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Writing meme/questions
This year I wrote and posted:
Star Trek: AOS
Bound (Kirk/McCoy, mature)
These Are the Arms You Fell Into (Joanna & Kirk/McCoy, all ages)
Under a Rhyming Planet (Winona/George, mature)
Getting to Know You (Scotty & McCoy, all ages)
Siren (Spock/Uhura, teen)
Echo (Joanna, Kirk, McCoy, all ages)
Amateur Cartography (Kirk/McCoy, mature)
Home Is Just Another Word For You (Uhura/McCoy, all ages)
A Show of Strength (Kirk/McCoy, teen)
On the Windy Side of Care (Kirk/McCoy & Uhura, mature)
I Get That Line All the Time (One Drink Remix) (Uhura, Kirk, Lily Sloane, all ages)
Inside Out, Upside Down (Take Two Kirks and Call Me in the Morning Remix) (Kirk/McCoy & Winona, all ages)
Small (Not Green With Envy Remix) (Uhura & Gaila, all ages)
A Thousand Words (Kirk/McCoy, teen)
Oh, let me have just a little bit of peril? (Sulu/Kirk/Aphrodite, teen)
Funny Face (Kirk/McCoy, mature)
Star Trek: TOS, TNG, & DS9
Home (Keiko/Miles & Molly, teen)
The Ache in Every Song (Jadzia/Kira, all ages)
Thou Best and Dearest (Scotty[/Uhura] & Spock, all ages, background death of major characters)
Renewal (McCoy/Spock, all ages)
X-Men: The First Class
Hold On To Me (Darwin/Alex, teen)
Scary Monsters (Charles & Raven, all ages)
Field Trip (Alex[/Darwin] & Erik, teen)
Say Goodbye To All You Knew (Mystique & Beast, all ages)
If the Daylight Feels Like It's a Long Way Off (Darwin/Alex, teen)
A Day at the Beach (Darwin/Alex, teen)
For Now (Angel & Erik, all ages)
The Hush of Falling Leaves (Alex/Darwin, teen)
Glee
How It's Gonna Be (Burt & Kurt, all ages)
The Way That Light Attaches To a Girl (Santana/Brittany, teen)
Miscellaneous
Over Noodles (Rent, Mark & Joanne, teen)
The Sun Is Up, The Sky Is Blue (Across The Universe, Prudence/OFC & ensemble, all ages)
Lamp post (Narnia, Susan, all ages)
Mysterious Yuletide Story of Mystery
Overall Thoughts
I started out well, then lost my mojo. What happened??? I have all these ideas, and I can't make myself write them out!
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Less, much less. I still owe so many stories.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
"Glee"! I still have very mixed feelings about the show. There are many things about it that I don't like. But I can't stop watching. At least now I know why: Santana. She's my girl and I love her.
What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
A Show of Strength. Bones takes a beating, and both he and Jim wrestle with feelings of guilt and responsibility. Each man views what happened quite differently, which causes tension between them. I really enjoyed exploring McCoy's psyche here; he's very hard on himself initially, but he comes to his senses when he realizes how distraught Jim is. I really like the way I structured the story as well; we don't find out exactly what happened until close to the end. My stories are usually told in a very linear manner, but I tried something new with this one and I'm very pleased with the result.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Sort of. In the summer I got fairly invested in Darwin and Alex from "X-Men: The First Class." I want to write about their many exciting, sexy adventures but I can't let myself forget that they're a same-sex interracial couple in the US in the early 1960s. (And they're mutants, of course, but that's already dealt with in canon.) There's potential for great fail, and I've been tempted to gloss over some of the problems they're likely to face for being who they are. Instead, I've been trying to strike a balance between escapism and realism. I don't want to write depressing stories because real life is depressing enough. But ignoring certain realities would be dishonest and a disservice to, well, everyone.
From my past year of writing, what was....
My best story of this year
A Show of Strength
My most popular story of this year (based on comments):
Amateur Cartography (number of comments)
On the Windy Side of Care (number of hits on AO3 and recs)
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
I don't know. I thought I Get That Line All The Time would get more love, since I think the Kirk/Uhura dialog was pretty well-done. But maybe not enough people remember "First Contact." The recipient liked it (it was a remix) and that's what really matters. On the whole, I've been happy with my stories' receptions.
