24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What's the most interesting way you've killed someone?

I'm not. I don't write death fic. I avoid angst to the best of my ability and killing somebody off holds no narrative appeal for me whatsoever. I briefly considered killing both Trent and Josh, but I could never go through with it. The one character of mine who's died was written purposefully to be cannon fodder for the main storyline, and it STILL made me cry to kill Martin off, even though I gave him the most obnoxious PB I could think of (most people wouldn't think twice about killing Tucker Carlson, I'm sure), and I didn't come up with his method of death, I'm pretty sure Kristin's the one who decided to poison the coffee.

25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.

Some of them do, yes. The most common pets for my characters are rodents and cats. Bastien has mice named Juliet and Ophelia that live in the elementary school library where he works. Dewey has hamsters named Tristan and Isolde. Trent has a cat named Sam and a dog named Steve. Doug has a cat named Fluorite, because he's a rock nerd. I'm sure there are more, but I'd have to go look through character profiles to remember the others, and I'm too lazy to do that right now. Generally pets don't play a very big part in stories. I think Amarante's pit bull Yuuto got the most influential story because I only wrote like three things about her and one of them was her playing fetch with the dog.

26. Let's talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him!

Hahahahahaha, NO. No, I do not draw my characters, because I suck at art and it embarrasses me to do something I suck so badly at. I think I commissioned one piece of art a long time ago but I don't properly remember, and honestly no one else cares enough about my OCs to draw them anyhow. I don't need them to be drawn because I pick actors to play the parts, so I know exactly what they look like. I could give you a list of characters and their PBs if I thought anyone would care, I did come up with over 50 of them. (Once I even used myself as a PB, which was just really pretentious and I had to tint all the pictures red to make it look like I was redheaded so I'd fit the part.) Using the two I still write about as examples, Dewey's PB is Gareth David-Lloyd and Parker's PB is Robert Downey Jr. Once I had a whole set drawn from bandom people who were all high schoolers, that entertained me more than I could tell.

...seriously though, if you're interested just ask, I love talking about my characters, as this meme has shown by now.


( letters under the cut )

23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story—from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?

HA. Oh this is the wrong question to ask me today. Um. Well, back when I had the words at my disposal, I would pretty much finish writing something in as close to one session as I could make it. I might let the idea percolate for a couple of days, but once I sat down to start committing the words to screen, it was a race against my own muse to say everything I wanted before the muse abandoned me cruelly. Lately... let's see. I think it took me three months to finish the first Dewey story I wrote this year. The vampire AU got about a week of work before I completely lost my hold on it. I've been working on the sequel to I Know It's Strange basically since the day after I posted it, so that's almost four months.

I clearly remember days when I could toss off 1500 words in a day and it would be pretty decent stuff. Not that those were the rule, by far they were exceptional, but it still used to happen from time to time. I think the last time that happened to me was at Long Point Camp last month, and it was considerably less than 1000 words I got down, although I was writing by hand and not typing so it felt like quite a lot of words.

Let's just say that anything it takes me over a week to complete is going to take more than two months to finally get finished. I think that's a pretty fair assessment.


Day 10 — Someone you don’t talk to as much as you’d like to

Dear Amber,

I don't know why I don't call you. Well, kind of it's because I hate talking on the phone, but that's a pretty shoddy excuse to not talk to one of your closest friends, right? I just fail at communication.

Anyways you're probably going to be sick of talking to me by the time I'm done in Plattsburgh. I'm going to bother you all the time you're not at work. You will be begging me to shut up by the 25th.

Looking forward to Wednesday so so so much! ♥

Love,
Dani

21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?

Out of 50+ characters, only two of them had children: Jeff and Gideon. They both have sons. Jeff's son Teddy was eight when I was writing about them, he'd be ten or eleven now, and Gideon's son Aaron wasn't even his son, he was his ex-wife's son by a different man, and he was only four when Rachel basically passed him off to Gideon so she could go to rehab.

