year in fic, 2007

[wisdomeagle]

[nb: When I started writing this, 3_ships hadn't yet gone live, so there is some vagueness in my answers as a result, but I've now added to the two fics I wrote to this masterlist. Um. Yeah. You read the date right. Last year's year in fic, just in time for... Christmas card poll. *facefrellingpalm*]

Andromeda
+Amnesia Twitch. (Beka/Harper, 842 words)

Baby-Sitters Club
+Abby's Hanukkah Tales! (Stacey/Charlotte, Kristy/Dawn, 3058 words)
+Mary Anne and the Deep Thaw (Mary Anne/Kristy, 1381 words)
+Opening Night (Claudia + Janine, 915 words)
+five drabbles (Stacey/Janine, Claudia/Dawn, Mary Anne/Dawn, two Jessi/Mal, 500 words)

Bible etc.
+Love You Tomorrow (Jesus Christ Superstar, Jesus/Judas, 755 words)
+Pieta (Jesus/John. 765 words).
+Sweet, Salt, and Bitter (os. Rachel/Leah. 1443 words)

Buffyverse
+After Heaven (Buffy/Vi, 1126 words)
+Eating Disorders (Wesley/Fred/Spike, 1370 words)
+Eurydice Rising (The Unicorn Remyth) (Wesley/Faith/Angel, 1095 words)
+Moonlighting (Buffy/Oz, 763 words)
+Multinational Faggot Parade (Xander/Oz, 1500 words)
+Rosetta (Buffy/Willow, 1000 words)
+Snow White in Wintertime (Buffy/Dawn, 500 words)
+Sunripe
, Moonrot (Faith/Nina, 681 words)
+Swaddle (Faith/Tara, 1111 words)

Dark Angel
+Safer Sex (Max/Logan, 1366 words)

Firefly
+Every Growing Thing (Kaylee/River, 1032 words)
+Unification (Kaylee/Mal, 550 words)
+If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out (Kaylee/Inara, 100 words)
+And If You Want To Be Free, Be Free (River/Simon, 100 words)


Grey's Anatomy
+As A Favor for A Friend (Cristina/Derek, 699 words)

Harry Potter
+Dirty Flight (Sirius/Remus, Sirius/Mrs. Black, 3104 words)
+Funny about Families (Dudley and Aberforth, 626 words)
+Gold, Frankincense, and Biscuits (Arthur and Albus, 839 words)
+Know, That is to Say, Yes (Fridwulfa/Hagrid Sr, 639 words)
+Victory, Snatched (Hermione/McGonagall, 1787 words)
+17 Hermione drabbles (various crossovers, 1700 words)

Little Women
+Little Petals, Tangled Stems (Daisy/Demi, 2157 words)

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
+Natural Theology (Henrietta/X, 499 words)

RPF
+Promise Me a Royal Flush (Ben Browder/Claudia Black, 1036 words)

Stargate: SG-1
Boys at Swim (Jack/Daniel, 425 words)

Veronica Mars
Tea Party (We're All Mad Here) (Keith/Veronica/Mac, 2471 words)

The West Wing
Like Boy Scouts in the Dead of Winter (Mandy/Josh, 1170 words)

Crossovers
+Her Career (Or Mine) (Firefly x Buffyverse, Cordelia/Kaylee, 1760 words)
+Marmalade Skies (West Wing x Buffyverse, Giles/CJ, 1500 words)
++A Million Ways to Be (Firefly x Buffyverse, Illyria/River, 100 words)

38,624 words!!!

So, 31 "full-length" (longer than a drabble!) fics,,. plus unposted hogwarts_elite stuff makes another... five for a total of 36, not counting drabbbles. Plus 2 3_ships = 38.

Which is actually more than last year.

HOORAY FOR YULETIDE.




Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted? Hm. Less than 2005 ideally, more than worst case scenario, and a heckuva lot more HP and Yulecrack than anticipated! [answered January]

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2007? Oh, come now. I have stopped trying with this one. Let's see. A pairing I wouldn't have predicted is Mandy/Josh. A fandom I wouldn't have predicted is, er, well -- I guess Farscape RPF (redux) -- I wrote it for Pretty Lights last year and figured I just had the one story in me, but then Yuletide happened and whaddya know. Apparently Claudia/Ben are my OTP. Not to mention the resurgence of Harry Potter as threatening the B'verse as my OTF -- NOT THAT IT WILL. Buffyverse/Ari = ♥OTP♥ BUT -- HP kind of took me by surprise. And a genre? Um. Is this the time to mention this year's Secret Theme in Fic? [answered January]

