Slightly Belated End-Of-The-Year Fic Meme
It's time once again for the end-of-the-year fic meme! Well, actually, it's past time, really. I usually do this before the end of the year, meaning that, even though it was written earlier, I don't count my Yuletide fic, since the authors are still anonymous. Since it's after the reveal now, though, my fic list for this year actually includes both my 2010 and my 2011 Yuletide fics. So it's a year-and-a-smidge review, I guess. Close enough.
As usual, I'm not including any tiny ficlets, or things I tossed off as meme responses or anything, just longer stuff and/or stuff written for ficathons or formal challenges. So...
Fics I have written in the last year-and-a-smidge:
"The Start of a Beautiful Something" (Futurama, Fry/Leela/Bender, written for Yuletide 2010)
"Falling Down to Midnight (The Drum Duet Remix)" (Doctor Who, Ten, Simm!Master, written for Remix Redux)
"A Root in the Soil, A Leaf in the Stars" (Farscape, Zhaan, written for the Matrithon and still almost too short for me to feel right counting it)
"Anchor" (Farscape/Firefly, Crichton, River, written for Multiverse)
"Love and the Places Between" (Farscape, Stark/Zhaan, written for charity)
"Time in a Bottle" (Sapphire & Steel, Sapphire/Steel, written for Yuletide 2011)
So, six stories, one of which was technically written the previous year, and one of which is so short I'm almost embarrassed to count it. Which is even fewer than last year's paltry eight. Ah, well.
On to the usual questions. Or the more-or-less usual questions. I generally just steal whatever variation has shown up most recently on my flist, so the exact questions tend to vary a little from year to year. Here's what we have this year:
My favorite story this year (of my own): Hmm. I really don't know. None of those are exactly jumping out at me as being among my best work or anything. Probably "The Start of a Beautiful Something," because it's fun, and because I was so pleasantly surprised that I was able to make it work.
My best story this year: Damned if I know. Maybe "Anchor" is the best written?
Story most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion: I think "Love and the Places Between" got all of about 15 hits on AO3. Ah, my poor, neglected ship.
Most fun story: Definitely "The Start of a Beautiful Something."
Most sexy story: Honestly, I am not exactly writing sexy stuff these days. While there are a couple that reference or allude to sex happening (directly or ambiguously), the only story on that list that has an actual sex scene is "The Start of a Beautiful Something." And that is a) non-explicit, and b) humorous rather than erotic. I simply cannot call it "sexy" with a straight face. So I guess the answer is "none."
Story with single sexiest moment: Yeah, see above. Not so much with the sexy. Although, actually, if I have to answer this question, I think it might be "Time in a Bottle." That one moment of shared semi-human warmth and the hint of lips on skin does something rather nice for me. Not necessarily erotic, as such, but nice.
Story with single sweetest moment: I don't know. Maybe "Love and the Places Between," but "sweet" really doesn't seem like quite the right word. To call anything about that relationship "sweet," it seems to me, is a little too trivializing.
Most unintentionally *telling* story: Um, well, "Anchor" did lead to me asking the question of exactly why I seem to find it so easy to write severely mentally damaged characters.
"Holy crap, that's *wrong*, even for you" story: Writing Fry/Bender/Leela certainly seems like it ought to qualify, but the great thing about that story was how all the feedback on it said things like, "Holy crap, that didn't make me want to reach for the brain bleach at all!"
Hardest story to write: Probably "Love and the Places Between." It certainly took me long enough. It was a little difficult to get back into the S/Z mindset after all this time, and to also find some things to explore about it that I hadn't already done to death. I'm still not entirely sure I succeeded, to be honest.
Easiest story to write: You know, it might actually be "A Beautiful Something." Once I started that, it was a little frightening how well it flowed.
Easiest character to write: River Tam really did turn out to be astonishingly easy. The Futurama gang were pretty easy, too. You just let them go, and they talk all by themselves.
Hardest character to write: The Doctor in "Falling Down to Midnight." Just because it's such a very different take on his characterization and his mindset during that year, and one I had some trouble accepting myself.
Favorite character to write: Bender was kind of a hoot.
