Thank you @blackmonitor! My inbox has been neglected and I'm trying to clean it up before the new year! I am always grateful for asks and I love everyone for sending them to me! ❤️😊

So five things that make me happy (right now!):

Sorry the list function didn't like me inserting gifs, so everything is evenly ranked! Sending you hugs and love for 2024!

me @blackmonitor ^^

9 People You'd Like To Get To Know Better

I was tagged by @kaleidoscope1967eyes! Thank you friend 😘

last song; Mr. Brightside by the Killers but as played in this video:

favourite colour; Tie between orange and green...

currently watch: This set of cutscenes at @blackmonitor's recommendation:

last movie: Pretty In Pink (in the background)

currently reading; The King of Attolia (yes finally decided to tackle the Queen's Thief series no spoilers please)

sweet/spicy/savoury: sweet usually

relationships: furchildren and human soulmate

current obsession; I think Luke is always the answer

last thing i googled; how to fix reversed caps lock on keyboard 😁

currently working on; an essay on international relations theory 😩

@beebee-76 I’m so happy for your asks/interview questions, and definitely could use a break this evening so thank you so much for including me in your author pantheon for these queries!

First of all, your premise is easily answered:  Fic controls me.  I am never in charge, and it’s part of what I love about writing.  I start typing and the story reveals itself.  I may have scenes in mind or something I want to accomplish (usually smut!) but the joy of writing is in the discovery and creativity of it all, in my opinion.  I know some writers who plot and outline and create character sheets, etc., and that’s just not my jam.

But let me tackle your subquestions before I get too carried away!

Do you watch a show or read a book & fic ideas just pop into your head?

This question took me a sec to contemplate.  I think overall fic ideas just pop into my head outside of the canon, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t inspired by something specific in a show or book.  An example is my fic The Annual Stormtrooper Relief Fund Ball, which takes the scenario of the “dance auction” from Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind and applies it to Thryce.  I wanted to write a fluffy quick fic and had a bolt of inspiration to try to use that scenario. 

I have to say though, to clarify, “fic ideas” are rarely well-formed or mature when I start writing.  Mostly I have one particular goal in mind, whether to make Thrawn and Pryce dance, or Luke bang a droid, or whatever, and then just see what happens when I start typing.  It’s a weird and wonderful way to work and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Are you watching/reading something and you are unsatisfied with the plot, but love the characters, therefore, set out to fix it?

Not really.  This seems like too much work, and I would rather ignore canon than try to fix it most of the time (looking at you Jake Skywalker!). 

my sixth favourite gif

The only exception would be like the “what if they banged instead” premise, which comes to mind quite often to my pervy brain, and has been the genesis of many a fic.

Do you intend to write fic from the start, so you go in search of inspiration?

When I started writing fic, I liked getting prompts or ideas from friends and fellow writers, but I think mostly because I was new to it.  Now, I have too many plot bunnies/inspiration and not enough time, so I invariably intend to write fic after inspiration has already struck (and lately, that intention does not result in actual story sadly!).  (Inspiration + Desire + Computer) – Time = 0

Have you ever completely lost interest in the canon, but still love the characters/fic (therefore, no longer revisit the original source of the fic?)

It’s more the opposite, actually.  I wrote some Trigun fanfic in the 90s/00s, and while I still love Trigun, I don’t really revisit my writing or fics… But with Star Wars, I tend to consume the source material on a fairly frequent basis and reread my fave fics just as much (or more) often.  I think in general though, I am more likely to lose interest in the fic and return to the canon (looking at you X-Files/Labyrinth)

Thank you so much for the excuse to think about fic tonight.  I am having a nice long vacation in a couple weeks and hoping to put that time to good use writing lots of delish fic (in addition to tackling my regular evilmousetober drabbles) so this was a lovely way to get my brain back in ficland, and I am grateful! Have a Lars Mikkelsen Thrawn in gratitude (hope you are enjoying his portrayal!) thinking about beebee-76:

Tag Games

@beebee-76 tagged me for my 10 Comfort Movies! Thank you so much for the opportunity to share faves with y'all this evening!

1.

To the surprise of no one, I have to put Star Wars at the top of this list, Return of the Jedi in particular. It's my fave of the three, and always welcome on my TV.

2.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm an insane and devoted Godzilla fan, so pretty much any Godzilla movie is a comfort movie, with Showa-era Godzilla my go-to. Godzilla vs. Hedorah (or Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster, as it was called when I first saw it) is probably top of that list.

3.

