So I’m doing some math (I’m terrible at it) but nonetheless, I did some thinking and then some subtraction and realized that it was in about 1998 that my family got a computer with Microsoft Windows installed along with a dial-up internet connection. And so this is technically my 20th anniversary of reading fanfic and being a part of internet fandom. I figured I should celebrate it a bit.
I don’t remember the exact date or time or whatever, I can barely add or subtract, so June seems like a good in the middle of the year kind of time to recollect and think about what I’ve been doing with my life. Think about why I read so much, why I reblog things, why I am the way I am.
This ask meme was written by @mabel-but-slytherin and I decided, I’ll just answer the whole damn thing. I’m sure absolutely no one is interested in this info but I don’t give a fuck. 20 goddamn years of my life in fandom, do you seriously think I give a fuck anymore? I don’t care about you or your eyes. I officially left the give a fuck building a long ass time ago.
If you have seen a fandom ask meme about being a lurker (which I was for a good ten years) or about reading fanfic instead of just writing fanfic, send it my way and I’ll answer it too. I have stories.
1. What was your first fic and could you stand to reread it today?
It was Thursday Night Routine and it’s readable but I find it a bit repetitive and out of character. Although, with Glee, how was I supposed to know who these people would become, lol. ;A;
2. What’s your most recent fic and how far do you think you’ve come?
My most recent was Vesper Lynde for the Spy fandom and I think I’ve grown as a writer but my characterization is still clumsy and my comedy isn’t as sharp. I think I was funnier before. I also have issues getting to the sex scene that I never had before. It drives me batty.
3. In your opinion, what’s your best fic?
The thoroughly depressing and out of nowhere for me fic, Ozma. That night was a eureka moment, it was bliss writing that fic. It flowed. I probably got the closest to american gothic and poetry with that fic--which is my usual goal when I do creative writing off the internet.
4. In your opinion and without looking at any numbers, what’s your most popular fic?
So much of what I wrote was done anonymously before AO3 and Tumblr so it’s hard for me to say but I’m gonna guess Everybody’s Pickin’ Up on that Feline Beat because the cat!boi thing really slapped. Like people loooooved the cat!boi thing in 2010.
5. Is there any fic that makes you super happy to reread and remember you wrote that?
Third is the One With the Treasure Chest. It has some issues but I still can’t believe I wrote it, like that was my third fanfic ever and it was a muppet babies’ orgy. I have no idea how I did it, :D
6. Is there any fic that makes you super embarrassed to reread and remember you wrote that?
Not really? I’m not embarrassed by what I write (I can’t be, I write weird shit), but I don’t necessarily want people to come up to me in real life and start describing my fic to me. Like I don’t want my realities to intersect. That’s what I’m really sure would embarrass me.
7. What’s the fic you most want to continue (unfinished or no)?
I’m not gonna finish it, like it’s not happening, but I kind of wish I had finished Look What You Made Me Do. I still noodle a about Sarah Plain and Tall Klaine story. I did a lot of research into Gilded era hair and fashions.
8. What’s the oldest (longest since last update) fic you most want to continue (unfinished or no)?
Probably the epically awful and creepy Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make me a Match where Sandy and Karofsky kidnap and assault Kurt. I was fascinated by how absolutely horrific Sandy Ryerson was as a character. He’s the worst. I’m not doing a sequel though. I’m not.
9. Have you ever written for a fandom without watching/reading/playing the source material?
Read? Yes. Written? No. I don’t think I’m the best at characterization but I do feel a need for a basic grasp on it before I start writing anything.
10. Have you ever written for a fandom without reading other fanfic for it?
I wrote Vesper Lynde before I read any of the fic which was probably a good thing because there are some really good fics out there that already cover the subject I did (and did it better). But I’m glad I wrote it anyway because I have so many feelings about Rayna and Susan.
11. Have you ever written a fic for a concept you know someone else has done before? How did it impact your writing process or feelings after posting?
