Discussion You Know You're a Fan Fiction Writer When...

Oh, I have similar conundrums re: fandoms.

You spend three hours figuring out one story arc with a friend and then realize you’ve never figured out what to do with one very necessary character. (Sorry, Han!)

 

You're inspired by songs again instead of staring blankly at the computer as you try to come up with ideas out of thin air.

 

When you go back to read your fics and are reminded that you created a Ship in the last post and have left it completely unresolved for six years.

And you do have the start of a fan fic languishing in purgatory that quasi continues their story but don’t have the time to write it and haven’t mustered up the courage to ask for help to make sure that I get translations right.


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When you don’t bring your headphones to the gym because one fanfic writer has a sixth sense about when you’re available to talk and asks you awesome questions about a collaboration while you’re on the treadmill.

 

You've listened to a song approximately 1,037 times in the past week or so because it's the inspiration for your KR longfic, and then you hear it in a store while running errands and feel like you need to sit down and start writing.

 

I don’t know what you mean. I never listened to “Orpheus” by Sara Bareilles for five straight hours for the same reason. Well, not for the Kessel Run.

You get four plot bunnies off of a single dress.

 

Okay, now we've got to see that dress.

 

I guarantee it’s not what you’re thinking. I was contemplating the equivalent of Princess Diana’s “revenge dress” and gave someone who spent their adult life dressing very formally a cute little yellow dress for the day they get safely away from their unhappy situation.

https://a.co/d/ioFChKC

 

That's actually kinda awesome. I live for moments like that, when inspiration just hits. And it's a nice dress!

 

... you have Lando Calrissian, Asajj Ventress, Natasha Yar, Jacen Solo, Ruth Dzeng, Tenel Ka Djo, and a couple OCs, play "Never have I ever".

 

Is my Trekkie Brain making me hallucinate, or is one of these things not like the others? Basically I'm seeing the name Natasha Yar, and picturing Denise Crosby in a TNG uniform.

 

You are correct, and she isn‘t the only non SW character in that lineup.

 

You start out discussing a Wikipedia article and wind up adding another kid to an AU family by virtue of scientific trends.

 

When you're on the verge of going to full-on conspiracy wall territory with strings and pins to try and figure out the modern-day location of an old fandom's far-future post-apocalyptic landscapes. (Bonus points: you're sure the writers of said fandom kept the geographic location intentionally vague so there actually is no really great match unless it's by pure coincidence! )

 

Update: you found it. Well, not really, but the name of a stick insect hints at a geographic region and it's one that was already near the top of the "possible" list for various reasons. Totally relying on that over the geopolitical clues, because there's plenty of evidence that things diverged quite a bit towards the end of the 20th century even before the really big zigzag in the timeline.

(You are totally making this poodoo up as you go along, but now the poodoo has a thin veneer of realism spray-painted over it. If you don't look too close. )

 

You: read the same page of the textbook ten times and can't remember a word of it thirty seconds later.

Also you: remember and regularly think about fanfics you read years - sometimes decades - ago.

 

YES. Do I remember the important necessary adult things in life? Eh, 50/50 chance there. Do I remember fanfics I first read twenty years ago, right down to verbatim lines and to such an extent that it still informs my own writing today? You'd better believe it

 

You have multiple Google docs just to keep your collab straight and only one of them contains a story.

 

It's those **** REDHEADS ...

 

You get up, go for a walk, and mess up a planetary justice system. (I had a plot breakthrough about 24 hours ago.)

 

YKYAFFWW you've memorized the ascii code (#0233) for a popular SW character kaffPadmékaff

 

(Quick aside, completely OT: Looks at Pronker's signature and goes: You forgot End of Watch!)

When you're adding to your fan fic series twenty years later. (And when you're so **** good others want to incorporate your fan fic series into theirs twenty years later. **blinks at DarthIshtar**)

 

Reading this reminded me of a coffee mug I saw once that said "Because I'm the freakin' redhead in the house, that's why!" I wanted to write a fic about it, I just have no idea what to do with it.

 

If you never find a use for it, donate it to @LLL and I’s staff break room. Though I would give it to Mara Jade as something Luke found for her one anniversary, personally.

When you live out of tshirts and jeans, but know the sartorial choices of your characters by heart.

 

(And this really is forthcoming): When you invent a legitimate reason for thousands of people to flip off Palpatine in public.