WATCH THIS

At about the time I pressed "play" on this vid for the 15th time tonight, I thought, "You know what? It's not enough that this is on my Tumblr and my Twitter. THIS NEEDS TO BE ON MY LJ, TOO. THIS NEEDS TO BE EVERYWHERE."

Fanmade trailer for S4 of "Sherlock," which, yes, we know absolutely nothing about at this moment, but this trailer nails *everything* I want an S4 trailer to be and gives me hope that S4, if done right (please God, let them do it right) could be, like, astonishingly awesome, seriously.

(S3 spoilers in the vid.)

Beware, this vid is 2:36 long but you'll watching it for at least half an hour.

Also, if you, like me, are hopelessly old and didn't know who was singing "Everybody Rules the World" here: It's Lorde. 

What's this? A meme?

Remember the good old days when we did memes on LJ??

ETA: And, indeed, I did it wrong, and forgot to mention that I stole this from kizzia.

Put a number in the comments and I’ll answer accordingly.

The mission for those of us who answer the questions, should we accept it, is to stay positive about our writing and ourselves, but to also be fair about our shortcomings.

1. Of the fic you’ve written, of which are you most proud?
2. Favourite tense
3. Favourite POV
4. What are some themes you love writing about?
5. What inspires you to write?
6. Thoughts on critique
7. Create a character on the spot... NOW!
8. Is there a character you love writing for the most? The least? Why?
9. A passage from a WIP
10. What are your strengths in writing?
11. What are your weaknesses in writing?
12. Anything else that you want to know... (otherwise known as Fill in the Blank)

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winstonmom and ladyprydian asked for 9. A passage from a WIP

So, I'm bad about WIPs. In that I generally only work on one thing at a time. Every once in a very great while, I might be actively working on multiple fics, but it's *very* rare. It did just happen, in that I put N&N on hold for a few days to crank out the fix-it fic, but, as a general rule, I only write one thing at a time, and right now that thing is N&N. So I'll give you a passage from a bit of N&N that I wrote tonight, how's that?

“What are you doing?” John asked, looking over his shoulder as Sherlock composed a new text to Mycroft.

Sex in car really excellent. Thanks ever so much for loaning it to us. –SH

John sighed. “Sherlock. How old are you?”

“Seven years younger than him,” answered Sherlock.

His mobile buzzed with an incoming text.

Sod off.

“Didn’t expect that from Mycroft,” said John, with raised eyebrows.

“Unsigned,” said Sherlock, and pocketed his mobile. “That was from Lestrade.”

(no subject)

cryptic_answers asked for 1. Of the fic you’ve written, of which are you most proud?

Ugh. This is a tough one for me. I love everything I write, basically. The fic of which I am the proudest is the fic I've re-read most recently. So...right now, that's "Letters." And I actually am really proud of how "Letters" turned out. I think it's believable and in-character and actually not very far off from the Sherlock we actually got this season, so that pleases me.

If I'm going to take this question very, very seriously, though, probably the fic of which I'm proudest is the entire Scotchverse. I love the Chaosverse, but the Chaosverse was the first fanfic I ever wrote and it felt like it would be the *only,* and then it turned out that I had more in me, and not just more but more that was actually very different characters with very different headspaces and *slash,* which I'd never done before. And I didn't out-think myself, I let myself do it. So I guess I'm more proud of myself than I am of the fic, although I'm also proud of the fic, but...gah. Seriously, guys, I love all of it.

And I have this to say: I really am genuinely proud of all of the fanfic I've put out there. I don't think there's anything to be ashamed of there. I think it's all good pieces of fiction, just as respectable as anything original I've ever written. We should be prouder of our fanfic! All of us! /end of speech

(no subject)

wickedgillie asked: 12: how do you drink your Earl Grey? I like mine black with a hint of sugar.

Hee! Good question: I also drink it black, and I take it with one sugar. Unless I get it at Dunkin' Donuts, and for some reason there I'll have with milk and two sugars. I don't know why. I guess it turns it into a special dessert then. Although I almost never get hot tea at Dunkin' Donuts anymore because I'm obsessed with their iced tea, and I take my iced tea with lemon and no sugar. Even though I put sugar in my hot tea, I cannot stand to have sugar in my cold tea. ::shrugs::

(no subject)

rereader asked: 12. Do you find it more satisfying to write using already existing characters and getting them right and/or tweaking them, or to write your own characters from scratch, so to speak?

