Christmas Ficcing Meeeeme!
Happy Holidays to my dear flist! I hope Santa was as good to you as he was to me. I'm bored and I'm waiting for Josie to get on, so I figured I'd post a ficcing meme that I ganked from
dungeonwriter while I waited:
(1) a fic you would show your mom if you didn't think she'd freak out:
I don’t think I’d let my mom read any of my fanfic (“This is what you’ve been doing when you should be writing 20 page papers at school?!”) but if I ever did I’d show her something short and silly, like Bed Time Stories or Road Games or Family Heirlooms.
(2) a fic that is most representative of you as a writer (however you choose to define that):
I thought about this one for a while, and I’d have to say the most likely candidate is Gender Roles. As much as I’d love to be a dramatic writer or a horror writer, the majority of what I produce is harmless, silly, fluff, and this fic just happens to be one of my favorites (I rarely cringe when I reread it!). This fic is an example of one of those times where I got one line stuck in my head (Ed’s sarcastic line near the beginning about the landlord and the radiator) and ended up writing an entire fic just so I could use it.
(3) a fic that is your best shot at "ventriloquizing" a voice or style that you don't normally use:
From Here On, I think - five thousand words of present tense, which I’ve used for a couple stories but don’t generally employ very often, and only then for very short pieces. Josie actually said to me “Are we… keeping this in present tense?” while she was beta reading it.
(4) a fic that contains characterization you're proudest of:
Mad World, for sure. I’ve always been sort of fascinated with Sokka, just because he was so clearly meant to just be a non-bending comic relief when the series first started, and how far Mike and Bryan have brought his character just… makes me giddy. Yeah, he’s the meat and sarcasm guy at heart, but I also think he kinda acts like an anchor for the group, and I wanted to give him a chance to realize that.
(5) a fic that has the cleverest premise (in your opinion) or contains the cleverest ideas:
I generally feel clever when I write dialog - specifically banter - that feels real, and for those reasons I’d say either Public Disturbance or Community Service from Escapades. Especially Community Service - Sokka and Toph at the beginning and at the end really do just make me happy, and I’ve always been pleased with how the banter turned out between them in those chapters. (…and, okay I admit, The Golden Hind from
52_flavours, even though it really has no dialog, because I’m a big giant mythology whore, and it was the idea that made me want to do the entire challenge in the first place? Yeah.)
(6) a fic that feels the most emotionally genuine to you (however you choose to define that):
There are a couple I think could fit this - Dare to Let Go or Best Face - but I actually think my favorite little piece? Time of the Season, the little drabble I wrote for
theavatar100 a while back. Something about Katara’s anxiety post war and Aang’s dreamy relief at seeing fall (after all the emphasis on the end of summer) just rings true for me
(7) a fic you'd give to an editor as a writing sample (pretend that porn isn't an issue):
Tabula Rasa, I think - that was one of the first fics I ever wrote where I had the last line in my head and basically had to write it backwards, and it was a lot of fun trying to figure out how the Dai Lee would deal with a blind earthbender when they were brainwashing people. Being in Toph’s shoes - and therefore blind - through the fic was interesting to figure out, since I couldn’t just describe the scenery, I had to figure out how Toph would feel things out. I think that sense of blindness actually adds a great deal of tension to the story (particularly in the kidnapping/interrogation scenes), and I’ve always been generally pleased with how the whole thing worked out. (Even if I still don’t know where Sokka and Katara ended up.)
(8) a fic you would actually reread for pleasure:
The second chapter of Escapades - Community Service. This was actually a really hard question, because I’m notorious for deciding that I hate something almost the instant that I’ve written it - which can lead to an awkward situation at times when Josie has already taken the time to beta and I no longer want to publish the story. Community Service was a companion story to Josie’s Thone of the Soul, and it really is just the perfect way I picture Sokka and Toph and their friendship. Not to mention that it’s where my obsession with Toph’s obsession with cake started.
(9) a fic that contains your best sex writing:
My Finger on Your Trigger and Every Other Time, the Ed/Winry fics I wrote for
52_flavours. They’re short and sweet and Ed and Winry both get theirs.
(10) a fic that you really want somebody to illustrate:
I would really love to see an illustration of Winry and her poker buddies from Closing the Gap, or maybe Toph and Iroh playing Pai Sho from Negotiations and Forfeitures.
(11) which fic has the best title:
The Golden Hind, which Josie actually suggested. It’s clever, it’s relevant to the story… hell it makes me giggle like I’m five again. That being said, I’m also fond of every single chapter title we’ve picked out for And When the Gauntlet’s Down - I’m always really excited when a reviewer mentions that they recognize a song I took it from
(12) a fic you wish more people had read:
From Here On, probably - the people who did read it were very complimentary, which was wonderful, but I always had the sense that more people would have been interested in it if it hadn’t been Winry-centric. And I’ve always been vaguely fond of The More Things Change, even though it’s decidedly out of canon by this point, because it was fun and hijinksy and I still don’t think Roku and Kyoshi ever got along, but eh. You can’t blame people for being wary of OCs.
