The short answer:
Around 1998 and because I felt there was more to certain characters' stories besides what movies were showing. The long answer:
From 1998-2001 I was hired by the state to form an outreach program that combined classroom curriculum and the performing arts. There were supposed to be four teachers: Music, Drama, Dance, & Costumes/Make-up. I was one of the very first hired (betcha can't guess which one. No, seriously. Go on. Guess.) and I was specifically told by my boss NOT to do ANYTHING regarding planning until the other teachers were hired. So I found myself sitting at a desk in my very first private office with absolutely nothing to fill my days besides the occasional trip to the coffee shop and catching up on Elfquest comics at the library.
It dawns on me that I've always wondered what happens AFTER the end credits to Labyrinth. Sure, Sarah defeated the Goblin King and was sent home, but do I REALLY think that means the story is over? My brain takes hold of an idea about what their NEXT meeting might be like.
I start to type.
I feel like the biggest f*&king dork (mind you, I didn't know there was a word to describe what I was doing, and I never expected my story would be shared; who the H-E-double hockey sticks would I share it with?!?!) but still, I continue to type.
Fast forward a few years. I found the internet and this wonderful place called fanfiction.net where I realize for the first time: I am not alone. Labyrinth was my first fandom and X-Men my second. I haven't really expanded from there, but I do read Hermione/Snape IF its well done.
A LOT! Which is why, I'm sorry to say, I haven't been doing as much writing as I used to. I'm a stylist (I HATE HATE HATE the word 'beautician') and I manage a salon on a university campus. I'm working on becoming an advanced colorist; trying to take classes at both Vidal Sassoon in San Francisco (where I was born but do not now reside there) and the Matrix Global Academy in NYC. I also design and make costumes for local companies. I also write on three separate original works. I also volunteer at a coffee shop. I also love wine and wine collecting. I also travel about once a month to various locales; NYC, Philly, DC, London, India, Chicago, Detroit, LA, etc etc (no, really!) I also THIS and also THAT so much that its very hard to explain exactly what I DO do.
Ever look at something you haven't seen or read yet and known...KNOWN...that if you open that door and watch or read that one thing, a rabid fangirl would be born? I knew before I ever saw X-Men that I was going to go apeshit over it. I'd collected the comics and religiously taped the cartoon series that came out in 1992. I can't begin to explain why the X-Men franchise drew me in but there you have it. Then when the movie came out and I saw this unknown actor from Australia in tight jeans and no shirt and growling like he was born to play Wolverine? Words cannot describe. I think I shoved the fangirl into a cage and locked it tight for at least two years lest she do something embarrassing.
Wolverine & Rogue were the driving characters of the original X-Men movie. The on screen chemistry between Anna Paquin and Hugh Jackman leave their relationship open enough for the possibility of shipper fics. Everyone in this particular fandom agrees with that, I think its safe to say. I am attracted to the idea that they are both slightly damaged people with humungous mental and physical obstacles that bar them from living normal lives, and that through each other they can find salvation and love. (although sometimes the occasional "they destroy each other with their love" fics are a good read! Hee!!) It leads to some very very deep and pensive writing.
Its both similar and different. Any relationship in a book or a movie that grabs my attention and holds onto it for a sizeable amount of time always involves a pairing where there is a distinct age difference and the relationship is not clearly defined...but attraction is implied. Labyrinth: Jareth/Sarah. X-Men: Wolverine/Rogue. Harry Potter: Hermione/Snape. The Thorn Birds: Ralph/Meggie. Phantom of the Opera: Eric/Christine (now ask me why this is so. I'll give you a blush and a blank look; I truly have no idea.) (And my boyfriend is behind me watching Sex & the City and giggling. I think I'm disturbed) All these fandoms can be described as:
Older man, younger woman, the man watches over/protects/guides/educates the girl, some reason they can't be together (usually age, fear of becoming more than friends, dark pasts, angsty but not violent, etc etc)
I've only ever written for X-Men and Labyrinth. They both have the elements listed above. It is difficult, however, to work on a Labyrinth fic and an X-Men fic at the same time. Sarah and Marie get along fine but Jareth and Wolverine hate each other's guts. Its hard to move from the mind of a make-up and tights-wearing Goblin King to a manly man wifebeater-wearin' and beer drinkin' badass.
**In retrospect, after a good night's sleep, I'll acknowledge that writing X-Men stuff is slightly easier. A good chunk of the world is previously defined (assuming its not an AU fic); a character's past, the world they live in, what they're fighting for, who the bad guys are, etc etc...which is a relief at times.
