#semper-ama

[psicygni]

8, 10

8. is there a character you love writing for the most? the least? why?

Spock?  Spock.  I can’t imagine writing for trek fandom, no matter the ship or scenario, without Spock being in it.  And I love Nyota with everything in me, but Spock is just (wait for it) fascinating.  The least favorite is probably Nyota - and bear with me on this one because it’s scientifically proven that she’s the best - because we have zero backstory for her, trying to flesh her out for each and every story can be a bit of a chore.  No matter the scenario, Spock is enduringly Spock, but Nyota is so malleable because her specific traits that make her recognizable not only number a measly handful but also because they could stem from anywhere and be combined with pretty much anything else, so that beginning a story becomes a process of deciding what type of Nyota to take down from the shelf and set forth in this particular narrative and it takes work because there isn’t as much material from canon to fall back on.  And, I’m lazy.  At the same time, I would of course probably hate it if there was details to her that I was forced to constantly either fit in or work around because she wouldn’t be as wonderfully recreatable and I’d likely get bored, so I probably shouldn’t complain.

11.  what are your strengths wrt writing?

Um.  I’m generally pretty proud of my sentences, which maybe sounds weird to say, but I just get a kick out of fussing with them and getting the rhythm of a paragraph to sound right.  So I don’t know if that’s a strength since I’m not sure if anyone else agrees, but it’s what I like most about my own writing.

[kmackatie]

@semper-ama asked 5 & 8 via chat since my blog is being a bit frustrating currently.

5: what inspires you to write? People. Both in the sense of knowing that words I’ve written have affected someone to a point where they have had an emotional reaction, and in needing to tell a story about people. Characters make stories for me. Without them you wouldn’t have a story. Also, it gets me out of my head sometimes and helps concentrate. I need creative outlets and this is one of them.

8 has already been answered here. :)

[kmackatie]

Have you ever done something you immediately regretted?

Well, the other day it was the copious amounts of doughnuts I consumed in a short period of time. 

But on the more serious note, a lot of the interactions with my mum. If there’s going to be someone who immediately pulls up my defenses and brings out my snappy side, it’s her. And I tend to regret a lot of things I say in the heat of the moment.

[doctorbones]

4, 15, 33

4. Top 3 background characters or side characters 

Cabbage Guy (ATLA)

Tingle (Zelda)

Poe Dameron (TFA)

15. Top 3 character backstories

Albus Dumbledore: A lot of people didn’t like it but a lot of people don’t like him either?? But I really, really enjoyed it and was seriously disappointed when it was 500% ignored in the films.

Uther/Arthur Pendragon: His history with magic and Arthur’s birth is so interesting to me and I love how it paints everything in such shades of grey. My heart breaks every time I think about how Arthur went so long believing a lie about his birth, how Merlin lied to save him and Uther, how Arthur must have realized the truth eventually and ughhhh. tbh I feel like learning their history really sets the undertone for the entire series? Or at least it’s what makes it for me.

The Crystal Gems (Steven Universe): I couldn’t choose just one? Like, do I pick the lesbians rocks or the “deformed” crystal who was made in a horrible, horrible place or the servant who gave up everything to serve the woman she loved or the little nerd who came to destroy the world but learned to love it instead or the lady who betrayed her entire planet to save the earth and then gave her life so she could give life to someone else I’M GONNA CRY

33. Top 3 awesome moments in fiction

The entirety of Cabin Pressure. (You think I’m joking but I’m not.)

“There’s no need to call me sir.”

“I am no man.”

[suedescripture]

6, 21, 31

GODDAMMIT I ANSWERED THIS. WTF tumblr. This is the second time you won’t let me respond to SEMPER in particular? Uh-uh. Not cool.

