I know a reasonable amount about both Western astrology, with the twelve sun signs of the Zodiac (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Saggitarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces), and Chinese astrology, which also has twelve signs but measures by year rather than by (approximately) month.

And one of the ways I classify and try to understand characters in media is by figuring out their astrological sign.

( About Western sun signs )
A few characters and their signs, or my best guess anyway:

( Characters from several fandoms and their signs )

I am happy to discuss or argue any of these (some characters I know right away, but others it's taken me ages to decide what sign they are).

I was going to put in a bit about relationships, since I'm a water sign and that is therefore my forte (or at least something in which I'm deeply interested), but that would make this post really long, so suffice it to say people of the same element (fire or earth or water or air) tend to get along, and that water and earth go well together and fire and air go well together. Also, people of the same sign always have an interesting vibe, whether positive or negative (and two Leos nearly always get along wonderfully). But those are generalizations—specific cases may vary.

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29 – What is your current project or projects?

Princess Rahl, Some Kind of Miracle, and the story I'm working on with meridian_rose, as well as any fests I end up signing up for, the hiatus challenge on legendland, and the bits and pieces of stories I'm still hoping will coalesce into some kind of finished product someday.

30 – Do you have a favorite fic you've written? What makes it your favorite? And don't forget to give us a link!

I like almost all of my stories (with a few notable exceptions). Some of the most fun I've ever had while I was actually writing was for The Unravelling or the Perils of Powerful Magic; intellectually I found Lady Rahl and Undone to be important, since I feel they explore issues and themes I thought were implied in the show without being stated; Master and Killing with Kindness were both really hard for me because they're so dark, but they wouldn't leave me alone until I'd written them; Wedding Anniversary was hard because it was my first real NC-17 fic...(okay, so that's kind of a lot...)

My current favorite is probably Hope. During this meme, I've mentioned how the best stories are the ones that insist on being written, for whatever reason. As soon as I saw the prompt, the idea for Hope was in my mind, but it took me awhile to be able to articulate what I wanted to do even to myself, and then it was quite hard to write, to the point where I was convinced it wasn't any good at times - and I was terrified of not being a good enough writer to realize my vision. (This probably sounds silly to non-writers, but it was a real struggle for me.) So that's the story of which I'm most proud.

(I also wrote quite a bit for Harry Potter; Evans the Mudblood is probably my favorite of my HP fics - it's second person, which was difficult, but worth it, I think.)

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28 – Have you ever collaborated with anyone else, whether writing together, or having an artist work on a piece about your fic?

meridian_rose and I have done some collaborating - we have a project going on right now, in fact. We have a new joint comm for our stories, too, palaceprophets. It's a lot of fun to work with someone else, particularly someone who shares some of your interests and who you can talk to. As she said, we beta for each other as we go, which is also good since I have a hard time asking people to beta for me.

dorothydeath has done some art inspired by my story, Princess Rahl, and I've done fic inspired by art, most notably for the lotseekerfic Reverse Mini Bang. I'm not really a very good graphic artist myself, but I do think art and writing are connected. I often make headers for my stories. A picture is worth a thousand words, after all ;D
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legendland is an interactive community for Seeker fans. We play games, write fic, make art, and have fun! Join team_seeker, confessors, or mistress_cara today! Apply here, and don't forget to tell them I sent you!

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25 – Music – Do you listen to music while you write? Do you make playlists to get into a certain "mood" to write your fic? Do you need noise in general? Or do you need it completely quiet?

Sometimes. I like music, but I'm not very good at it - not a singer, don't play an instrument or anything. I do need to get into a certain mood to write, frequently different moods for different kinds of fic, too, but music sometimes helps and sometimes doesn't. I like show tunes, rock and roll, Lady Gaga...

26 – What is the oddest (or funnest) thing you've had to research for a fic?

I often research things like how old a child is when they typically learn to walk and talk. Or canon details, like the name of Cara's brother-in-law. I also frequently search for quotes to go with fic ideas, or fic ideas to go with quotes, if that makes sense.

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22 – Have you ever participated in a fest or a Big Bang? If so, write about your favorite experience in relation to one. If not, are there any you've thought about doing? And if not, why not?

Until I fell in love, or at least obsession, with Legend of the Seeker and got an LJ account, I didn't even know what fests and Big Bangs were. Since then, of course, I've signed up for every one I can find and feel I have a reasonable chance of completing - the Feelings Fest on lots_femslash, the seekerrarepair exchange, the Reverse Mini Bang on lotseekerfic, dark_fest, and at least one mini big bang alt on legendland. My favorite experience...probably a tie between
The Unravelling or the Perils of Powerful Magic, for legendland, which was just plain fun to write, and most recently Hope, for the lotseekerfic Reverse Mini Bang, which was intense, but which gave me things to think about that I'm still trying to fully process.

