Yuletide reveal + my 2011 fic roundup
Reveal time! My beautiful, wonderful Billy Elliot story was written for me by torakowalski. Thank you so much for the fantastic gift and another great Yuletide experience. :)
For Yuletide 2011, I wrote a story for Revenge:
Real for cobweb_diamond
The things Nolan Ross wants and can't have, for love or money. (Nolan/Tyler)
Pretty much the first thing I read in Revenge fandom was not a fic, but this lovely look at Nolan's amazing fashion sense and whether it's a deliberate 'fuck you' to the Hamptons society around him, the one he clearly doesn't feel he belongs to, despite his money. Basically, I was completely hearteyes over Nolan, and then over the writer of this great post and their analysis of Nolan as a character; so of course, I get to write for them for Yuletide! No pressure! *g*
cobweb_diamond wanted Nolan/Tyler as 'the embodiment of this show -- loveless and conflicting and secretive and manipulative, yet super intense'. I heartily concur with her thoughts on the pairing, on Nolan, and on the soapy, melodramatic amazingness of the show, so I really enjoyed the chance to write some more in my newest fannish obsession, even if my writerly anxiety reared its head again and again during the process.
Also, I need to thank
littlerhymes once more for being the best beta (who doesn't let me get away with being a lazy writer), an always-enthusiastic cheerleader, and for going above and beyond at the last minute when I was freaking out about fashion details. :)
Revenge
Real (R; Nolan/Tyler)
Reciprocity (NC-17; Nolan/Tyler)
Suits
Needs (PG-13; Harvey/Mike)
Entourage
Alpha, Omega (PG-13; Vince/Eric)
What's your favourite story (of your own) of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
Real.
I wasn’t sure, after getting the prompt, if I was ready to write another Nolan/Tyler story so soon after the first, and I was terrified of the fact I was working with a rolling canon (oh, the wibbling I did between 1.09 and 1.10, and then AFTER 1.10).
But this turned out to be the best thing because it really made me rethink my characterisation; it was hard to ignore, from 1.10, the amount of vulnerability Nolan shows, and the paltry rewards he gets for exposing himself so to people such as Emily and Tyler, who are flint hard and controlled crazy respectively.
So then I listened to For Real by Okkervil River over and over and over and wrote a fic that followed the original plot outline fairly closely but with a completely reshaped emotional arc. Reading back over it, I feel pretty good about how it turned out.
my best story this year
Real.
1) I think it’s a good effort in satisfying my YT recipient’s request, which was the number one priority. But I can’t claim all the credit - about 36 hours before the deadline,
littlerhymes was digging up link after link for me of designer menswear to help me with details of what Nolan would wear, because cobweb_diamond is obviously really into costuming. Ro really went above and beyond, and I'm really really sad I didn't get to include in the story this truly amazing cat-and-rat Hermes pocket square that she found.
2) It’s more technically accomplished than the other three fics and involved a lot more background work, sorting out all the different voices, the different ways each character would go on the offensive against Nolan. Also I think it has more emotional weight, and also a more fully realised plot, while the other three things I wrote were mostly scenes.
most popular story this year, in my opinion
Real, which isn’t surprising - Yuletide generally brings the bigger audience I would normally never get.
However, I’m surprised by how many hits Needs got; it’s so slight, and almost gen for a pairing (Harvey/Mike) that has turned out so many good shippy stories this year. Not that I’m complaining! :)
most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion
Alpha, Omega - the fandom was petering out. But I’m not sure if it’s underappreciated, really; it’s just not very good. (see answer for ‘Biggest Disappointment’)
most fun story
…fun for who? ;)
It’d probably be Reciprocity - I mean, what’s more fun than porn and banter and twisty mind games?
sexiest story
Reciprocity - see answers above and below!
"holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story
Weeeeeelll, I don’t know if it’s ‘wrong even for me’ - as I said last year: “No zombie hookers, no incest; I have mellowed in my old age.”
However, pretty sure the element of dubious consent in Reciprocity (depending on what you think of power play and sex for favours) gets it over the line in terms of most-wrong this year.
story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters
Real - see answer for the first question.
hardest story to write
Reciprocity.
