Yuletide reveal
I can now properly thank Missy for my adorable Little Women treat -- always a bonus to get an Amy March story which sees all of her flaws and strengths so clearly. *waves lonely Amy fan flag*
And I can say I totally suspected my assigned gift (Anna to the Infinite Power) was by
rivkat. In fact, a few days ago I emailed
thuviaptarth with my suspicions all, "AHEM. I AM A DETECTIVE AM I NOT." It helps to be in a fandom where you can count the number of writers and readers on one hand. :-D
My assigned recipient was MacyAudenStar. It was her first Yuletide. We matched on a TV show called The 100, which began airing in the US in March and just got better and better as the Yuletide deadline approached. So I was excited on multiple levels about writing.
Briefly about the show: the pilot begins with the descendants of people who took refuge on a huge international space station during a world-destroying nuclear war, 97 years prior. The current administration sends a group of 100 juvenile delinquents down to Earth to test whether the radiation's lowered enough to be habitable. The kids find out, to their horror, that plenty of people survived on Earth all along; meanwhile, everyone back on the space station is running out of air. Miscommunications with bloody results abound.
There are some intriguing female leaders in the cast, both teen and adult, which is the main plus for me, and pretty good world-building, thoughtfully blogged about by the inventor of a fictional language used on the show. Lots of TV critics and mainstream media have recommended it. Only 21 episodes have aired so far, so it should be possible to catch up during the winter hiatus.
The Next Shore (13250 words)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Summary: After the war with Mount Weather, Clarke and Bellamy lead a splinter group to form a new settlement on the coast. But the territory they want already belongs to another Grounder clan.
Branches off from canon post-2x08, "Spacewalker."
Beta thanks to
thuviaptarth, who is both the thinkiest and the stealthiest.
My recipient asked for non-AU, and I was like, I'd do that anyway, try and stop me! Much of the fandom seems to prefer fluffy AUs to the actual backdrop of the show -- futuristic post-apocalypse Earth where three interestingly complex societies (one of them matriarchal) are fighting for survival -- but I was more than happy to play in that universe.
I was also happy to take Clarke Griffin for a spin. She's a hard-headed, determined, fierce force of nature; she's also myopic, overly demanding, and can weaponize a grudge like nobody's business. It was a slow burn for me, but by 2x01 I was firmly into her. Then at the mid-season finale, 2x08, she went through some super-trauma, her big "Becoming 2" moment, and I knew I had to write about that.
Mostly though I wanted Clarke and the surviving kids to find a corner of the world where they could be at peace. I figured they'd first have to (a) finish the conflict with Mount Weather, and (b) come to an accord with whoever the Grounders are in that new corner. But as I only had a few days between 2x08 and the Yuletide deadline, I had to write fast. Ultimately, I think the story needed another few thousand words, to better develop the Grounder clan I made up and to give Clarke a more gradual education in non-prejudiced, non-ruthless foreign policy and diplomacy tactics. Maybe in a sequel...
My recipient shipped Clarke and Bellamy, so I did my best to deliver, although the story falls just short of resolved sexual tension. I think at this point I appreciate them more as platonic co-leaders -- or rather, Bellamy as lieutenant and Clarke as leader, since that seems to be how their dynamic has shaken out in recent episodes. I do appreciate their evolving ability to communicate entire strategies with mere glances, however!
I also suppressed my hatred of Finn to give Clarke and Raven some friction and extended mourning time. In truth, I thought he was useless from the pilot and outright loathed him when we found out Raven existed. Then came the Grounder massacre. Let's just say when Lexa wanted to give him the torture of 18 deaths I was like, SOLD, CAN I GIFT WRAP HIM FOR YOU? Still, I kind of like writing about grief and trauma, especially when it's a guy getting fridged for girl pain.
Also in the story, Jasper did not get invited to the new colony, because fuck Jasper.