Favorite story this year (Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?) Hm. Well, I love and cuddle and cherish all my Yuletide fics, but I think my favorite is "Victory, Snatched." Because McGonagall/Hermione is OTP and it's just filthy hot porn. [answered January]

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them? Hm. You know, with an ouvre like mine, risks are hard to find, you know? There's really almost nothing I've never written. I guess I tried dialogue-only a couple of times -- there's "Gold, Frankincense, and Biscuits" and "Amnesia
Twitch" -- and discovered that... dialogue-only really doesn't work for me. I mean, I think I'm funny? And I think I have the characters' voices in my head. But without the crutches of dialogue tags -- not to mention third person limited, omni3rd, and my other favorite devices -- my writing feels bland. I'm not playing to my strengths. It worked a bit better, I guess, in "Boys at Swim" -- perhaps a conceit that really works best in banterOTPs? [answered January]

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year? MOAR! Participate in more ficathons, stretch myself to write more pairings (in the Buffyverse) and characters (in the Potterverse) and fandoms (not that I should force the Sorkinian thing, since clearly it's not my strongest suit, but I'd like to play a little longer). I'd like to write more BSC fic, since that is not only my favorite feel good source material IN THE WORLD, it also seems to snap me out of my funk when I do attempt it. Gee, why could this be? Could it be because it is pure crack cocaine of love? I think so! I'd also like to write more fluff, in a similar vein, and more OTP, less crack. I know this is the opposite of "write more pairings," but I think the distressing lack of romance in my fic this year is making me sad. Maybe I can create OTPs?

But. Basically. MOAR! And I want to write more Buffyverse than HP. Because having it the other way 'round is JUST WRONG. [answered January]

My best story this year: The most popular Yuletide fic is "Natural Theology" (...fly, little ficlet, fly!), followed by "Abby's Hanukkah Tales!" and the most popular non-Yuletide fic was "Multinational
Faggot Parade." Me? Hm. I just don't think I know. I like all those a lot -- though am pretty shocked by the massive, sudden popularity of "Natural Theology" -- and think that some things went tragically unappreciated ("Little Petals, Tangled Stems," "Sunripe, Moonrot") and the Yuletide fic I'm fondest of is
probably a tie between "Abby's Hanukkah Tales!" and "Sweet, Salt, and Bitter" -- I am not really coming to any conclusions, am I? I think my conclusion is that, while I wrote a lot of fic this year that I'm pleased with, nothing stands out in my mind as being exceptional. Fic was more like a lifeline this year than an artform. [answered January]

My worst story this year: I was pretty underwhelmed by "Amnesia Twitch." [answered January]

Story most tragically underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
My Remix, "Eurydice Bound (The Unicorn Remyth)". Although possibly I am thinking of the remix that was in my head, that reworked the awesome original fic in a terribly new and creative way, less than the remix I wrote, which is kind of bland. [answered January]

Most fun story: "Her Career (Or Mine)". I just reread this and cracked myself up. Always a good sign. And then I reread "Like Boy Scouts in the Dead of Winter" and remember how much fun the porn battle was, wherein I wrote Josh/Mandy and Cristina/Derek, two total surprises in which I discovered I actually have an inner sarcrasm queen, and she is a lot of fun to write. I think she writes Cordy's voice, too. [answered January]

Most representative of you as a writer: Maybe "Mary Anne and the Deep Thaw," although that's a little less literary pretentious than I sometimes go, less wordplay-y. It does have a mid-story shift, and it does have lots of the... ideas that I have about relationships? [answered December]

Contains characterisation you're proudest of: I don't know -- perhaps "Sunripe, Moonrot," which does the sort of typical thing I do where it's from Nina's point of view so it's all artistic imagery all the time. But I really like the images I captured of her and of Faith. [answered December]

Is your best shot at 'ventriloquising' a voice or style that you don't normally use: Definitely "Boy Scouts in the Dead of Winter." In which Mandy's voice suddenly was IN MY HEAD. What the hell. [Answered December]

Story you'd give to an editor as a writing sample: "Marmalade Skies," maybe. It's sort of literary (though with porn) and could probably be stripped of fandom context without tootoo much effort. And I love the imagery. [answered December]

Story which has the best title: "Natural Theology"? [Answered December]

Story with the best premise: It's cheating a bit, but "Eurydice Rising (The Unicorn Remyth)." I mean, mostly my stories have the premise, "x and y are hot together," and this was a bit more complex, with Faith summoned to LA post-NFA, and with her and Angel… wishing Wesley into being, and about how they were both summoning his ghost in some way, and also how their perceptions of him had always been shaped by their desire for him and certain beliefs in his… purity, not necessarily innocence? Something like that. And it's cheating 'cos I stole part of the premise from yhlee and because I didn't achieve that premise at ALL. [answered December]

Sexiest story: I have just gotten through rereading the porn battle
fics, so those are up there, and then there's "Safer Sex" from Yuletide and "Rosetta" from Secret Slasha and "Victory, Snatched" again because I am nothing if not obvious in my kinks. I think, much fun as the porn battle stories are, that they don't have the element of OTP that makes something supersexy. Oh! And there is also the Really Obvious Three Ships Fic. Um.

