The year in fic memes
Dec. 20th, 2008 09:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakAs it's unlikely I'm going to write more fanfiction this year, time for the two memes.
a) The one in which you post the first sentence of the first story you posted each month this year:
January
On the day Angela Petrelli turns twenty, she opens her eyes and decides her life is over.
Optima Mater, Heroes, Angela and Nathan Petrelli
February
I. DeEtta Kramer is small - petite, Kate’s mother would have said, and her father would have snorted and muttered something about pretentions – and has the kind of porcellain features that make Kate feel clumsy by comparison.
Investigations, Angel/Dexter crossover, Kate, Darla, Dexter
March
No story at all!
April
To Atia, hildbirth was always connected with the scent of apples and lemons and the sensation of clothes soaked in warm olive oil laid over her abdomen.
Survival, Rome, Atia and Octavia
May
No story!
June
The first time Hank sees her, standing in the wreckage of BeneTech Labaratories, she’s an anonymous figure hiding behind sunglasses and guns as she introduces herself and her organisation: Abigail Brand, of S.W.O.R.D.
First Impressions, Astonishing X-Men, Hank McCoy/Abigail Brand
July
The Doctor is in his third body, and just starting to adjust, badly, to a linear life, stuck at one point in time.
Patterns, Doctor Who, The Doctor (Three and Ten both), The Brigadier, Harriet Jones
August
No story!
September
She needed a crystal, pure and simple.
Shades of Grey, Farscape/Babylon 5, Chiana/Londo Mollari
October
No story!
November
No story!
December
In all his years as a political operative, Toby Ziegler has never participated in a successful campaign.
Words and the Men, West Wing, Toby Ziegler and Jed Bartlet
Conclusions: I definitely wrote less fanfiction (though a lot of meta). The break-up with Heroes is evident (last year, I wrote thirty stories in that fandom), as is the ongoing affection for Doctor Who. There were a lot of crossovers, and I experimented in new fandoms (Rome and West Wing). Considering my gen writer inclinations, what surprises me most is that I found a pairing I wrote repeatedly about and whom I most definitely ship, Hank McCoy and Abigail Brand from AXM. This feels a bit like writing Londo/G'Kar slash early on in that so far, I'm the only one to write Hank/Brand at all...
Moving on to
b) The other year in fic meme:
Favorite story this year: Patterns (Doctor Who).
My best story this year: Always the toughest category, but I'll go with Shades of Grey, which as opposed to most of the others isn't just character introspective but has an actual plot, and one that I think credibly unites two very different universes.
Most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Well, I was curious whether Game, Set and Match, my DW/B7 crossover in which the Master encounters Servalan would work for readers who were familiar with only one of the fandoms in question, and never heard from any, which I guess is an answer. However, there was some nice feedback on lj from readers who were fans of both British shows, and on considering FFN doesn't even have a Blake's 7 category, I hadn't expected feedback there. Similarly, not that many people read fanfics based on comics, and of those even fewer are interested in Agent Abigail Brand, so I shouldn't have expected reaction for Face of the Enemy, either, but I still couldn't help hoping for more, as I was rather proud of this story.
Most fun story: First Impressions (Astonishing X-Men). Because Beast as Lizzie Bennet and Brand as Darcy still makes me smile.
Sexiest story: I still fail at sex. My Londo/Chiana story, Shades of Grey, should be full of it, in theory, because both characters are sensualists, but in practice it's fade to black whenever tentacle action would be required.
"Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story: Time after Time (Doctor Who/Babylon 5).![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
londonkds gave me the prompt to connect the Master with Mr. Morden in six steps, and the result was the most disturbing thing I've written this year. I'm still feeling smugly evil about that.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: Order and Evolution (Babylon 5/ Pirates of the Carribean). I'm not a Vorlon fan. And while I enjoyed those whacky pirates as much as anyone, you can bet I never bothered to think the world building through. And yet here I was, writing sympathetic Kosh pov and Kraken pathos. That was a shift, alright.
Hardest story to do: I have become (death) (Babylon 5). This was my second story for the Remix Redux ficathon, as I had volunteered to pinch hit, and got assignedleyenn. Who writes mostly very shippy fanfiction, either Susan/Talia in B5 or Riker/Troi for TNG. She also had remixed a story of mine in the previous year superbly, so I really didn't want to let her down. But I read those (very good) stories and couldn't find an angle that would allow me to produce something original based on them. It was a massive headache. And then, at last, inspiration hit, because among these stories was a short one about Susan Ivanova returning to B5 and having a one night stand with Lyta Alexander. This gave me the idea of a Lyta portrait, which would allow me to use several ideas about Lyta I had (but never got down in a story before); the encounter with Susan could be incorporated as part of Lyta's relationships with other telepaths and the way she changed. After I had figured out the angle, the writing was no problem, and I felt happy with the result, but I never heard from leyenn, so I assume the remix did not find favour in her eyes.