I don't have words for how happy this musical makes me. Just watch um...from 10:25, that song and the choreography, showmanship, and sheer joie de vivre. It's a beautiful beautiful thing.

4.

I love him. Predator, folks, is one of my comfort movies. A masterpiece of genre filmmaking that transcends each one it tackles (sci-fi, horror, action). RIP Kevin Peter Hall.

5.

The Lost Boys. Forever a fave.

6.

The Red Violin. A heartbreaking, perfect film with music that elevates your soul.

7.

Very often and repeatedly, Jareth. 😍

8.

I have always loved Fred MacMurray, in everything from Double Indemnity to Flubber, but let it be known that nothing is as pure, as perfect, as his sentimental performance as a Scoutmaster in Disney's overlooked film Follow Me Boys. It's a holiday tradition in our house. (And YES that is baby Kurt Russell!)

9.

I love Furious 7 with a devoted and enduring passion that would make the gods envious. THIS IS A PRACTICAL EFFECT FOLKS! THEY REALLY DID THIS! James Wan understood the assignment.

10.

I would put the entire LOTR saga as one, but again, if forced to choose, let's go with the grand finale. I love everything about it, but most of all, like Star Wars, we have heroes who triumph over evil, and are rewarded with a happy ever after (not without scars, but nonetheless). There is still good in this world, and the unironic sincerity of filmmakers like George Lucas and Peter Jackson will forever be a comfort to me.

Thank you so much @vibratingbonesbis!!! I have been blessed with these asks / tags tonight, thank you for sending it.

Five things that make me happy:

Thank you for the excuse to think of happy things tonight @ele-millennial-weirdo!

Immortality! Take it! It's yours!

Thank you so much for this ask @beebee-76!  I am happy to be included in your author poll 😁

This reads at first blush like a fairly straightforward issue/question, but I am afraid for me the answer isn’t exactly straightforward. 

The most important aspect of enjoying fic (for me) is characterization—it can be beautifully conceived, written, and executed but if I’m there and Luke would never do that or Thrawn says something completely OOC (to my personal interpretation) it’s basically an unrecoverable fumble on the part of the author and I have a very difficult time continuing for pure enjoyment. 

^^ Fanfic writers everywhere making my man do crazy shit

I say “for pure enjoyment” because sometimes I will read something for a different reason—to support the writer, for example, or to see how a batshit crazy scenario was executed, or, let’s be real, for the smut.  But I tend to find that if characterization is good/I agree with it, I usually find everything to be good, so that’s where I start and end as a reader.  I don’t need to identify with any particular character and when I am thinking about this ask in particular, I’m like, nope, I don’t do that.  I have lots of fictional characters I adore but I would not say I identify with them when reading (or in hindsight).  I LIKE them, but I don’t necessarily look for (or see) myself in them.

Here is my disclaimer on fanfic in general: EVERYONE SHOULD WRITE THE CHARACTERS THE WAY THEY WANT. I've said it before and I'll say it again, make Luke a misanthropic scientist who is into bestiality, I don't care. I won't read it, but I will defend your right to WRITE it and to call him Luke Skywalker, that's the beauty of fanfic. If the Wiccans will forgive me, "and it harm only fictional people, do what thou wilt."

I will be the first person to ever wear out a gif, and this is the gif.

So as to your main question, I am sort of all over the place here.  I am with your professor in general—I attempt to tell a story as a neutral observer out of a sense of obligation to the characters.  However, I am admittedly able to do that by identifying with various aspects of their personalities.  That may sound convoluted, so I will explain a little more:

I have nothing in common with Mara Jade except we both adore Luke Skywalker.  So when I write a Luke/Mara fic, I feel like I would be doing a disservice to the character if I was imposing my personal traits upon her.  Yes, I’ve taken dance lessons but no, I’m not a dancer, so it can inform the way I write Mara dancing (or anyone dancing for that matter) but our mindsets are not the same.  I find her frustrating and sometimes obtuse, and I sincerely hope I am not like Mara in most ways.  But in order to write detailed Luke appreciation and Luke/Mara in general, I have to get in Mara's head and see how she would interpret something he’s saying or doing, or how she reacts or struggles.  This is really imagination, nothing more nothing less.

I also have nothing in common with Arihnda Pryce, hahah for that matter, at least I hope not.  I find many things to admire about her, and many things that are sympathetic in her biography, which I hold is necessary as a writer to capture her authentically (again with the disclaimer as I see her/read her).  But I do not identify with her, or, for that matter, Thrawn.