I honestly don’t know so I’m going to say no. I have seen these stories after I wrote what I wrote and have thought, Oh I should have done that or why didn’t I think of that?, but I have never seen a fic beforehand and thought that I could do it better or different enough. I wrote fic in order to fill a gap of weird skullfuckery that was missing before I showed up.
12. Have you ever written a fic and decided never to publish it? Why?
Yes. It was bad, I wrote myself into a corner and had no interest in fixing it. The writing felt dull and flat. If I post an unfinished work, I do it because I think the writing has merit.
13. What’s the biggest change between your style when you started in fandom and today?
I write more original work now, I write poetry mostly nowadays. And fanfic I do write has been smaller vignette pieces, has had way less sex in it and minimal wacky shenanigans. I kind of want to go back to wacky shenanigans honestly.
14. What’s the biggest change in your taste between when you started in fandom and today?
I’m riding a girl swing this year so I’m way more interested in stories that involve cunnilingus and strap-ons, boob devotionals and short fingernails. I sort of got into that in the middle of my Glee career (the Golden Age) before swinging back to boys and their balls (the Modern Age). In this new Age, I’m back to ladies.
15. Have you ever purposefully written one fandom/fic idea over another because you knew it’d be more popular?
I think I tried to do that once but then I failed because my niche is being an off-beat weird motherfucker, not popular. I thought that I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman would go awf but instead it fizzled. So I stuck with dickpunching.
16. Have you ever stopped writing a fic/for a fandom because it wasn’t receiving enough attention?
No. I didn’t really get a lot of attention outside my circle anyway.
17. In your opinion, what’s your most overrated fic?
I guess the Cat!Kurt fic? I think it’s a good story, I just think that I wrote some that were better.
18. What’s your most underrated fic?
And if the world runs out of lovers, my Blaine/Finn fic. I had a lot of fun with that one and I think I got some really funny lines in.
19. If you had to pick one fic/scene/chapter of your work to describe your entire portfolio to a stranger, which would you pick?
I would say, They’re Both Just Full of Feelings, OK? which is a story were Puck and Mercedes get very drunk, complain about their homosexual tendencies and then motorboat each others tiddies. I feel like that about covers the gist of my aesthetic.
20. Have/Would you ever rewrite a fic? If yes, would you take the original down?
I am doing a slow ass sloow rewrite of As Needed, just some clean up of tense issues and little nudges here and there of some of the wording. And I will take down the original when I do that. It needs better grammar, it does.
21. If someone starts kudosing and commenting your fics in a spree and has a few works of their own, would you go look through theirs?
Yes. I love spying and I love other people’s bookmarks. I keep mine private because I’m a hypocrite and I don’t know how to make them public en masse. I am not doing that individually.
22. Has there ever been anyone who’s made you freak out because they read your work and followed/favorited/reviewed?
No, but I freak out at every follow/favorite/review regardless. There are people who I love love love but they aren’t in the fandoms I write in so I never expect to have an insane fangirl moment like that.
23. What’s the nicest review you’ve ever gotten?
When I wrote Ozma, someone on the kinkmeme said that it read like a contemporary short story and I was flattered!
24. What’s the meanest review you’ve ever gotten? Do you think the reviewer intended it?
25. What constructive criticism, however well-meaning, always makes you feel bad when you see it in a review?
Gosh, that’s tough. I’m gonna go with criticisms that question your intent? Like when someone goes, “Did you mean to say this or that?” but not because it makes me feel bad but more because it makes me feel like I didn’t get my point across clearly enough that the reader could make their own conclusions about what was happening. I am very much of the author is dead style and part of that is leaving enough there to satisfy the reader without giving it all away.
26. What aspect of your writing do you most enjoy to see praised?
My humor. I like it when people find me funny. I don’t feel like my humor makes sense a lot of the time. Also, when people say that they re-read my stories. That’s always a heart warmer.
