Annual End of Year Writing Meme (2016 Edition)
(I was going to do 
fandom_stocking things at last, but I was feeling too rotten, so I pulled this out of my hidden posts in progress instead. I don't think anyone's getting stocking stuffers from me at this rate...)
Last year's results are here
Stats:
List of Completed Fics:
For
fandom_stocking:
Hitch in the Proceedings (G, 530 words, Seven & Ace (DW).)
Snowflakes (G, 572 words, Eight/Charley (DW).)
Love and Marriage (G, 1945 words, Adam Adamant/Georgina Jones, Simms. (AAL!))
Crash Landing (G, 929 words. Dayna/Tarrant. B7.)
Stories (G, 527 words. Vicki/Steven, DW.)
A Minute's Peace (G, 632 words. Nell/Giles, April Lady.)
A Certain Something (G, 590 words. Gillian Linton, Joey Bettany. Chalet School.)
AU Meme:
Delgado Master (+Three, DW.)
Hilda Annersley & Nell Wilson (Chalet School)
Romana/River Song (DW)
Jamie McCrimmon & Zoe Heriot (DW)
Sixth Doctor & Evelyn Smythe (DW)
Ninth Doctor & Rose Tyler (DW)
Roderick Alleyn (+Agatha Troy, Inspector Fox).
Leela (DW; +Four, Andred.)
Ruth Evershed/Harry Pearce (Spooks)
Adam Adamant/Georgina Jones (AAL1, + Simms)
Justin Alastair, Duke of Avon (These Old Shades; +Leonie, Rupert.)
Liz Shaw (DW)
Practice to Deceive (Teen, 601 words. Ruth Evershed/Geraldine Maltby, Spooks.) For
trope_bingo
Time No Longer (G, 1380 words. Sapphire/Silver/Steel/TARDIS. DW/S&S crossover.)
Bar-Room Brawl (G, 2512 words. Tom Branson, Tegan Jovanka. Downton Abbey/DW crossover.) This one was actually written a couple of years ago for intoabar, but I failed to post it until I fished it out of a memory stick last year.
Self-Made Man (G, 956 words. The Kandyman & Gilbert M, DW.) For dw_guestfest.
Four Plied (Teen, 1359 words. Ross Poldark/Caroline Penvenen/Dwight Enys/Demelza Carne. Poldark.) For New Year's Resolution 2016.
One Good Turn (Teen, 1212 words. Willie Caine, Neil Burnside, Mr Palfrey. The Sandbaggers/Mr Palfrey of Westminster crossover.) For
trope_bingo
Rumours of Blake (Teen, 947 words. Vila, Avon, Orac, Cally, Tarrant, Dayna. B7.) For Obscure & British.
Congratulations & Celebrations (G, 298 words. Adam Adamant/Georgina Jones. AAL!) For Obscure & British.
Waiting For the Sky to Fall G, 1216 words. Dieter Richter & Philip Martel. Enemy at the Door.)
First Lines Meme:
Space Married (Teen, 940 words. Twelve/Clara. DW.)
Unwelcome Bedfellows (G, 120 words. John Sheridan, Alfred Bester. Babylon 5.)
Bedside Manner (G, 546 words. Peri & Six. DW.)
Experimental Flavours (G, 587 words. Kenny Phillips, Colin Mathews, Press Gang.)
Alone Out Here (G, 238 words. Sapphire, Steel.)
Think of the Planet (G, 502 words. Brig/Liz, Three. DW.)
Under the Stars (Teen, 626 words. Clara/Missy. DW.)
Gateaux and Glitz (G, 571 words. Melanie Bush, Kerr Avon, Dayna Mellanby. B7/DW crossover.)
Safe Break (G, 496 words. Soolin & Vila, B7.)
Lost Reflection (Teen, 506 words. Mina/Lucy, Dracula 1968.)
Ruined (G, 392 words. Matthew Peele, Neil Burnside, Geoffrey Wellingham. The Sandbaggers.) For Obscure & British.
Crossover Meme:
Entombed (G, 689 words. Evy Carnaghan, Dayna Mellanby. The Mummy/B7 crossover.)
Wrong Number (G, 1201 words. Vila, Georgina Jones, Orac. B7/AAL! crossover.)
Manual Repairs (G, 192 words. Zoe Heriot, Kerr Avon, DW/B7 crossover.)
Behind the Bushes (G, 580 words. Twelve, The Cat, DW/Red Dwarf crossover.)
Interrogation (G, 764 words. Jenna Stannis, Henry VII. The Shadow of the Tower/B7 crossover.)
Helping With Enquiries (G, 581 words. Dr Watson, The Master. DW/Sherlock Holmes crossover.)
All That She Wants (G, 439 words. Pamela Wilder, Silver. S&S/The Power Game crossover.)
Frozen (G, 301 words. Six/Clara.)
You're Not Alone (G, 412 words. Cally, Georgina Jones. AAL!/B7 crossover.)
Scandal of the Town (Teen, 26,067 words. Origfic (OFC/OMC).) For
unconventionalcourtship, hc_bingo and runaway_tales.
Who's Leaving Who? (G, 1429 words. Georgina Jones, Colin Townley, Caswell Bligh. AAL!/The Power Game crossover.)
Hello World (G, 420 words. Ruth Evershed, Twelve. DW/Spooks crossover.)
Lightning Flashes (G, 638 words. Seven & Benny, DW.) For the 500 Prompts challenge.
Awash With Cake (G, 336 words. Three, Jo, Brig, Millennium Falcon/TARDIS cake fic.) Birthday (cake) fic.
