maygra | A few more poll answers (Reply)

1. Mythic/spiritual underpinnings/aspects are a theme in your writing -- can you expand on that in light of focusing more on Obi-Wan than Qui-Gon, But Methos more than Duncan? (I really hope that makes sense!)

Wow. That's an interesting way to look at it, since I don't necessarily think about myth/spirituality directly in terms of character. I mean, in both TPM and HL there's a certain amount of myth built into the universes, and if you think of the Force as both quasi religion as well as a way of life, it's hard to separate the characters from that. I think that in TPM, it could be viewed the Qui Gon has come to accept that way of life and Obi Wan is still questioning it, or learning it, and in HL, I think Duncan is the one looking for both meaning and way through his own mortality, and in some ways looks to Methos to help explain it to him. But Methos is no Qui Gon and I don't think he actually looks for any significant meaning, or has accepted that the whole point is to keep going until there's no place left to go.

Obi Wan, though -- at least in TPM -- seems to accept that there is a right way and a wrong way, but when we meet him TPM, I'd be hard pressed to actually be able to define why this is what he chose, or the way he chose. (I didn't see the movies that followed except in bits and pieces so, if there was any delving into Obi Wan's past, I missed it.)

I think in a very practical sense a lot of the mythic/spiritual explorations I do, are very much a kind of author self-insertion. I don't do it in character sense, but I tend to think of the questions as, if not universal, at least common enough to interest people other than myself.

I'm kind of sure that didn't answer your question -- so if you want to rephrase them, I'd be happy to take another shot at them.

2. Will you ever go back and write in a fandom you've left (like HL or Mag7)?

I never say never, but thus far it's been the rare one-off or crossover that takes me back to a fandom I've left. However, there are a few things left in Mag7 that I still would like to see finished, I've just got no drive and no time frame. And as much as I'd like to go back to HL and finish a couple of things, I really don't see that happening. I don't hear those voices as clearly any longer.

3. What is the worst piece of fan fiction you've ever read? What fandom?

I honestly could not tell you, because I tend to decide rather quickly if a story I'm reading hits my threshhold for bad, and I stop ready and then I forget. But I can also honestly say that there isn't a single fandom that I've ever read (Even if I wasn't writing in it) that didn't have it's share of badfic. I can also say that badfic really comes with a lot of different flavors for me. Some of it may be really well written but with themes or ideas that I dislike, and some if is just technically bad. Either way, time's too short to read it, and my memory is too short to remember it.

The poll is here: http://maygra.livejournal.com/358266.html

You can also ask anonymous questions in the comments if you prefer. They'll be screened until I respond, but they will be anonymous.