Dianora, my OC, was a smart bookworm in high school, even helping other students into tutoring. One fella, from a prominent family of the Auditores, is a bit of a ladies' man and Dianora knows he is that way. Forced to be tutored, he studied with her, making an effort to help him out, but both are too distracted for each other, Dianora doesn't want to get with him because of his reputation, and Ezio because she, unlike his conquests, she is different and doesn't deserve him. Eventually they do fall for each other. 😁
Kind of wanna throw some academic love trope into these two. 😊
There!
Pinch
THOSE TWO, I SWEAR TO ALL THE GODS.
MY BABIES. MY BABIES RIGHT THERE.
(AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN "EZIO THINKS DIANORA DOESN'T DESERVE HIM????"*picks up a baton* Tell me where Messer Auditore, I need to talk to him. Italian to Italian. Very amicably. There will absolutely be no violence involved. Torco il collo a Ezio se si azzarda a dire un'altra castronata come questa.)
BRING ON THE ACADEMIC LOVE TROPE, WE LOVE TO SEE IT. <3
AND IF IT'S SET IN LOVELY FIRENZE, EVEN BETTER! <3
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I had been posting old fic author interviews from Chronicle X on here and totally got sidetracked by XF revival news and forgot to keep going. Oops, So, let’s get back to it today.
Dianora wrote some really popular NC-17 fic, back in the day, and her Portions of Eternity is a favorite post-colonization story for me. Here is her interview. My standard reminder applies -- this interview was sometime between 1998 and late 2000. Author’s personal circumstances, show and fanfic opinions may and likely have changed from the time in question.
Q: Tell us something about yourself, Dianora.
A: I'm one of those stereotypical neurotic single urban professional women -- think Ally McBeal with a New York attitude and a trendier wardrobe, although more often than not my life resembles a "Seinfeld" episode. I'm a native New Yorker in my mid-20s, slaving away as an assistant editor in the wacky world of publishing. I have a very vocal cat named Miss Parker who gets the benefit of the infinitesimal maternal instinct I possess and a great group of friends who miraculously continue to put up with me.
Oh, and my first published story will be appearing in an anthology called "Legends of the X-Men," from Boulevard/Berkley, in December 1999. Check your bookstores!
Q: Have you always written fiction or did TXF inspire you to try story-telling?
A: I've written fiction for as long as I can remember. We used to get these assignments in grammar school to write short stories, and I always loved doing them. I came across one recently while cleaning out my closet and almost died laughing. It was a story about two girls getting stranded on a desert island, and instead of trying to get off the island, they decided to build a hotel/resort on the island instead. The story neglected to mention just how they managed to accomplish such a feat all by themselves.
I also used to write puppet shows in 4th and 5th grade, and my friends and I would perform them for the first graders. I swear, I am not making this up. How could I? Then in junior high a friend and I tried our hands at writing a novel. We'd each write a chapter and then mail it to the other person. It was about the trials and tribulations of young studs and studettes at a modeling agency -- in other words, "The Bold and the Beautiful" ripped us off. I continued to write, mostly for myself, in high school, and then I minored in Creative Writing in college.
Q: When you aren't writing fanfic or watching TXF, what do you enjoy doing?
A: I spend a lot of time reading, both for work and for pleasure, and of course, I spend entirely too much time online. I also love shopping, hanging out in bars, video games, eating out, dancing, traveling, and watching entirely too much TV. Favorite shows include "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "The Pretender," "Ally McBeal," "Sports Night," "Dawson's Creek," and the late, lamented "Cupid." I'm also a Food Network junkie and I've been watching "General Hospital" for almost 20 years now. I also make XF music videos with my bud MD1016, a labor of love that requires perseverance, hard work, a mental catalog of every USTy moment M&S have ever shared, and copious amounts of ice cream and booze -- although not necessarily all at the same time.
Q: What about the show moved you to write X-Files fanfic?
A: The characters, definitely. Mulder and Scully are the only reason I watch the show at this point, although that wasn't the case initially. Then again, it wasn't so much the show that moved me to write fanfic as it was the existence of fanfic itself. I'd written fanfic for myself before, for "Star Wars" and "Robotech," but didn't realize such a thing even existed -- I thought I was the only freak. BOY was I wrong! Finding the XF fanfic world was nothing short of a revelation for me.
Q: If you could change one thing about the show, what would it be?
A: Just ONE thing? Hoo boy. My dissatisfaction with Chris Carter is legendary among those who know me. Umm, this may be predictable, but it would be for Mulder and Scully to at the very least address the issue of a physical relationship. I find the lack of progress there incredibly frustrating in terms of characterization. And I am one of those Shippers who =does= want them to become romantically involved on the show, =now.= If I had my way they would start up a physical relationship but be forced to hide it from their superiors, thus providing us with even MORE tension, angst, and longing glances, but also peppered with the occasional furtive clinch. That is my dream.
Q: How would you classify your work?