Most fun story to write:
On the Windy Side of Care
Story with the single sexiest moment:
Bound, when Kirk realizes McCoy wants him to tie his wrists. I should have made the story longer, but yeah.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
Nah, my stories are all pretty tame. There was no eyebrow porn this year.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
Home, possibly. I do not like Keiko, but I like the idea of her. Which I didn't realize until I wrote her here, and rather enjoyed it.
Hardest story to write:
A Day at the Beach took the longest, and saw the most rewrites. But I was also in the process of moving and settling into a new place at the time, so I don't know.
Biggest Disappointment:
I promised five stories to my charity auction winners, and so far I have not delivered. I promise I have not forgotten. These stories will be written! That's my resolution for 2012.
Biggest Surprise:
Getting into "X-Men." Wtf. I left the theater thinking, "Eh." By the time I got home, I was trying to figure out how I could resurrect Darwin in fan fiction.
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
Unintentionally? I don't know. Intentionally? Maybe These Are the Arms You Fell Into, in which Joanna realizes she's come to terms with her dad's relationship with Jim, and with Jim himself.
Fic-writing goals for 2012:
Those five charity auction fics. The sad thing is, I have ideas for all but one of them and I think they're good ideas. I really want to write these stories and share them with you. I just ... my mojo. Where has it gone?
Favorite Opening Line(s):
I'm still deciding. Heh. I think most of my opening lines are good hooks, but not necessarily brilliant turns of phrase.
Favorite Closing Line(s):
He is so fucked. (from Amateur Cartography)
Favorite 5 Line(s) from Anywhere:
1. When night fell over Aleira, [Sulu had] scaled the temple walls, climbing hand over hand toward the one lighted window in the stony façade, anticipating one of the easiest rescues in Federation history. He probably could have used his phaser to break the lock on the front door, but he’d wanted to exert a little bit of energy retrieving his captain; he had a reputation, after all.
Once inside the temple, he’d found Kirk more or less as he’d expected to find him: naked and bound to an altar that actually resembled a bed made out of gold, his oiled skin glistening in the light of the hundred or so candles that surrounded him.
Typical.
(from Oh, let me have just a little bit of peril?)
2. He doesn’t know why he feels bereft all of sudden; Bones is going no great distance. Jim can hear him climbing unsteadily to his feet, swearing mildly as he bumps his shin against the corner of the bed on his way to the bathroom. When he hears the sound of running water, he uncurls his body and sits up, ignoring his sore ass and aching tendons.
Run, a small voice tells him. Now, while he isn’t looking. Run.
Like running now will do him any good. It’s too fucking late. He’s so in love.
(from Amateur Cartography)
3. McCoy threads their fingers and turns so he can lean against Spock. The hand on his neck drops to his shoulder, and then Spock has him in a loose, one-armed embrace. Sighing, McCoy lets his eyes close; he can still feel the last rays of daylight against his lids.
“It probably is a good idea, renewing our vows. Don’t want any little technicalities like death getting in the way of our conjugal visits. That’s assuming I end up in jail for stealing the Enterprise with Jim and the rest.”
“Indeed. That would be most inconvenient.”
“Which? Me getting thrown in prison, or you not getting to visit me there?”
When Spock has been enigmatically silent for too long, McCoy elbows him.
(from Renewal)
4. Alex shakes his head, tickling Darwin’s cheek with his hair. “Fine.” He holds his breath for a couple of seconds, like there’s something on the tip of his tongue that he isn’t sure he should let out. Then, “Hey, Darwin?” he says in a soft rush. “Does anything actually scare you?”
That isn’t a bad question, just a difficult one to answer. Darwin tips his head back and stares at the rough ceiling of their prison. Yes, he thinks. He’s afraid of being lost again, like he was after Sebastian Shaw turned Alex’s power against him. He’s afraid he’ll just go on adapting and surviving while his new family dies one member at a time. Afraid might be the wrong word, but he worries about some of the things that are happening outside Professor X’s Westchester mansion, things that concern him because he isn’t just a mutant.
But none of that is going to help Alex feel any better, and that’s his chief concern right now. So he says, “Spiders. I really hate spiders.”
Alex snorts. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” Darwin says.
“So, if I mentioned the fact that there’s a spider crawling up your leg right now, you’d-”
“Smack you upside the head, ‘cause I know you’re lying.”
