First off, I don't really know why I'm doing this meme. I'm not a writer, I have never considered myself a writer, and no doubt I'll have no interesting answer to half these questons. But for some reason I felt like trying anyway. *shrug*
1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you've worked with and why.Well... the only one that's really noteworthy is Flaky Pastry. Anyway it would be hard for me not to like it, as it recycles some of my favourite characters, plot elements and whole STORYLINES from previous universes/projects of mine that never went anywhere. Incidentally, it's also the only one that ever DID go anywhere, and that is a good reason to like it.
2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females?Gajillions. I love creating characters. It's how I get my kicks, yo. Drawing them, mostly, but thinking of names and personalities and backgrounds too. I tend to favour female characters more, for various reasons. They have a wider range of possibilities, for their personality, occupation and skill set, as well as their visual design. Women can do nearly anything a man can. But often men WILL NOT do stricly "woman" things. Also women are hotter. Trufax.
3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you're writing about fictional places)?A variety of means. My favourite would have to be stealth puns. Names that sound like normal names, but are actually saying something about the character. Like Sand Orchard. (note to self: do something with that character) Sometimes I will just string together syllables that sound good to my ears - nearly all my elves are named this way. The whole babynames sites thing happens sometimes too, but not that often.
4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!One of the ffffiiiiirst.... hmmm..... ah, yes. There were these two guys (avatars of me and a friend) who were like building a machine (with no explained purpose), and when they turned it on, they got zapped and became superheroes somehow. What powers did they have? don't know. They were superheroes, and that was it. And they fought villains who were villains and that was it. Motivation? What's that? I was in early elementary school at that point. I regrettably have no idea where the comic of that is anymore. Yeah, there was a comic. Tell you what. If I find it, I will share.
5. By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about "youngest"?Hmm... all of my characters were children at one point, right? so they're all the youngest. For characters specifically envisioned AS children I guess uh... I guess there's Jimmu who's around 8-12 depending, Aiko who started out 10... and various artificial beings whose ages aren't counted like ours. Oldest, uh. Immortals don't really count - not that Marelle is very old. Zintiel's dad is around 500 if memory serves - but he's an elf. Likewise, future Zintiel is nearing 600. I have a few actual old men, too, but none have definitive ages. "Youngest" would be McInrow, which I've been trying to set up as a protagonist in my mind lately. Well, techincally I've created Mesher, Mesher's love interest, and Ochre since then, but they're not -really- as developed, and I'm still working on McInrow, so none are really completely "created".
6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol' pen and paper?Never. I'm never comfortable writing. Thinking up characters, interactions, events, stories, is fun. Writing them down is a chore, albeit an inevitable and important one, generating huge amounts of performance anxiety. So I do it whenever I have to - typically on the computer. I only write on paper when it is handier, like when my sketchbook is right in front of me, or when I wake up from an inspiring dream - which hasn't happened in a while... and I don't actually have the notebook next to my bed anymore. Hmmm...
7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?I don't have any specific "writing music" or really any other situational music. I have a huge playlist set on random, and if a song comes up I don't feel listening to, I skip it. Otherwise everything goes. I have a hard time defining my musical tastes, they are eclectic and uh... I don't know much about music. Staples of my huge playlist include: video game soundtracks, Weird Al, TV themes, anything I happened to hear once and liked (ranging from Michael Jackson to Queen to Alestorm to Frank Sinatra) ... I also don't associate songs with characters very much.
8. What's your favorite genre to write? To read?Sci-fi/fantasy/comedy, mixed with slice-of-life, action, romance and drama. SURPRISE, that is the Flaky Pastry genre.
9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.There is no single way I do this. Sometimes I start with a cast concept, like "pirates" or "space opera" or "horror-themed dating game" and start mixing and matching archetypes until I get interesting ideas. Sometimes I hear or come up with a name, and it flows from there. Sometimes a character is created to fill a particular role in relation to an existing character. Sometimes I use random generators. Sometimes I draw randomly and end up coming up with a character based on the drawing. Occasionally I get inspired by dreams. I've been curious about the idea of fan characters lately. Anything and everything is a good excuse to create a character.
10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in?Well one time, this chick broke into her neighbour's apartment to borrow his stapler, but ended up pushing a button on a weird machine that sent her into what appeared to be 400+ years into the future. There not only were her two hot hetero female room mates still alive, they were married. To each other. Then giant robots attacked.
