Fun fact: at 600k+ words, A Hundred Days is more than twice as long as Game of Thrones. And it’s not even finished yet. Get to know @pinkolifant, one of SanSan’s greatest contributors.
How long have you been writing fanfiction?
In September 2013.
How long ago did you join Tumblr?
Probably in 2016 but I don’t even know. I’m not really on Tumblr. Just my nickname is there.
What is the meaning behind your username?
Pinkolifant is just a pink elephant. He’s different in a way which isn’t cool. Merely different. He likes it that way. Hiding behind him, there is a writer who might never come fully out of her closet, but she is trying.
What was the first fandom you really got into? Who was your first ‘ship’?
The only fandom I ever kind of got into was SanSan. Probably because out of all various literature/screen couples I fancy seeing together or imagining better or different futures for them, SanSan have been the strongest obsession. I wrote for several other fandoms as a complete outsider, caring about the topic of course, but not really following what other fans were doing or thinking.
When did you first get into SanSan?
I started lurking in the fandom in summer 2011 to see what others make of it. At some point I joined the two SanSan communities at LiveJournal and lurked at the content. At that point, the one founded by the_moonmoth was interesting. Autumn Wind my first story was from a prompt in that community
Is there a SanSan fic you’re particularly proud of? Chapter? Paragraph? Plot?
Some Place That Isn’t Burning most of all. Bits of Mummers’ Show and a Hundred Days. Alyssa’s Tears, which will never get the epilogue that is still somewhere in my head. My personal favourite are Mummers which is me joking with myself and with old-fashioned literature. In some objective world that doesn’t exist, Alyssa and Some Place may be the best SanSan fics I wrote.
Any SanSan fic of your own that you wish got more attention?
I think that all my fics got more attention that they deserve.
At the same time, I crave more attention for all of them and I get happy like a three year old when I have new readers, likes, bookmarks and comments.
Any comments you’ve received that stick out, even now?
Unhelpful comments on a Hundred Days from the anon who went by the name of dave. Not easily forgotten )) But kind of set aside right now because who cares?
A huge number of undeserved lovely comments on various spastic fantastic fics I dared post. THANK YOU ALL who saw the light in any of it. It’s really rewarding to see that something I wrote/conjured made someone else feel in general and/or feel good/elated etc whatever.
Do you use a beta? Or anyone to help with your stories in any way?
I had three amazing beta readers and I’ll be eternally grateful for all their help. TopShelfCrazy, @lizstargaryen and @hardlyfatal. Especially Alyssa’s Tears would not be what it is without TopShelf.
Are there tropes/styles/genres you struggle with? Any that are almost too easy?
Smut isn’t my thing. Multi-character plots come (almost too) easy. But the best is to come up with that one good line somewhere in the story that just fits. And you are confident already when you put it down that that one is so good in its context that the readers will see it too. And you’re mostly right.
When you start a fic, do you know where it will end? Or do you figure it out along the way?
I have to know how it ends and the elements that stick out in the middle, the whole basic idea, if not, I don’t start. But I change the path that leads to those important events and the end very much along the way. Sometimes I lose my breath and then I find it again.
Do you have any rituals/conditions for ‘getting in the mood’ to write?
Alone, when everyone is asleep. Occasionally in public transport or on the passenger seat in a car or flying. Long- distance travel really produces lots of fanfiction in my case ))
Have you ever had writer’s block? Any tips for overcoming it?
Yup. Tips: give it time. At some point it will go away, somehow. Engage in brainstorming around the topic. It might help. Do exhaustive sports and let your mind wander freely about the place where you’re stuck. You have to free your mind somehow and you will find the way out.
Aspirations of publishing one day?
One day maybe when I grow up (laughs and hides).
More seriously, I’d like to. But it’s very difficult and therefore unlikely.
On the other hand, I’ve done some other things which were unlikely if not straightforward impossible with my background so one never knows ))
What are your other hobbies?
Real life survival? Music.
Any tips for nervous writers looking to post their first (or second, or twentieth) fic?
You wrote it? You think it’s not bad somewhere deep in your guts? Just hit that button. Yours ain’t worse than mine or anyone else’s, especially in the happy land of fanfiction.
Any general advice for writers?
Let yourself feel (for) what you are writing while you are at it. But then reread the stuff at least once before hitting that button.
Any general advice for readers?
You know better than me what you want to read. Go ahead, read ))
Anything you’d like to say to the SanSan fandom at large?
Summary:
After a miscarriage, SanSan finally have that first baby.
Finding (1524 words)
Summary:
After bread riot, Sandor goes looking for his horse.
Food for Thought (17843 words)
Summary:
Sandor and Sansa meet again in the Vale on the occasion of the tourney organized by Littlefinger. Written for the genre writing challenge on LJ. Genre: "black comedy".
Future fic, set in Winterfell year 309. Six years after the Long Night ended, Ser Jaime Lannister and his men have spent winter in the North. On the first day of spring, Lord Stark takes them hunting, and when they return early following the death of one of Ser Jaime's men, Sansa finds her heart stirring - far too late. Or is it?
Some Place That Isn't Burning- pinkolifant
Sandor relives the day of the Blackwater Battle over and over again, book style.
Until Thine Will Is Done- LadyTP
Sansa Stark, back in the restored Winterfell after the War of the Five Kings. By her side the man who used to be known as the Kingslayer. Also serving in the new North the man previously known as the Hound, and the warrior maid always proudly bearing the name Brienne of Tarth.
It is the long-awaited wedding day of Lady Sansa and Ser Jaime and Sandor Clegane is not thrilled. Especially when he has to live through the day again…and again…and again…