A: Relationship-focused fic with a cynical edge to it, I guess. MSR, but not necessarily the hearts-and-flowers kind. Karen Rasch once described my XF/SW fic as "stories about strong women and the men who love them," and that made my toes curl in pleasure.
Q: What is your take on the Mulder/Scully dynamic?
A: Oy vey. Well, I know whatever I say on this subject won't be particularly original or eloquent. Suffice it to say that I think Mulder and Scully love each other, complete each other, complement each other, are in love with each other, and are hopelessly dependent upon each other, and not necessarily in a good way. They love each other but are both too emotionally stunted to really grasp what that means for themselves and for each other. Which is sad and pathetic, but makes for good fic.
Q: Tell us some of the circumstances behind the writing of your first piece of fanfic.
A: I think it came from reading fanfic for the first time and thinking, "Hey, I can do this!" I wanted to join the party, and I was eager to try my skills at writing smut. "Wine" was my first story, and ironically I never planned on continuing that particular universe. But I got so many requests to continue it, that I caved. I was honestly shocked to get as many letters as I did. Hell, it still shocks me.
Q: What was the first XF fanfic you read?
A: I remember it well: "The Psychic" by Kelli Rocherolle, a nice, short, USTy piece. I think my jaw hit the floor when I realized that she was portraying Mulder and Scully as being sexually attracted to each other! (You can imagine my reaction when I read my first NC17 fic, although I don't remember what it was, exactly. I think it was by either Sheryl Martin or Sheryl Clay.) This was during the summer between the second and third seasons and I had not yet become a Shipper. Looking back, I'm stunned that I didn't convert earlier.
Q: Where do you get your ideas?
A: Anywhere I can. I'm not sure I can give a more specific answer than that. It could be a scene on the show that inspires me, or a conversation with someone, or a song, or a picture, or just a fleeting image in my feverish imagination. Many of my stories were written because a certain visual took hold in my head and I had to write it down to get it out of there -- "L'eau Bon" is a good example of that. I also make no bones about using other sources for inspiration -- "Portions of Eternity" draws on Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," the "V" miniseries, and "Star Wars," for example, to name a few.
Q: Do you start with a single idea and build from there or do you have the whole story mapped out when you start?
A: Mapped out? Hahahahahahahahahahaha...... I'm definitely of the single idea variety. As I said earlier, I'll often have this one visual I need to write down, and then everything blossoms from there. Or I'll have a core idea of what I want to write -- for example, Scully goes on a date with Agent Brophy from "Pusher" -- and then I'll just start writing and see what happens. However, with something longer, I will eventually sketch out some sort of an outline -- "Divided We Fall" and "Portions" required outlines to get finished.
Q: Do you have any kind of rituals you follow when writing?
A: I'm something of a creature of habit when it comes to my writing -- for example, I write best in 10 point Times New Roman. Don't ask me why, it's an odd thing I prefer not to examine too closely. Generally my ritual is that I'll write a first draft on the computer, and then print it out and mark it up in red pen. Then I'll key in the corrections, print it out again, and mark it up with red pen again. A standard story goes through this process about three times. (Me? An editor?) I also hate showing people my work if it's not a final draft, which is why I'll never write a WIP. Heh heh.
Q: Describe for us the actual physical area you work in, Dianora.
A: Well, I live in Manhattan, which means I live in a small apartment with a roommate. My computer and TV are both in my bedroom, so that's where I spend pretty much all of my time at home. I have this gorgeous computer desk which is one of the only items of "real" furniture that I own. It looks like a cross between a computer desk and a baker's rack, in blonde wood and matte silver. It's covered with clutter -- right now I'm looking at a Stonehenge snow globe, Star Wars action figures, scented candles, the mousepad that Gillian Anderson autographed when it was featured on "The View," and about a million scraps of paper. I also have a little nameplate that MD1016 made up for me that says "Dia-fucking-nora." I'm a very visually-oriented person and as such my room is covered in pictures and artwork -- XF stuff, Star Wars stuff, Renaissance art, pagan-influenced art, and lithographs of paintings that were done for fantasy novel covers (artists like Michael Whelan, Tom Canty, etc.). My room is as eclectic as my personality.
Q: Do you listen to a particular type of music when you write?
A: I generally don't listen to music when I write, because I find it distracting. On the rare occasions I do have music on when I'm writing it's invariably the Indigo Girls or Garbage.
Q: How do you deal with writer's block?
A: I deal with it in a variety of ways. Sometimes I'll leave whatever I'm working on and try something else, or I'll write some smut to clear out my head. "Six-Letter Word for Sex" was a result of my being blocked on "Portions of Eternity," and "Wine 9" was from my being blocked on the aforementioned X-Men story. Sometimes I'll send what I do have to a friend and ask for help with brainstorming. Sometimes I'll just force myself to keep writing in the hopes that something will start clicking. Sometimes I just stop writing for a while all together. And sometimes I curl up into a little ball and whimper.
Q: How important is feedback to you?
