Toot Your Own Horn Meme
Aug. 18th, 2008 11:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ravenna_c_tanTagged by Annie (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
roedhunt) to do this!
1. What was the first fic you ever wrote? (picture you drew, manip/vid you made - sub in your form of expression for all questions).
The first HP fic I wrote was around the time the second movie came out. I've never posted it in my journal, though I've decided if the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
pornish_pixies comm ever returns to LJ, I'll post it there. (It's called "Potions Lesson," and it's Snape/Harry, NC-17).
2. What's your most recent work?
I just finished posting my 3 part Drapery/Snarco fic, "Whoever Keeps Me" athp_tarot.
On LJ: http://community.livejournal.com/hp_tarot/41178.html
On IJ: http://asylums.insanejournal.com/hp_tarot/41187.html
3. What do you think you're best at (genre, style, theme)?
I think I'm best at the dark angst with lots of sex, or maybe it just seems that way because it seems hard to do well for most people. (Then again, comedy is really hard, too...!) I am good at looking at things unafraid and unrepressed, which gives me a lot of freedom to write. I'm also good at defining the difference between consensual and nonconsensual in fic, and getting people who "don't like" or "don't read" BDSM fics to really enjoy mine.
4. What would you like to be better at?
Saying thank you. So when it comes to fic, I guess I wish I was better at responding to comments. I often feel like all I can say is "thank you" and it feels inadequate...!
5. Which of your works do you think best represents you as a writer/artist?
Burning Day is probably pretty representative. A mixture of plottiness and sexiness, with a dash of suffering, and the possibility for true love always there under it all, no matter how much trouble there is. That description fits a LOT of my fics.
6. What's your favourite story you've ever written (picture you've ever drawn etc)?
Ohhh, that's hard. I still have a serious soft spot for Amnesia among my H/D fics, but The Rematch, which was a Snaco fic I wrote for my very first gift exchange fest (merry smutmas!) is still way up there.
7. What's your favourite scene/chapter you've ever written?
It still has to be the "Moroccan Night of Passion" in Tempus. If you haven't read the fic yet, it's what happens right AFTER Harry and Draco go flying...
8. What's your favourite passage or line you've ever written?
Oh, man, now we're getting nitpicky. I usually turn a few lines in every fic I write that please me a lot. I'm partial to this opening description of agoraphobic!Draco from The Hermit though:
Draco felt a trickle of sweat creep down the back of his neck.
Four years. Four years had passed since that apocalyptic night at Hogwarts. His family had been kept out of Azkaban, thanks to the simple-minded but unwavering stubbornness of Harry Potter, and the Manor had been cleansed of the evil presence that had inhabited it. He was a master in potions himself, now. A scholar and a contributor to charitable causes. He was twenty one years old, had no physical deformities (other than the one well-hidden under his left robe sleeve), and might be considered handsome by some.
Then why was he standing in the shade of an alleyway, lacking the nerve to step into a used book shop?
He told himself it would be quiet and cool in the shop. It was early afternoon early in the week, and the place tended to be mostly deserted anyway, since it specialised in books of magical esoterica and scholarship, and had much less stock of the popular type. There would be a cat.
His feet still did not move toward the door. He told himself the books would smell nice, like the great library in Rome where he had spent so many hours studying. Books were always allies or friends.
He saw a bright head appear in the window, as a clerk replaced one book with another, the flash of colour disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. He pushed his glasses up his nose. He hadn't got a good look, only an impression of youth. He wasn't even sure if the clerk was witch or wizard. But he or she couldn't have been much off in age from Draco himself.
She might say something. He might give Draco a hateful look. Might refuse to sell him anything, like Ollivander.
He couldn't bear that. He Disapparated.
9. Have you ever written/drawn something that you found really upsetting, that you almost couldn't bring yourself to write/draw?
I really *thought* that the climactic payback scene between Lucius and Draco toward the end of "Draco's Folly" was going to be really hard to get through. I knew what was going to happen several chapters before and had to live with the images in my head for a few weeks. As it turned out, though, it was the chapter AFTER that, the recovery chapter, that was really painful to write.
