Please Be Less Enthusiastic About Our Murder Plot.
It's time for the end-of-year fic meme! Once again, I've become impatient and filled out this meme right at the start of December. I'll feel like a fool if I write anything else before the year is over.
Number of fics written in 2024: twenty-six. You can find them on my AO3 account: .
Fandoms: Severance, Erased, Scrubs, In Stars and Time, If We Were Villains, Danganronpa, Danganronpa 2, Death Note, Ace Attorney, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Omori, The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, Life Is Strange 2, and assorted Final Fantasy games: VII, VIII, XIII, XV and XVI. Thirteen videogame fandoms, two television fandoms, two anime/manga fandoms, one book fandom. A roughly even balance of new fandoms and ones I've written for before.
Two crossovers: Always Believe (Ace Attorney/Death Note), in which Phoenix Wright defends Light Yagami in court, and Crossroads and Crosshairs (Life Is Strange 2/The Coffin of Andy and Leyley), in which Sean runs into Andrew and Ashley and ends up in a great deal of trouble.
Best title: I kind of like The Person You've Become (The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, Andrew/Ashley, NB incest). You've become a pretty fucked-up guy, Andrew!
Worst title: Captured (Danganronpa 2, Hinata/Koizumi) doesn't really work. I wanted to go with something photography-related, given Koizumi's talent, and I thought 'Captured' might fit with the way they're cornered into sharing a bed or the way that makes them look at each other differently, but ultimately it feels like it should be the title of something darker in tone.
Best first line: It’s strange to realise you’re in the last place you’ll ever see. (Understanding, Erased)
Worst first line: “I give this guy two weeks,” Dr Cox says. (One Lucky Resident, Scrubs, Cox/Elliot) - it doesn't look too bad in isolation, but it's a line from canon I just dropped in on the assumption that the reader would remember the context. In retrospect, I should have put more work into setting the scene.
Best last line: When she sleeps, she dreams about cutting him open and climbing inside him and curling up in his ribcage, safe and warm. (No Way Out, The Coffin of Andy and Leyley) - these two are catastrophically fucked up and I love them.
Worst last line: Just took a quick look through my ending lines, but none of them jumped out to me as the worst! Plenty of them aren't anything special in isolation, but I think I'm generally content with the way they wrap things up.
Looking back, did you write more than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?
Much more! About 60,000 words. I had a slow start to the year - I wrote nothing in January, March or April - and I assumed that pattern would continue, but things really picked up!
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?
I was not expecting to write about Light and Ryuk of Death Note banging, but here we are. Writing Clive/Joshua incest for Final Fantasy XVI was also a surprise; I'd never contemplated the pairing before I saw a prompt on the Final Fantasy Kiss Battle!
What’s your favourite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.
Sometimes a particular fic really jumps out at me, but not this year; I had to think about this one! But I think it's probably Through the Looking Glass (Severance). I really like the idea of the two versions of Mark forming a tentative friendship, and 'a character communicating with someone only they can see or hear' is one of my favourite themes.
Okay, NOW your most popular story.
Shape of the Heart (Metaphor: ReFantazio, protagonist/Strohl). Briefly the most kudosed fic in the fandom, although it's now been dethroned! This was largely a matter of timing; I posted this fic very early in the fandom's life. The game had only been out for nine days, and there wasn't much else to read!
Story most underappreciated by the universe?
Crossroads and Crosshairs (Life Is Strange 2/The Coffin of Andy and Leyley) didn't get many readers, but I didn't really expect it to; it's a crossover between two entirely unrelated games, both of which are divisive for different reasons. It did make it to ten kudos, though!
Story that could have been better?
Cold Comfort (Death Note, Light/L) contains a huge and embarrassing error: Ryuk should be present the entire time, given that he's tethered to Light at this point, but he's never mentioned. I was mortified to remember him after posting. Sorry, Ryuk!
Sexiest story?
The stuff I write does not tend to be particularly sexy, but I suppose there's some hot desperation and psychological struggling in The Person You've Become (The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, Andrew/Ashley, NB incest).
Saddest story?
Now that I think about it, this year's writing is lighter on the misery than usual! The saddest fic might be Reciprocation (In Stars and Time, Siffrin/Isabeau), in which Siffrin enters a romantic relationship he doesn't want and it's pretty emotionally rough on everyone involved.
Most fun?
Maybe Possibilities (Final Fantasy XV, Prompto/Ignis)? Prompto being a disaster with a crush is always a blast.
Story with single sweetest moment?
Probably After Hours (Ace Attorney, Apollo/Athena), when Apollo is touched by the fact that Athena trusts him enough to sleep against him.
Most fucked-up story?
I think this has to be The Person You've Become (The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, Andrew/Ashley), in which a guy reflects on the murder and cannibalism he's committed and then has sex with his sister.
Hardest story to write?
Crossroads and Crosshairs (Life Is Strange 2/The Coffin of Andy and Leyley) was a real challenge! Andrew and Ashley don't care about anything but each other, so it's hard to make them interact with anyone else. The only way I could envision them interacting with Sean was by murdering him, but that wasn't an outcome I wanted. It was tricky to get Sean out of their meeting alive!