Alex laughs, a warm, fresh sound in that tomblike space. “Thanks, man. I still feel like an idiot, but - thanks.”
As if there was ever a choice.
(from If the Daylight Feels Like It's a Long Way Off)
5. Bones doesn’t know why anyone would want to be with him, or stand up for him. He doesn’t know why Jim would want him, when he can have almost anyone. It isn’t false modesty or anything like that; he really doesn’t get it. And the sheer wrongness of that pierces Jim’s soul, makes him want to howl in frustration.
Bones wears his heart on his sleeve, which makes him a lot braver than Jim in some regards. Yeah, yeah, the famous temper. It’s the only shield he carries, and it’s so fucking battered, it’s amazing more people don’t see right through it.
Bones takes care of people. He takes care of Jim. Even at Jim’s worst - and Bones has witnessed some embarrassingly bad moments over the past year or so - he somehow finds something in him that’s worth believing in. Really believing. Jim knows, despite the harsh words, and the hands and mouth that are sometimes rough. Bones doesn’t just see what’s worthwhile in Jim, he’s passionate about it. Even if it isn’t logical.
And he trusts Bones. Really trusts him. Just thinking about it leaves Jim feeling fragile and raw, like he’s just run a marathon.
(from On the Windy Side of Care)
6. Also, the whole confrontation/forgiveness scene toward the end of A Show of Strength. I love that whole exchange and what it reveals about Kirk and McCoy, but I'm not going to quote all of it here. You should read the story.
Top 6 Scenes from Anywhere You Would Choose to Have Illustrated:
1. Brittany removing the pins from Santana's hair in The Way That Light Attaches To A Girl
2. Sulu, Kirk, and the goddess Aphrodite getting it on in Oh, let me have just a little bit of peril?
3. Jadzia and Kira standing near the Uralausu at sunset in The Ache in Every Song
4. Darwin and Alex kissing in the woods in The Hush of Falling Leaves, with the storm clouds gathering and the naked tree branches.
5. Keiko and her parents, Miles, and Molly at Heian Jingu in Home
6. Bones pouncing on Jim (and losing his towel) in A Thousand Words
This year I wrote and posted:
Star Trek: AOS
Bound (Kirk/McCoy, mature)
These Are the Arms You Fell Into (Joanna & Kirk/McCoy, all ages)
Under a Rhyming Planet (Winona/George, mature)
Getting to Know You (Scotty & McCoy, all ages)
Siren (Spock/Uhura, teen)
Echo (Joanna, Kirk, McCoy, all ages)
Amateur Cartography (Kirk/McCoy, mature)
Home Is Just Another Word For You (Uhura/McCoy, all ages)
A Show of Strength (Kirk/McCoy, teen)
On the Windy Side of Care (Kirk/McCoy & Uhura, mature)
I Get That Line All the Time (One Drink Remix) (Uhura, Kirk, Lily Sloane, all ages)
Inside Out, Upside Down (Take Two Kirks and Call Me in the Morning Remix) (Kirk/McCoy & Winona, all ages)
Small (Not Green With Envy Remix) (Uhura & Gaila, all ages)
A Thousand Words (Kirk/McCoy, teen)
Oh, let me have just a little bit of peril? (Sulu/Kirk/Aphrodite, teen)
Funny Face (Kirk/McCoy, mature)
Star Trek: TOS, TNG, & DS9
Home (Keiko/Miles & Molly, teen)
The Ache in Every Song (Jadzia/Kira, all ages)
Thou Best and Dearest (Scotty[/Uhura] & Spock, all ages, background death of major characters)
Renewal (McCoy/Spock, all ages)
X-Men: The First Class
Hold On To Me (Darwin/Alex, teen)
Scary Monsters (Charles & Raven, all ages)
Field Trip (Alex[/Darwin] & Erik, teen)
Say Goodbye To All You Knew (Mystique & Beast, all ages)
If the Daylight Feels Like It's a Long Way Off (Darwin/Alex, teen)
A Day at the Beach (Darwin/Alex, teen)
For Now (Angel & Erik, all ages)
The Hush of Falling Leaves (Alex/Darwin, teen)
Glee
How It's Gonna Be (Burt & Kurt, all ages)
The Way That Light Attaches To a Girl (Santana/Brittany, teen)
Miscellaneous
Over Noodles (Rent, Mark & Joanne, teen)
The Sun Is Up, The Sky Is Blue (Across The Universe, Prudence/OFC & ensemble, all ages)
Lamp post (Narnia, Susan, all ages)
Mysterious Yuletide Story of Mystery
Overall Thoughts
I started out well, then lost my mojo. What happened??? I have all these ideas, and I can't make myself write them out!
