End-of-year fic roundup
Dec. 31st, 2014 01:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beer_good_foamyHappy New Year, everyone! And good riddance 2014, you couldn't end soon enough.
Below the cut, a summary of fic etc I wrote this year and a meme on it.
Fic
Five Games Faith Lost (And One She Won) (BtVS/AtS; Buffy/Faith)
When in doubt, write a "Five things" drabble series. "There's non-stripping strip poker now?"
Grant Me The Serenity (AtS; Faith/Cordelia)
A fun but difficult challenge; unrepentent Faith and evil!Cordy, finding ways to live with what they can't undo. Not completely happy with the result, but I do like this line: It's the great thing about human conscience: it's so powerful, so terrible, people will feed it anything to save themselves.
Where's the Poop? (HIMYM; post-series)
Just me working off some frustration with the How I Met Your Mother finale, of which the kindest thing to be said is that it's not the Battlestar Galactica finale.
It Is Defended (The 100/Wall-E)
Because I promised myself I'd write this crossover when I first heard of The 100, and watching the first few episodes didn't change my mind.
Everybody Knows (Welcome to Night Vale)
One of two fics I wrote for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
zombi_fic_ation. "The tiny city under the pin retrieval area of lane five of the Desert Flower Bowling Alley And Arcade Fun Complex is having a tiny problem with tiny zombies." The fun thing (well, one of the fun things) about WTNV is how it's all about how the monster of the week (well, fortnight) is just a distraction while the real horror goes on in broad daylight right under our noses, and we're so used to it we'll fight to protect it.
Building Character (BtVS; ensemble)
This was the other zombie fic, and it's one I'm quite happy with. If the problem is that Zombie!Buffy comes back without agency, the answer is simple - just teach her to simulate it. Basically, the Scoobies write Buffy fanfic and make it canon.
The Brian Situation (BtVS; Dawn/Brian the Demon)
So what happened with that demon Dawn was flirting with at Xander and Anya's not-wedding...?
The Queen, The Soldier (BtVS; OC Slayer)
This is probably my favourite thing I wrote this year, and it came pretty much fully-formed once I realised that it started with "Once upon a time..."
I Will Face My Fear (BtVS/Twin Peaks; Riley & Cooper)
Written forintoabar and probably the longest fic I've ever written about Riley. Came fairly easy since I was in the middle of rewatching Twin Peaks s2, but I'm not sure how well it works if your memory of it is a bit fuzzier...
Four First Dinners (And One Cancellation) (BtVS/AtS)
When in doubt, etc. I'll be damned if I let a year pass without a holiday fic, and I actually think this one came out really well for a last-minute substitution.
Drabbles
Sense Memory (BtVS; Giles/Ethan)
Needs More Robin Williams (BtVS; Buffy vs a jinni)
Wir sind die Roboter (Dr Who; Ten & Martha)
Missing (BtVS; Giles/Jenny)
A Minor Misunderstanding (BtVS; Dawn & Doc)
Office Party (BtVS/AtS; various big bads/various big bads)
Academic (BtVS; Lydia)
The Friendly Dark (BtVS/Calvin & Hobbes)
Some Assembly Required (BtVS; ensemble)
Meta
The High Concept Problem: Brief thoughts on the Orphan Black and Orange Is The New Black s2 finales.
That's More Like It: Why the Breaking Bad finale is objectively better than the How I Met Your Mother finale even though they're almost identical in some ways.
And the meme:
Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, fewer than you thought, or about what you predicted?
Definitely more, since I wasn't sure I was going to write anything at all. I didn't write any of the specific fics I thought I'd write, though.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2014?
I don't think I've ever written anything that can be classified as a fairytale before.
What's your favourite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest?
Definitely "The Queen, The Soldier". I still come up with little things I want to add to it - it's the tricky thing about a story that takes place over thousands of years, there's no end to the detail you can add, though adding too much would probably weigh it down.
Okay, NOW your most popular story.
Seems to be "Building Character". Don't mind that at all.
Story most under appreciated by the universe?
Looks to be "I Will Face My Fear", though that's to be expected of a crossover with a 25-year-old canon, featuring a character I'm not used to writing...
Story that could have been better?