In some ways, having a prompt and a deadline like that can be such a blessing, because it helps motivate me to actually finish. And at least one of my dark_fest stories I wrote after a mini dry spell, the first thing I'd felt really positive about in what felt like forever. (I started typing and literally didn't stop until I finished - it was emotional.)

Also, I enjoy things like that because they help me feel part of a larger community, and overcome my shyness about posting things I'm not quite sure about. (The downside being when I sign up for too many projects at once, of course.)


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20 –Do you ever get bunnied from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?

Yes. I participate in a number of things where that's actually the point, like inspiration tree challenges on legendland or the lotseekerfic Reverse Mini Bang; comments and discussions can also be a great place to get inspired, as there're lots of smart people in my fandoms, and they make me see canon in new and interesting ways.

Actually, though, one of the most inspiring things, in my experience, is when I read something that tackles an important issue from a point of view I don't happen to agree with, or that makes an assumption, even just as an aside, that I find troubling or interesting. I write, for the most part, because I'm passionate about the subject, and disagreement can actually generate a lot of that passion. Just as a 'mistake' in canon can inspire me to write 'fix it' fic, so another author can make me want to tell it (and this sounds a little conceited, I'm afraid) 'right.'

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18 – Where do you get the most inspiration for your fics (aka "bunnies") from?

I'm going to quote meridian_rose here, and say EVERYWHERE. Things people say, lines of dialogue or a particular phrase in a book, prompts, fic, character discussion, places - as in, outside under a tree, on the beach, in the attic, etc - anything. Sometimes it's even the old standby, ie, 'what's the worst thing I can do to character So-and-So?' (Although I usually back off of that a bit.)

Also, I ship a lot of rare and non-canon pairings and triads, which can lead to 'how can I possibly get character x and character y (maybe with an option on character z) together, in a way that's actually believable and interesting?'

Alternately, there's 'our heroes may have neatly sidestepped this particular issue, but what if reinforcements hadn't gotten there in time?' or 'What if So-and-So hadn't spotted that convenient plot point?'  (or 'what if So-and-So had spotted that convenient plot point much sooner, when it would actually have done some good?')

The oddest thing, though, is not when I'm working out the details of an idea or inspiration on purpose, but when something clicks in my head and then won't leave me alone. I think that experience is both one of the best and the most unsettling about being a writer. I keep thinking about the story until I write it (and I don't always get it right the first time), and I'm all distracted and out of touch with everything else. But those are the best stories, I think - the ones that demand to be written.

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16 – Summaries – Do you like them or hate them? How do you come up with them, if you use them?

I think the summary is one of the most important things the author does, after the fic itself of course. It can give the tone for the story, as well as being a kind of unofficial way to warn for content or genre - in the mood for Richard/Nicci fluff? Cara angst? Look no further!

The hard part about summaries is giving just enough away to get a reader's attention, without spoiling the plot of the story. I find it helps to pick a line, often of dialogue, and use that instead of 'read more...' as a sort of supplement to the summary.

17 – Titles – Are they the bane of your existence, or the easiest part of the fic? Also, if you do chaptered fic, do you give each chapter a title, or not?

I wouldn't go so far as to say titles are the easiest part of the fic for me, but I always use them, including for chapters of a longer story. Like the summary, the title helps frame the story, letting the reader know which things are important. I often base titles on song lyrics or quotes I find interesting or profound, to present the main dilemma of the story. (I get a lot of these from Lois McMaster Bujold's books, which I strongly recommend, especially the whole Vorkosigan series.)

It can be fun to set up a classic saying, like 'what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger' or even, say, a book quote, 'enemies are the price of honor' and see where it takes the characters, whether or not they agree...

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13 – Do you prefer canon or fanon when you write? Has writing fanfic for a fandom changed the way you see some or even all of the original source material?

There are some fanon things that just make sense to me, from fun stuff like how Richard rescues kittens and Darken cleans dishes by magic, to more serious things about the political structure of D'Hara and the Mord'Sith. It's hard not to create your own fanon details when writing, and I try to keep mine reasonably consistent; and our discussions at PP lead to certain hive mind type ideas and conclusions.

When I feel like I can't get a good picture of the characters or the situation in a particular story, though, I do go back to canon, and sometimes that helps keep everyone in character.

Writing has definitely changed my inner vision of both LotS and Harry Potter, I think - but mostly it's just clarified what my intuition already told me. It's rare for my entire opinion of a character to change.


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