Genremixer Meme:
Unexpected Development (G, 219 words. Mina/Lucy, Dracula 1968.)
The House Always Wins (G, 639 words. Liz Shaw, The Master, Three, DW.)
Biggest Bang in History (G, 425 words. Six/Jack Harkness.)
In the Gallery (G, 361 words. Theodore Frant, Justin Alastair. The Quiet Gentleman/These Old Shades crossover.)
Tall Tales (Bring You Short Replies) (G, 640 words. Adam Adamant, Georgina Jones, Simms, AAL!)
Vanquished (G, 252 words. Adam Adamant/Louise. AAL!/Dracula 1968 crossover.)
In Memoriam (G, 791 words. Twelve & Martha Jones, DW.)
Let Your Feelings Out (G, 851 words. Vila & Jenna, B7.)
Now You See It (G, 418 words. Seven & Benny, DW.)
Break In (G, 381 words. Steel, Vila, Avon. B7/S&S crossover.)
Yuletide:
Influence (Teen, 1368 words. Van Helsing & John Seward, Dracula/Jonathan, John Seward/Lucy Weston, Mina/Lucy, Jonathan/Mina, Dracula 1968.) For Yuletide 2016.
The Poison Tree (Teen, 27,259 words. Jonathan/Mina, John Seward, Mrs Weston, Mrs Hopkins, Mrs Perkins, Original Characters, Dracula 1968). For Yuletide 2016.
movements of the mind (G, 1892 words. Feste & Olivia, Twelfth Night.) For Yuletide 2016.
The Spirit of St Mary Mead (G, 4005 words. Jane Marple, Griselda Clement, Original Characters, Miss Marple.) For Yuletide 2016.
Vintage (G, 532 words. Sandra Pullman & Gerry Standing, New Tricks.) For Yuletide Madness 2016.
Battered and Bruised (G, 1812 words. Adam Adamant, Georgina Jones, Simms, AAL!) For Yuletide 2016.
Plus some runaway_tales installments that I may want to bring up below (and/or standalone AUs, just in case anyone is interested):
Shopping Spree (All ages, drabble. Supernatural AU. Arran, Anna, Liesa).
Midnight Escapade (All ages, 1905 words. Regency AU. Edward/Julia, Christy Graves, Amyas Harding.) Also for
trope_bingo
Weekend Break (Teen, 8373 words. Supernatural AU. Edward/Julia, Diana Foyle.)
betrayal is a cancer (let it eat your soul) (Teen/M, 2445 words. Edward Iveson, Julia Graves, Emily Iveson, Elizabeth Long, Marie Werner, Amyas Harding.) Also for hc_bingo.
Even the Bad Times Are Good (Teen, 10491 words. 1960s AU. Edward/Julia, Christy Graves.)
Total number: 70 (+ 32 for runaway_tales, including some "Flavour of the Day" flashfic. 30x Divide and Rule; 2x Enigma House.)
Total word count: ~111,058 (actually ~104,893, subtracting a repost of UNIT: Haunted.) (+ ~65,596 Runaway Tales (not counting Scandal of the Town, which is on AO3) Which I think... totals ~170,489 words.
Ship/character breakdown:
Okay, at my best count (which is always fairly dodgy), I've written ~100 separate characters at least once with 22 separate ships. This meme is not for the faint-hearted multi-fannish soul who does too many frivolous writing memes, I can tell you. However, among some of the characters who managed to appear more than once, we have a clear winner (and winning fandom):
Georgina Jones - 8
Adam Adamant - 6
Vila Restal - 5
With William E. Simms, Dayna Mellanby, Kerr Avon, Twelfth Doctor, Sixth Doctor, Mina Harker, and Lucy Weston all clocking up 4 appearances.
In ships, Adam/Georgie is tied with Mina/Lucy (3 stories each), with Mina Harker/Jonathan Harker getting two showings thanks to my Yuletide efforts.
Over on runaway_tales, I have been hiding in my Edward/Julia happy place, although actually not so much in what was typed up, but you, ah, don't want to see my notebooks! But, hey, there are worse ways to deal with things and sometimes three other people on the internet even enjoy it too.
Specifics:
Best/worst title?
Well, an awful lot of them were meme ficlets and Flavour of the Day things thought up in impatience so I could post them elsewhere, so none of those are anything special and I'm not even going to apologise for that. I did, however, call my TARDIS/Sapphire/Silver/Steel fic Time No Longer even though I'd already used it for a drabble, which is pretty lazy authoring.
I think the best may be the Seven & Ace accidental marriage fic Hitch in the Proceedings. I also quite like "Space Married," "Four-Plied," "The Poison Tree," and "movements of the mind."
Best/worst summary?
I'm pretty fond of: “The Government isn’t doing enough to counteract the rise of demon worship in more remote areas of the country. It’d be a different story if it were happening in the Home Counties.” (Weekend Break). (It's funny if you're me and you've watched way too much cult British telly.)
And: In which dating is complicated, Edward can’t stand modern music, and Julia can’t stand Edward’s clothes. (Even the Bad Times Are Good.) Because that is exactly how frivolous that AU is.
Some personalities are magnetic, they exert an irresistible pull on others. (Influence). I don't know why.
One bad apple and you’ve got to check the whole barrel hasn’t gone rotten, that’s the problem… (One Good Turn)
The TARDIS has some intriguing visitors. She may never let them go. (Time No Longer)
My summaries aren't very exciting generally. But then a lot of them were ficlets. I don't know. Summaries = hard unless they aren't. Like titles.
Best/worst first line?