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Less, much less. I still owe so many stories.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
"Glee"! I still have very mixed feelings about the show. There are many things about it that I don't like. But I can't stop watching. At least now I know why: Santana. She's my girl and I love her.
What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
A Show of Strength. Bones takes a beating, and both he and Jim wrestle with feelings of guilt and responsibility. Each man views what happened quite differently, which causes tension between them. I really enjoyed exploring McCoy's psyche here; he's very hard on himself initially, but he comes to his senses when he realizes how distraught Jim is. I really like the way I structured the story as well; we don't find out exactly what happened until close to the end. My stories are usually told in a very linear manner, but I tried something new with this one and I'm very pleased with the result.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Sort of. In the summer I got fairly invested in Darwin and Alex from "X-Men: The First Class." I want to write about their many exciting, sexy adventures but I can't let myself forget that they're a same-sex interracial couple in the US in the early 1960s. (And they're mutants, of course, but that's already dealt with in canon.) There's potential for great fail, and I've been tempted to gloss over some of the problems they're likely to face for being who they are. Instead, I've been trying to strike a balance between escapism and realism. I don't want to write depressing stories because real life is depressing enough. But ignoring certain realities would be dishonest and a disservice to, well, everyone.
From my past year of writing, what was....
My best story of this year
A Show of Strength
My most popular story of this year (based on comments):
Amateur Cartography (number of comments)
On the Windy Side of Care (number of hits on AO3 and recs)
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
I don't know. I thought I Get That Line All The Time would get more love, since I think the Kirk/Uhura dialog was pretty well-done. But maybe not enough people remember "First Contact." The recipient liked it (it was a remix) and that's what really matters. On the whole, I've been happy with my stories' receptions.
Most fun story to write:
On the Windy Side of Care
Story with the single sexiest moment:
Bound, when Kirk realizes McCoy wants him to tie his wrists. I should have made the story longer, but yeah.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
Nah, my stories are all pretty tame. There was no eyebrow porn this year.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
Home, possibly. I do not like Keiko, but I like the idea of her. Which I didn't realize until I wrote her here, and rather enjoyed it.
Hardest story to write:
A Day at the Beach took the longest, and saw the most rewrites. But I was also in the process of moving and settling into a new place at the time, so I don't know.
Biggest Disappointment:
I promised five stories to my charity auction winners, and so far I have not delivered. I promise I have not forgotten. These stories will be written! That's my resolution for 2012.
Biggest Surprise:
Getting into "X-Men." Wtf. I left the theater thinking, "Eh." By the time I got home, I was trying to figure out how I could resurrect Darwin in fan fiction.
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
Unintentionally? I don't know. Intentionally? Maybe These Are the Arms You Fell Into, in which Joanna realizes she's come to terms with her dad's relationship with Jim, and with Jim himself.
Fic-writing goals for 2012:
Those five charity auction fics. The sad thing is, I have ideas for all but one of them and I think they're good ideas. I really want to write these stories and share them with you. I just ... my mojo. Where has it gone?
Favorite Opening Line(s):
I'm still deciding. Heh. I think most of my opening lines are good hooks, but not necessarily brilliant turns of phrase.
Favorite Closing Line(s):
He is so fucked. (from Amateur Cartography)
Favorite 5 Line(s) from Anywhere:
1. When night fell over Aleira, [Sulu had] scaled the temple walls, climbing hand over hand toward the one lighted window in the stony façade, anticipating one of the easiest rescues in Federation history. He probably could have used his phaser to break the lock on the front door, but he’d wanted to exert a little bit of energy retrieving his captain; he had a reputation, after all.
Once inside the temple, he’d found Kirk more or less as he’d expected to find him: naked and bound to an altar that actually resembled a bed made out of gold, his oiled skin glistening in the light of the hundred or so candles that surrounded him.
Typical.
(from Oh, let me have just a little bit of peril?)