Easiest/most fun story to write?
I had a lot of fun writing Power Exchange (Metaphor: ReFantazio, everyone/everyone), thinking about how all the characters would respond to 'hey, uh, we need to bang in order to transfer over the power we use in battle' (and about how to incorporate a bunch of voyeurism, which was not technically required by the concept but which I thought would contribute to the weird bonding experience). It's a fun, weird situation to put characters in, and a fun, varied cast of characters to inflict it upon!
Did any stories shift your perception of the characters?
I don't know if any of my fics changed my perception of the characters, exactly, but several of them helped me to get more of a handle on who they are.
Understanding (Erased) helped me get more of a grip on Yashiro, who can be a tricky character to understand.
Close Contact (Metaphor: ReFantazio) helped me to flesh out my idea of Strohl; we mainly see his fine qualities, and writing from his perspective helped me get an idea of where his flaws might lie and where he might be trying to do better. Come to think of it, my second Metaphor: ReFantazio fic, Shape of the Heart (protagonist/Strohl), helped me get a better grip on the protagonist; I'd been struggling to pin down a sense of character for him.
The Person You've Become (The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, Andrew/Ashley) started out as an attempt to understand Andrew's character, and it definitely helped on that front, even if the main thing I learnt was 'if you delve too deeply into Andrew's character, he will end up banging his sister'.
Most overdue story?
Making Space (Final Fantasy XIII) started life as a few hundred words I scribbled down in a notebook over a decade ago. I've always really liked Sazh and Vanille's relationship; I'm glad I was able to write something about it at last.
You could also consider One Lucky Resident (Scrubs, Cox/Elliot) long overdue, given that I've liked the idea of Cox/Elliot for at least sixteen years. I've given small nods to it in a couple of my previous Scrubs fics, but this is the first time I've actually written a fic with Cox/Elliot as the focus.
And there's also Wake Up (Final Fantasy VIII, Squall/Zell), which is a rewrite of the first fic I ever completed: I Need You, written twenty-two years earlier.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
I wrote an Utena fic with incestuous implications a couple of years ago (it is hard to write Utena fanfiction without incestuous implications), but this year was the first time in fourteen years I wrote fanfiction with 'onscreen' incestuous kissing or sex, in the form of Regrets (Final Fantasy XVI, Clive/Joshua) and The Person You've Become (The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, Andrew/Ashley). I was nervous that people might be weird and judgemental about it, but the main thing I learnt was that incest shippers are really lovely and enthusiastic! I was very struck by the warmth of the response to Regrets in particular.
I always feel bad for the fics that don't get mentioned when I make these entries! Sorry, guys.
Number of fics written in 2024: twenty-six. You can find them on my AO3 account: .
Fandoms: Severance, Erased, Scrubs, In Stars and Time, If We Were Villains, Danganronpa, Danganronpa 2, Death Note, Ace Attorney, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Omori, The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, Life Is Strange 2, and assorted Final Fantasy games: VII, VIII, XIII, XV and XVI. Thirteen videogame fandoms, two television fandoms, two anime/manga fandoms, one book fandom. A roughly even balance of new fandoms and ones I've written for before.
Two crossovers: Always Believe (Ace Attorney/Death Note), in which Phoenix Wright defends Light Yagami in court, and Crossroads and Crosshairs (Life Is Strange 2/The Coffin of Andy and Leyley), in which Sean runs into Andrew and Ashley and ends up in a great deal of trouble.
Best title: I kind of like The Person You've Become (The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, Andrew/Ashley, NB incest). You've become a pretty fucked-up guy, Andrew!
Worst title: Captured (Danganronpa 2, Hinata/Koizumi) doesn't really work. I wanted to go with something photography-related, given Koizumi's talent, and I thought 'Captured' might fit with the way they're cornered into sharing a bed or the way that makes them look at each other differently, but ultimately it feels like it should be the title of something darker in tone.
Best first line: It’s strange to realise you’re in the last place you’ll ever see. (Understanding, Erased)
Worst first line: “I give this guy two weeks,” Dr Cox says. (One Lucky Resident, Scrubs, Cox/Elliot) - it doesn't look too bad in isolation, but it's a line from canon I just dropped in on the assumption that the reader would remember the context. In retrospect, I should have put more work into setting the scene.
Best last line: When she sleeps, she dreams about cutting him open and climbing inside him and curling up in his ribcage, safe and warm. (No Way Out, The Coffin of Andy and Leyley) - these two are catastrophically fucked up and I love them.
Worst last line: Just took a quick look through my ending lines, but none of them jumped out to me as the worst! Plenty of them aren't anything special in isolation, but I think I'm generally content with the way they wrap things up.
Looking back, did you write more than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?
Much more! About 60,000 words. I had a slow start to the year - I wrote nothing in January, March or April - and I assumed that pattern would continue, but things really picked up!
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?
I was not expecting to write about Light and Ryuk of Death Note banging, but here we are. Writing Clive/Joshua incest for Final Fantasy XVI was also a surprise; I'd never contemplated the pairing before I saw a prompt on the Final Fantasy Kiss Battle!