As to how well I write them, well. I don't have a lot of experience with children so I can't really tell. In fact, when I was writing the both of them, the last experience I had with children in that age group was with my cousins, and that was years and years prior. I didn't meet Kenzie and Hunter until the summer after kittens-and-flowers happened. I always felt like Kait wrote Aaron better than I did. I can't think of anything specific I would change if I tried to write them now, though, so I did as well as I could, I guess.


22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you've never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not.

Um! I don't really-- well, okay, since I'm already talking about him, I wanted to write about Jeff, the suit-and-tie every day kind of guy, having no idea whatsoever what to do when he and Teddy visit Milo's farm, and Milo would make fun of him before throwing a pair of overalls at him, and I think he would get chased around by a chicken. And by the end of the day they'll have picked like six gallons of strawberries and Jeff will have dirt under his fingernails and his ears will be sunburned, but not Teddy's, because of course Dad remembers the sunscreen for his kid but forgets to put any on himself, and every time Milo looks at him he just starts smiling this goofy-ass smile because he never thought he'd get the accountant that far out of his element and he's kind of adorable.

Just, the idea of Jeff with sunburned ears is beyond cute to me and I can't explain why. Probably with a smudge of dirt on his cheek, too. And Teddy would have such a blast running around Milo's farm.


Day 8 — Your favorite internet friend

Dear Heather,

Hey, haven't I already written to you in this meme? xD Yeah, and it looks like I'll be writing to you at least one more time, too. It's because you're too awesome to address only once.

Is this heat killing you like it's killing me? I just want to melt into the floor. It's not a very productive feeling. Not that I'm a very productive person. You have been very productive lately, though.

Every time I remember that you're writing me birthday fic, I flail around like Kermit in that icon for a couple of seconds. :D

I'm going to go stick my head in the freezer now. Love you! ♥

Love,
Dani


Day 9 — Someone you wish you could meet

Dear Zachary Quinto,

You are made of awesome. I bet if we got coffee together or something that would be one of the more memorable events of my life. I would probably devolve into a pathetic fangirl but I bet you're used to that by now.

Thank you for being such a perfect Spock. I don't think anyone else could have taken over the role from Leonard Nimoy as well as you did. You are fully 85% of why I'm so excited for the sequel. Keep being awesome, okay?

Live long and prosper,
a pathetic fangirl

20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?

I really love writing snarky dialogue, though I'm not nearly as clever about it as I'd like to be. I like writing about people who think they like each other discovering more reasons to like each other. I like writing the comfort part of hurt/comfort. I really, really love writing sleepy just-before-bed or just-woke-up intimacies, things like cuddling and nuzzling. I like combining these things. Probably my favorite way to write snarky dialogue is in the middle of sex, like, there's too much between these two people that they literally just can't shut up about each other while they're all over each other. I'm actually kind of really fond of writing characters interacting with their relations-- Dewey with his mom and sister, the McCarthy triplets, Trent and his uncle, Jeff and his son.


( remaining days )


Day 7 — Your Ex-boyfriend/girlfriend/love/crush

Dear Scott,

it is probably stupid of me to do this because I'm fairly certain you still look in on Livejournal once in a blue moon. Well, if you see this, it's all honest, for whatever that's worth.

I never should have broken up with you. I don't know if we'd still be together now if I'd kept the long distance thing going instead of breaking it off when you went to college. Probably not, but you would have kept me from making some of my more idiotic relationship mistakes (namely Tai and Abram), and I would probably be better-adjusted now if I'd learned to cope with you being six hours away.

Maybe it's just the vagaries of memory playing their tricks, but I remember being honestly happy with you so much of the time we were together. You understood me in a way nobody's come close to replicating since, except maybe Kristin. The time we had together was good, and I pretty much look back to those months as the standard for happiness in a relationship now. It has rarely been approached, let alone met.

One of my top five lifetime regrets was not giving you my virginity. Seriously, I will never stop kicking myself over that. You were the only guy I would have trusted with it; instead I practically threw it away, and I bet I would have fewer sexual hangups if my first time had been an act of love and not a drunken mistake.

