2010 Fanfic and Poetry Roundup
Sigh. So I did say I’d put this up about three weeks ago, but then my interest in the whole thing waned. Normally I’d be all over these masturbatory writing memes like lamprey eels on a heamophiliac (…yeah, okay, I disgusted myself a bit with that simile) but lately I’ve been rather meh about my writing. I poke at it with a stick and the words just quiver uselessly like some formless gelatinous mass of drivel. Blaaaaaaaaaaaaah.
Anyway, let’s poke at it some more.
This only includes stuff that is both finished and posted. A fair bit of other things got written but they are either still in wip-status, waiting for later posting, or original stuff that is unlikely to see LJ ever.
Fic by Fandom:
American Idol
Phonatory (Adam/Kris, R, 358 words)
Bandom
Access All Areas (or: How Spencer Smith Got His Groove Back) (Ryan/Spencer, multiple background pairings, R, ~14,500 words)
Bind (Bob /Frank, NC-17, 300 words)
Crackle (Frank/Gerard, PG-13, 717 words)
Dependence (Bob/Mikey, PG-13, 418 words)
facing forwards going slowly (unmarked_place ‘verse, Alex/Ryland, PG-13, 458 words)
i'm not one for love songs (unmarked_place ‘verse, Nate/Victoria, Gen Andy & Victoria, PG, 250 words)
just be good to me (Patrick/Pete, NC-17, 2,481 words)
lest it come true (Bob/Patrick, R, 200 words)
Of Cocoa Beans and Cautious Hearts (pre-Brendon/Jon/Tom, Jon/Tom, background Patrick/Pete and Ryan/Spencer, PG, 1091 words)
Patrick Stump Emergency Procedure (capitals obligatory) (Patrick/Pete, R, 2,180 words)
sanctum sanctorum (Gabe/Pete, R, 200 words)
stranger-friends (Gabe/Pete, R, 200 words)
swear to shake it up if you swear to listen (unmarked_place ‘verse, Brendon/Ryan, PG-13, 560 words)
S.W.T.H. (unmarked_place ‘verse, Gerard/Lindsey, R, 350 words)
there's a fallow heart and it's waiting on a sowing hand (unmarked_place ‘verse, OFC/Pete, PG, 299 words)
Welcome (unmarked_place ‘verse, Gen, Bob & Patrick, PG, 417 words)
Merlin
In Vino Veritas (Arthur/Merlin, PG-13, 808 words)
that’s how the light gets in (Arthur/Merlin, PG-13, 300 words)
Miscellaneous, i.e. ‘wtf were you thinking’
Closed Change - Part 1/3 - co-authored with pushkin666 (Bruno Tonioli/Craig Revel Horwood from Strictly Come Dancing, NC-17, 4,329 words)
l eft my head and my heart on the dance floor (Beyoncé/Lady Gaga from the Telephone music video, R, 310 words)
Improbable (Old Spice Guy/Sassy Gay Friend from, uh, the Internet? PG, 1,932 words)
Supernatural
Life Is Bigger (Gen, Bob & Castiel, PG-13, ~2,500 words)
Torchwood
the odds are there to beat (Ianto/Jack, R, ~5,800 words)
Lyrics/Poetry: (these are all flocked- if you want to read them and don’t have access, please drop me a comment)
and your heart too
Bone Sparrow
Connected
i can’t speak for the wind
i don’t want to kiss you
in babylon they laugh with broken teeth
it is not so bad to end here, you and i
last wish, second sight
my love is red
Odds and ends
saunaruno (in Finnish)
Sister Winter
the road is ours
this story is done
Meme questions:
Leitmotifs of the year:
- Power dynamics
- Unconventional relationships
- Letting go
- Being a hopeful romantic
- Exploring darker themes
My best story this year:
By popularity: This one crack fic I’ll talk about more later on.
By actual quality: Life is Bigger. It is very rare that a story comes together as effortlessly for me as this one did. I was struck by the central concept immediately after watching the episode and wrote the fic over two days. This too is almost unheard of when it comes to me but this story just flowed out; everything falling to place. And I’m really pleased with the end result; the dialogue, character voices, story structure… Yeah, really happy with it.
Poetry mention: Bone Sparrow, Odds and ends
Story most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
See, I want to say Life Is Bigger, but that’s probably not fair because the story actually has the third highest hit number of all my fics on AO3, suggesting that a fair few people have read (and hopefully appreciated) it. Still, it’s a gen story about minor characters so…
Lol, can I say Closed Change? Because no one besides myself and pushkin666 appreciates the beauty of that pairing. :D
Most fun story to write:
Patrick Stump Emergency Procedure (capitals obligatory) - Most of this was written on IM as bedtime story for pushkin666. The fic gives a cheerful finger to proper narrative structure and uses the second person pov and dear god it was easy and freeing to write. And yeah, so much fun.