“So, what was all that weird chanting about?” asked Ace, as she and the Doctor legged it out of the temple, leaving behind them a building with a hole in it and some more than usually pissed off blokes in dodgy robes. (Hitch in the Proceedings)
Having shot down the last of their pursuers, the small flier lurched to the ground in a path perilously close to a nose dive, a tail of smoke billowing out behind it. (Crash Landing)
It had been another terrible day, one of what now seemed destined to be an unbreakable run of terrible days. (Scandal of the Town)
Edward was currently suffering several assaults on his fifteen year old dignity and uncertain as yet whether to stand on it or not. (Out of Your Tree) (One of those lines that's either the best or worst but nothing in between. I don't know.)
“What, Doctor, is that?” said the Brigadier, stopping at the sight and going so far as to raise his eyebrow by half an inch. (Awash With Cake)
The letter, when it arrived at the property agents’ office in London, was passed in a circuitous route from desk to desk before reaching its destination. (The Poison Tree)
Best/worst last line?
A weird but true thing: I seem to have more better last lines than first lines this year. Very strange!
“I’ll be back upstairs, then,” said Mr Dickinson. “Cowering. In a corner most likely and comforting myself with the thought that at least any eldritch beings probably have more of a heart than you, young lady.” (Uncomfortable Company, Runaway Tales).
"And,” she added, addressing Edward as she got to her feet, “next time I tell you that the government needs to tackle something, perhaps you’ll listen to me before someone tries to sacrifice you!” (Weekend Break).
He had to pause in the hallway and remind himself that one could not punch an aunt, no matter the provocation. (Morning Headlines)
He doesn’t do what they pay him to do; he doesn’t put her name in the file. He never will. (betrayal is a cancer)
And, donning his hat, coat, red scarf, and umbrella, like the very caricature of an unassuming English civil servant, Mr Palfrey left the building. (One Good Turn)
He doesn’t ask himself then or for a long while after, because some thoughts are best avoided: when he turned Seivad into the Kandyman, what did he make of himself? (Self-Made Man)
She lets them go; she closes her doors behind them. But she is bigger on the inside, an impossible box, a travelling paradox and she keeps these moments of their existence together for eternity. (Time No Longer)
“My dear Captain,” said the Doctor, positively radiating smugness, “that’s highly unlikely. I am, as it happens, quite simply the best. At most things, I think you’ll find.” (Biggest Bang in History)
Miss Marple demurred for a moment, but only a little and with a slight smile as if she, as much as Davy, acknowledged the sheer rightness of the gesture. (The Spirit of St Mary Mead)
As to my worst lines, I'm not telling you, but if you spot anything truly dreadful, I'll try and fix it. ;-p
General questions:
Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?
I never make fic predictions, meme. Haven't you learnt that by now? I think I had hoped to write more ficathon/exchange pieces, and more Runaway Tales, and not so many meme ficlets, but I always vaguely feel I ought to be writing Proper Fic and still end up writing meme ficlets, because I love writing memes. But the cyst in my mouth and two bouts of dental surgery probably did hamper some things - which makes the final total more than a bit astonishing to me in retrospect.
My bout of illness does tell, though - I had a big gap in posting anything, either at Runaway Tales or on AO3 between January and April. (Although I did write the AU Meme ficlets in the middle of it all.)
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?
I was hoping that I would finally manage to write a Babylon 5 fic at some point. What I imagined my entry into that fandom would look like, I don't know, but I didn't imagine it would be 120 words of Bester and Sheridan in an only one bed scenario. (Thanks for that, Jaxomsride!)
Six/Jack Harkness was definitely also an unpredictable generator result, but a priceless thought.
And while it's not strictly true to say I couldn't have predicted it last year, as I saw the prompt during Yuletide 2015, but writing Ross Poldark/Demelza Carne/Caroline Penvenen/Dwight Enys for New Year's Resolution was a departure for me. (I tend to do mostly non-human poly!) But they are definitely one combination where you can certainly see it - there's a particular moment that the current adaptation hasn't got to, but I know from the books and the 70s series, so I pulled out that point and ran with it.
I wouldn't have been shocked to learn I that I would try to write Twelfth Night for yuletide 2016, but something like that is always terrifying to do - definitely outside my usual comfort zone. Wherever that actually is, I'm not even sure any more...
And, as I've said, I was still absolutely in my stupid Edward/Julia happy place over at runaway_tales. Except when I was being unkind to them instead. (I put them in a cruel canon backstory; now I keep AU-ing them to make up for it.)
What's your favourite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.
Even the Bad Times Are Good, Weekend Break, and Midnight Escape. I said Edward/Julia AUs were my happy place. They were fun to write and they're still not bad to read (although Weekend Break had more action than I could cope with and could use a little more fixing here and there).
The Poison Tree, because it was very satisfying to be able to write something like that again. It might have been a bit unwise as yet, but it's better than I've done since 2010. And I'm still pretty pleased with it.
Probably movements of the mind too, because it was a stretch and people liked it.
Also Waiting For the Sky to Fall, because it was so lovely to have Hyarrowen to write it for, and just enjoy revisiting Richter and Martel for a little while.
Okay, NOW your most popular story.
Using kudos as a measure of popularity, The Spirit of St Mary Mead (one of my Yuletide stories), Space Married (Twelve/Clara, accidental marriage meme ficlet), and movements of the mind (another Yuletide fic).
I said that one of my stories got recced by someone people take notice of - I have never had so many kudos in so short a time. In only just over 1 week under two weeks, it has 107 118 137 kudos. (People in popular fandoms/(slash) pairings, don't laugh at me.) Of course, it's Miss Marple fic. If I've learned one thing by now, it's that my only claim to fame of any sort is to write Miss Marple. But this one is chasing the Miss Marple beats Dracula fic already.