But it's actually "Marmalade Skies." Because it's CJ having sex, of course, but also because it feels so vivid to me, the whole scene, the click of teeth and CJ's skirt and Giles's grief and the heat of sex and the rain and I love how tender and hot it is, at the same time. [answered January]

Story with the single sexiest moment: So, if the above answer weren't embarrassing enough... ! I mean, yeah, it's easy enough to say "Victory, Snatched" again since it is OTP and oddly enough hits about a thousand of my kinks, but I'm terribly afraid it's my Really Obvious Three Ships fic again. OH GOD. [answered January]

Story with single sweetest moment: Flicking through the year in fic reveals a surprising lack of sweetness. Lots of bittersweet and lots of angsty, frelled-up sex and lots of Secret Theme In Fic, but very little tenderness. Exceptions are "Mary Anne and the Deep Thaw," which has Richard+Mary Anne in a gen way that makes me gooey, and the end of "Rosetta" and, apparently, "Natural Theology." (I really feel like the story I wrote and the story people are reading are completely different stories! Not that I object just... weirdness.) Anyhow, "Mary Anne and the Deep Thaw" is probably my favorite. [answered January]

Most unintentionally telling story: I'm assuming this question means,
"Story that reveals the most about me, but not like I intentionally wrote it to my kinks (see also "Victory, Snatched") but more like they crept in without me noticing." In which case, tie between "Swaddle" and "Sweet, Salt, and Bitter." (This year's unintentionally telling stories start with the "sw" sound. I don't know why.

Anyhow, "Swaddle" has a lot of my own personal issues right there in the text, but they're really visible only to me [which I base on the fact that Elizabeth said she wouldn't have been able to guess it was mine]. I
started writing hoping to evoke something of the comfort of being swaddled (hence title)
-- of physically having someone wrap their arms around you, and the safety of being unable to move, in a sort of bondagey way, but it was all about comfort and protection and safety. And instead it ended up in (oh noes!) the dark loveless place. Not that there's not some love there, because there is, but it's so tied up in the badness that's existed in Faith's life that makes her unable to settle down. What this has to do with me I can hardly articulate, but when the fic escapes from me -- when the story I meant to tell is not the story that's told -- it's usually a sign that something is going on.

And then there was "Sweet, Salt, and Bitter." Again, femslash. Again, a weird power dynamic, with pushy bottoms and switching. There's sort of a mothering metaphor going on there -- Leah's older and is the teacher and guide -- and then it gets switched a couple of times and then back to Leah mothering and yet now it's in this (omg!) dark loveless place. (And again -- there's love there. But it's so twisted and dark.)

The way these fics worked -- where mentor/mother becomes a smothering image instead of a healing, protecting one -- is similar to some of the turns that (may, if I ever write the damn thing!) happen in the bits of "Pinpricks" that I drafted this year.

In conclusion, there's weirdness going on in my brain that I don't even notice till it comes out in fanfic. How does your brain work? [answered January]

"Holy crap, that's wrong, even for me" story:

Um, yeah. That would the Really Obvious Three Ships fic. Usually that kind of thing would remain drawerfic. [answered January]

Story that shifted my own perception of the characters:

That would be "Every Growing Thing," which I was afraid to reread till just now. It's darkish, which isn't that unusual for me, but it's darkish Kaylee, which is. Kaylee's my blossom and goodness and light girl, and is supposed to be River's too, the shiny in the darkness, but here Kaylee and River both
are -- unprepared? -- and Kaylee can't make River whole, can't understand her madness or heal it, and God, looking at it and thinking about it just makes me want to sob. It's a direction I never took Kaylee in before and don't think I want to again. It might be good for me as a writer, but not so much good inside my brain. [answered January]

Hardest story to write: Yeah, this was not an easy year for fic, but looking back at what I did post, it all came relatively easily once I actually sat down to write it. I mean, some things were better than others -- "After Heaven" (Buffy/Vi) and "Snow White in Wintertime" (Buffy/Dawn) aren't my most inspired fics -- but what I did write was not so difficult. So the hardest story was one that never got written -- "The Streets of Gotham," an Angel/Xander fic I attempted twice for Secret Slasha, futurefic, they meet up, it's kind of dark and forbidden and somehow I sell the pairing to myself. Only. I can't. Angel/Xander just really, really doesn't work for me; I can't get past S2 BtVS and can't find the place where it clicks for Xander, where he -- not gets past it, because, hello, Xander, but where he steps into it in a certain way, where hate meets desire round the back of the barn. Or whatever. But I just can't make it happen -- or couldn't this year.