After my job teaching, when I worked at The-Evil-Corporation-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named *coughGapcough* I was sitting in a cubicle in front of a computer that had internet access 40 hours out of the week. The work I needed to do only filled about half that time; pretty much 75% of my Labyrinth & X-Men fics were written while I was um *discreet cough* on the clock. So for about two years, it's safe to say I wrote about 30 hours a week. Now that I'm working as a stylist, I'm on my feet 8 hours a day cutting hair and chatting with no computer access and I find I'm only writing about...three or four hours a week. I just don't have the energy I used to, unfortunately. It sounds like an excuse as to why I don't update as much and, well...it is.
At LEAST ten hours. When I'm cutting someone's hair who is just a dud and will not talk, basically: Sax's mind wanders. A lot. Don't worry about the haircut being bad though; I can multitask like it's no one's business! I do all of the above; I brainstorm on a specific scene, then sketch out dialogue or in the case of my graphic novel, a specific panel, wait til I get home, and then flesh it out. I also have a fabulous group of girls from my Labyrinth fandom; we call each other on a regular basis and chit chat about this and that and whether our characters should do this or that, etc etc. In terms of my Wolverine/Rogue stories, I'm way more private; I only share them with my betas.
I'd have to say "100." I was watching Highlander and, as ALWAYS when the scene with the Queen song comes on while Connor is watching his wife Heather grow older, I cried like a baby. For the first time the connection was made: man who doesn't grow old in a relationship with a woman who does. Well, my muse took off running with that puppy and before I knew it I was standing in a cemetary watching a very awkward and unchanged Logan talking to a middle-aged and somber Marie. I normally write and read drawn out sexual tension fics that wind up with them together at the end, for some reason with '100' I felt like being a bitch and keeping them apart for a very long time.
GOD yes. I have a soundtrack for Wolverine and a soundtrack for Rogue. Certain songs are happy Logan and certain songs are tortured Wolverine. Same with Rogue; I have la dee da Marie songs, pensive Marie, badass Rogue, etc etc. Most of my stories have very specific soundtracks that inspired the fics and accompany certain parts.
Zombie came stomping into my life on the tail end of listening to Rob Zombie's "Living Dead Girl." I listened to the songs "100 Years" by Five for Fighting and "Who Wants to Live Forever?" by Queen and suddenly the fic 100 came spilling out of me. I was reading Ransom's "Deathwish" while listening to Rob Dougan's "You Left Me For Dead" and before I knew it I was writing the "Deathwish Remix". In Finding Normal, a vamped-up Rogue struts down the hallway to "Followed the Waves" by Melissa Auf der Mar.
Other good examples...let's see...let's see...
Well, when I want to write Tortured Wolverine, I can never go wrong with Nine Inch Nails. I mean, hello, songs like "Hurt" and "Ruiner" and "I Do Not Want This" and "Something I Can Never Have" and my all time favorite, "Somewhat Damaged"?? Even the song TITLES are perfect. Of course, sometimes I'm in the mood for a more optimistic Logan, and in those cases I take it down a notch or two with some old school and/or poofter rock: "For You" and "Unstoppable" and "Nothing's Changed At All" by The Calling... "Everything's Not Lost" by Coldplay... "Again" by Lenny Kravitz... "Bleed to Love Her" by Fleetwood Mac... "Die For You" by Alice Cooper... and yes...sometimes...Creed *hangs head in shame* Oh come on, if it was ALL angsty screaming, you guys would need a lot more Kleenex after reading my stories! Is it bad to admit I believe Wolverine listens to love ballads from the 70's and 80's? Oh yeah, he's a KISS fan. I sense it.
Marie's much more subtle and less embarrassing to list. "Can't Keep My Eyes Off You" and "Still Desire You" by Melanie Doane... "My Skin" by Natalie Merchant... "Naked" and "I'm With You" by Avril Lavigne (which...yeah, that's embarrassing to say. Very much so.) "Dying" by Hole... "Love and Affection" by Joan Armatrading... "Case of You" by Joni Mitchell... and, of COURSE, a whole slew of Sara McLaughlin songs: "Stupid" (which was made into a gorgeous video by LoganRogueShipper), "I Love You" and "Do What You Have To Do". BADASS Rogue is even MORE fun to listen to, she gets songs like "Wild" and "Can't Talk To a Psycho" by Poe, "Before I'm Dead" by Kidney Thieves (well, ANYTHING by Melissa Auf der Mar or the Kidney Thieves, really) And, when Marie's alone in her room, she falls asleep to Nina Simone.