Space Married proved inexplicably but pleasingly popular, despite not being part of any ficathon or exchange - it shows what happens when you write a pairing that is relatively big. But it also got comments, so either Twelve/Clara fans are the best, or I just struck lucky somehow. But very nice. *pats ficlet* (Thanks have to go to Persiflage, who gave me the prompt!)
Story most underappreciated by the universe?
Looking at this list, I see that everything I wrote got at least 1 kudos, if sometimes not any more, so that's not a bad result. Most of those languishing at the end are very obscure or meme ficlets, or very obscure meme ficlets, or very recent, so fair enough. I altered this to comment threads to see if it would help me out, and then it was depressing how many of my stories had no comments at all!
I like Practice to Deceive. I feel sure if there was still a Spooks fandom, they'd have appreciated it. Somebody had to write Jennifer Ehle's character and ship her with Ruth, dammit!
I think while everything else has probably got what it deserves, one way or another, I always want more people to read some of the origfic, so Weekend Break, Even the Bad Times Are Good, and Midnight Escapade, which are all standalones.
And since it has already been read by 1 other person than the recipient, I shouldn't, but I'm really pleased with The Poison Tree (my Yuletide assignment) and would love other people to be willing to try it, but I know it's a big ask.
Story that could have been better?
Do you mean 'all of them' as usual, meme? Because, all of them, obviously. Some more than others.
Sexiest story?
Ahahaha! I have options this year, meme. Are you impressed or what? I certainly am.
Probably The Poison Tree, because the interlude is the obligatory metaphorical vampirism = sex scene. (I think it wasn't a bad one, too.)
Four Plied, for a foursome, although implied only. There are things I am just never going to be any good at, let's face it.
Scandal of the Town, because I did work on trying to improve my love scenes in it (such slight things as they are) and I think I did, a bit, especially in the middle section.
And in Even The Bad Times Are Good, when the summary says Julia can't stand Edward's clothes; it, er, is how it sounds. :-)
Saddest story?
betrayal is a cancer (let it eat your soul). (My canon is terrible when I'm not AU-ing it and sometimes I like being horribly bleak. /evil)
The Poison Tree, probably, otherwise. Except it doesn't really feel sad to me (because I was failing to be all that dark). But maybe, depending on which angle you're coming from?
Most fun?
I really enjoyed writing pretty much all of the AU Memes a lot, and the first lines writing meme was a highlight.
Hitch in the Proceedings, Weekend Break, Even the Bad Times Are Good, most of the AAL! fic, because AAL!
Story with single sweetest moment?
Snowflakes. Which is pretty much pure fluff, really. Literal fluff, given the snowflakes in question.
On the Runaway Tales side, Dreaming in Sunlight and Inconvenience are also slight snippets of utter fluff.
Hardest story to write?
Oh, picking up the gauntlet for Yuletide as ever - movements of the mind was the toughest, because it's very inconvenient to get ideas for writing Shakespeare fanfic when you're terrified of writing Shakespeare fanfic - and having to write a Fool when you suddenly are completely lacking in jokes. (Luckily, the internet is amazing and if you type in "16th C jokes" and things like that, it gives you some.)
The Poison Tree, because while I enjoyed writing it, and the length may not have anywhere near equalled my gift, it was still far more than I really should have been tackling at that point, and it did make me ill for three weeks afterwards, and got a lot of work put into it. (But I have no regrets!)
Easiest/most fun story to write?
Oh, whoops, I answered this above. It holds true, whichever way you read the question.
Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?
Probably not really, but I did have to dig around into characters more deeply for movements of the mind, and The Poison Tree.
Most overdue story?
A tie between Bar-Room Brawl, which was written for Intoabar 2013, but I had simply been too ill to edit it at the time and left it lying on a memory stick for three years, along with notes from its beta.
I'm not sure how long ago I started Time No Longer, but certainly at least 2013 in rough, if not 2012.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Writing movements of the mind terrified me. I'm not sure I learned anything from it except that somehow I got away with it?
Also I wrote several longer things and survived. That's very encouraging! Even if I should be more careful.
This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most:
*looks at motley list* Err?
Well, there was a surprising amount of accidental marriages, fake marriages and convenient marriages, I suppose. In which case it's a tie between Space Married and Scandal of the Town for the title.
I think, maybe more than other years, there's been a trend of writing things to try and cheer me and others up? (One year I might have a cool theme instead a motley assortment of random fic(lets), but this year is not that year.)
What are your fic writing goals for next year?
I'd say write far less ficlets so this meme is easier next time, but I can never resist a writing meme.
However, I do want to finish my languishing UC Adam/Georgie fic (hopefully in time for the next round of
unconventionalcourtship). I also need to finish writing and typing up my much overdue S&S
fandom_stocking 2015 fic for
annariel and
kaffyr. (I never abandoned it; it was just that the first time I started to feel well enough to tackle it, it was time for Yuletide.)
I'd also like to finish my current dw_allsorts table (& maybe pick another with a 'theme' claim), get a bingo for
genprompt_bingo (it has no deadlines, so I should be able to, I hope) and get some of the runaway_tales backlog out of my notebook. But we'll see. It would be nice to do some more exchanges, but that keeps not working out for me. I manage Yuletide, but I get stressed and ill at the others.
Here's hoping, anyway. As long as there are some words... If this year is okay writing-wise as 2016, I'm happy with that - but I'll hope for even better!
