#ask ship stuff

[shiphitsthefan]

What is your absolutely favourite thing to do? It could be with Action Tot, family or just something that you love doing for you?

I’ll just answer all three of those.

Action Tot: They fucking love coloring, man.  Like, colors all of the things.  And they’re super fun to read to.  We also watch the family-friendly episodes of MST3K together.  They’re still a cuddle bug, too, which I love, except when it means they’ve crawled to lie on top of my head in the middle of the night because they think they’re a hat.

Family: My sister and I have gotten really close since our mom’s health began to decline.  It started out as moral support, but now there’s a genuine camaraderie there that we’ve never had before.  We geek out at each other over fandom stuff, and we both write fanfic, though there’s this unspoken rule that we don’t read each other’s smut because it’s too weird.  So it’s nice to have someone that speaks my language!

For myself: Naps alone.  Coffee alone.  Writing in peace and quiet and alone.  Jigsaw puzzles on my phone.  Going to the hookah bar used to be my favorite thing, but I have neither time nor opportunity for that anymore.  Same with tabletop RPGs/video games.

[ask ship stuff]

[shiphitsthefan]

Hey ship, how do you keep writing when you're totally stuck? And how do you motivate for the 1K 1 hour thing? Thanks, ️xx #askboxgames

To answer the first, it involves a lot of staring at blank documents.  Sometimes I’ll pull out a notebook and just jot whatever comes to mind for what I’m working on.  Other times, I’ll write down the conversations the characters are having in my head, whether it’s for the current chapter/fanfic or not.  If I can’t work through it, I’ll put it down (with much guilt) and work on something else.

To answer the second, it also involves a lot of staring at blank documents.  But I work better knowing there are other people staring at blank documents, too.  Camaraderie is a wonderful thing.  Also, for the 1k1h, it’s about challenging yourself to just get words down.  You can go back and fix them later; for that hour, all you do is write and try not to worry about the finished product.  There have been many times I’ll finish a 1k1h, go back later to edit, and keep maybe 200 words.

[I’d like to take a moment and plug the 1k1h tumblr, the keepers of which are lovely and motivating and very hard working.  The next 1k1h’s are tonight at 8:30 pm and 11:30pm (both EST), and then there’s an additional one at 4:30am (also EST).  You should join us!  It’s good fun.]

To answer both, there’s a lot of pushing and pulling and gnashing of teeth, but also reminding yourself that you’re going to feel awesome and accomplished once it’s done.

And sometimes you play ask games to get your brain rolling.

[learn about ship]

[shiphitsthefan]

What's your favorite trope? :)

I adore hurt/comfort–any flavor will do.  However, I will slam the goddamn brakes and stop for hypothermia/huddling for warmth fic.  Don’t ask me to explain myself–I have no fucking clue.  I just work here.

[learn about ship]

[shiphitsthefan]

how many languages do u speak?

Well, there’s English, which is my native language.  

I used to be damn close to fluent in Spanish, but you know the saying–”Use it, or you lose it.”  I stopped having opportunity to use it, so I lost most of it.  If I stop and think about it hard enough, I can remember basics, but I inevitably wind up having to look up several words or where the diacritical marks go.

I took a semester of Arabic in college and loved every minute of it.  I was going to take a second semester, but there wasn’t enough interest so the course was cancelled.  Again, didn’t use it, lost it.

I want to practice both again.  Hopefully, once ActionTot is old enough to go to mommy’s day out once or twice a week, I’ll have more of an opportunity.  Right now I’m more interested in focusing on writing, so that’s what happens during nap time.  But someday I will be passable in other languages again.

[learn about ship]

[shiphitsthefan]

1. Charlie/Dorothy or Donna/Jody? 2. BBC Sherlock or Sherlock Holmes, the original books? 3. Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings? 4. Hanging out with friends or spending lazy evening alone? 5. Spn!Crowley or Good Omens!Crowley? (Making these questions is surprisingly fun. I'm going to quit before I make a list worthy of Crowley's contract ;p)

Donna/Jody.  Hunting Moms FTW (though there’s a special place in my heart for Sam/Jody).  I always saw Charlie & Dorothy as friends more than anything.

Original Holmes.  It was my very first ship, nearly 19 years ago.  And then I found the Granada series, which I love just as much.  There’s nothing like a good semi-canonical pastiche fic.  I used to troll Sacrilege! and the H/W Yahoo! group religiously.

Oh damn, that’s a doozy.  I’m going to go with Lord of the Rings because I knew it first and was more involved in its fandom.

Lazy evening alone.  Alone time is precious when you have a toddler.  (Though I spend a lot of my time alone chatting with friends on Skype.)

Good Omens!Crowley.  There’s not even a question; though I enjoy SPN!Crowley, nothing beats sauntering vaguely downward.

[make ship choose]

[shiphitsthefan]

Solas or Varric?

Varric!  I may love moody elves (see also: Fenris), but Varric is the best.  He’s my Garrus Vakarian for Dragon Age--he never, ever, ever leaves the party.

(Also may I take a moment to promote your lovely fic Slow Burn?  I get so happy when I get an update notification for it.  It’s so good!  Falling in love over a mutual appreciation of super spicy food--I can totally get behind that.)

[make ship choose]

[shiphitsthefan]

Which pairing: 00Q or Destiel? Which kind of fic: Fluff or Angst? Which desert: Pie or Cake?

Oh damn, now that’s a question.  It’s a very close call, but I’m going to choose Destiel solely on the merits of fanfiction AUs as I can’t read them in 00Q.  I don’t know why; it just doesn’t work for me.  But I still fucking adore 00Q, and really think you should check out my AO3 bookmarks and join me in my madness.  (True story–of the two, I shipped 00Q first.)

Fluff.  If you go hurt/comfort, though, you can have both!

I love pie.  I love pie so much.  You don’t even know.

[make ship choose]

[shiphitsthefan]

Naomi or Rowena? Endverse Cas or Crazy Cas? Spn!Death or Disc world!Death? :)

Hmm.  I do love Rowena.  Naomi got a raw deal, and I wish we’d gotten more story line with her, but Rowena is so beautifully evil.  Adorable.  Adorevil.

Endverse Cas. Mental instability!Cas just makes me sad.  Which endverse Cas does, too, but I much prefer reading him in fanfic, particularly with Dean Smith.

Discworld Death.  Sorry, Julian Richings.  Yours is brilliant, but it just isn’t Pratchett.

[make ship choose]