I tend to focus on shipfic, and the only OC I have invented in any depth is my art forger—Seta.  I don’t think I have much in common with her, but I have, to be fair, imbued her with a love of languages, art, dogs, and well, Thrawn.  These are all things I enjoy but none of them are intentional outside of being necessary to tell the story.

Let's be clear I'm not talking about writing FOR myself, I'm talking about identifying with the character. Yes I have a strong language kink, uniform kink, smut likes, etc. so you will see things I personally enjoy crop up in my stories of course (I am writing them for ME), but I hope (at least I like to think) that they only appear when logical and aren't smushed into an identity for random kicks. I'm thinking hard about this and invite anyone to chime in if I'm forgetting something egregious hahaha

Maybe one of my favorite things about being a writer is, as a true “pantser,” I never know where the story is going.  So there is never really (or rarely) an opportunity for me to say “oh, you know what, I’m going to have Luke do THIS or Pryce do THAT” because I personally enjoy it.  When my personality manifests in the story, I think it’s mainly in service of the story, such as using my pretentious art snob vocabulary to write a debate between Thrawn and Seta, or making Luke a vegetarian (like me!) because I honestly don’t see how anyone who is so in tune with the Force in all living things could be OK with eating meat once they get to a certain level of awareness.

None of this is to suggest that doing it another way is bad or bizarre, it's just not how I approach writing, I guess. I am an anomaly in many ways, I am well aware.

That was a bit long but I hope helpful for your survey! I had fun thinking about this! 

So to revisit your questions in a more TL;DR fashion:

Am I a neutral observer?  Sort of

Do I identify with a character in the fic?  As much as necessary to write them authentically

Do you purposefully create OCs to give them my personal characteristics or history:  Definitely not

When reading:  do I look to identify with a character or read as a neutral observer:  Neutral observer

Thank you again! 🥂

Tag I’m It

Tag 10 People You Want To Get To Know Better

Thank you for the tag @hobbit0fhobbiton​!

Three ships:

First ever ship: I was, like you, totally smitten with Christine and the Phantom but I do think my first ever ship was Briar Rose/Prince Philip cause I’m Old.

Last song/album: We had on some German music television marathon and they played something that made me change the channel but I think the name of the thing was “Charlie Brown” and it was a “new release.”  It was not good at all so sorry I am not going to google the artist...

If I could say last music I listened to that I liked...husband is watching Fury Road and the whole last 10 minutes, those strings here at the end are quite lovely. *googles composer* Ok Tom Holkenborg, you get the shout out!  (too bad the film didn’t deserve this score haha sorry not a fan)

Last movie: Kinda funny considering your username @hobbit0fhobbiton​ but HBO was showing Return of the King today and it’s one of those films I can’t turn off if I catch it...

It was the lighting of the beacons scene, I mean, c’mon cinema doesn’t get better really.

Currently reading: Just finished Elevation by Stephen King (novella is generous--more like a long short story)

Currently watching: Terminator Dark Fate is on the telly and I love me a good action film so it’s my current background noise.

Last thing you wrote/are writing right now: The last things I wrote were two drabbles:  one about “sparring with Luke” and one about "art gallery with Thrawn” (those were prompts from helpful third parties).  Last thing I published on AO3 is my Luke/Hera ship pioneer Sound Recognition, and it’s a short little thing but I like it!

Thank you again so much for the tag!  It’s fun to write something while I wait for my muse to wake up! 🤗💙

Three random headcanons!!! This is a great ask thank you @blackmonitor!

#1: I headcanon that Luke Skywalker is just as savvy a politician/diplomat as his sister, maybe even more so since he has learned to control his impulses/cultivate patience thanks to the Jedi training. He just doesn't like the business of government so he tries to keep a distance (you may have seen on my blog I don't share any dumb Luke stuff--I think he's very far from a brainless twink).

#2: I headcanon that Grand Admiral Thrawn is rather sexually frustrated because he understands that fraternization rules are actually pretty logical, so as much as he may LIKE to bang someone on his ship, he doesn't want to set a bad example and then have the Chimaera devolve into a spunk-scented flying fuckfest. This is why Governor Pryce is a good alternative (or any outsider).

#3: I headcanon that Luke wasn't actually as promiscuous as I write him--I think he was pretty shy with the ladies and also he had a horrible crush on a certain princess *cough* which kept him from sleeping around between Episode IV-V. I think after Empire he realized he wasn't in the running (no hard feelings Han) but it was a little late to sow his wild Jedi oats, too much trauma and sense of purpose for the future getting in the way...

Thank you so much for the ask! It was fun to think about and I really hope to have more time to answer asks (I know I'm behind) and write in the future. 🥰😘