Interview: neevebrody
How long have you been creating fan art or writing fan fiction?
I began writing in 2007 so, really, not very long at all. SGA is the first fandom in which I've actually participated (as opposed to lurked) so most everyone here has a good leg up. I've been creating art for just a little over a year now. Like Rodney, I love to multi-task.
What drew you into fandom in the first place?
I started reading the fanfic before I ever knew what Atlantis was. I fell in love with John and Rodney via the printed word first but, honestly, with the talent in this fandom, I felt like I knew them even before I knew them.
Best thing about SGA fandom: go!
The aforementioned talent! This fandom is so abundant in diverse talent and personality. Whether it's personal posts, fic, or art, I enjoy reading my flist and have been blessed enough to have kept most of them. There are caring and intelligent people here and I'm just thrilled to be a little part of it.
Are you a fandom monogamist or do you participate in other fandoms? Which ones?
Though I consider myself chiefly a monogamist, I have written in a few other fandoms. I've written a few things for the Oz fandom and have created art there as well. I love small fandoms and rare pairings. I co-mod the brendan_vincent community and am really quite possessive (protective?) of those boys. I've also written Quiz Show (movie) fic, which may be the only fic in that tiny fandom (if someone knows differently, please let me know).
I also write Hewligan and (look out, shameless plug ahoy) have just finished an epic story for smallfandom_bb featuring Gus Gruber (Hewlett's character from The Triangle) and Dr. Tom Arquette (Flanigan's character from Profiler). More info about that, here. I've also written the Brendan/Emmett pairing.
Best thing about McKay/Sheppard: go!
I could spend paragraphs answering this question, but I'll hold it to the solid friendship and trust these two have. They sought each other out from the beginning. They get each other and know how to "get to" each other. Nothing else in the galaxy will motivate Rodney or get him down off the ceiling to focus like a word from John or just John calling Rodney's name. As partners/friends/pairing, one is the yin to the other's yang. Together they're balanced and almost whole. It's that 'almost' part that makes them so endearing and so helpless to resist.
Why did you decide to participate in McShep Match?
Mainly because of my participation last year and the chance to once again team up with other incredibly awesome writers and artists.
And how did you choose Team Work?
I very nearly chose Team Play… I was being seduced both ways. I chose Team Work because a lot of my teammates from last year are here, the chance to get to know our captain a little better, and because it's really, really hard to say no to lavvyan.
Best thing about your contribution to this year's Match: go! (Remember to keep your answer vague, please!)
If I'd had to answer this question two weeks ago, I wouldn't have had much to say. My contribution is… well, it's sort of… but then… let's just say it encapsulates most of the things I love about McKay/Sheppard and leave it at that, shall we?
Where can interested readers/viewers find more of your work?
I have a fic master list at my journal, though it may need some updating.
Most of the Brendan/Vincent fic can be found at brendan_vincent using my author tag.
Also, I'm at AO3, but not everything has been transferred.
A word to our sponsors?
First of all, kudos to the two McShep Match mods. fluffyllama and trobadora work very hard to make the Match go off without a hitch and I think they do one hell of a job! Both teams are loaded this year and I expect another close competition. Special thanks to all the team members on both sides for taking part and sharing your passion and talents. Lastly, but not leastly, props to our wonderful Team Captain, kisa_hawklin!
Other questions:
melagan: How do you get your story ideas? Um, other than the ones I try to inspire you with.
Heh! I think it's fair to say that you've done your share of inspiring (and I love you for that). I know it sounds a bit crazy, but a lot of ideas start with the characters talking to me or talking to each other in my head. I may get a snippet of dialogue or see half the fic in one big chunk. With the sequel to The Last Word, a single line in a song made Jeannie Marie flesh and from there, the story literally poured out of me.
Prompts are somewhat helpful, but I find that if I'm musing over a concept or a situation, if I sit still long enough and just let it happen, the ideas will just come. Often, ideas have a lot to do with the characters themselves as well - situations that suit them or that would accentuate certain qualities. I've also found that while taking a shower and drying my hair, my brain is "fertile soil" for ideas.
chkc: Do you have a favourite thing that like to write about in fanfic? (Plotty things, porny things, meta-y observations on the lack of truly alien worlds in SGA canon, etc?)
Well, I have written a lot of porn - and there's nothing wrong with that - though I do find myself these days wanting something more from my stories and my characters. I'm not sure I'm much good on plotty things, but I'd like to be. I want to be a story-teller, not just a chronicler of events. And it's funny you should mention the lack of truly alien worlds... for a long time now, I've wanted to explore the Wraith, their connection to Pegasus, how there can be Wraith like Michael and Wraith like Todd. I'd love to explore the concept of whether or not their circumstances shaped them and their differences?
I think I do better on character-driven pieces and I suppose that fits, as I'm usually more interested in what makes someone tick rather than a long and winding plot.
wanted_a_pony: You seem to write both John & Rodney with such fluidity & comfort--are there things in their personalities (either in canon or in your personal fanon) that are difficult for you to wrap your head around or particularly problematic for you to write/capture?
I hope I'm understanding the question. I'd love to write Rodney more in his element (physics) but I don't have the background or the capacity to understand most of the research I do. And I say that because I think I have trouble conveying Rodney's arrogance fully. Now the awkwardness, bad social skills, fatalistic thinking... I can really identify with that, but the other I think I mimic more than I truly feel.
With John, I find it difficult to write his self-preservation and compartmentalization. Again, I identify with it, but I'm a 'heart-on-my-sleeve' girl, so I have trouble keeping John showing his feelings to a minimum. As with Rodney, I think I mimic that from canon. But there are still many things about John that I get and the more I've dealt with John in my mind - not making him fit 'my' notion of John - the easier he's become to write.
sgamadison: Do you have a backstory for both John and Rodney in your head? If yes, for which character is your backstory more detailed? Is that history fairly consistent when you write about them or does it vary slightly depending on the story you are writing at the moment?
I love this question and could sit down and talk about this very thing for hours.
a. Yes, I do have a backstory for both characters. I tend to develop a backstory for any character I write.
b. John's may be a little more detailed only because I'm not intimately familiar with higher academia. I've got Rodney's life as a child, his personal life in college and parts of his life before Atlantis. The backstory extends to his parents and Jeannie. For John, I see things a little more detailed, also including his family. I also have a future-story for them together that includes what's left of their families.
c. I'd have to say I keep the history in the back of my mind bu,t for a particular story, it may have to vary. That's something I've been struggling with lately - seeing them consistently and trying to come at any new story with that consistency in mind. Most of the time I want to be true to them and true to what I see as their background, but porny comment fic leans more to hand-waving that sort of thing.
*dusts off hands* There. Now, if there's something else you'd like to know, feel free to ask questions in the comments.