I don't think of you too terribly often, but when I do, I hope that you're happy out there in Colorado, doing whatever it is you do for the government and playing your ukelele. Some small part of me wants our story to play out like some romantic comedy, like one day we'll meet eyes across a crowded airport and suddenly we'll be in love again, older and maybe a little wiser and definitely, on my part, better able to handle the long distance thing. It's ridiculous and childish and silly, I know, but. But some days I remember the texture of your red hair and the specific gold tones in your amber eyes and all those freckles, and part of me says "you will never find another person who loved you the way he did," and it's all very melancholy and self-recriminating.

Just... I think of you fondly, when I do think of you. And if I had a chance to see you again, I'd grab onto it with both hands, because maybe nothing dramatic will come of it, but it would still be nice to see you for a little while, to talk to you about how you've been and what you do and where you want to be. And I would ask if you're happy, Scott, because I really do care, and I hope you are happy.

Love,
Danielle

19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why!

Oh, I'm going to go with fandom again on this one and say Luke Campbell. He was only in a couple of episodes of Heroes, but he really captured my imagination and I had a lot of fun writing about him. His attitude problem made him interesting to write.


Day 6 — A stranger

Dear barista at Starbucks,

Thank you for providing me with the legal crack that is dark cherry mocha frappucinos. I know I don't come in often enough to have a 'usual' or anything, and I still feel like I'm cheating on cinnamon dolce with dark cherry mocha, but you enable my addiction and I appreciate that a lot.

By the way, you're terribly cute. Keep that up, okay?

Love,
me


Heat makes me irritable. I was hoping to go swimming today, but that didn't happen. Maybe tomorrow, it's supposed to be even hotter tomorrow and I could do with floating around in Diane's pool for a couple of hours. If I can find some AAA batteries, I can even bring my super-loud speakers and hook up my iPod. And, of course, ice cream, if I'm heading out towards Cayuga anyways. Man, I crave a twist cone like you wouldn't believe right now. Do want.

Seriously, memes like this are my non-chemical antidepressants.

the appreciation meme

My mom's friend Laurel made pineapple cobbler for us... it is such a weird dish. I like it, but I would never make it myself. I'll eat the heck out of what she gave us, though.

18. Favorite antagonist and why!

I don't have original antagonists, really, so I'm going to have to go with Sylar here. He's just... evil in such an interesting way, I think. Or he was, anyways. I don't generally take to villains so much, but I was fascinated by Sylar right from the start.


Day 5 — Your dreams

Dear dreams,

You have been pretty engaging lately, which is why it's your fault when I oversleep. I could do with a little less outright weirdness and a little more serenity, but I probably won't get that until I learn how to lucid dream. Thank you for staying away from the plane/train crashes, I really appreciate not having to deal with traumatic events like that and I've almost forgiven you for the last time you pulled that bullshit on me.

You could take a few more cues from fanfiction. Just sayin'.

Love,
dreamer

17. Favorite protagonist and why!

Oh, I really don't know. My favorite right now is Dewey, and I suppose he's been my favorite for the longest. I really did love Carter until everything went to hell surrounding him, though, and he had a good long run of it.


Day 4 - Your sibling

Dear Dennis,

I really hope you're happy. Rachael says you don't seem happy and I don't know what, if anything, I can do to change that. I worry about you probably more than I should. I mean, you're 22, you have your own place, you're going to college... even if you don't have a job, I can't exactly say shit to you about that, and you don't have a girlfriend, again, not my place to say anything. The alcoholism maybe I should say something about, but I probably won't unless/until it hinders your career path. You're smart, I know you can do this electrician thing, just don't let yourself get bogged down with your unhealthy hobbies. I really, really, really worry about your mental health, because Dad is a wreck and Julia and I are both bipolar and you probably wouldn't consent to see a counselor even if you needed one. I just... hope you don't need one.

...I'm probably just going to get you weed for your birthday because it's one of the few things I know you'll get use out of, and I got you clothes for Christmas.