...even given that, I'm disappointed with "I Will Face My Fear"; it slots in nicely with my other BtVS/TP crossovers, but it feels more like a lead-up to something rather than a story unto itself, and writing evil!Dale wasn't easy since we got all of, what, eight seconds of him in canon?
Sexiest story?
I'm not sure how sexy "Office Party" is, but... apart from the punchline, I think it works on that level.
Most fun story?
"The Brian Situation", once I pushed the angsty part of it (it's set between s6 and s7, it can't be completely lighthearted) to the background. I do love Dawn being a smartass.
Story with single sweetest moment?
I'm not sure if "sweet" is the word, but the end of "The Queen, The Soldier" and the gang's various reactions still gives me a little lump in my throat. As I commented to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
red_satin_doll, Faith had Dawn teach her that one line, swearwords and all, in whatever language they're speaking.
Hardest story to write?
"The Brian Situation", oddly enough. For a long while, that story insisted on ending with Dawn and Buffy screaming at each other. Not that I worked actively at it for most of that time, but...
Easiest story to write?
"The Queen, The Soldier" just sat there one morning for me to write down. The only thing that changed substantially between first draft and final draft was the ending, which came out a lot nicer for everyone in the final version.
Who did you rip off for titles this year?
The serenity prayer, for some reason; Dune; Suzanne Vega, Leonard Cohen, Pulp Fiction. I also rather shamelessly borrowed plot elements from both The Shining and Curse of the Cat People, the latter of which I'm more proud of than the former.
New Year Fic Resolutions?
Well, for starters I do have that 12th Doctor story I need to finish, especially in light of the actually really good Christmas special.
Below the cut, a summary of fic etc I wrote this year and a meme on it.
Fic
Five Games Faith Lost (And One She Won) (BtVS/AtS; Buffy/Faith)
When in doubt, write a "Five things" drabble series. "There's non-stripping strip poker now?"
Grant Me The Serenity (AtS; Faith/Cordelia)
A fun but difficult challenge; unrepentent Faith and evil!Cordy, finding ways to live with what they can't undo. Not completely happy with the result, but I do like this line: It's the great thing about human conscience: it's so powerful, so terrible, people will feed it anything to save themselves.
Where's the Poop? (HIMYM; post-series)
Just me working off some frustration with the How I Met Your Mother finale, of which the kindest thing to be said is that it's not the Battlestar Galactica finale.
It Is Defended (The 100/Wall-E)
Because I promised myself I'd write this crossover when I first heard of The 100, and watching the first few episodes didn't change my mind.
Everybody Knows (Welcome to Night Vale)
One of two fics I wrote for
zombi_fic_ation. "The tiny city under the pin retrieval area of lane five of the Desert Flower Bowling Alley And Arcade Fun Complex is having a tiny problem with tiny zombies." The fun thing (well, one of the fun things) about WTNV is how it's all about how the monster of the week (well, fortnight) is just a distraction while the real horror goes on in broad daylight right under our noses, and we're so used to it we'll fight to protect it.Building Character (BtVS; ensemble)
This was the other zombie fic, and it's one I'm quite happy with. If the problem is that Zombie!Buffy comes back without agency, the answer is simple - just teach her to simulate it. Basically, the Scoobies write Buffy fanfic and make it canon.
The Brian Situation (BtVS; Dawn/Brian the Demon)
So what happened with that demon Dawn was flirting with at Xander and Anya's not-wedding...?
The Queen, The Soldier (BtVS; OC Slayer)
This is probably my favourite thing I wrote this year, and it came pretty much fully-formed once I realised that it started with "Once upon a time..."
I Will Face My Fear (BtVS/Twin Peaks; Riley & Cooper)
Written for
intoabar and probably the longest fic I've ever written about Riley. Came fairly easy since I was in the middle of rewatching Twin Peaks s2, but I'm not sure how well it works if your memory of it is a bit fuzzier... Four First Dinners (And One Cancellation) (BtVS/AtS)
When in doubt, etc. I'll be damned if I let a year pass without a holiday fic, and I actually think this one came out really well for a last-minute substitution.
Drabbles
Sense Memory (BtVS; Giles/Ethan)
Needs More Robin Williams (BtVS; Buffy vs a jinni)
Wir sind die Roboter (Dr Who; Ten & Martha)
Missing (BtVS; Giles/Jenny)
A Minor Misunderstanding (BtVS; Dawn & Doc)
Office Party (BtVS/AtS; various big bads/various big bads)
Academic (BtVS; Lydia)
The Friendly Dark (BtVS/Calvin & Hobbes)
Some Assembly Required (BtVS; ensemble)
Meta
The High Concept Problem: Brief thoughts on the Orphan Black and Orange Is The New Black s2 finales.