At this point I'm officially rambling...so to make a long story short (too late!) Yes. All of my pieces have songs associated with them. Which means I'm a little ticked at ff.net for removing fics that contain song lyrics. Well, I'm ticked at them for cancelling my f*&king Saxonny account, but that's a whole 'nother story.
*sigh* I knew it. I knew this was gonna happen, especially since about half my posted fics here are kind of...umm...risque. *grin*
Where does one acquire the talent for being able to work the words 'dripping wetness' into a sentence and not blink an eye? Hm.
In MY specific case, its a combination of reading romance novels since I was twelve and having a mindblowing physical relationship with a guy who has my heart in his pocket.
It all started because of a dare; my friend FlyAway was clamoring for hot Labyrinth action and I kind of stepped up to the challenge and took that whole fandom into a realm of smutty goodness they had never seen before...which is why I was the reigning Queen of Smut in that world for a very long time. When I came to the Wolverine/Rogue world, I realized after I read Heather's "Embers" there was no f*&king way I could write PWP better than that, but I was so used to doing PWPs that I rattled a few off that weren't too shameful. However, I'm finding in BOTH fandoms that when I actually develop a story, the characters don't have such a strong urge to jump into the sack...which is why I abdicated from my smut throne in the Labyrinth world. No one in my stories was gettin' it on anymore.
You somehow have to conjure up all of the emotions that are involved when two people are sliding into home base and orchestrate them into a scene where they aren't allowed to ummm...succumb to their more primal urges. You have to then substitute something else in the place of the royal f*&king and in their case, its usually kicking the shit out of each other.
By the time I was finished writing their fight scenes in Finding Normal I needed a cigarette and a drink.
Huh. As I go back and look at all my PWPs I realize: I just ignored that whole issue. *munches on olive* And in all my regular stories, her skin and her inability to control it is dealt with in the plot. (well, most of them at least) I guess all I can say is: I like variety.
Awr! I get to talk about Zombie! That's so cool!
Actually...I never had to sit down and define Zombie. She walked into my life fully formed, with a history AND a future AFTER Living Dead Girl. I will say this: she's definitely an X-Man.
Never. Mary Sue's by definition are perfect and solve problems and everyone loves them and they're gorgeous and la la la la love me love me...Zombie is the exact opposite. She's not pretty. Guys are NOT falling for her, girls do NOT want to be her. She had a good experienced in LDG but she does NOT always get her happy ending. She's damaged goods...like a package of graham crackers that someone accidently rolled over and now the crackers are all broken so they're useless...except someone figured out that if you take the crumbs and work them into a pie crust they make a damn good pie.
That was the worst analogy ever. Sorry.
So, yah. The latter part of the question, about avoiding making her into a Mary Sue: it never came up.
What a fabulous. Fabulous question. I have known for years what I would want my power to be.
Kinda like Leech, who can touch someone and steal their powers for a short amount of time (also like Rogue, come to think of it) Only I wouldn't have to touch them, I could just be within a certain distance, and I would have the ability to tap into their powers. That way I can do EVERYTHING.
I hate reading them because I'm impatient but I pray to God my readers just LOOOOOOOVE WIPs. Because ah...I'm kinda infamous for em.
Actually, in all seriousness, I was operating on the assumption that if I was posting chapters and people were reading them, I'd be obligated to finish them (my Catholic guilt knows no bounds). But you know what happens when you assume, right?
Sax looks like an a$$hole.
There is no masochism toward my readers on my part, I swear. The only thing I can offer is: you're not the only ones pissed. I have a Labyrinth fic that hasn't been finished in over a year, and I have people ready to throw pitchforks my way over it. In terms of PROBLEMS, all I have to say is: ff.net s**ks. They deleted my "saxonny" account. Most likely due to the...intimate scenes...which is really sad because they were WAY watered down from the original versions. So now I'm back as "saxonnyRETURNS" and will only be posting my non-PWP fics there, as well as a clean version of Finding Normal (which, I swear to GOD I have the next chapter done on, it just needs re-vamping. Ever not worked on a story so long you lost your character's voices? Happened to me.)
The good news is: there's only three or four chapters left.
I usually write from Rogue's but I enjoy writing from Logan's the most. I tend to avoid him because his voice is the hardest for me to write; it is the most distinct. I'm always incredibly jealous of writers who can write a good Logan.
With Rogue I can be a little more generic and have it sound okay.
