds Obi masturbating
24-Nose lotion, extra sneezy morning- viscous sneezes
25-Shower sex, steam treatment (finds Qui masturbating- let me take care of you reprise)
26-Watching Obi sleep, Qui senses when he wakes and is ready with tissues
27-Sexy sponge bath
28-Obi gets too demanding, Qui tries to remain calm (hot water bottle's too cold)
29-Obi feels better and tries to sneak out, Qui-Gon pulls out the handcuffs
30-Last check-up from Tala
31-Can finally go out- comes back in again to be with Qui


My favorite part was definitely 21. The extra sneeziness and the warm towel and snuggling. Mmmph! I loved writing that :-)
I really liked part 25, too, though. The other shower scene. Sort of surprised myself with it in a few ways. Yummy naughty Jedi.
And part 26 has a special place in my heart. I wrote it because I like men sleeping. I find them adorable and vulnerable and VERY sexy. But as I was writing it, I really didn't know where the heck it was going. A few hours from midnight I sort of figured out how I would end it, but still couldn't come up with an over-all POINT to the chapter. Then, about 20 minutes before I posted it, as I was struggling to get the ending written, I suddenly realized how to end it and how to tie in all the stuff I'd written at the beginning. Sometimes I write things with no idea WHY I'm writing them, and suddenly everything came together at the end as I was rushing to get it done. So I started writing the ending and when I got to the last paragraph- which I rewote five times- I started crying. I VERY rarely make myself cry but the foreshadowing with Qui-Gon's death and the wording... I cried. So that spot definitely has a special place in my heart.

Least favorite part was definitely #30. Originally I had a blank spot at #28 (with 28 where 29 is now and 29 where 30 is now) but I figured I needed Tala to do a final check-up. But it really didn't go as well as I'd have hoped. Maybe a little of my sadness at finishing the fic showed through? I don't know. But I'm still not completely happy with it.

On a whole, I really enjoyed the experience and am not planning to write another part-a-day fic for a LONG time. Though maybe next October... *G* I learned a LOT about trusting my first instincts and thinking several days ahead in my writings. I loved dropping hints and tying together sections I'd not even started. I loved getting ideas days in advance while writing the daily section. And I learned how to deal with the stress of daily fic guidelines. I'd start a section before bed and then work on it when I got home from my job, plowing through the needed details but trying to get the magic right on the first try as there was little-to-no time to edit. I'm really surprised I didn't lose my enthusiasm halfway through. And I was tempted to stop completely several times. I even have a 'I'm sorry' letter written out for after part 10. But I'm really glad I pushed myself and actually got it done. One part a day before midnight every single day. For someone who's depressed about not finishing enough stories, that constant deadline every day thing really helped me feel productive. It was also nice to concentrate on just one fic at a time. I didn't have to worry about giving attention to all my other fics for once. I could just write down the bunny ideas and push them aside. That was rather nice.

In all, I'm glad I did it, though I do feel badly for taking up so much list-time with it. I only hope my other long multi-parters (namely Under House Arrest and Too Many Cooks) could turn out so well at the end. I definitely don't want to give up on either of those :-)
And I've already started a sick!Tala story set during day 20. Though Gravi and the archive are my next fannish priorities :-)

Thanks again for putting up with the long, slowly-posted fic! I was worried at the beginning that people would kill me for taking so long to finish it. But considering I take a long time to finish most of my stories... :-) I'm just glad I COULD finish this one. Thanks for all the great fb along the way!