Writing soundtrack: 1989 by Taylor Swift (picture proof)
This post has
comments at its original location at http://hesychasm.dreamwidth.org/267806.html. Please comment there or here.
And I can say I totally suspected my assigned gift (Anna to the Infinite Power) was by
rivkat. In fact, a few days ago I emailed
thuviaptarth with my suspicions all, "AHEM. I AM A DETECTIVE AM I NOT." It helps to be in a fandom where you can count the number of writers and readers on one hand. :-D
My assigned recipient was MacyAudenStar. It was her first Yuletide. We matched on a TV show called The 100, which began airing in the US in March and just got better and better as the Yuletide deadline approached. So I was excited on multiple levels about writing.
Briefly about the show: the pilot begins with the descendants of people who took refuge on a huge international space station during a world-destroying nuclear war, 97 years prior. The current administration sends a group of 100 juvenile delinquents down to Earth to test whether the radiation's lowered enough to be habitable. The kids find out, to their horror, that plenty of people survived on Earth all along; meanwhile, everyone back on the space station is running out of air. Miscommunications with bloody results abound.
There are some intriguing female leaders in the cast, both teen and adult, which is the main plus for me, and pretty good world-building, thoughtfully blogged about by the inventor of a fictional language used on the show. Lots of TV critics and mainstream media have recommended it. Only 21 episodes have aired so far, so it should be possible to catch up during the winter hiatus.
The Next Shore (13250 words)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Summary: After the war with Mount Weather, Clarke and Bellamy lead a splinter group to form a new settlement on the coast. But the territory they want already belongs to another Grounder clan.
Branches off from canon post-2x08, "Spacewalker."
Beta thanks to
thuviaptarth, who is both the thinkiest and the stealthiest.
My recipient asked for non-AU, and I was like, I'd do that anyway, try and stop me! Much of the fandom seems to prefer fluffy AUs to the actual backdrop of the show -- futuristic post-apocalypse Earth where three interestingly complex societies (one of them matriarchal) are fighting for survival -- but I was more than happy to play in that universe.
I was also happy to take Clarke Griffin for a spin. She's a hard-headed, determined, fierce force of nature; she's also myopic, overly demanding, and can weaponize a grudge like nobody's business. It was a slow burn for me, but by 2x01 I was firmly into her. Then at the mid-season finale, 2x08, she went through some super-trauma, her big "Becoming 2" moment, and I knew I had to write about that.
Mostly though I wanted Clarke and the surviving kids to find a corner of the world where they could be at peace. I figured they'd first have to (a) finish the conflict with Mount Weather, and (b) come to an accord with whoever the Grounders are in that new corner. But as I only had a few days between 2x08 and the Yuletide deadline, I had to write fast. Ultimately, I think the story needed another few thousand words, to better develop the Grounder clan I made up and to give Clarke a more gradual education in non-prejudiced, non-ruthless foreign policy and diplomacy tactics. Maybe in a sequel...
My recipient shipped Clarke and Bellamy, so I did my best to deliver, although the story falls just short of resolved sexual tension. I think at this point I appreciate them more as platonic co-leaders -- or rather, Bellamy as lieutenant and Clarke as leader, since that seems to be how their dynamic has shaken out in recent episodes. I do appreciate their evolving ability to communicate entire strategies with mere glances, however!
I also suppressed my hatred of Finn to give Clarke and Raven some friction and extended mourning time. In truth, I thought he was useless from the pilot and outright loathed him when we found out Raven existed. Then came the Grounder massacre. Let's just say when Lexa wanted to give him the torture of 18 deaths I was like, SOLD, CAN I GIFT WRAP HIM FOR YOU? Still, I kind of like writing about grief and trauma, especially when it's a guy getting fridged for girl pain.
Also in the story, Jasper did not get invited to the new colony, because fuck Jasper.
Writing soundtrack: 1989 by Taylor Swift (picture proof)
This post has
comments at its original location at http://hesychasm.dreamwidth.org/267806.html. Please comment there or here.