I never worked on her voice. She just showed up one day and I wrote down what she had to say. Why did I write LDG from Zombie's perspective? Because it was her story, really. Actually no, let me rephrase that. She showed up one day bouncing along to Rob Zombie's Living Dead Girl and being a wiseass and I thought: I have to write a story about her. I have to. Only...the only fandom I write X-Men stuff in is Wolverine/Rogue. I don't know anyone who reads X-Men outside of that. So how can I work this pale chick who won't leave me alone into a story that gets Wolverine & Rogue together? Plus, I'd never found a W/R story that was told from someone else's perspective, and I like exploring different aspects of telling the same event (them getting together)
I wrote that f*&ker in four days. It SPILLED out.
Rogue. Wolverine was easy; I knew he and Zombie were so alike they'd automatically give each other a hard time, which defined my Logan for me. Rogue...this was the sweetest LEAST angsty Rogue I had ever written, and for the first time I was writing her dialogue in a Southern dialect. I wasn't used to it, or to the semi-passive Rogue I created, however I really enjoyed where she ended up.
Well, I gave permission for others to use her if they wanted to, as long as they let me know beforehand. Me...I have a fully formed story in my head of what happens to this poor girl (and poor girl she is once I'm through with her)...only I'm not terribly sure I want to write it. It wouldn't be something I could share with the Wolverine/Rogue group because its not about THEM, and I just don't know who would want to read it. A part of me feels Zombie deserves more than that.
*a day and half a bottle of Cabernet later* Who am I kidding? I started writing scenes yesterday. I started at the end of the tale and was bawling in less than five minutes. I seriously doubt it will get written in full, and if it does and I post it, I seriously doubt it will receive a huge following. But...c'est le vie.
Those are some of my favorite fanfics; the ones that weave in lines or scenes from the movie, or stories that take place RIGHT AFTER the movie ends. I liked X-2, not as much as X-1 (I think it got a little too comic-booky for me) and after the initial flight from the mansion, Rogue's character kind of takes a back seat to everyone else. And, well...she had to be doing SOMETHING while they were camping, right?
I could go into a long debate but the short of it is: I think Mystique is a great character that can walk on either side of the line. I don't mind seeing her fill the role of the villan but I think there could be more to her story (that's the X-Men comic book reader in me!) I could totally see her fucking with Logan in his tent and then casually walking off to someone else and fucking with THEIR mind, and in the case of Spoiled, that was Rogue. As to specific motivations, I'm gonna be a total B-I-T-C-H and say: why do YOU think she did it?
It was originally chosen because that entire fic was inspired by the song "100 Years" by Five for Fighting. (which, incidentally, Loganrogueshipper did a gorgeous music video of on her website: http://www.angelfire.com/film/loganrogueshipper/) In the story, I tried to center the passage of time around "100" (although I made Logan 109 instead of 100, which I had a reason for at the time and now forget...)
My favorite would be... "Switcheroo" which ummm...I'm in the process of drafting. (if thats not a cliffhanger I don't know WHAT is because that sucker isn't even being OFFICIALLY worked on until Finding Normal is done but hey- YOU ASKED! I'm just being honest!!!) Least favorite would be either "In the Closet" or "Four Songs" ...which you don't see listed because I hated them so much I asked Devil Doll to take them down and, bless her heart, she did.
Honestly, it was because I didn't like the original ending. I have this horrid tendency in my fics to fall flat on endings. I'm just always so happy to finally finish something (and usually fed-up with writing it) that I rush to the finish line and trip over my own legs before I hit the words "The End". The second I posted the ending of LDG I knew it wasn't right. There were still some bits left out, and when I actually focused on what was missing, I realized Wolverine needed to say thanks to Zombie and in the original ending, I didn't give him the chance (he's STILL pissed at me) I hate to say it, but I can look back on a number of my fics and be slightly unhappy with the endings. I don't like the endings to "Spoiled" or "Across the Hall" either; I rushed them. I might re-work Spoiled and post it on ff.net. (who's a perfectionist? Sax is...) I really just have high high standards, even with fanfiction.
I am my strongest critic and the main person I listen to. (besides my betas, who do a good job of telling me if something I wrote is half-assed) In terms of "100" I had one of my betas whom I trust implicitly tell me she thought I shouldn't include the scene in the graveyard, that it should end after he tells her he loves her. I rarely cross this person (she knows where I live. And how to extract revenge) but the graveyard scene was pretty much the impetus of the whole story for me; I started "100" at the end and worked my way forward (which was new). So in that specific case I had the opinion of someone I trusted warring with my own opinion of the story; I really wanted to hear everyone else's feedback. But normally: No, by the time I am posting a story I already know how it ends. I just need to make sure I don't crap out on the ending.