Crossposted from Dreamwidth -- Comments there:
fandom_stocking things at last, but I was feeling too rotten, so I pulled this out of my hidden posts in progress instead. I don't think anyone's getting stocking stuffers from me at this rate...)
Last year's results are here
Stats:
List of Completed Fics:
For
fandom_stocking:
Hitch in the Proceedings (G, 530 words, Seven & Ace (DW).)
Snowflakes (G, 572 words, Eight/Charley (DW).)
Love and Marriage (G, 1945 words, Adam Adamant/Georgina Jones, Simms. (AAL!))
Crash Landing (G, 929 words. Dayna/Tarrant. B7.)
Stories (G, 527 words. Vicki/Steven, DW.)
A Minute's Peace (G, 632 words. Nell/Giles, April Lady.)
A Certain Something (G, 590 words. Gillian Linton, Joey Bettany. Chalet School.)
AU Meme:
Delgado Master (+Three, DW.)
Hilda Annersley & Nell Wilson (Chalet School)
Romana/River Song (DW)
Jamie McCrimmon & Zoe Heriot (DW)
Sixth Doctor & Evelyn Smythe (DW)
Ninth Doctor & Rose Tyler (DW)
Roderick Alleyn (+Agatha Troy, Inspector Fox).
Leela (DW; +Four, Andred.)
Ruth Evershed/Harry Pearce (Spooks)
Adam Adamant/Georgina Jones (AAL1, + Simms)
Justin Alastair, Duke of Avon (These Old Shades; +Leonie, Rupert.)
Liz Shaw (DW)
Practice to Deceive (Teen, 601 words. Ruth Evershed/Geraldine Maltby, Spooks.) For
trope_bingo
Time No Longer (G, 1380 words. Sapphire/Silver/Steel/TARDIS. DW/S&S crossover.)
Bar-Room Brawl (G, 2512 words. Tom Branson, Tegan Jovanka. Downton Abbey/DW crossover.) This one was actually written a couple of years ago for intoabar, but I failed to post it until I fished it out of a memory stick last year.
Self-Made Man (G, 956 words. The Kandyman & Gilbert M, DW.) For dw_guestfest.
Four Plied (Teen, 1359 words. Ross Poldark/Caroline Penvenen/Dwight Enys/Demelza Carne. Poldark.) For New Year's Resolution 2016.
One Good Turn (Teen, 1212 words. Willie Caine, Neil Burnside, Mr Palfrey. The Sandbaggers/Mr Palfrey of Westminster crossover.) For
trope_bingo
Rumours of Blake (Teen, 947 words. Vila, Avon, Orac, Cally, Tarrant, Dayna. B7.) For Obscure & British.
Congratulations & Celebrations (G, 298 words. Adam Adamant/Georgina Jones. AAL!) For Obscure & British.
Waiting For the Sky to Fall G, 1216 words. Dieter Richter & Philip Martel. Enemy at the Door.)
First Lines Meme:
Space Married (Teen, 940 words. Twelve/Clara. DW.)
Unwelcome Bedfellows (G, 120 words. John Sheridan, Alfred Bester. Babylon 5.)
Bedside Manner (G, 546 words. Peri & Six. DW.)
Experimental Flavours (G, 587 words. Kenny Phillips, Colin Mathews, Press Gang.)
Alone Out Here (G, 238 words. Sapphire, Steel.)
Think of the Planet (G, 502 words. Brig/Liz, Three. DW.)
Under the Stars (Teen, 626 words. Clara/Missy. DW.)
Gateaux and Glitz (G, 571 words. Melanie Bush, Kerr Avon, Dayna Mellanby. B7/DW crossover.)
Safe Break (G, 496 words. Soolin & Vila, B7.)
Lost Reflection (Teen, 506 words. Mina/Lucy, Dracula 1968.)
Ruined (G, 392 words. Matthew Peele, Neil Burnside, Geoffrey Wellingham. The Sandbaggers.) For Obscure & British.
Crossover Meme:
Entombed (G, 689 words. Evy Carnaghan, Dayna Mellanby. The Mummy/B7 crossover.)
Wrong Number (G, 1201 words. Vila, Georgina Jones, Orac. B7/AAL! crossover.)
Manual Repairs (G, 192 words. Zoe Heriot, Kerr Avon, DW/B7 crossover.)
Behind the Bushes (G, 580 words. Twelve, The Cat, DW/Red Dwarf crossover.)
Interrogation (G, 764 words. Jenna Stannis, Henry VII. The Shadow of the Tower/B7 crossover.)
Helping With Enquiries (G, 581 words. Dr Watson, The Master. DW/Sherlock Holmes crossover.)
All That She Wants (G, 439 words. Pamela Wilder, Silver. S&S/The Power Game crossover.)
Frozen (G, 301 words. Six/Clara.)
You're Not Alone (G, 412 words. Cally, Georgina Jones. AAL!/B7 crossover.)
Scandal of the Town (Teen, 26,067 words. Origfic (OFC/OMC).) For
unconventionalcourtship, hc_bingo and runaway_tales.
Who's Leaving Who? (G, 1429 words. Georgina Jones, Colin Townley, Caswell Bligh. AAL!/The Power Game crossover.)
Hello World (G, 420 words. Ruth Evershed, Twelve. DW/Spooks crossover.)
Lightning Flashes (G, 638 words. Seven & Benny, DW.) For the 500 Prompts challenge.
Awash With Cake (G, 336 words. Three, Jo, Brig, Millennium Falcon/TARDIS cake fic.) Birthday (cake) fic.