27. If you could only ever write crossovers or single-fandom fics ever again, which would you pick?
I prefer single-fandom fics as a writer. Crossovers get messy for me, too many locations to choose from.
28. if you could only ever write for a single crossover or a single fandom again, which would you pick?
Schitt’s Creek. David/Patrick 4eva!
29. Does the division of your writing across fandoms line up with your reading? What’s the biggest discrepancy?
Absolutely not, LMAO! I have done way more reading than writing in any fandom. My participation is a pebble on a mountainside.
30. Do you continue to write for a fandom after you’ve moved on or do you focus solely on the new one?
I wrote Glee fic (and I am still working on As Needed) after I had moved on from the show but a lot of us did. My attention span allows me to multifandom.
31. Who’s the one character you’ve just never managed to get perfectly right?
Susan Cooper. She’s an enigma.
32. Who’s the one character who shines without you even trying?
Puck, I feel like I wrote a very solid Puck.
33. Is there any particular character whose scenes always wind up being longer/more frequent than you expected? Does the quality hold up?
I would guess Brittany but I don’t think the quality holds up. I liked writing Brittany but I don’t think I captured her essence.
34. Was there any fic that you wrote that really surprised you in the fandom reaction? Was it just by the numbers or did they take it an entirely different way?
I get a lot of requests for a sequel to Sex Bomb even to this day and it surprises me.
35. Have you ever written a ship into a fic without meaning to?
No, I was ready to write anyone with anyone in any fic. I love it.
36. Have you ever sincerely written a ship you do not support into a fic?
Don’t support? Well, I don’t support Kurt/Karofsky but I write non-con fic so...
37. Have you ever purposefully bashed a character/ship in a fic?
I would only in an in-character sense, like the character would be against that pairing because of the show dramatics. At least, that was always my intent.
38. Have you ever purposefully written something you know your readers would find uncomfortable/would not enjoy? If yes, why?
Because that’s how the glee_anon meme worked sometimes LOL. Sometimes, you gotta have the anal worm lay the eggs.
39. Do you consider yourself to have a readership?
Not anymore lol, if I ever did. I don’t write enough.
40. Do you feel like you put out enough content?
I peaked with the Muppet Babies’ orgy, that was my third fic. Everything else was gravy.
41. If you cross-post your fics on multiple sites, do you have a favorite? Are there certain fics you would only post on certain site?
I want all my fics on AO3 largely because I think livejournal is gonna die soon and tumblr is unsearchable and lacks a forum function.
42. How many views has your most popular fic gotten?
(Based on AO3): Ozma at 28672 Hits
43. Your least popular?
(Based on AO3): There’s a Lobster Involved at 38 Hits
44. Do you follow/favorite/kudos/comment/review more stories than you have received?
Oh gosh, I never thought of it that way but I hope I at least kudos more than I’ve received! I don’t have that many bookmarks and I don’t review and I rarely comment (I’m more like to DM you) but I do leave kudos a lot.
45. If you had to call yourself an author of a single genre (besides fanfic) what label would you give yourself?
With my original works: poetry. With my fanfic works: absurdism
46. Do you consider yourself a diverse author?
Yeah, I think I covered a wide range of topics and styles along with a lot of different characters. I had humor, drama, horror, angst, slice of life, porn, I covered a lot of ground.
47. If someone you know in real life who isn’t involved in fandoms asked to read your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you recommend they read first?
NO.
48. Does anyone you know from outside of fandom know you write fanfic? Are they involved in the same fandom too?
Yes, they know and they were also Glee fans but not necessarily fanfic readers. Just how much they know will remain a mystery between us because they won’t tell me and I won’t ask them to tell me. I don’t need that knowledge and I don’t want it.
49. Has anyone in your life ever read your fanfic just because you wrote it?
NOT THAT I KNOW OF AND I DON’T WANT THEM TO TELL ME IF THEY DID. KEEP IT TO YOURSELF.