I had difficulty starting Real, but once I got going it came pretty easily; I think each section took me about a day to write, and then I took two days to edit and refine. Reciprocity, on the other hand, seemed to take forever - I had the premise right after 1.07 aired, but it took almost two weeks to finish barely 3000 words and I was working on a bit every day (and trust me, I don’t normally have that kind of discipline).
biggest disappointment
Alpha, Omega - it is very much a writing exercise, and even then it’s very uneven: the first half is all action and banter while the second half is so internal, so much telling rather than showing. It also feels like I’m recycling bits from my other stories, using the same stock phrases; it does nothing new. Ah well.
most telling
Um, none of them? I guess I worry that Reciprocity comes across as id-fic but it’s not what my brain’s like (all the time…).
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
More! I seriously thought I would end the year with just one story (if at all) - I was set on attempting Yuletide - but up to August I had not written a single word of fic all year. So in the end, to have managed four fic/lets was a good achievement in a year where RL was quite intense and time-consuming.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2011?
Obviously Suits and Revenge since both are completely new fandoms. I was still into bandom at the beginning of 2011, was writing a Greek story, and I had about 3 White Collar fics outlined, so it’s kind of terrible that I never got around to fnishing even one of them. Maybe this year… (well, probably not the bandom ones. But you never know!)
total numbers
10, 971 words
overall
I wrote in more fandoms than in 2010 and double the amount of stories! \o/ However, there were less words overall. And 2011 was the year I stopped being predominantly in RPF-fandom since 2003 (!) and moved into many different TV fandoms, which I really wouldn’t have predicted at the beginning of the year.
So I’m going to stop pretending that I have any idea what fandoms I’m going to end up writing for each year. :p My brain always takes me to different places.
I’m still dealing with the idea of all these fast-paced, constantly growing/changing TV canons. It does seem to make things harder for a slow writer like me. But hopefully I’ll equal, if not surpass my output this year.
Apart from that, I’d definitely want to keep doing Yuletide.
And those are my low-hanging fic goals for 2012! :)
..
For Yuletide 2011, I wrote a story for Revenge:
Real for cobweb_diamond
The things Nolan Ross wants and can't have, for love or money. (Nolan/Tyler)
Pretty much the first thing I read in Revenge fandom was not a fic, but this lovely look at Nolan's amazing fashion sense and whether it's a deliberate 'fuck you' to the Hamptons society around him, the one he clearly doesn't feel he belongs to, despite his money. Basically, I was completely hearteyes over Nolan, and then over the writer of this great post and their analysis of Nolan as a character; so of course, I get to write for them for Yuletide! No pressure! *g*
cobweb_diamond wanted Nolan/Tyler as 'the embodiment of this show -- loveless and conflicting and secretive and manipulative, yet super intense'. I heartily concur with her thoughts on the pairing, on Nolan, and on the soapy, melodramatic amazingness of the show, so I really enjoyed the chance to write some more in my newest fannish obsession, even if my writerly anxiety reared its head again and again during the process.
Also, I need to thank
littlerhymes once more for being the best beta (who doesn't let me get away with being a lazy writer), an always-enthusiastic cheerleader, and for going above and beyond at the last minute when I was freaking out about fashion details. :)
Revenge
Real (R; Nolan/Tyler)
Reciprocity (NC-17; Nolan/Tyler)
Suits
Needs (PG-13; Harvey/Mike)
Entourage
Alpha, Omega (PG-13; Vince/Eric)
What's your favourite story (of your own) of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
Real.
I wasn’t sure, after getting the prompt, if I was ready to write another Nolan/Tyler story so soon after the first, and I was terrified of the fact I was working with a rolling canon (oh, the wibbling I did between 1.09 and 1.10, and then AFTER 1.10).
But this turned out to be the best thing because it really made me rethink my characterisation; it was hard to ignore, from 1.10, the amount of vulnerability Nolan shows, and the paltry rewards he gets for exposing himself so to people such as Emily and Tyler, who are flint hard and controlled crazy respectively.
