#random fic asks

weirdest has to be a tie between kara building a yeti costume or participating in competitive hobby horsing i think

I love how your characterize Kat, and I was wondering if you’d mind answering: What traits do you look to emphasize and which (if any) do you purposefully de-emphasize when you write Kat — in any particular story or in general?

First of all, thank you for the ask! I was of course excited to get it because I will take every opportunity to talk about our girl, but this one provided a most welcome, and necessary, distraction yesterday as I thought about how I characterize Cornwell versus her characterization in canon. I find her a wonderful challenge to write (for a variety of reasons), so I’m of course delighted that you enjoy my portrayal of her.

So. Traits I emphasize. This of course depends on the story and the mood I’m going for, but:

Her sense of humor. I love her dry, sarcastic sense of humor and have talked before about why I believe it works so well in an era of Hollywood overrun with sarcastic FCs.

Everything in that moment when Lorca puts his hand on her knee and she blushes and looks away. Cornwell is strong and smart and brave and commanding and etc etc, but she’s got this softer side that I love to explore, and I don’t mean her empathy. There’s an uncertainty to her, I think a desire to be seen and wanted as a woman, as more than a commander, and I think it plays into why she’s so hurt when she realizes Lorca was using sex as a distraction. I love exploring that crack in her self-confidence.

And, of course, her unique combination of patience, empathy, and exasperation. This is where Cornwell truly teaches me something every time I wrote her as I mostly relate to her characteristic eye roll. But I love exploring her background as a therapist, why she chose that field, and what made her switch to command. I love playing up her perception and her ability to analyze people that would come from that background. And I really love finding the point where her characteristic patience runs out and she rolls her eyes in exasperation.

As for traits I de-emphasize…she’s a bit ruthless, isn’t she?

This is a woman who was able to commit genocide and writes off the dark side of nation building as “an unappetizing truth.” I did enjoy playing up this trait in a Mirrorverse fic, but as I tend to lean more towards angsty stories, I tend to downplay her savage streak and instead play up her resulting guilt. Do I think Canon Cornwell would have felt guilty about the hydro bomb had Georgiou used it? Yes. But I also believe she would have slept soundly in her bed surrounded by her justifications (“sometimes in war the terrible choice is the only choice.”).

ooo idk how i missed this coming in the other day

Thanks for the ask! I love this one. I wouldn't say it was necessarily weird, per se, but I did A LOT of research on the Montreal food scene for All the Best Parts. I love writing about food in fics, so that one was fun to write write.