fic meme: 2011 - 2014
Total Word Count: ~ 350,000
Fandoms Written In: KAT-TUN (♥)
Favourite Fic: Spa Treatment (NaKame)
It’s fluffy, domestic, feel-good nakame and my face was in a perma-smile as I wrote it. This fic was written for Kame’s birthday and began with the idea of what Nakamaru means to Kame, and a spa treatment was the result: someone who pampers him and gives him room to relax, be himself, and helps him re-energize. There’s nothing fancy about this fic; it’s just shameless, sticky-sweet fluff wrapped around a canon filling (ie. my favourite). If you read this and don’t feel as if you’ve finished a bowl of hot, comforting soup, then this fic has failed to do its job (alternatively, I will settle for a smile).
Best Fic: Marionette (KameNo)
I was into a heavy phase of reading novels from the Regency Era when I wrote this fic, and boy does it show. I love the use of flowery language in this fic, the thick imagery that doesn’t suffocate the plot but embroiders it instead; for me, it’s very hard to achieve such a balance and make it work and this is one of the rare fics where it did (yay!). The pacing, compared to some of my other fics where the second half is usually rushed, is consistent too (yay!) and the plot is, if I say so myself, smart-not the concept of the plot itself, but the way Kame’s different characters move it along. Plus, the ending lives up to the dramatic tone of the fic… (whispers: the ending is the best part)
Most Underappreciated Fic: Trust your eyes to me (KameDa)
secretly my favourite fic, coughcough Have you ever read/written a fic that was the defining fic for your headcanon and you can’t move past it because it just clicks and makes sense to you? This is The KameDa fic for me; after having written this fic, I no longer feel the urge to write kameda (canon-verse at least) because I’ve said everything there is for me to say about them. It’s not so much as a story as it is a retelling of KAT-TUN’s history from the perspective of two jagged, insecure boys who are more similar than they know. [In that sense, it’s very similar to With Fistfuls of Glitter, but has more to it.] I took many pieces out of Kame and Ueda’s interviews to write this and the result was a fic that was about, as a reader put it, the characters finding themselves, rather than each other. I love this fic for the metaphors, the meta, and the character development, which I guess doesn’t intrigue people as much (which is fair enough!) but I believe it has enough heart in it to make up for a romantic plot. :’)
Most Fun Fic: Found My Way (NaKame)
This one was easy: who can resist the seductions of Vampire!Kame? Dentist Nakamaru, that’s who; or well, at least for a bit. I’ve written many AU fics but this one is fun in particular because I ended up building a whole new fantastical world; it’s not a what-if-they-weren’t-idols AU where they simply exist in a parallel universe, so to speak. The cameos from the rest of the KAT-TUN members (and other Johnnny’s) add more laughs (hopefully) and Vampire!Kame keeps the same crack-y, flirt-y, innuendo-filled spirit alive as he did in the Dentist Skits of the NMP ‘World’ Tour. Honestly, I remember hating this fic when it was first posted (the usual why does everything I write suck? phase most writers experience) and now I can’t see why. It’s fun. And Ueda is an actual fairy.
Sexiest Fic: And the candle blows out (NaKame) | The Same Circles (KameNo)
…Excuse me while I take a moment to laugh all sheepishly here. (whispers: I’m a PG writer who can’t write smut) Umm. Is it cheating if I vote for two? Because ‘And the candle blows out’ and ‘The Same Circles’ are the furthest I’ve pushed the PG-13 envelope but in different ways. The first is canon so it feels more intimate (plus the general theme *coughcough*) whereas latter is an AU and there’s more… physical action going on (don’t ask me how that happened (◔///◔)). I’m choosing these two not only because they’re the fics in which I’m come closest to writing sex, but also because more of the plot revolves around physical intimacy too. Usually my fics are more focused on unravelling feelings, misunderstandings, and character development through dialogue and interventions from outside characters, but for these two fics in particular, the physical intimacy is either the focal point (And the candle blows out) or the main driver (The Same Circles).
Fic that shifted my own perception of the characters: Kindaichi Case File #223: The Unfurling Dragon (Hajime/Ryu)
I could not have written 22k of Kame/Kame without being invested in these characters. There’s Hajime-Hajime, guh ♡-who is a genius detective with a penchant for flirting despite most of his wooing attempts backfiring in embarrassing ways. He has a weak-constitution in the face of pretty people and has no qualms about ditching friends for a date. Enter Ryu with his cold exterior and a general indifference for all things in life that don’t involve fighting for his friends or for his pride. What’s interesting is that I initially chose to pair these two characters because of their glaring contrasts in personality (looks-wise, they are almost the same), but I came out of this fic amazed at how similar they really were. Neither of them have much regard for authority figures. Ryu’s father is involved in the police force; Hajime’s forefathers were investigators. Ryu is troubled by his father’s control on his life while Hajime is constantly overshadowed by his grandfather’s legacy. They’re both struggling against expectations handed to them by their family. It’s something deep that they can relate to. What began as a crack ship ended up as something that could actually work in my eyes.