This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most: I think the main theme is that I'm not writing much of anything lately, but that I'm still not entirely done with Farscape. Other than that... I don't know. It seems to me that there's some vague thing there about people being stuck together, or coming together in difficult circumstances and forming various kinds of intimacies. But I can't put my finger on it well enough to articulate it.
As usual, I'm not including any tiny ficlets, or things I tossed off as meme responses or anything, just longer stuff and/or stuff written for ficathons or formal challenges. So...
Fics I have written in the last year-and-a-smidge:
"The Start of a Beautiful Something" (Futurama, Fry/Leela/Bender, written for Yuletide 2010)
"Falling Down to Midnight (The Drum Duet Remix)" (Doctor Who, Ten, Simm!Master, written for Remix Redux)
"A Root in the Soil, A Leaf in the Stars" (Farscape, Zhaan, written for the Matrithon and still almost too short for me to feel right counting it)
"Anchor" (Farscape/Firefly, Crichton, River, written for Multiverse)
"Love and the Places Between" (Farscape, Stark/Zhaan, written for charity)
"Time in a Bottle" (Sapphire & Steel, Sapphire/Steel, written for Yuletide 2011)
So, six stories, one of which was technically written the previous year, and one of which is so short I'm almost embarrassed to count it. Which is even fewer than last year's paltry eight. Ah, well.
On to the usual questions. Or the more-or-less usual questions. I generally just steal whatever variation has shown up most recently on my flist, so the exact questions tend to vary a little from year to year. Here's what we have this year:
My favorite story this year (of my own): Hmm. I really don't know. None of those are exactly jumping out at me as being among my best work or anything. Probably "The Start of a Beautiful Something," because it's fun, and because I was so pleasantly surprised that I was able to make it work.
My best story this year: Damned if I know. Maybe "Anchor" is the best written?
Story most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion: I think "Love and the Places Between" got all of about 15 hits on AO3. Ah, my poor, neglected ship.
Most fun story: Definitely "The Start of a Beautiful Something."
Most sexy story: Honestly, I am not exactly writing sexy stuff these days. While there are a couple that reference or allude to sex happening (directly or ambiguously), the only story on that list that has an actual sex scene is "The Start of a Beautiful Something." And that is a) non-explicit, and b) humorous rather than erotic. I simply cannot call it "sexy" with a straight face. So I guess the answer is "none."
Story with single sexiest moment: Yeah, see above. Not so much with the sexy. Although, actually, if I have to answer this question, I think it might be "Time in a Bottle." That one moment of shared semi-human warmth and the hint of lips on skin does something rather nice for me. Not necessarily erotic, as such, but nice.
Story with single sweetest moment: I don't know. Maybe "Love and the Places Between," but "sweet" really doesn't seem like quite the right word. To call anything about that relationship "sweet," it seems to me, is a little too trivializing.
Most unintentionally *telling* story: Um, well, "Anchor" did lead to me asking the question of exactly why I seem to find it so easy to write severely mentally damaged characters.
"Holy crap, that's *wrong*, even for you" story: Writing Fry/Bender/Leela certainly seems like it ought to qualify, but the great thing about that story was how all the feedback on it said things like, "Holy crap, that didn't make me want to reach for the brain bleach at all!"
Hardest story to write: Probably "Love and the Places Between." It certainly took me long enough. It was a little difficult to get back into the S/Z mindset after all this time, and to also find some things to explore about it that I hadn't already done to death. I'm still not entirely sure I succeeded, to be honest.
Easiest story to write: You know, it might actually be "A Beautiful Something." Once I started that, it was a little frightening how well it flowed.
Easiest character to write: River Tam really did turn out to be astonishingly easy. The Futurama gang were pretty easy, too. You just let them go, and they talk all by themselves.
Hardest character to write: The Doctor in "Falling Down to Midnight." Just because it's such a very different take on his characterization and his mindset during that year, and one I had some trouble accepting myself.
Favorite character to write: Bender was kind of a hoot.
This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most: I think the main theme is that I'm not writing much of anything lately, but that I'm still not entirely done with Farscape. Other than that... I don't know. It seems to me that there's some vague thing there about people being stuck together, or coming together in difficult circumstances and forming various kinds of intimacies. But I can't put my finger on it well enough to articulate it.