A: It's important to me because while I *write* for myself, I *post* my fic in the hopes that it will entertain others. So I love to know if that's working. I used to get into these epic struggles with my creative writing professors in college because they wanted me to write deep and meaningful literary pieces, and I just wanted to write stories that would entertain people. One professor told me she could see my stories selling in supermarkets or to magazines like Cosmo, and instead of being insulted I thanked her.
Q: Who are some of your favorite fanfic authors? And which are some of your favorite pieces of X-Files fanfic?
A: This is a tough question, especially since I don't read as much fanfic as I'd like and much of what I have read has probably been forgotten forever. Okay, let's see: MD1016, Nicole Perry, Karen Rasch, Amy Vincent, Kipler, Madeleine Partous, Jane Mortimer, the woman now known as Suricata, Blueswirl, Windsinger, Dasha K, Plausible Deniability, Meredith, Terma99, RivkaT, Lacadiva, Dynojet, and a bunch of other people I'm sure I'm forgetting. But you asked and I can only remember so much at one time, what do you want from my life? Authors who I miss terribly are Sheryl Clay, Jennifer Lyon, Peggy Li, Nicola Simpson, Steph Davies, and Lucinda Brown. Are any of you reading this? Hello?
Favorite stories include =anything= by Nicole Perry, "The Magician" by Lyon & Bickerstaffe, Dasha's "Nightclub" stories and "Frozen," MD1016's "Rarity of the Human Connection..." and "Broken," "Gilead" and "White Roses" by Amy Vincent, Kipler's "X-Files Story," which is one of the funniest things I've ever read, Windsinger's Revelations series and "All Hallow's Eve," Karen Rasch's Wonderland series, "Out of the Woods" by Peggy Li (the definitive XF/Twin Peaks crossover), "The Sineater" by Jane Mortimer, Michaela's "Grace Realized," "A Show of Strength" by Meredith, "Opposite Poles" by Rory Cottrell, "The Sound of Windchimes" by Sarah Stegall, Kelli Rocherolle's Spell series, and Madeleine Partous' Puppets Trilogy. Those are the ones that occur to me off the top of my head, anyway.
Q: Which is your favorite of your own work?
A: "Portions of Eternity." I worked harder on that than on anything else I've ever written. Other personal favorites are "Divided We Fall" and "Shot Through the Heart." And "Sal From 4C," which I co-wrote with MD1016. The two of us think we're hilarious, but are always amazed when someone else thinks so, too. One of the other stories I'm most proud of is a "Star Wars" story, "Ghosts."
Q: Now what about your favorite character, or the character you relate to most strongly?
A: I guess that would have to be Scully, as I identify with her bitchiness and impatience with stupidity, not to mention that Catholic upbringing. I'm more at home playing around in her head. Mulder presents more of a challenge. "Divided Soul" is the only first person Mulder POV story I've written, and it was really difficult for me. And when I'm watching the show I take Scully's side nine times out of ten. There is always that tenth time, though!
Q: What's the biggest problem you encounter when writing? How do you go about solving it?
A: Oh, my biggest problem can be summed up with a four-letter word: PLOT. I generally go about solving it by not writing any, ha ha. Seriously, there's no magic way to solve something like that. You just have to work at it, and work at it, and work at it. Writing is first and foremost a craft, one that has to be refined and honed like any other. There are no easy fixes. Unfortunately.
Q: What is/are the most significant thing(s) you've gained from participating in the world of X-Files fanfic?
A: The joy of rediscovering writing, as I'd let it fall by the wayside after college. The visible improvement in my writing since I started -- some of my early stories are just wretched, but I consider them badges of honor for the improvement they represent. The great stories I've had the pleasure of reading. And, of course, the wonderful friends that I've made -- that's the most significant thing, certainly.
Q: Do your family and friends know about your fanfics? What are their reactions?
A: My family and most of my friends know that I write fanfic. Some of my friends read my fic, others just think I'm a freak -- not that this is unusual. My family knows I write fanfic but they don't know what kind of fanfic, i.e. the NC17 stuff. They've never read any of my stuff, and I intend to keep it that way. My family tends to think I'm wasting my time writing stories I'll never get paid for, and my friends look upon it with bemused/exasperated tolerance.
Q: What encouragement or advice would you give newbie XF fanfic writers?
A: Don't be afraid to post your work -- I'm always shocked when I get a letter from someone saying, "I wrote a story, but I'm afraid to post it because I don't think it's any good." This is not the New York Times Bestseller list we're talking about. It's fanfic! And whatever fanfic you write is just as valid as the fanfic by authors that you love. We're all writing for the same reason: out of love for this show. So go for it! You'll be amazed at the sense of accomplishment you feel. Just run a spell check and grammar check first, okay?
My other piece of advice is: the minute you stop having fun, is when you need to stop. If you're not writing fanfic for the love and the fun of it, you're doing something wrong. Take a step back, divorce yourself from the net for a little while, go read a book or hang out with friends. Buy new shoes -- that always works for me. Then come back when you're ready to have fun again. It'll do wonders for your stress levels.
