Tell your Master I no longer serve him.

Day 1, 2, 3

4 – Do you have a "muse" character, that speaks to you more than others, or that tries to push their way in, even when the fic isn't about them? Who are they, and why did that character became your muse?

This is a difficult question for me, because a lot of what I write isn't entirely consciously planned out - I don't do outlines, for example. I know where I want things to go, but sometimes the characters will take me the scenic route.

In general, main characters have a way of getting themselves mentioned. If I'm writing a fic about Cara set in or after season 2, I will almost certainly at least mention Richard and Kahlan.

But if the muse character is the one that makes you write, I suppose for me it's probably Kahlan. The first LotS story I wrote that I felt really strongly about was Lady Rahl, which was at least partly in response to all the Reckoning fic out there that focused on how horrible things were for Kahlan, how she'd rather die than let Darken Rahl touch her, but she had no choice, because it was for Richard, etc. Even if that was her initial position, I find it hard to believe that having a child with someone wouldn't change one's opinion of them, that one's emotional state would remain exactly the same for twelve years, and that the worst part of Reckoning for Kahlan was sleeping with Darken Rahl, instead of, say, losing Richard or living in fear of her own son.

(Since then, of course, I've read much better Reckoning fic that focuses on some of these issues - Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth by brontefanatic, Hide your face so the world will never find you by ivanolix, and Until You Invite Me by dorothydeath, for example.)

So I think Kahlan is my muse character because she makes choices, such as her plan to sacrifice her own child in Reckoning, which I don't agree with, and I try to figure out why she makes such choices; because she is often faced with pretty serious moral dilemmas; and because she says confidently things which absolutely can't be true (Zedd says he'd only ever seen the good in Richard, to which Kahlan replies, "There is only good in him," for example), and I want her to realize her own hypocrisy.

Hence, Kahlan does sometimes end up even in fics that aren't really about her...and the pairing Darken/Kahlan sneaks up on me, too. (I seriously didn't see that coming in Destiny Swap :D)

5 –If you have ever had a character try to push their way into a fic, whether your "muse" or not, what did you do about it?

I let the story go where it wants to go. And I hope it ends up making sense :D

( rest of the days )