In Vino Veritas was also tons of fun, because I enjoy writing drunk people :D
Fluffiest story:
At first, I was like ‘I haven’t written any fluff this year’, but then I realised that I was only deluding myself.
Crackle - Kissing in the rain.
Access All Areas - Boys being failboats and having shenanigans whilst falling in love.
facing forwards going slowly - Alex and Ryland being switchy and snarky and happy!
Poetry mention: Connected
Most angsty story:
I did a fair bit of angst this year (ha! In so many ways…). I think most fics have some degree of angsting in them. For example…
Dependence - dysfunctional relationship without resolution.
the odds are there to beat - more low key, resigned kind of angst, about making the best out of bad choices.
there's a fallow heart and it's waiting on a sowing hand - not for the content but for the connotations.
Closed Change - you ain’t seen nothing yet, just wait for the next part. This story is nothing but angst and porn.
Like... good two thirds of all poetry.
Sexiest story:
Bind? Or at least that was the porniest. Personally, I’d go with S.W.T.H., just because I like how the atmosphere turned out. Plus, it was awesome to write a female character again.
Poetry mention: my love is red
"Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
Lol, everything under ‘Miscellaneous fandoms’ for the sheer WTF value. Non-con in lest it come true. Serial killers in stranger-friends. Cages in sanctum sanctorum.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
the odds are there to beat - I didn’t really have strong grip on either Jack or Ianto or ‘Jack and Ianto’ before actually writing this, but the story turned into a prolonged character and relationship study. I actually feel like ‘that’s it’ for this pairing, that’s all I have to say about them, I have no more to give.
Hardest story to write:
the odds are there to beat - oh my god, I struggled with this story so much. It was written for help_pakistan auction for a recipient I didn’t (and don’t) know personally, based on their prompt (which, I hasten to point out, was excellent). I haven’t written anything sustained in Torchwood before, so it took me a good while to get hold of the characters (see above) and I just didn’t know what to do about the plot, such as it was. One of the few stories I actually feel I’ve worked hard at, and I think it shows both in good and bad.
Poetry mention: i don’t want to kiss you
Biggest Disappointment:
just be good to me - I don’t know exactly why. It just… didn’t turn like it was in my head.
Apart for that it’s the usual, ‘wish I’d had more time/self-discipline to write more’ regrets.
Biggest Surprise:
The most Improbable success story of the year (see what I did there) was this little thing I wrote as an inside joke for old_blueeyes about a guy who sells manly body spray and this other guy who wears a sassy scarf and gives advice. Yeah, idk either. I swear to god I didn’t even pimp it anywhere but within two days it had contracted a moderate case of (thankfully short-lived) internet fame. Second City Network (home of Sassy Gay Friend) linked the fic on their Facebook and my Fourth Wall turned out to have the structural integrity of rice paper as Brian Gillivan (aka Sassy Gay Friend himself) popped in to leave comment. Thankfully, it was a positive one and no one came after me with a C&D order. Despite all the hyperventilating and facepalming at the time I can see the funny side now…
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
entangled_now and I had a little discussion about this, because she was saying in her own post of this meme that she tries not to put much of herself into her writing as she finds it distracting. I thought that really interesting, because I don’t think I could I could avoid it even if I tried. My own opinion/feelings/experiences work their way into my writing all the time, usually unintentionally. I try not to force my ~issues~ on the poor readers, but have been told on occasion that I’ve been channeling myself in certain fics or scenes. But anyway, to answer the question: the odds are there to beat and S.W.T.H. (and, to a degree, everything in unmarked_place 'verse)
Poetry mentions: 'it is not so bad to end here, you and I' & 'my love is red' & 'I don’t want to kiss you'
Story I haven't yet written, but intend hope to:
Most of this is actually in some sort of wip stage already:
- Tons of stuff for unmarked_place, e.g. Brendon/Ryan relationship development stuff and the fic where Gerard and Lindsey pick a couple of (OC) subs to play with.
- This totally ridiculous Being Human hooker!fic where George takes up hustling.
- An embarrassing amount of Strictly Come Dancing Bruno/Craig fic with pushkin666.
- This twisted dub-con waycest fic where Mikey and Gerard keep making out in semi-public places.
- Drabbles in variety of fandoms
- Some original f/f.
- Poetry. Lots of poetry. I’m aiming for roughly one poem per week.
- Whatever my helpbrazil2011 recipient wants me to write. This could be you! Go bid!
Aaaaaaaaaaaand we're done with that. I think. As always, I'd be interested to hear any thoughts, opinions or questions you may have of my writing. Please note that constructive criticism is always welcome. Oh, and I always have anonymous commenting enabled so feel free to leave questions or comments that way if you prefer.