11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite?All of them. (on both counts)
12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of world building?I haven't done any actual world building in forever. I used to, I used to. Now I just leave worlds as undefined as possible, as defined as necessary. Leaves room for anything to happen. Still, maybe I should give it a try again someday.
13. What's your favorite culture to write, fictional or not?Generic North American? I don't have the presumption to think I could render accurately any real-world culture I don't belong to, at least not without a lot of research I can't be bothered with. This leaves imaginary cultures, which I'm more comfortable with, but see above about world building.
14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us?Wait... what does this have to do with writing?
I love maps. But, again, I haven't done any in a long time. My preference goes to fun, holistic maps with pseudo-perspective and drawn-in characters or buildings or trees/mountains etc. Y'know... the kind that are annoying to make. I guess I have one example around here somewhere...
here:
...ooh, sketchy
15. Mid way question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!I like Terry Pratchett. He's often funny, and even when he's not, he has a knack for making fun of things. I also enjoy Roger Zelazny. His Chronicles of Amber continue to inspire me. Lords of Light was interesting too. I might have to look more into this Neal Stephenson guy after enjoying the hell out of Snow Crash.
16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how "far" are you willing to go in your writing?I sometimes write romantic relationships. I think they're interesting. I don't know how good I am at writing them. I'm guessing "far" means sex. I generally aim for a broad audience, so not very "far".
17. Favorite protagonist and why!All of them, because.
18. Favorite antagonist and why!Aiko's daaaaaaaaaad.
How can you not love an honest-to-goodness, no-holds-barred, certifiable nutjob?
19. Favorite minor that decided to shove him self into the spotlight and why!I have high hopes for Arlen, but he's totally not there yet. I suppose Kurt has taken up a lot of room from his humble beginnings. Lots of people like him. I don't hate him (no matter how it must seem sometimes).
20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?Nothing comes to mind. Any combination of characters has potential to yield fun interactions. Uh... maybe Zintiel and sister Mona?
21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?What kind of question is "how well do you write them"? I don't think I'm qualified to judge.
Incidentally, all my characters with children have grown-up children and thus probably do not count.
22. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story—from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?Complete? What?
23. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What's the most interesting way you've killed someone?Not super willing. I tend towards lighter fare, so death would kinda break the mood, most of the time. I also like to keep characters alive for later use. I might do a temporary death someday. Those are fun (when not overused).
24. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.Intelligent/talking creatures don't count as pets. Hmm... I think some of my more obscure characters have pets, but I can't think of any right now.
25. Let's talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Do I ever do anything else?
Others occasionally draw my characters as well. I am always grateful and enjoy greatly! Which is to say it makes me giddy like a piglet at the all-you-can-eat salad bar.
26. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.Remember how I said I wasn't a writer? Yeah.
27. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there's nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.Fantasy? Sci-fi? Various characters have prosthetic limbs and such. doesn't count for much.
Any exaggerated personality quirk is a form of mental disability... Morgana has ridiculously low self-esteem. Nitrine has ridiculously high self-esteem. Zintiel is... Zintiel. The biggest mental disability among my characters is probably Prism, who is a robot.
28. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!WELL. I read through this meme like four times from various people on my watch list, and NONE OF THEM TAGGED ME! Why! For shame! What am I, chopped liver?
...oh write. Not a righter and all that.
...also not known for memefilling!
Also I might not have even done this meme in the first place if I had felt pressured by someone tagging me!
etc. etc. etc.
Now YOU do it. Yes, you! Precisely because I -didn't- tag you, and thus there is no pressure.
_________
Visit:
Flaky Pastry - My weekly webcomic!
Jogging - My not-quite-daily sketchblog!
Also ask questions on
FormSpringCommissions: No.
Art Trades: If I devwatch you, chances are YES. Otherwise no.
Update #2: There, the other five slots are filled! Now I just need to draw all this.
There are five slots open to anyone, on a first-come first-serve basis, so long as you jump through the hoops. 
's half of it is done 
says so. And I think she's right.
:thumb139891122:
!
's webcomic Go Get A Roomie. Well, the fanclub for it is holding A CONTEST! With prizes! *batlesbo also handing out sketches if you contribute financially to the cause of her Kim Possible femslash fancomic.
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