What’s your favourite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.
Sometimes a particular fic really jumps out at me, but not this year; I had to think about this one! But I think it's probably Through the Looking Glass (Severance). I really like the idea of the two versions of Mark forming a tentative friendship, and 'a character communicating with someone only they can see or hear' is one of my favourite themes.
Okay, NOW your most popular story.
Shape of the Heart (Metaphor: ReFantazio, protagonist/Strohl). Briefly the most kudosed fic in the fandom, although it's now been dethroned! This was largely a matter of timing; I posted this fic very early in the fandom's life. The game had only been out for nine days, and there wasn't much else to read!
Story most underappreciated by the universe?
Crossroads and Crosshairs (Life Is Strange 2/The Coffin of Andy and Leyley) didn't get many readers, but I didn't really expect it to; it's a crossover between two entirely unrelated games, both of which are divisive for different reasons. It did make it to ten kudos, though!
Story that could have been better?
Cold Comfort (Death Note, Light/L) contains a huge and embarrassing error: Ryuk should be present the entire time, given that he's tethered to Light at this point, but he's never mentioned. I was mortified to remember him after posting. Sorry, Ryuk!
Sexiest story?
The stuff I write does not tend to be particularly sexy, but I suppose there's some hot desperation and psychological struggling in The Person You've Become (The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, Andrew/Ashley, NB incest).
Saddest story?
Now that I think about it, this year's writing is lighter on the misery than usual! The saddest fic might be Reciprocation (In Stars and Time, Siffrin/Isabeau), in which Siffrin enters a romantic relationship he doesn't want and it's pretty emotionally rough on everyone involved.
Most fun?
Maybe Possibilities (Final Fantasy XV, Prompto/Ignis)? Prompto being a disaster with a crush is always a blast.
Story with single sweetest moment?
Probably After Hours (Ace Attorney, Apollo/Athena), when Apollo is touched by the fact that Athena trusts him enough to sleep against him.
Most fucked-up story?
I think this has to be The Person You've Become (The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, Andrew/Ashley), in which a guy reflects on the murder and cannibalism he's committed and then has sex with his sister.
Hardest story to write?
Crossroads and Crosshairs (Life Is Strange 2/The Coffin of Andy and Leyley) was a real challenge! Andrew and Ashley don't care about anything but each other, so it's hard to make them interact with anyone else. The only way I could envision them interacting with Sean was by murdering him, but that wasn't an outcome I wanted. It was tricky to get Sean out of their meeting alive!
Easiest/most fun story to write?
I had a lot of fun writing Power Exchange (Metaphor: ReFantazio, everyone/everyone), thinking about how all the characters would respond to 'hey, uh, we need to bang in order to transfer over the power we use in battle' (and about how to incorporate a bunch of voyeurism, which was not technically required by the concept but which I thought would contribute to the weird bonding experience). It's a fun, weird situation to put characters in, and a fun, varied cast of characters to inflict it upon!
Did any stories shift your perception of the characters?
I don't know if any of my fics changed my perception of the characters, exactly, but several of them helped me to get more of a handle on who they are.
Understanding (Erased) helped me get more of a grip on Yashiro, who can be a tricky character to understand.
Close Contact (Metaphor: ReFantazio) helped me to flesh out my idea of Strohl; we mainly see his fine qualities, and writing from his perspective helped me get an idea of where his flaws might lie and where he might be trying to do better. Come to think of it, my second Metaphor: ReFantazio fic, Shape of the Heart (protagonist/Strohl), helped me get a better grip on the protagonist; I'd been struggling to pin down a sense of character for him.
The Person You've Become (The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, Andrew/Ashley) started out as an attempt to understand Andrew's character, and it definitely helped on that front, even if the main thing I learnt was 'if you delve too deeply into Andrew's character, he will end up banging his sister'.
Most overdue story?
Making Space (Final Fantasy XIII) started life as a few hundred words I scribbled down in a notebook over a decade ago. I've always really liked Sazh and Vanille's relationship; I'm glad I was able to write something about it at last.
You could also consider One Lucky Resident (Scrubs, Cox/Elliot) long overdue, given that I've liked the idea of Cox/Elliot for at least sixteen years. I've given small nods to it in a couple of my previous Scrubs fics, but this is the first time I've actually written a fic with Cox/Elliot as the focus.
And there's also Wake Up (Final Fantasy VIII, Squall/Zell), which is a rewrite of the first fic I ever completed: I Need You, written twenty-two years earlier.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
I wrote an Utena fic with incestuous implications a couple of years ago (it is hard to write Utena fanfiction without incestuous implications), but this year was the first time in fourteen years I wrote fanfiction with 'onscreen' incestuous kissing or sex, in the form of Regrets (Final Fantasy XVI, Clive/Joshua) and The Person You've Become (The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, Andrew/Ashley). I was nervous that people might be weird and judgemental about it, but the main thing I learnt was that incest shippers are really lovely and enthusiastic! I was very struck by the warmth of the response to Regrets in particular.
I always feel bad for the fics that don't get mentioned when I make these entries! Sorry, guys.