Next year, more Xander/vampire fic? n/n? [answered January]

Easiest story to write: "Abby's Hanukkah Tales!" Oh my god. It was so much fun. I've never written Abby before -- just a few tiny asides in unposted fic primarily about other characters -- but dude. ABBY. I read a couple of later books (Abby's Book in the Portrait Collection and um, Stacey and the Stolen Hearts) to get the voice right, and Abby's Book made me cry (fathers+daughters. Bullet-proof. It's a thing), and also like, implanted her into my brain. tornyourdress listed a bunch of favored pairings,
including Stacey/Charlotte and Kristy/Dawn, and characters, including Abby, and it just -- it all clicked. It was going to be something like a five things, but it turned out just to be two things and Abby's never-ending cracktastic monologue, about love and Judaism and holidays and and togetherness. I loved writing it so much.
<3 [answered Janaury]

Biggest disappointment: This year's biggest disappointment was not fictional. [answered January]

Biggest surprise: The sudden overnight popularity of "Natural Theology." [answered January]

Story I'd like to revise (but probably won't):

None this year. Everything I'm either 90% pleased with or hate so much I never want to look at it again. [answered Janaury]

Story I wish I'd finished: Three this year!

1. yhlee's prompt for "fic I will never write," which was "Hermione falls into our world and discovers she can't read." I wrote -- some good number of thousand words on this, but then it was neccessary to do schoolwork and I lost track of it. Definitely want to write more in 2008. It is the Harry
Potter fic I always wanted to write. It has now been jossed by DH. Woe?

2. Jossverse RPF high school AU! I know you think I've forgotten, but I've not. I have five thousand words and have gotten through -- the first day of senior year. I would also like to write more of this fic in 2008.

3. Perpetually, "Pinpricks." Although finished is kind of unlikely for this fic. I'll be happy if I ever post another chapter. [answered January]

Story I didn't write but swear I will, someday:

Lots of stories I didn't write this year! The three above are the three that I really want to write -- they are, respectively, the HP fic I always wanted to write, the Jossverse RPF fic I always wanted to write, and my guilty pleasure. The BSC fic I always wanted to write was "Abby's Hanukkah Tales!" The Buffyverse fic I always wanted to write is either a) "Amoral Boundaries" or b) yet unconceived. And the epic McWeir is... probably never going to happen, though what with now having 100% more canon available for my perusal, one never knows! [answered January]

A story I want remembered:

I don't know. Nothing terribly memorable this year, was there? Nothing epic in plot or scope or conception. I think "Natural Theology" because it says a piece of what I want to say about love and God and faith. I think mostly I would like to remember that I am a theologian even outside the academy. [answered January]

This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most: This year's Secret Theme in Fic is (if you have not guessed it by now), is incest. Partially this was due to Strikethrough07 and me+fandom being kind of reactionary, and lots of them were written to request (for various people, not all of them on the flist), and part of it was just me breaking through some kind of wall that was preventing me from fantasizing on paper in that particular way.

And obviously, the story that exemplifies that the most is The Really Obvious Three Ships Story, aka "Tea Party (We're All Mad Here)", which is the Keith/Veronica/Mac story that's porny porny porny.

I think there was something going on in 2007 with intimacy and… something, where I feel like most of the happy shippy stories I wrote were one-night stands, and then there were all these stories about people who were all… unhealthily tangled up in each other. Like the title to the Demi/Daisy fic, "Little Petals, Tangled Stems." There's that seem growth metaphor in the River/Kaylee, "Every Growing Thing," that really creeped me out, and obviously the relationship between Keith and Veronica in "Tea Party (We're All Mad Here)" is unhealthy because they didn't detach from each other in an appropriate way. It's the same intimacy issue that arises in "Swaddle," too – so it's not just limited to incest, but it's also a sort of (and I hate the fake incest metaphor but here we go) non-literal incest, where a couple is so close and so… tied together that it's unhealthy, aching. Wrong. [answered December]

Comments

[alixtii.livejournal.com]

That was the secret theme? I never would have guessed.