See you in 10 days. Thanks for letting me crash on your couch. :D

Love,
your big sister


( and a random meme lifted from candlewaxdreams )

And once again, Holmes group-watch is the best damn thing about my week, period. ♥ I have so much fun and I laugh so much and it's just incredibly good to fangirl out with like-minded people for a couple of hours. (Or... almost six hours, now. Wooboy.) And today I did a Good Thing as a member of the fandom and found a documentary scifichicx was looking for and uploaded it for the community, and she's drawing me art in return! I haven't had someone art on my behalf in YEARS, I'm so excited about this!

Of course, this entirely ruins my attempt to reassert a normal sleep schedule, but I really don't care because this is one of the few things that makes me happier than sleeping. :D Sun's coming up soon and it's supposed to hit 85 degrees, I'm probably going to sweat off a pound before I wake up. It's weather like this that almost tempts me into sleeping naked... but I've only done that a couple of times in my life, and I don't think 85 is bad enough to spur that on. (Maybe Sunday when it's supposed to hit 90. >.> )

Okay, quick meme answers and then I'm off to catch some Zs if I can:

16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you willing to go in your writing? ;)

I pretty much exclusively write romantic relationships. I'll write gen once in a while, but 95% of what I write involves people in love... or if not in love, then at least doing filthy things to each other. xD There was a time when I wrote porn like it was my job. That time has passed, now it's clearly only a hobby. I just much prefer people doing pleasant things together than people doing cruel things to each other.


Letters meme: Day 3 — Your parents

Dear Mom,

I'm sorry everything is getting on your nerves these days. It makes me really sad when you tell me I'm the only person in the family you don't want to kill, except I'm pleased that you don't want to kill me too. I do everything I can to make your life easier, I just wish it was enough to make an appreciable difference in how you feel every day.

I'm also really sad that I have to hide a significant portion of the truth about myself from you, but the last thing I need is to make you have a breakdown because the one person you can stand on a daily basis happens to be bisexual. I believe that you would love me anyways, I just have no intention of putting that belief to the test in case I'm wrong. Sometimes you're the only person in the family I don't want to kill, too, and I don't want to lose that.

Love,
your favorite offspring.


Dear Dad,

I know you think I'm scared of you. I'm not. You just make it really fucking hard to be in the same room as you sometimes. Also, because you're the one who found out I'm bisexual, I would really appreciate it if you could not harp on about how being gay is a sin every time Kurt has more than a few minutes on screen when we're watching Glee together. You could stand to be a little more like Burt Hummel, I think. You don't have to approve of me, just stop talking about it, for god's sake. It's not like I'm ever going to bring home a girlfriend to meet you.

I know that you're sick, and it's fucking with you every day, and that sucks, but I really wish you weren't so unpleasant to everyone in the family. Just... go on vacation or something. Go see your family in Massachusetts or Ohio or Florida or wherever, just be somewhere that isn't here for a few days. Maybe it'll make you happier. Mom honestly is afraid you're going to try hurting yourself and I can't force you to see a psychiatrist or talk about your issues like a normally emotional human being, so please figure out some way to deal with your shit so life can go back to normal around here and I don't have to deal with my sisters freaking out and my mother on the verge of a breakdown any more.

I love you, I just don't like you very much right now.

Love,
your eldest child.

And, the new 30 day meme: Here's the challenge, each day for the next month, write a blog in letter form to the following people:

Day 1 — Your Best Friend

Dear Heather:

I just talked you up in front of my entire friendslist. I hope that's okay by you. I'm sorry I haven't been commenting on your fics lately, I have been failboats at commenting on every fic I read, but I hope you know I do love everything you've been writing lately. The amount of epic writing you've been doing is amazing. ♥

I don't know how feasable this is, but it would be cool if we could arrange to see each other again before school starts up this fall. At the very least, I need to start bothering you on AIM more often now.

Thank you for always being there for me when I need support. I don't know what I'd do without you, darling. Probably cry a lot more than I do now.

♥


Day 2 — Your Crush

Dear Robert Downey Jr.:

Please just keep on doing exactly like you've been doing lately. You are fantastic and you make me happier than pretty much any other actor making movies these days. Don't change a thing, just keep being your amazing self, and I will keep fangirling you pathetically. Deal? Awesome.

♥

( and the rest of the list )