Genremixer Meme:
Unexpected Development (G, 219 words. Mina/Lucy, Dracula 1968.)
The House Always Wins (G, 639 words. Liz Shaw, The Master, Three, DW.)
Biggest Bang in History (G, 425 words. Six/Jack Harkness.)
In the Gallery (G, 361 words. Theodore Frant, Justin Alastair. The Quiet Gentleman/These Old Shades crossover.)
Tall Tales (Bring You Short Replies) (G, 640 words. Adam Adamant, Georgina Jones, Simms, AAL!)
Vanquished (G, 252 words. Adam Adamant/Louise. AAL!/Dracula 1968 crossover.)
In Memoriam (G, 791 words. Twelve & Martha Jones, DW.)
Let Your Feelings Out (G, 851 words. Vila & Jenna, B7.)
Now You See It (G, 418 words. Seven & Benny, DW.)
Break In (G, 381 words. Steel, Vila, Avon. B7/S&S crossover.)
Yuletide:
Influence (Teen, 1368 words. Van Helsing & John Seward, Dracula/Jonathan, John Seward/Lucy Weston, Mina/Lucy, Jonathan/Mina, Dracula 1968.) For Yuletide 2016.
The Poison Tree (Teen, 27,259 words. Jonathan/Mina, John Seward, Mrs Weston, Mrs Hopkins, Mrs Perkins, Original Characters, Dracula 1968). For Yuletide 2016.
movements of the mind (G, 1892 words. Feste & Olivia, Twelfth Night.) For Yuletide 2016.
The Spirit of St Mary Mead (G, 4005 words. Jane Marple, Griselda Clement, Original Characters, Miss Marple.) For Yuletide 2016.
Vintage (G, 532 words. Sandra Pullman & Gerry Standing, New Tricks.) For Yuletide Madness 2016.
Battered and Bruised (G, 1812 words. Adam Adamant, Georgina Jones, Simms, AAL!) For Yuletide 2016.
Plus some runaway_tales installments that I may want to bring up below (and/or standalone AUs, just in case anyone is interested):
Shopping Spree (All ages, drabble. Supernatural AU. Arran, Anna, Liesa).
Midnight Escapade (All ages, 1905 words. Regency AU. Edward/Julia, Christy Graves, Amyas Harding.) Also for
trope_bingo
Weekend Break (Teen, 8373 words. Supernatural AU. Edward/Julia, Diana Foyle.)
betrayal is a cancer (let it eat your soul) (Teen/M, 2445 words. Edward Iveson, Julia Graves, Emily Iveson, Elizabeth Long, Marie Werner, Amyas Harding.) Also for hc_bingo.
Even the Bad Times Are Good (Teen, 10491 words. 1960s AU. Edward/Julia, Christy Graves.)
Total number: 70 (+ 32 for runaway_tales, including some "Flavour of the Day" flashfic. 30x Divide and Rule; 2x Enigma House.)
Total word count: ~111,058 (actually ~104,893, subtracting a repost of UNIT: Haunted.) (+ ~65,596 Runaway Tales (not counting Scandal of the Town, which is on AO3) Which I think... totals ~170,489 words.
Ship/character breakdown:
Okay, at my best count (which is always fairly dodgy), I've written ~100 separate characters at least once with 22 separate ships. This meme is not for the faint-hearted multi-fannish soul who does too many frivolous writing memes, I can tell you. However, among some of the characters who managed to appear more than once, we have a clear winner (and winning fandom):
Georgina Jones - 8
Adam Adamant - 6
Vila Restal - 5
With William E. Simms, Dayna Mellanby, Kerr Avon, Twelfth Doctor, Sixth Doctor, Mina Harker, and Lucy Weston all clocking up 4 appearances.
In ships, Adam/Georgie is tied with Mina/Lucy (3 stories each), with Mina Harker/Jonathan Harker getting two showings thanks to my Yuletide efforts.
Over on runaway_tales, I have been hiding in my Edward/Julia happy place, although actually not so much in what was typed up, but you, ah, don't want to see my notebooks! But, hey, there are worse ways to deal with things and sometimes three other people on the internet even enjoy it too.
Specifics:
Best/worst title?
Well, an awful lot of them were meme ficlets and Flavour of the Day things thought up in impatience so I could post them elsewhere, so none of those are anything special and I'm not even going to apologise for that. I did, however, call my TARDIS/Sapphire/Silver/Steel fic Time No Longer even though I'd already used it for a drabble, which is pretty lazy authoring.
I think the best may be the Seven & Ace accidental marriage fic Hitch in the Proceedings. I also quite like "Space Married," "Four-Plied," "The Poison Tree," and "movements of the mind."
Best/worst summary?
I'm pretty fond of: “The Government isn’t doing enough to counteract the rise of demon worship in more remote areas of the country. It’d be a different story if it were happening in the Home Counties.” (Weekend Break). (It's funny if you're me and you've watched way too much cult British telly.)
And: In which dating is complicated, Edward can’t stand modern music, and Julia can’t stand Edward’s clothes. (Even the Bad Times Are Good.) Because that is exactly how frivolous that AU is.
Some personalities are magnetic, they exert an irresistible pull on others. (Influence). I don't know why.
One bad apple and you’ve got to check the whole barrel hasn’t gone rotten, that’s the problem… (One Good Turn)
The TARDIS has some intriguing visitors. She may never let them go. (Time No Longer)
My summaries aren't very exciting generally. But then a lot of them were ficlets. I don't know. Summaries = hard unless they aren't. Like titles.
Best/worst first line?