Biggest surprise: Survival. For two reasons: a) because I hadn't expected to write in this fandom; I like Rome quite a lot, but were I to write about the period under normal circumstances, it would be straightforward historical fiction; this, however, was for the Remix Redux ficathon (my first contribution), andkangeiko's story about Octavia and Atia just spoke to me. And b) I hadn't expected much feedback, if any; it's a small fandom, and within that fandom, most fanfic is Pullo/Vorenus, while my story was about a mother/daughter relationship (as well as being an Atia character portrait), with no sex in sight. But it proved to be popular on lj and ffn both, which still makes me happy in a slightly startled way.
Most revealing story: About a character - hm, either Displacement (which is about Bob Bishop of Heroes - in retrospect my last story in the fandom, not counting crossover ficlets) or Patterns (aka behold my unified theory about Ten and Three and why he acted the way he did in The Silurians and The Christmas Invasion respectively). About me as a writer: Order and Evolution (Babylon 5/ Pirates of the Caribbean). Because I got a prompt that was just begging for crack fic (Kosh and the Kraken) and wrote serious stuff instead. I have a problem.
A story I want remembered: Face of the Enemy.
a) The one in which you post the first sentence of the first story you posted each month this year:
January
On the day Angela Petrelli turns twenty, she opens her eyes and decides her life is over.
Optima Mater, Heroes, Angela and Nathan Petrelli
February
I. DeEtta Kramer is small - petite, Kate’s mother would have said, and her father would have snorted and muttered something about pretentions – and has the kind of porcellain features that make Kate feel clumsy by comparison.
Investigations, Angel/Dexter crossover, Kate, Darla, Dexter
March
No story at all!
April
To Atia, hildbirth was always connected with the scent of apples and lemons and the sensation of clothes soaked in warm olive oil laid over her abdomen.
Survival, Rome, Atia and Octavia
May
No story!
June
The first time Hank sees her, standing in the wreckage of BeneTech Labaratories, she’s an anonymous figure hiding behind sunglasses and guns as she introduces herself and her organisation: Abigail Brand, of S.W.O.R.D.
First Impressions, Astonishing X-Men, Hank McCoy/Abigail Brand
July
The Doctor is in his third body, and just starting to adjust, badly, to a linear life, stuck at one point in time.
Patterns, Doctor Who, The Doctor (Three and Ten both), The Brigadier, Harriet Jones
August
No story!
September
She needed a crystal, pure and simple.
Shades of Grey, Farscape/Babylon 5, Chiana/Londo Mollari
October
No story!
November
No story!
December
In all his years as a political operative, Toby Ziegler has never participated in a successful campaign.
Words and the Men, West Wing, Toby Ziegler and Jed Bartlet
Conclusions: I definitely wrote less fanfiction (though a lot of meta). The break-up with Heroes is evident (last year, I wrote thirty stories in that fandom), as is the ongoing affection for Doctor Who. There were a lot of crossovers, and I experimented in new fandoms (Rome and West Wing). Considering my gen writer inclinations, what surprises me most is that I found a pairing I wrote repeatedly about and whom I most definitely ship, Hank McCoy and Abigail Brand from AXM. This feels a bit like writing Londo/G'Kar slash early on in that so far, I'm the only one to write Hank/Brand at all...
Moving on to
b) The other year in fic meme:
Favorite story this year: Patterns (Doctor Who).
My best story this year: Always the toughest category, but I'll go with Shades of Grey, which as opposed to most of the others isn't just character introspective but has an actual plot, and one that I think credibly unites two very different universes.
Most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Well, I was curious whether Game, Set and Match, my DW/B7 crossover in which the Master encounters Servalan would work for readers who were familiar with only one of the fandoms in question, and never heard from any, which I guess is an answer. However, there was some nice feedback on lj from readers who were fans of both British shows, and on considering FFN doesn't even have a Blake's 7 category, I hadn't expected feedback there. Similarly, not that many people read fanfics based on comics, and of those even fewer are interested in Agent Abigail Brand, so I shouldn't have expected reaction for Face of the Enemy, either, but I still couldn't help hoping for more, as I was rather proud of this story.