I think I actually prefer to write my own characters. This could be why I'm constantly writing babyfics, so I can get my own characters in there. But, if I'm going to be completely honest, I think every piece of fanfic I've ever written has been me taking other people's characters and making them *mine.* I've had people praise my characterization (I'm not saying this to be obnoxious, but just to make an observation), and I'm always very pleased by the compliment, but the thing is that, before I start writing them, they have to undergo this thing where they become *mine.* And the Sherlock and John in B&C are different from the Sherlock and John in N&N and they're different from the Sherlock and John in SSH and they're different from the Sherlock and John on the show. And they're all the same at the same time. It's kind of this weird trick and I can't articulate it well, but, anyway, that is why I have such complete breakdowns when the show diverges from me, because I'm like, "Wait a second, he was *mine,* what the hell, now you've gone in there and messed it up and I have to get him back to being mine again, ugh."

So, even though I'm writing fanfic, the act of creation is the same as when I write an original fic: I have to get the character to be mine, from the ground up, in order to write them at all. So I have to make a character in my head that makes sense with what the canon writers think.

Does this sound crazy?

(no subject)

rereader and an anon also asked: 6. Thoughts on critique

Here's the thing about critique. God, I hope this doesn't make me sound like a terrible person. I welcome it, always. But I also reserve the right to respectfully disagree with your critique. Not because I don't think I can get better--I *do* and I actually do listen a lot, not just to outright critique but also to where comments reveal that I haven't gotten my point across, or I haven't done a good job making a character's motivations clear, or my plot is falling apart, or I'm taking too long, or whatever--but because I think there can be genuine disagreement over what a fic should be doing, and that doesn't necessarily mean you are right and I am wrong or you are wrong and I am right, it means we're just talking about two different fics. Does that make sense?

You can't please everybody all of the time, and I've been doing the fanfic thing long enough to realize this. So I try to be really honest in my self-assessment of my work, and then I hope that you guys like it. And then, if you don't, I listen and try to decide whether I agree with you. ;-)

(no subject)

rereader also asked for 8. Is there a character you love writing for the most? The least? Why? (She was greedy.)

Yes. Oh, yes. I play favorites. :-) In Chaosverse, it's Brem. Brem is my favorite. I loved to write Brem, everything about Brem, I still love passionately to this day, I might never love another character to the extent that I love Brem.

In Sherlock, it's Sherlock. Which is going to shock anyone who dealt with me in the early days of writing for him, when I dreaded writing for him. But now he is my *favorite.* He's so much my favorite that I actually save up Sherlock POVs as treats for myself when I'm writing.

(As for Oliver, I love Oliver, but he's still just a baby, so there isn't much POV for me to get my teeth into there. I didn't fall in love with Brem until he was four years old and went off to that flat with all the normal kids and told them all about Weeping Angels and then I was like, "OMG this *kid,*" so wait until the first time I get to do OIiver POV -- IF I EVER GET FAR ENOUGH ALONG WHERE HE GROWS UP A LITTLE BIT -- and then I'll get back to you.)

(no subject)

fabrisse asked 7. Create a character on the spot... NOW!

Gah. This is a hard one! Um.

Lydia South has red hair and green eyes and freckles. She's been going to law school for the past few years. She'd get through it more quickly if she wasn't so busy trying to run Mr. Harding's convenience store for him (she's trying to keep him from dropping dead of a heart attack ever since he got a serious warning from his doctor). She spends more time dispensing legal advice without a license than she does selling anything at the convenience store, which is too bad, not only because it's illegal but because she doesn't have the heart to charge people for something she's not supposed to be doing and, anyway, everyone needs legal advice because nobody understands what the law is. Lydia's most prized possession is the wedding ring she wears around her neck. She's sold everything else of value to pay the law school tuition. She tries to dress as unremarkably as possible, and she tries not to make friends at law school, because she doesn't want people asking questions. Because Lydia South used to be Camilla North, and she's going to law school because her parents were brutally murdered a few years ago.

(no subject)

221b_hound asked 4. I know have themes that I go over again and again. What are yours, if any?

Family. The family you make yourself, and the family that nature gives you. And the way love can make you safe and make you strong and fix you. Again, and again, and again.