#walsibeth

Just so you all understand the depths of my procrastination/executive dysfunction/whatever... This WIP is over 2 years old. Thought I'd add a bit more today. Maybe I'll finish it before I die.

Some pix of Geoffrey Rush with Cate Blanchett on the “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” promo trail... They’re both gorgeous.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?:

Seven. Not enough.

(Guys there's no number 2 in this thing, where did it go??)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

At present, ReBoot and sometimes I drop back into Elizabeth (1998). I was much more of a fanfic slut in my youth, multiple fandoms on the go. (I've done Power Rangers, Doctor Who, Star Wars, Disney's Hercules...)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Dodge and Burn (ReBoot)

Road to Ruin (ReBoot)

Mea Culpa (Elizabeth 1998)

Inconcessus fructus (Elizabeth 1998)

Dodge and Burn: Chapter 11.5 - Optional Add-on (ReBoot)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes. It's something I've always done. I think it stems from the early days of Fanfic.net and Live Journal where many people were more generous with their time and left lots of comments and engaged in discourse, whereas now I get very little feedback. I enjoy thanking people or answering questions, it makes the work put into a fic feel worthwhile that it's created some kind of engagement. I think society now is more geared to comsuming but not reflecting which is a shame.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I'm hoping "Dodge and Burn" will fill that gap. I'm not sure Mea Culpa or Incon' were angsty? They had angst but I think the ending tied up ok.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

What's a happy ending? I don't think I've written a happy ending for years. Maybe back in my Doctor Who days.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not any more. I wrote a Star Wars fic a good 20 years ago which to be fair was terrible and featured lots of unnecessarily cruel tropes but it got a lot of love at the time, until quite some years after, someone randomly began reviewing every chapter and bombing it. I don't know why they kept wasting their time on something they really didn't like, I guess people enjoy dumping on others. I just turned off the notifications, it was wirtten too long ago for me to care. I've grown since then. I don't get hate any more really, my fics are super niche rarepairs in minority fandoms, I don't get many readers. You're either into it or you've never heard of it.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes. It's pretty tame overall, I try to focus on emotion rather than action. I seem to enjoy writing some sub/dom elements - not proper BDSM but there's certainly power play in my smut. It's a battlefield more than a bedroom.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I've touched on crossovers but they're such hard work and really only appeal to me rather than a wider audience as I fix on really weird-ass combinations. I've never finished a crossover fic. I started a Lion King/Discworld one many years ago. Recently I had fun with Elizabeth (1998)/Attack on Titan. I wrote some snippets and am determined it could work if I put my mind to it but yeah, way too niche.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I doubt it. I have this low key - not fear, perhaps curiosity - that things I wrote years ago might have been repackaged and recirculated and I'd have no idea because I've lost touch with so any fandoms.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? 

No. I'm too much of a control freak to want to share a fic.

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

I can't choose one. I love, love, love Elizabeth/Walsingham (Walsibeth) from the Elizabeth movie as it just means so much to me, and it's been with me a long time. And I feel like it's almost exclusively mine, I've read very few other fics of that pairing before I started writing it in the mid 2000s.

Megabyte and Dot from ReBoot are my current obsession and again that pairing is something I've liked for a long time. They're so much fun to write, at constant battle with each other. I think I'm better at writing them now that I'm older as I can tap into life experience and not just ride on my youthful hormones.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I rarely finish anything tbh. I will say Dodge and Burn, i desperately want to finish it but my legacy does not bode well for it.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Sexual tension I think? Maybe.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I have been overly descriptive in the past and spoon fed the reader with the character's thoughts and motivations. I'm trying to peel back from that and show rather than tell. There will definitely be other weaknesses. I feel like I focus too much on dialogue but I love writing dialogue. I hate writing battles or heavy action scenes, I need to focus on building my skills in that area.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I'm not a linguist so I wouldn't dare.

19. First fandom you wrote for? 

If we're talking pre-internet childhood, maybe Power Rangers?

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

I do love Dodge and Burn which I'm currently working on, it's a lot of fun, but I remain proud of Inconcessus fructus that I wrote in the mid-2000s, I actually think it's one of my best pieces of writing and I fear I peaked back then.

Fuck it, I decided to finish “Mea Culpa”! All the chapters were just sat there waiting for a read-through and tweak so I did it. I cannot believe I actually finished a fic. (I am also embarassed that I started this in 2007 or something and I have only just completed it. I am soooo sorry.)

So that’s it for Walsibeth for a while. I’m sure I’ll come back to it at some point though who knows how I’ll attack it. The coffee shop trope is probably the next viable option! ^^; (I also have doodles and snippets of a crazy Attack on Titan crossover but yeah, maybe too out there...)

Sketching my babies. <3 Wals and his Queen. Dream team.

“So embrace the darkness And I will help you see That you can be limitless And fearless If you follow me. We are the lions In a world of lambs We are the predators, the hunters”

Just taking some TGA screencaps, not edited any yet, but wow, Wals is fuming in this scene. That last shot. Fuck me. Not impressed. Nothing but his eyes move in the entire scene.

I am pretty sure I wrote a Walsibeth one-shot fic about this years ago where he and the Queen have a lovely tiff later on. Time to find it.