(13) the fic you're proudest of:
Shadows in the Mind, easily. The damn thing hit 100,000 words and took me over a year to write - the fact that I finished it alone makes me proud, but I’m still rather pleased with how everything wrapped up in the story even if it does bother me just how far it’s gone out of canon by this point.
dungeonwriter while I waited:
(1) a fic you would show your mom if you didn't think she'd freak out:
I don’t think I’d let my mom read any of my fanfic (“This is what you’ve been doing when you should be writing 20 page papers at school?!”) but if I ever did I’d show her something short and silly, like Bed Time Stories or Road Games or Family Heirlooms.
(2) a fic that is most representative of you as a writer (however you choose to define that):
I thought about this one for a while, and I’d have to say the most likely candidate is Gender Roles. As much as I’d love to be a dramatic writer or a horror writer, the majority of what I produce is harmless, silly, fluff, and this fic just happens to be one of my favorites (I rarely cringe when I reread it!). This fic is an example of one of those times where I got one line stuck in my head (Ed’s sarcastic line near the beginning about the landlord and the radiator) and ended up writing an entire fic just so I could use it.
(3) a fic that is your best shot at "ventriloquizing" a voice or style that you don't normally use:
From Here On, I think - five thousand words of present tense, which I’ve used for a couple stories but don’t generally employ very often, and only then for very short pieces. Josie actually said to me “Are we… keeping this in present tense?” while she was beta reading it.
(4) a fic that contains characterization you're proudest of:
Mad World, for sure. I’ve always been sort of fascinated with Sokka, just because he was so clearly meant to just be a non-bending comic relief when the series first started, and how far Mike and Bryan have brought his character just… makes me giddy. Yeah, he’s the meat and sarcasm guy at heart, but I also think he kinda acts like an anchor for the group, and I wanted to give him a chance to realize that.
(5) a fic that has the cleverest premise (in your opinion) or contains the cleverest ideas:
I generally feel clever when I write dialog - specifically banter - that feels real, and for those reasons I’d say either Public Disturbance or Community Service from Escapades. Especially Community Service - Sokka and Toph at the beginning and at the end really do just make me happy, and I’ve always been pleased with how the banter turned out between them in those chapters. (…and, okay I admit, The Golden Hind from
52_flavours, even though it really has no dialog, because I’m a big giant mythology whore, and it was the idea that made me want to do the entire challenge in the first place? Yeah.)
(6) a fic that feels the most emotionally genuine to you (however you choose to define that):
There are a couple I think could fit this - Dare to Let Go or Best Face - but I actually think my favorite little piece? Time of the Season, the little drabble I wrote for
theavatar100 a while back. Something about Katara’s anxiety post war and Aang’s dreamy relief at seeing fall (after all the emphasis on the end of summer) just rings true for me
(7) a fic you'd give to an editor as a writing sample (pretend that porn isn't an issue):
Tabula Rasa, I think - that was one of the first fics I ever wrote where I had the last line in my head and basically had to write it backwards, and it was a lot of fun trying to figure out how the Dai Lee would deal with a blind earthbender when they were brainwashing people. Being in Toph’s shoes - and therefore blind - through the fic was interesting to figure out, since I couldn’t just describe the scenery, I had to figure out how Toph would feel things out. I think that sense of blindness actually adds a great deal of tension to the story (particularly in the kidnapping/interrogation scenes), and I’ve always been generally pleased with how the whole thing worked out. (Even if I still don’t know where Sokka and Katara ended up.)
(8) a fic you would actually reread for pleasure:
The second chapter of Escapades - Community Service. This was actually a really hard question, because I’m notorious for deciding that I hate something almost the instant that I’ve written it - which can lead to an awkward situation at times when Josie has already taken the time to beta and I no longer want to publish the story. Community Service was a companion story to Josie’s Thone of the Soul, and it really is just the perfect way I picture Sokka and Toph and their friendship. Not to mention that it’s where my obsession with Toph’s obsession with cake started.
(9) a fic that contains your best sex writing:
My Finger on Your Trigger and Every Other Time, the Ed/Winry fics I wrote for
52_flavours. They’re short and sweet and Ed and Winry both get theirs.
(10) a fic that you really want somebody to illustrate:
I would really love to see an illustration of Winry and her poker buddies from Closing the Gap, or maybe Toph and Iroh playing Pai Sho from Negotiations and Forfeitures.
(11) which fic has the best title:
The Golden Hind, which Josie actually suggested. It’s clever, it’s relevant to the story… hell it makes me giggle like I’m five again. That being said, I’m also fond of every single chapter title we’ve picked out for And When the Gauntlet’s Down - I’m always really excited when a reviewer mentions that they recognize a song I took it from
(12) a fic you wish more people had read:
From Here On, probably - the people who did read it were very complimentary, which was wonderful, but I always had the sense that more people would have been interested in it if it hadn’t been Winry-centric. And I’ve always been vaguely fond of The More Things Change, even though it’s decidedly out of canon by this point, because it was fun and hijinksy and I still don’t think Roku and Kyoshi ever got along, but eh. You can’t blame people for being wary of OCs.
(13) the fic you're proudest of:
Shadows in the Mind, easily. The damn thing hit 100,000 words and took me over a year to write - the fact that I finished it alone makes me proud, but I’m still rather pleased with how everything wrapped up in the story even if it does bother me just how far it’s gone out of canon by this point.