Fic I'm Most Proud Of: No Sugar, No Cream (NaKame)
This fic. I am still amazed at myself for managing to write 44k of actual plot within two weeks. It’s the biggest fic I’ve written. It’s also the plottiest and most action-filled. It involved some real research too. What I am most proud of is that I was able to balance the romantic, relationship aspect within the bigger picture of the overarching plot. It took 44,000 words for Nakamaru and Kame to get together and that allowed for so much more character development than if I had focused on the romantic angle from the start; I loved how both characters influenced and grew around each other. Being able to put the ship in the backseat was an accomplishment for me. I’m also proud of the plot itself and the way it was handled; usually my storylines are all about bringing character A and character B together somehow and while that was true in this fic too, for the most part, that wasn’t where the focus was directed, ie. it wasn’t my default, typical storyline. It was more intricate, with more actions scenes (which I am also proud of), outside characters and cameos involved. Once introduced, each character had a key role to play and I love how everything came together in the end. The ending itself wasn’t over-the-top either; while the major arc had come to a close, the story of Kame and Nakamaru and their relationship (and partnership) had only just begun.
Biggest Disappointment: Rumour Hast It (Kame/Anne)
I don’t know how to explain it but this fic was supposed to turn out differently. Which is how I feel with approximately half my fics but this one in particular left me with a strong taste of, ah this could have been much better if I hadn’t mucked it up. To put it simply, the small twist in the middle and the lead up to it could have been executed better, to make the twist turn the full way and actually be a surprise.
Biggest Surprise: Start Line (Kosaku/Kyouhei)
Taking away drabbles, this was the very first fic I wrote way back in 2011. That it is 11k of Kame/Kame fluffy crack shows exactly where my inclinations lay from the very beginning. *rolls* This fic surprised me in a way that it wouldn’t now because I simply know myself as a writer better. Back then, writing +5k of anything was a big feat. I didn’t realise how wordy and involved I could become in my fics. And the fact that it was a crack ship too surprised me; I didn’t expect to come out shipping Kosaku/Kyouhei so strongly but I did. The juxtaposition of their wildly different personalities fascinates and amuses me. By the time I finished this fic and realised how long it was, I had to ask myself wow do I really like this pairing so much?
Hardest Fic to Write: Wish Upon a Wishing Stone (Akame)
I wrote this fic in less than a week and my legs were cramped by the end of it. This fic was difficult to write precisely because I had such a clear vision of it. It was a fic that I had always wanted to write since I came to know of Akame and their history. It’s the story that haunted my dreams, begging to be written. It was in my head for so long that when it came time to transforming it into real words, I was both excited and stumped. Overwhelmed because there was so much to it. I think I managed to stuff 85% of my thoughts and feelings about Akame into it; the remainder I couldn’t do because it wasn’t feasible in the context of the fic and I didn’t know how to incorporate it. I was able to write the essence of it though-the contrast of Kame and Jin of the past and what they had become as adults-which saves the fic from being a huge disappointment. It was partly due to the exchange deadline that the pace of the fic is so imbalanced-leisurely at the start and rushed at the ending-but without the push of the deadline, I doubt I would have been motivated enough to finish writing it.
A Fic I Want Remembered: Go Fetch (KoKame)
Koki and Kame served Lady and the Tramp style. I want this fic to be remembered for its creativity because I doubt I will ever be able to manage an animal-characters fic again. I also want it to be remembered for Koki and how much I loved him because I won’t be able to write a fic about him again either. It’s not true for all writers and certainly not all fics, but for me, the way I write my characters is a big clue as to how I feel about them. There’s a lot of love for Koki and KoKame in this one and I want to remember that for myself too.
Goals for Next This Year:
WRITE ALL THE SEQUELS. CROSS OFF ALL THE ITEMS ON THE TO-WRITE LIST. WRITE THAT GODDAMN SPIDERMAN!AU AND KT BODYSWAP FIC. MAKE NAKAMENO HAPPEN. FIC TAIRA KEI INTO ANYTHING.
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…I have no faith in myself to do all this even if I really, terribly want to T_T I hate writing down goals, might as well be etching my failures into stone T_T