2. He doesn’t know why he feels bereft all of sudden; Bones is going no great distance. Jim can hear him climbing unsteadily to his feet, swearing mildly as he bumps his shin against the corner of the bed on his way to the bathroom. When he hears the sound of running water, he uncurls his body and sits up, ignoring his sore ass and aching tendons.
Run, a small voice tells him. Now, while he isn’t looking. Run.
Like running now will do him any good. It’s too fucking late. He’s so in love.
(from Amateur Cartography)
3. McCoy threads their fingers and turns so he can lean against Spock. The hand on his neck drops to his shoulder, and then Spock has him in a loose, one-armed embrace. Sighing, McCoy lets his eyes close; he can still feel the last rays of daylight against his lids.
“It probably is a good idea, renewing our vows. Don’t want any little technicalities like death getting in the way of our conjugal visits. That’s assuming I end up in jail for stealing the Enterprise with Jim and the rest.”
“Indeed. That would be most inconvenient.”
“Which? Me getting thrown in prison, or you not getting to visit me there?”
When Spock has been enigmatically silent for too long, McCoy elbows him.
(from Renewal)
4. Alex shakes his head, tickling Darwin’s cheek with his hair. “Fine.” He holds his breath for a couple of seconds, like there’s something on the tip of his tongue that he isn’t sure he should let out. Then, “Hey, Darwin?” he says in a soft rush. “Does anything actually scare you?”
That isn’t a bad question, just a difficult one to answer. Darwin tips his head back and stares at the rough ceiling of their prison. Yes, he thinks. He’s afraid of being lost again, like he was after Sebastian Shaw turned Alex’s power against him. He’s afraid he’ll just go on adapting and surviving while his new family dies one member at a time. Afraid might be the wrong word, but he worries about some of the things that are happening outside Professor X’s Westchester mansion, things that concern him because he isn’t just a mutant.
But none of that is going to help Alex feel any better, and that’s his chief concern right now. So he says, “Spiders. I really hate spiders.”
Alex snorts. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” Darwin says.
“So, if I mentioned the fact that there’s a spider crawling up your leg right now, you’d-”
“Smack you upside the head, ‘cause I know you’re lying.”
Alex laughs, a warm, fresh sound in that tomblike space. “Thanks, man. I still feel like an idiot, but - thanks.”
As if there was ever a choice.
(from If the Daylight Feels Like It's a Long Way Off)
5. Bones doesn’t know why anyone would want to be with him, or stand up for him. He doesn’t know why Jim would want him, when he can have almost anyone. It isn’t false modesty or anything like that; he really doesn’t get it. And the sheer wrongness of that pierces Jim’s soul, makes him want to howl in frustration.
Bones wears his heart on his sleeve, which makes him a lot braver than Jim in some regards. Yeah, yeah, the famous temper. It’s the only shield he carries, and it’s so fucking battered, it’s amazing more people don’t see right through it.
Bones takes care of people. He takes care of Jim. Even at Jim’s worst - and Bones has witnessed some embarrassingly bad moments over the past year or so - he somehow finds something in him that’s worth believing in. Really believing. Jim knows, despite the harsh words, and the hands and mouth that are sometimes rough. Bones doesn’t just see what’s worthwhile in Jim, he’s passionate about it. Even if it isn’t logical.
And he trusts Bones. Really trusts him. Just thinking about it leaves Jim feeling fragile and raw, like he’s just run a marathon.
(from On the Windy Side of Care)
6. Also, the whole confrontation/forgiveness scene toward the end of A Show of Strength. I love that whole exchange and what it reveals about Kirk and McCoy, but I'm not going to quote all of it here. You should read the story.
Top 6 Scenes from Anywhere You Would Choose to Have Illustrated:
1. Brittany removing the pins from Santana's hair in The Way That Light Attaches To A Girl
2. Sulu, Kirk, and the goddess Aphrodite getting it on in Oh, let me have just a little bit of peril?
3. Jadzia and Kira standing near the Uralausu at sunset in The Ache in Every Song
4. Darwin and Alex kissing in the woods in The Hush of Falling Leaves, with the storm clouds gathering and the naked tree branches.
5. Keiko and her parents, Miles, and Molly at Heian Jingu in Home
6. Bones pouncing on Jim (and losing his towel) in A Thousand Words