6:Top 3 friendships between characters

• Merry & Pippin - I wrote a fucking treatise on these two and tumblr ate it. Fuck. ANYWAY. Merry and Pip. I don’t even ship it more than the friendship it is. Merry, the knowledgeable yet rebellious young buck, Pip, the precocious and naive princeling tweenager who worships him. Merry is like the leather jacket wearing troublemaker who smokes Longbottom Leaf out behind the inn, That Brandybuck Boy Pippin’s father the Thain warned him about. And Merry took the little lad under his wing and got him into so many messes, and they had so much fun! But then, when they leave the Shire and go out into the great wide unknown that Merry had read all about but doesn’t know in practice, places were there are real bad things, and if Pippin is ever in any real danger you can bet that Merry will end whoever is responsible.

Guys, after they got married and had kids and their kids grew up and took over their offices and their wives died, they lived together at Crickhollow. And when King Aragorn called them to Gondor once more, they went together. They spent their last years together, and they died together. They were buried in the Great Hall of Kings, together. There is nothing that beats these two for devotion (except, possibly, the two guys who play them. Ever. Fucking. On.)

• HP trio - I don’t have as much to say about these, but I love the wizard trio. They complement each other, each one filling the faults of the others.

• blergh I dunno. Jim Kirk and Uhura.

21:Top 3 animated movies

• The Lion King - Circle of Life starts and I’m bawling in 30 seconds. I love everything about this movie.

• Watership Down - I see you side eyeing from here. But I read the book and saw it as a kid. The animation is really interesting. Animated movies that aren’t for children needs to be more of a thing.

• Up - This movie touches on so many important things, and none of it is at all explicit. It’s so deep and so important, at the same time as being fun and funny and enjoyable.

31:Top 3 heartwarming moments in fiction

UGH In ALL OF FICTION? That’s a lot.

Okay. Homeward Bound, who Sassy, Chance, and Shadow all make it home and run into the arms of their kids. One, Two, fucking Three. If you didn’t cry, you’re probably dead.

[kmackatie]

3, 13, 25

3:Top 3 supporting characters- Ronald Weasley (Harry Potter). Should have totally been a leading character though. Incredibly loyal, caring, and always had your back. What more could you really want in a friend?- Dorian Hallivard (Throne of Glass). He's the type of friend who is worth saving.- Jane Bennett (The Lizzie Bennett Diaries). Specifically this version of Jane. She's an incredible and lovely person who supports Lizzie even through her not so good moments.

13:Top 3 fictional locations- Already answered here.

25:Top 3 series/movies/books from my childhood- Ranger’s Apprentice. These books were my life growing up and I adored them. It’s the first series I got my brother to read so we had a special bond over them.- Harry Potter. I think every child/teenager growing up during the 90′s/00′s who liked reading read the Harry Potter sereis. It was definitely a game changer for me.- Can I have an author? Basically anything by Dianna Wynn Jones. I owned and read every single one of her books.

[suedescripture]

The kind of pain that comes to mind when I think about you is that pain of waiting for two people to come to their senses and get together. It's a great kind of pain though. It's what makes slow build so good. But in Failure to Communicate, wanting to hit Chris and be like "YOU OBVIOUSLY ARE ATTRACTED TO HIM, YOU DORK". Or (cue Semper the broken record:) at the end of So Weird, wanting so badly for them to realize how good they are together. You write that kind of tension really well!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. I love my UST, I do. <3

[kmackatie]

14, 21, 36

14. Go on, who are your BroTPs?I’ve not written for any of them, but I’ve read them. Basically any HP Marauder era fic where they all get up to mischief. There’s something about the Marauder’s.

21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote?Ohhhh wow. The first thing I ever attempted to write, when I was probably 15, was for this book series called The Ranger’s Apprentice. It wasn’t good. I had no idea what I was doing, and no real knowledge of how to shape a story. I also posted it on FF.net and got absolutely roasted by this reviewer. As a 15 year old who had put something online, it was a pretty devastating experience and probably why I didn’t try again for a really long time.

36. What’s your favourite genre to write?Sad things. I’m not sure why, but I like writing angst. Angst filled with fluff, but still angst.