10. Which (if any) of your works represents a departure from your usual style, you taking a risk and trying something new? Do you think it worked?
I've written Harry crossdressing exactly once, in a slightly fluffy romance piece, which is a genre I don't usually do, either, and the result was A Proper Holiday, in the Snarry Daft Day Smut Swap.
11. Who's your favourite character to write/draw? Who do you think you write/draw best?
There's no doubt that Draco is my muse. I didn't expect that. But once I started writing him... well, it's years later and I still can't stop. I'm fond of narrating from Snape's point of view, too, though.
12. Name five things that typically characterize your work.
Eroticism.
Strong narrative voice.
Sex required as part of the plot.
Suffering necessary to redemption or triumph.
Literary references or multi-layered self-reference in the prose.
13. List the projects you're working on right now or have coming up in the near future.
Oriens -- the sequel to Tempus
A sequel to "The Kiss" fortwistedm
My HP Darkfest fic
Launching the Drapery/Snarco Smut Fest
Pinch-hitting for some of the Holiday fests
Finishing my7spells table. (3 of 7 done)
14. How do you think your writing/art has changed since you first started (in the fandom specifically, for those of you who do this for a living too)?
My writing was already very developed when I got into writing fic. I think I write faster now, on a better pace, both in my fic and in other writing assignments in my life. I can easily lay down 5000 words in a day if I am not being forced to socialize or cook... Fic writing has let me practise a lot of styles and types of writing, too, increasing my facility and chops overall.
15. Describe yourself as a writer/artist in five words or less.
My plots require sex. Lots.
16. Links to any archives or websites where you have your work.
My master list is on LJ: http://ravenna-c-tan.livejournal.com/13797.html
I've x-posted a lot of the content there to IJ, but not all.
I'm also found on Skyehawke, The Archive at the End of the Universe, Hex Files, Walking the Plank, Adultfanfiction.net, and probably some other places I'm not even remembering...
Now, I'd be very interested to hear the answers from:
gatewaygirl, kabal42, amanuensis1, nishizono, and twistedm.
Don't forget to leave the links to your posts should you do it. *g*
-rav
roedhunt) to do this!1. What was the first fic you ever wrote? (picture you drew, manip/vid you made - sub in your form of expression for all questions).
The first HP fic I wrote was around the time the second movie came out. I've never posted it in my journal, though I've decided if the
pornish_pixies comm ever returns to LJ, I'll post it there. (It's called "Potions Lesson," and it's Snape/Harry, NC-17).2. What's your most recent work?
I just finished posting my 3 part Drapery/Snarco fic, "Whoever Keeps Me" at
hp_tarot. On LJ: http://community.livejournal.com/hp_tarot/41178.html
On IJ: http://asylums.insanejournal.com/hp_tarot/41187.html
3. What do you think you're best at (genre, style, theme)?
I think I'm best at the dark angst with lots of sex, or maybe it just seems that way because it seems hard to do well for most people. (Then again, comedy is really hard, too...!) I am good at looking at things unafraid and unrepressed, which gives me a lot of freedom to write. I'm also good at defining the difference between consensual and nonconsensual in fic, and getting people who "don't like" or "don't read" BDSM fics to really enjoy mine.
4. What would you like to be better at?
Saying thank you. So when it comes to fic, I guess I wish I was better at responding to comments. I often feel like all I can say is "thank you" and it feels inadequate...!
5. Which of your works do you think best represents you as a writer/artist?
Burning Day is probably pretty representative. A mixture of plottiness and sexiness, with a dash of suffering, and the possibility for true love always there under it all, no matter how much trouble there is. That description fits a LOT of my fics.
6. What's your favourite story you've ever written (picture you've ever drawn etc)?
Ohhh, that's hard. I still have a serious soft spot for Amnesia among my H/D fics, but The Rematch, which was a Snaco fic I wrote for my very first gift exchange fest (merry smutmas!) is still way up there.
7. What's your favourite scene/chapter you've ever written?
It still has to be the "Moroccan Night of Passion" in Tempus. If you haven't read the fic yet, it's what happens right AFTER Harry and Draco go flying...