So then I listened to For Real by Okkervil River over and over and over and wrote a fic that followed the original plot outline fairly closely but with a completely reshaped emotional arc. Reading back over it, I feel pretty good about how it turned out.
my best story this year
Real.
1) I think it’s a good effort in satisfying my YT recipient’s request, which was the number one priority. But I can’t claim all the credit - about 36 hours before the deadline,
littlerhymes was digging up link after link for me of designer menswear to help me with details of what Nolan would wear, because cobweb_diamond is obviously really into costuming. Ro really went above and beyond, and I'm really really sad I didn't get to include in the story this truly amazing cat-and-rat Hermes pocket square that she found.
2) It’s more technically accomplished than the other three fics and involved a lot more background work, sorting out all the different voices, the different ways each character would go on the offensive against Nolan. Also I think it has more emotional weight, and also a more fully realised plot, while the other three things I wrote were mostly scenes.
most popular story this year, in my opinion
Real, which isn’t surprising - Yuletide generally brings the bigger audience I would normally never get.
However, I’m surprised by how many hits Needs got; it’s so slight, and almost gen for a pairing (Harvey/Mike) that has turned out so many good shippy stories this year. Not that I’m complaining! :)
most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion
Alpha, Omega - the fandom was petering out. But I’m not sure if it’s underappreciated, really; it’s just not very good. (see answer for ‘Biggest Disappointment’)
most fun story
…fun for who? ;)
It’d probably be Reciprocity - I mean, what’s more fun than porn and banter and twisty mind games?
sexiest story
Reciprocity - see answers above and below!
"holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story
Weeeeeelll, I don’t know if it’s ‘wrong even for me’ - as I said last year: “No zombie hookers, no incest; I have mellowed in my old age.”
However, pretty sure the element of dubious consent in Reciprocity (depending on what you think of power play and sex for favours) gets it over the line in terms of most-wrong this year.
story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters
Real - see answer for the first question.
hardest story to write
Reciprocity.
I had difficulty starting Real, but once I got going it came pretty easily; I think each section took me about a day to write, and then I took two days to edit and refine. Reciprocity, on the other hand, seemed to take forever - I had the premise right after 1.07 aired, but it took almost two weeks to finish barely 3000 words and I was working on a bit every day (and trust me, I don’t normally have that kind of discipline).
biggest disappointment
Alpha, Omega - it is very much a writing exercise, and even then it’s very uneven: the first half is all action and banter while the second half is so internal, so much telling rather than showing. It also feels like I’m recycling bits from my other stories, using the same stock phrases; it does nothing new. Ah well.
most telling
Um, none of them? I guess I worry that Reciprocity comes across as id-fic but it’s not what my brain’s like (all the time…).
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
More! I seriously thought I would end the year with just one story (if at all) - I was set on attempting Yuletide - but up to August I had not written a single word of fic all year. So in the end, to have managed four fic/lets was a good achievement in a year where RL was quite intense and time-consuming.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2011?
Obviously Suits and Revenge since both are completely new fandoms. I was still into bandom at the beginning of 2011, was writing a Greek story, and I had about 3 White Collar fics outlined, so it’s kind of terrible that I never got around to fnishing even one of them. Maybe this year… (well, probably not the bandom ones. But you never know!)
total numbers
10, 971 words
overall
I wrote in more fandoms than in 2010 and double the amount of stories! \o/ However, there were less words overall. And 2011 was the year I stopped being predominantly in RPF-fandom since 2003 (!) and moved into many different TV fandoms, which I really wouldn’t have predicted at the beginning of the year.
So I’m going to stop pretending that I have any idea what fandoms I’m going to end up writing for each year. :p My brain always takes me to different places.
I’m still dealing with the idea of all these fast-paced, constantly growing/changing TV canons. It does seem to make things harder for a slow writer like me. But hopefully I’ll equal, if not surpass my output this year.
Apart from that, I’d definitely want to keep doing Yuletide.
And those are my low-hanging fic goals for 2012! :)
..