Most fun story: First Impressions (Astonishing X-Men). Because Beast as Lizzie Bennet and Brand as Darcy still makes me smile.
Sexiest story: I still fail at sex. My Londo/Chiana story, Shades of Grey, should be full of it, in theory, because both characters are sensualists, but in practice it's fade to black whenever tentacle action would be required.
"Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story: Time after Time (Doctor Who/Babylon 5).
londonkds gave me the prompt to connect the Master with Mr. Morden in six steps, and the result was the most disturbing thing I've written this year. I'm still feeling smugly evil about that. Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: Order and Evolution (Babylon 5/ Pirates of the Carribean). I'm not a Vorlon fan. And while I enjoyed those whacky pirates as much as anyone, you can bet I never bothered to think the world building through. And yet here I was, writing sympathetic Kosh pov and Kraken pathos. That was a shift, alright.
Hardest story to do: I have become (death) (Babylon 5). This was my second story for the Remix Redux ficathon, as I had volunteered to pinch hit, and got assigned
leyenn. Who writes mostly very shippy fanfiction, either Susan/Talia in B5 or Riker/Troi for TNG. She also had remixed a story of mine in the previous year superbly, so I really didn't want to let her down. But I read those (very good) stories and couldn't find an angle that would allow me to produce something original based on them. It was a massive headache. And then, at last, inspiration hit, because among these stories was a short one about Susan Ivanova returning to B5 and having a one night stand with Lyta Alexander. This gave me the idea of a Lyta portrait, which would allow me to use several ideas about Lyta I had (but never got down in a story before); the encounter with Susan could be incorporated as part of Lyta's relationships with other telepaths and the way she changed. After I had figured out the angle, the writing was no problem, and I felt happy with the result, but I never heard from leyenn, so I assume the remix did not find favour in her eyes. Biggest surprise: Survival. For two reasons: a) because I hadn't expected to write in this fandom; I like Rome quite a lot, but were I to write about the period under normal circumstances, it would be straightforward historical fiction; this, however, was for the Remix Redux ficathon (my first contribution), and
kangeiko's story about Octavia and Atia just spoke to me. And b) I hadn't expected much feedback, if any; it's a small fandom, and within that fandom, most fanfic is Pullo/Vorenus, while my story was about a mother/daughter relationship (as well as being an Atia character portrait), with no sex in sight. But it proved to be popular on lj and ffn both, which still makes me happy in a slightly startled way. Most revealing story: About a character - hm, either Displacement (which is about Bob Bishop of Heroes - in retrospect my last story in the fandom, not counting crossover ficlets) or Patterns (aka behold my unified theory about Ten and Three and why he acted the way he did in The Silurians and The Christmas Invasion respectively). About me as a writer: Order and Evolution (Babylon 5/ Pirates of the Caribbean). Because I got a prompt that was just begging for crack fic (Kosh and the Kraken) and wrote serious stuff instead. I have a problem.
A story I want remembered: Face of the Enemy.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-12-20 08:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-20 09:38 pm (UTC)New plot bunnies are good! And hey, knowing you didn't hate what I did to your story makes my day. I once got a story written in Multiverse for me which I had problems with, so I know how fiendishly difficult feedback is under these circumstances, so I was paranoid and thought that was why you were silent.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-20 10:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-21 01:21 am (UTC)Also, I read all your Agent Brand fics. :D Because she is entirely underused. Your canon is now my personal backstory every time she appears in Marvel, thank you!
no subject
Date: 2008-12-21 04:06 am (UTC)It does, though. I've posted some B7 stuff there, myself.
Because I got a prompt that was just begging for crack fic (Kosh and the Kraken) and wrote serious stuff instead. I have a problem.
I do that all the time. I think it's some kind of brain disorder. :)
no subject
Date: 2008-12-21 05:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-21 07:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-21 07:13 am (UTC)Also, thanks for the Patterns feedback.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-21 07:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-21 07:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-21 07:17 am (UTC)And I would absolutely join such a club! Or maybe a support group. :) (Because, you know, I end up using this icon an awful lot...)
no subject
Date: 2008-12-21 04:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-24 12:52 am (UTC)New plot bunnies are very good... if I only had time to be writing them... ;)
No, I was obviously just silent because I suck. Next time I swear I'll pay more attention!
no subject
Date: 2008-12-24 12:59 am (UTC)I feel the need for a squid icon. Hmph.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-24 07:35 am (UTC)