8. What's your favourite passage or line you've ever written?
Oh, man, now we're getting nitpicky. I usually turn a few lines in every fic I write that please me a lot. I'm partial to this opening description of agoraphobic!Draco from The Hermit though:
Draco felt a trickle of sweat creep down the back of his neck.
Four years. Four years had passed since that apocalyptic night at Hogwarts. His family had been kept out of Azkaban, thanks to the simple-minded but unwavering stubbornness of Harry Potter, and the Manor had been cleansed of the evil presence that had inhabited it. He was a master in potions himself, now. A scholar and a contributor to charitable causes. He was twenty one years old, had no physical deformities (other than the one well-hidden under his left robe sleeve), and might be considered handsome by some.
Then why was he standing in the shade of an alleyway, lacking the nerve to step into a used book shop?
He told himself it would be quiet and cool in the shop. It was early afternoon early in the week, and the place tended to be mostly deserted anyway, since it specialised in books of magical esoterica and scholarship, and had much less stock of the popular type. There would be a cat.
His feet still did not move toward the door. He told himself the books would smell nice, like the great library in Rome where he had spent so many hours studying. Books were always allies or friends.
He saw a bright head appear in the window, as a clerk replaced one book with another, the flash of colour disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. He pushed his glasses up his nose. He hadn't got a good look, only an impression of youth. He wasn't even sure if the clerk was witch or wizard. But he or she couldn't have been much off in age from Draco himself.
She might say something. He might give Draco a hateful look. Might refuse to sell him anything, like Ollivander.
He couldn't bear that. He Disapparated.
9. Have you ever written/drawn something that you found really upsetting, that you almost couldn't bring yourself to write/draw?
I really *thought* that the climactic payback scene between Lucius and Draco toward the end of "Draco's Folly" was going to be really hard to get through. I knew what was going to happen several chapters before and had to live with the images in my head for a few weeks. As it turned out, though, it was the chapter AFTER that, the recovery chapter, that was really painful to write.
10. Which (if any) of your works represents a departure from your usual style, you taking a risk and trying something new? Do you think it worked?
I've written Harry crossdressing exactly once, in a slightly fluffy romance piece, which is a genre I don't usually do, either, and the result was A Proper Holiday, in the Snarry Daft Day Smut Swap.
11. Who's your favourite character to write/draw? Who do you think you write/draw best?
There's no doubt that Draco is my muse. I didn't expect that. But once I started writing him... well, it's years later and I still can't stop. I'm fond of narrating from Snape's point of view, too, though.
12. Name five things that typically characterize your work.
Eroticism.
Strong narrative voice.
Sex required as part of the plot.
Suffering necessary to redemption or triumph.
Literary references or multi-layered self-reference in the prose.
13. List the projects you're working on right now or have coming up in the near future.
Oriens -- the sequel to Tempus
A sequel to "The Kiss" for
twistedmMy HP Darkfest fic
Launching the Drapery/Snarco Smut Fest
Pinch-hitting for some of the Holiday fests
Finishing my
7spells table. (3 of 7 done)14. How do you think your writing/art has changed since you first started (in the fandom specifically, for those of you who do this for a living too)?
My writing was already very developed when I got into writing fic. I think I write faster now, on a better pace, both in my fic and in other writing assignments in my life. I can easily lay down 5000 words in a day if I am not being forced to socialize or cook... Fic writing has let me practise a lot of styles and types of writing, too, increasing my facility and chops overall.
15. Describe yourself as a writer/artist in five words or less.
My plots require sex. Lots.
16. Links to any archives or websites where you have your work.
My master list is on LJ: http://ravenna-c-tan.livejournal.com/13797.html
I've x-posted a lot of the content there to IJ, but not all.
I'm also found on Skyehawke, The Archive at the End of the Universe, Hex Files, Walking the Plank, Adultfanfiction.net, and probably some other places I'm not even remembering...
Now, I'd be very interested to hear the answers from:
gatewaygirl, kabal42, amanuensis1, nishizono, and twistedm.Don't forget to leave the links to your posts should you do it. *g*
-rav