“So, what was all that weird chanting about?” asked Ace, as she and the Doctor legged it out of the temple, leaving behind them a building with a hole in it and some more than usually pissed off blokes in dodgy robes. (Hitch in the Proceedings)
Having shot down the last of their pursuers, the small flier lurched to the ground in a path perilously close to a nose dive, a tail of smoke billowing out behind it. (Crash Landing)
It had been another terrible day, one of what now seemed destined to be an unbreakable run of terrible days. (Scandal of the Town)
Edward was currently suffering several assaults on his fifteen year old dignity and uncertain as yet whether to stand on it or not. (Out of Your Tree) (One of those lines that's either the best or worst but nothing in between. I don't know.)
“What, Doctor, is that?” said the Brigadier, stopping at the sight and going so far as to raise his eyebrow by half an inch. (Awash With Cake)
The letter, when it arrived at the property agents’ office in London, was passed in a circuitous route from desk to desk before reaching its destination. (The Poison Tree)
Best/worst last line?
A weird but true thing: I seem to have more better last lines than first lines this year. Very strange!
“I’ll be back upstairs, then,” said Mr Dickinson. “Cowering. In a corner most likely and comforting myself with the thought that at least any eldritch beings probably have more of a heart than you, young lady.” (Uncomfortable Company, Runaway Tales).
"And,” she added, addressing Edward as she got to her feet, “next time I tell you that the government needs to tackle something, perhaps you’ll listen to me before someone tries to sacrifice you!” (Weekend Break).
He had to pause in the hallway and remind himself that one could not punch an aunt, no matter the provocation. (Morning Headlines)
He doesn’t do what they pay him to do; he doesn’t put her name in the file. He never will. (betrayal is a cancer)
And, donning his hat, coat, red scarf, and umbrella, like the very caricature of an unassuming English civil servant, Mr Palfrey left the building. (One Good Turn)
He doesn’t ask himself then or for a long while after, because some thoughts are best avoided: when he turned Seivad into the Kandyman, what did he make of himself? (Self-Made Man)
She lets them go; she closes her doors behind them. But she is bigger on the inside, an impossible box, a travelling paradox and she keeps these moments of their existence together for eternity. (Time No Longer)
“My dear Captain,” said the Doctor, positively radiating smugness, “that’s highly unlikely. I am, as it happens, quite simply the best. At most things, I think you’ll find.” (Biggest Bang in History)
Miss Marple demurred for a moment, but only a little and with a slight smile as if she, as much as Davy, acknowledged the sheer rightness of the gesture. (The Spirit of St Mary Mead)
As to my worst lines, I'm not telling you, but if you spot anything truly dreadful, I'll try and fix it. ;-p
General questions:
Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?
I never make fic predictions, meme. Haven't you learnt that by now? I think I had hoped to write more ficathon/exchange pieces, and more Runaway Tales, and not so many meme ficlets, but I always vaguely feel I ought to be writing Proper Fic and still end up writing meme ficlets, because I love writing memes. But the cyst in my mouth and two bouts of dental surgery probably did hamper some things - which makes the final total more than a bit astonishing to me in retrospect.
My bout of illness does tell, though - I had a big gap in posting anything, either at Runaway Tales or on AO3 between January and April. (Although I did write the AU Meme ficlets in the middle of it all.)
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?
I was hoping that I would finally manage to write a Babylon 5 fic at some point. What I imagined my entry into that fandom would look like, I don't know, but I didn't imagine it would be 120 words of Bester and Sheridan in an only one bed scenario. (Thanks for that, Jaxomsride!)
Six/Jack Harkness was definitely also an unpredictable generator result, but a priceless thought.
And while it's not strictly true to say I couldn't have predicted it last year, as I saw the prompt during Yuletide 2015, but writing Ross Poldark/Demelza Carne/Caroline Penvenen/Dwight Enys for New Year's Resolution was a departure for me. (I tend to do mostly non-human poly!) But they are definitely one combination where you can certainly see it - there's a particular moment that the current adaptation hasn't got to, but I know from the books and the 70s series, so I pulled out that point and ran with it.
I wouldn't have been shocked to learn I that I would try to write Twelfth Night for yuletide 2016, but something like that is always terrifying to do - definitely outside my usual comfort zone. Wherever that actually is, I'm not even sure any more...
And, as I've said, I was still absolutely in my stupid Edward/Julia happy place over at runaway_tales. Except when I was being unkind to them instead. (I put them in a cruel canon backstory; now I keep AU-ing them to make up for it.)
What's your favourite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.
Even the Bad Times Are Good, Weekend Break, and Midnight Escape. I said Edward/Julia AUs were my happy place. They were fun to write and they're still not bad to read (although Weekend Break had more action than I could cope with and could use a little more fixing here and there).
The Poison Tree, because it was very satisfying to be able to write something like that again. It might have been a bit unwise as yet, but it's better than I've done since 2010. And I'm still pretty pleased with it.
Probably movements of the mind too, because it was a stretch and people liked it.
Also Waiting For the Sky to Fall, because it was so lovely to have Hyarrowen to write it for, and just enjoy revisiting Richter and Martel for a little while.
Okay, NOW your most popular story.
Using kudos as a measure of popularity, The Spirit of St Mary Mead (one of my Yuletide stories), Space Married (Twelve/Clara, accidental marriage meme ficlet), and movements of the mind (another Yuletide fic).
I said that one of my stories got recced by someone people take notice of - I have never had so many kudos in so short a time. In only just over 1 week under two weeks, it has 107 118 137 kudos. (People in popular fandoms/(slash) pairings, don't laugh at me.) Of course, it's Miss Marple fic. If I've learned one thing by now, it's that my only claim to fame of any sort is to write Miss Marple. But this one is chasing the Miss Marple beats Dracula fic already.