50. Has writing fanfic had a significant impact on your life? Would you say it’s entirely positive?
I have an absolutely incredible circle of friends that I would not have had without fandom. So many people that I know out of fandom don’t spend as much time on the internet, they aren’t as easy to reach as my internet friends. You guys give me your time and your energy and that means so much to me. It really does.
I wouldn’t say my time in fandom has been 100% positive. There are always downfalls to being in a large group. I have had my moments of internet drama, on anon trolling, and bad feelings. But my friends make it all worth it. You guys are the best.
I love your dedication to missing every deadline. <3
@lurkinmerkin Wait, so does this mean that you will not be time-traveling back to May 1 in order to make a daily Matriarch May post along with me?
Is this revenge for the Leverage/Winter Soldier crossover I never finished? Or the many GISHWHES items that I never completed? Or the meetup in NJ that never happened? Or the Steve Rogers/Janice Rand fic that will never be?
Hi! So my local comic bookstore is having a big clearance blowout for the end of the year (trades at 5 bucks each, I could puke it's so amazing) and I'm intrigued by the Wolverine images you post, especially of Laura--I just don't really know if/where to enter. Do you have any recommendations?
Nice! I highly recommend checking out Laura’s current series, All-New Wolverine by Tom Taylor, which works even if you only have a vague idea of her backstory. It’s her most recent series and the most likely one to find on sale. There have been four collected trade paperback so far:
All-New Wolverine Vol. 1: The Four Sisters
All-New Wolverine Vol. 2: Civil War II (technically part of a big dumb comics event, but it’s a standalone story that works on its own)
All-New Wolverine Vol. 3: Enemy of the State II (the “II” is a reference to a famous Wolverine story but it’s not actually a sequel… comics!)
All-New Wolverine Vol. 4: Immune
Prior to that, Laura has had two mini series which tell her backstory and a solo series by Marjorie Liu, all of which are excellent and have been collected as:
X-23: Innocence Lost by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost (miniseries)
X-23: Target X by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost (miniseries)
X-23 Vol. 1: The Killing Dream by Marjorie Liu (Laura’s first “ongoing” series, which starts in confusing place but quickly gets good so don’t let that throw you off)
Daken/X-23: Collision (a continuation of X-23 vol. 1 above, but they did a crossover with Daken’s ongoing series so the naming is confusing… comics!)
X-23 Vol. 2: Chaos Theory
X-23 Vol. 3: Don’t Look Back
All of the above have also been collected in X-23: The Complete Collection Vol. 1-2 which is a good deal if you can find it.
Laura has also been a part of a number of “team” books, most of which are very enjoyable:
New X-Men by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost (Laura joins issue #20)
X-Force by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost (includes both Logan and Laura, and All-New Wolverine references it in an early flashback)
Avengers Academy (Laura joins issue #23)
Unlike Laura, Logan’s own comics history is… very convoluted. There are many good Wolverine stories out there and many, many bad ones, but honestly, I just recommend starting with the early Claremont stuff (starts with Giant-Size X-Men #1 followed by Uncanny X-Men #94). There are lots of different collections out there, including the black and white Essential X-Men collections which is the best bang for your buck.
If you can’t find any of the above at your comic book store, a good place to buy them is instocktrades.com. Generally, they are even cheaper than Amazon and more reliable at packing books for shipping. Like they have All-New Wolverine for $10 each right now and X-23: The Collected Collection for ~$20.
PS: It’s also worth checking if your local library has Hoopla.
I saw your Halloween post about comics to read and got Southern Cross and Harrow County—Both are absolutely incredible!
YES you have made my entire MONTH aren’t they both so great????
Have you gotten to the second arc of Southern Cross yet? It’s really a book that just keeps getting better and better. And Harrow County is building up to its finale now and it’s so breathtakingly beautiful I could cry