That's More Like It: Why the Breaking Bad finale is objectively better than the How I Met Your Mother finale even though they're almost identical in some ways.
And the meme:
Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, fewer than you thought, or about what you predicted?
Definitely more, since I wasn't sure I was going to write anything at all. I didn't write any of the specific fics I thought I'd write, though.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2014?
I don't think I've ever written anything that can be classified as a fairytale before.
What's your favourite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest?
Definitely "The Queen, The Soldier". I still come up with little things I want to add to it - it's the tricky thing about a story that takes place over thousands of years, there's no end to the detail you can add, though adding too much would probably weigh it down.
Okay, NOW your most popular story.
Seems to be "Building Character". Don't mind that at all.
Story most under appreciated by the universe?
Looks to be "I Will Face My Fear", though that's to be expected of a crossover with a 25-year-old canon, featuring a character I'm not used to writing...
Story that could have been better?
...even given that, I'm disappointed with "I Will Face My Fear"; it slots in nicely with my other BtVS/TP crossovers, but it feels more like a lead-up to something rather than a story unto itself, and writing evil!Dale wasn't easy since we got all of, what, eight seconds of him in canon?
Sexiest story?
I'm not sure how sexy "Office Party" is, but... apart from the punchline, I think it works on that level.
Most fun story?
"The Brian Situation", once I pushed the angsty part of it (it's set between s6 and s7, it can't be completely lighthearted) to the background. I do love Dawn being a smartass.
Story with single sweetest moment?
I'm not sure if "sweet" is the word, but the end of "The Queen, The Soldier" and the gang's various reactions still gives me a little lump in my throat. As I commented to
red_satin_doll, Faith had Dawn teach her that one line, swearwords and all, in whatever language they're speaking. Hardest story to write?
"The Brian Situation", oddly enough. For a long while, that story insisted on ending with Dawn and Buffy screaming at each other. Not that I worked actively at it for most of that time, but...
Easiest story to write?
"The Queen, The Soldier" just sat there one morning for me to write down. The only thing that changed substantially between first draft and final draft was the ending, which came out a lot nicer for everyone in the final version.
Who did you rip off for titles this year?
The serenity prayer, for some reason; Dune; Suzanne Vega, Leonard Cohen, Pulp Fiction. I also rather shamelessly borrowed plot elements from both The Shining and Curse of the Cat People, the latter of which I'm more proud of than the former.
New Year Fic Resolutions?
Well, for starters I do have that 12th Doctor story I need to finish, especially in light of the actually really good Christmas special.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2014-12-31 06:28 pm (UTC)I really wish I could read your metas as I enjoy them greatly but I haven't seen any of the shows you've written up except HIMYM.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-03 08:25 pm (UTC)And you mean to tell me you haven't seen Orphan Black? You really should, I have a feeling you'd like it. Season 1, at least.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-04 01:22 am (UTC)You may not have seen my "holy shit!" post of squee when I finished S1:
http://red-satin-doll.livejournal.com/38423.html
Actually you and I talked it about the show at some point - you said it was like what Dollhouse was trying to be but better; I said it was Ringer meets Dollhouse.
I haven't seen anything beyond S1 however *bites nails* and I'm trying VERY hard not to let myself get spoiled for anything.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-04 02:06 pm (UTC)See, that's what I thought, and why I got confused. :)
no subject
Date: 2015-01-04 06:46 pm (UTC)And I'm flattered and impressed that you knew I'd like the show, btw. 'cause I can't wait to see season 2 although I did see the beginning of your meta re: the issue with high-concept shows in the second season and though, oh dear...but I think OB has been renewed for a third season. am I correct?
no subject
Date: 2014-12-31 11:03 pm (UTC)Happy New Year!
no subject
Date: 2015-01-03 08:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-01 07:47 am (UTC)But there is so much I missed from you this year. I'm going to have to bookmark to come back and read. Your fic is always amazing.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-03 08:25 pm (UTC)And thanks a lot! Hope you find something you like.