Space Married proved inexplicably but pleasingly popular, despite not being part of any ficathon or exchange - it shows what happens when you write a pairing that is relatively big. But it also got comments, so either Twelve/Clara fans are the best, or I just struck lucky somehow. But very nice. *pats ficlet* (Thanks have to go to Persiflage, who gave me the prompt!)
Story most underappreciated by the universe?
Looking at this list, I see that everything I wrote got at least 1 kudos, if sometimes not any more, so that's not a bad result. Most of those languishing at the end are very obscure or meme ficlets, or very obscure meme ficlets, or very recent, so fair enough. I altered this to comment threads to see if it would help me out, and then it was depressing how many of my stories had no comments at all!
I like Practice to Deceive. I feel sure if there was still a Spooks fandom, they'd have appreciated it. Somebody had to write Jennifer Ehle's character and ship her with Ruth, dammit!
I think while everything else has probably got what it deserves, one way or another, I always want more people to read some of the origfic, so Weekend Break, Even the Bad Times Are Good, and Midnight Escapade, which are all standalones.
And since it has already been read by 1 other person than the recipient, I shouldn't, but I'm really pleased with The Poison Tree (my Yuletide assignment) and would love other people to be willing to try it, but I know it's a big ask.
Story that could have been better?
Do you mean 'all of them' as usual, meme? Because, all of them, obviously. Some more than others.
Sexiest story?
Ahahaha! I have options this year, meme. Are you impressed or what? I certainly am.
Probably The Poison Tree, because the interlude is the obligatory metaphorical vampirism = sex scene. (I think it wasn't a bad one, too.)
Four Plied, for a foursome, although implied only. There are things I am just never going to be any good at, let's face it.
Scandal of the Town, because I did work on trying to improve my love scenes in it (such slight things as they are) and I think I did, a bit, especially in the middle section.
And in Even The Bad Times Are Good, when the summary says Julia can't stand Edward's clothes; it, er, is how it sounds. :-)
Saddest story?
betrayal is a cancer (let it eat your soul). (My canon is terrible when I'm not AU-ing it and sometimes I like being horribly bleak. /evil)
The Poison Tree, probably, otherwise. Except it doesn't really feel sad to me (because I was failing to be all that dark). But maybe, depending on which angle you're coming from?
Most fun?
I really enjoyed writing pretty much all of the AU Memes a lot, and the first lines writing meme was a highlight.
Hitch in the Proceedings, Weekend Break, Even the Bad Times Are Good, most of the AAL! fic, because AAL!
Story with single sweetest moment?
Snowflakes. Which is pretty much pure fluff, really. Literal fluff, given the snowflakes in question.
On the Runaway Tales side, Dreaming in Sunlight and Inconvenience are also slight snippets of utter fluff.
Hardest story to write?
Oh, picking up the gauntlet for Yuletide as ever - movements of the mind was the toughest, because it's very inconvenient to get ideas for writing Shakespeare fanfic when you're terrified of writing Shakespeare fanfic - and having to write a Fool when you suddenly are completely lacking in jokes. (Luckily, the internet is amazing and if you type in "16th C jokes" and things like that, it gives you some.)
The Poison Tree, because while I enjoyed writing it, and the length may not have anywhere near equalled my gift, it was still far more than I really should have been tackling at that point, and it did make me ill for three weeks afterwards, and got a lot of work put into it. (But I have no regrets!)
Easiest/most fun story to write?
Oh, whoops, I answered this above. It holds true, whichever way you read the question.
Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?
Probably not really, but I did have to dig around into characters more deeply for movements of the mind, and The Poison Tree.
Most overdue story?
A tie between Bar-Room Brawl, which was written for Intoabar 2013, but I had simply been too ill to edit it at the time and left it lying on a memory stick for three years, along with notes from its beta.
I'm not sure how long ago I started Time No Longer, but certainly at least 2013 in rough, if not 2012.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Writing movements of the mind terrified me. I'm not sure I learned anything from it except that somehow I got away with it?
Also I wrote several longer things and survived. That's very encouraging! Even if I should be more careful.
This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most:
*looks at motley list* Err?
Well, there was a surprising amount of accidental marriages, fake marriages and convenient marriages, I suppose. In which case it's a tie between Space Married and Scandal of the Town for the title.
I think, maybe more than other years, there's been a trend of writing things to try and cheer me and others up? (One year I might have a cool theme instead a motley assortment of random fic(lets), but this year is not that year.)
What are your fic writing goals for next year?
I'd say write far less ficlets so this meme is easier next time, but I can never resist a writing meme.
However, I do want to finish my languishing UC Adam/Georgie fic (hopefully in time for the next round of
unconventionalcourtship). I also need to finish writing and typing up my much overdue S&S
fandom_stocking 2015 fic for
annariel and
kaffyr. (I never abandoned it; it was just that the first time I started to feel well enough to tackle it, it was time for Yuletide.)
I'd also like to finish my current dw_allsorts table (& maybe pick another with a 'theme' claim), get a bingo for
genprompt_bingo (it has no deadlines, so I should be able to, I hope) and get some of the runaway_tales backlog out of my notebook. But we'll see. It would be nice to do some more exchanges, but that keeps not working out for me. I manage Yuletide, but I get stressed and ill at the others.
Here's hoping, anyway. As long as there are some words... If this year is okay writing-wise as 2016, I'm happy with that - but I'll hope for even better!
Crossposted from Dreamwidth -- Comments there: