Writing Roundup 2023
Apr. 16th, 2024 04:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
out_there(Guys, I'm getting worse at doing these every year. Swear to god, my 2025 resolution will be to write this up in January.)
June
Like a Frozen Over Lake (9910 words) by out_there
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sports Night
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Casey McCall/Dan Rydell
Characters: Casey McCall, Dan Rydell, Charlie McCall, Dana Whitaker, Isaac Jaffe
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Snowed In, Unconventional Courtship Generator, single dad Casey, the inherent romance of watching sports together
Summary:
"You know how you said there was a storm coming in today," Casey says when Dana answers, "and I should change my flight to Saturday?"
"Did you change your flight to Saturday?"
"I did not."
***
Prompt based on Between Strangers by Linda Conrad:
Rescuing a stranded father and child from a raging blizzard hadn’t been part of Dan Rydell’s plans. Yet he couldn’t abandon Casey McCall. And ended up getting snowed in with him, tasting those fiery kisses.
Reflections
This was a story I started for the Unconventional Courtship Challenge and couldn't get finished in time. It was first started in 2021 and stalled, but I am proud of getting it done. It was a kidfic and a flashback to an old fandom love (I'll always be fond of Sports Night but you realise how long ago it was when you sit down and try to write something set around 1999). It took me ages to finish and pull together into a story shape, but I'm pleased with the end result.
Like A Long-Time Painted Smile (60123 words) by out_there
Chapters: 11/11
Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Lan Huan | Lan Xichen/Meng Yao | Jin Guangyao
Characters: Lan Huan | Lan Xichen, Meng Yao | Jin Guangyao, Nie Mingjue, Nie Huaisang, Jin Guangshan, Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Xue Yang | Xue Chengmei
Additional Tags: Fear of intimacy comes in many forms and JGY has all of them, Marrying an eligible bachelor can be the start of a happy ending, Lan Xichen is the most eligible bachelor for good reason, Fix-it fic, Set during the timeskip, bottom!lxc, Lan-furen - Freeform, background Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian - Freeform, A happy ending means JGY and NHS remain friends, Nie Mingjue Lives
Summary:
"My son is overwhelmed by such flattery," Jin Guangshan says from the table. The words are friendly but Jin Guangyao can hear the rebuke in his tone, the sharp anger promising consequences should Jin Guangyao refuse.
For a moment, he longs to refuse. He could keep the secret and marry Qin Su, have his children recognised as Jin and make his mother proud. He could be part of his father's sect as she'd always dreamed for him. But his father has no intention of letting this possible alliance slip through his fingers and Jin Guangyao doesn't know if he could keep such a terrible secret; if he could bed Qin Su knowingly, if those children would ever be possible.
Marrying into the Lan will please his father. Jin Guangyao will still be a member of the gentry as his mother wanted. If he has to leave the Jin and play the subservient furen, he could choose no one better than Lan Xichen.
Reflections
These two stories were published on the same day and are both named for Paul Kelly's "Careless" (a song I am very fond of). Unlike the story above, this was easier to write. It was one of those stories that I loved the original concept (how to write a lan-furen AU for JGY that felt like a believable happy end for the character) and it grew and grew. I mean, it's me so of course I hit a point about two thirds through where I worried over the pacing, worried that nothing was happening, that I'd lose readers before they got the end -- but it all came together. I have memories of writing this story in any spare time I could steal, including walking around in autun sunshine at lunch, typing into my phone about JGY writing to his father.
September
Give all my secrets away (3331 words) by out_there
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Merlin (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Characters: Merlin (Merlin), Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Additional Tags: First Kiss, Getting Together, Omegaverse, keeping secrets
Summary:
For the last week, everyone in Camelot has suffered the unending heat. Now, Arthur wants to ride hot, panting horses for an hour and then hike through the forest. "No."
Arthur stares at him, perfect brows scrunching together in confusion. "You can't say no. I'm the prince."
"You're a turnip head," Merlin replies firmly. "Being a prince is no excuse."
Reflections
Merlin is one of those fandoms that's so fun to read in but whenever I write in it, it's so much harder than it looks to get everyone right. I've only written a few Merlin stories over the years -- and I love them all -- but they'll never be the big sprawling epic stories that some people write for these characters. So, yes, a fun story but certainly not the heights of fandom.
December
First Chill of Fall (3255 words) by out_there
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sports Night
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Casey McCall/Dan Rydell
Characters: Casey McCall, Dan Rydell
Additional Tags: set a little bit after s2, Autumn
Summary:
"Did you leave a leaf in my apartment?"
"A leaf?"
"The things that fall from trees at this time of year?" Casey asks and Danny snorts. "There's a leaf where my keys go."
"Is this going to be an OCD thing, like Dana and those green pens?"
Reflections
For the first time in ten years, I did Yuletide. And spent a fair amount of time panicking over the deadline. On the one hand, it got me to write it in a timely fashion. On the other, additional stresses during holiday season just aren't necessary. Still, this story came easier than "Like a frozen over lake" and I do love the banter here.
The Banana's Proposal (6056 words) by out_there
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Shadowhunters (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Characters: Magnus Bane, Alec Lightwood, Camille Belcourt, Ragnor Fell, Raphael Santiago
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Unconventional Courtship Generator, Meet-Cute, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Summary:
How Could He Turn Down A Banana In Distress?
Alec Lightwood never thought that he'd become the pretend fiancé of a banana-wearing storeowner! Yet how could he refuse smouldering Magnus Bane, the man under the costume, when he kissed him so sweetly— and so thoroughly—in the spaghetti aisle of the supermarket?
His golden brown gaze implored Alec to play the role of lover to show up his ex-fiancé. But remembering the kisses they shared were supposed to be pretend became more difficult, when all Alec wanted to do was to make love to the appealing Magnus! Was the banana's proposal turning into something…real?
(Summary amended from "The Virgin's Proposal" by Shirley Jump.)
Reflections
This one just scraped into 2023 but I know I was working on it for months. Again, it was an Unconventional Courtship story that wasn't finished in time and I did struggle a little to finish it. (Is it just me? Am I losing my ability to write to romance summaries? I guess we'll find out this year.) But there are parts of it that are very fun.
Conclusion
5 stories in 4 fandoms, but the longest was definitely the Untamed.
Breakdown by fandom:
1 Merlin - 3,331
1 Shadowhunters - 6,056
2 Sports Night (what a blast from the past!) - 13,165
1 Untamed - 60,123
Total word count: 82,675
Consisten with last year, so that's nice.
What's your own favourite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest:
Like a Long-Time Painted Smile. Honestly, that one sums up so much of what I like about Lan Xichen/Jin Guangyao and gives them a happy ending that I could believe, and I'm proud of every bit of it.
Now your most popular:
By bookmarks, comments and kudos: Like a Long-Time Painted Smile
Everyone agrees that was this year's best one.
The other top 4?
In order?
- Give all my secrets away
- The Banana's Proposal
- First Chill of Fall
- Like a Frozen Over Lake
(Which I think reflects fandom size more than anything else -- Merlin, Shadowhunters, Sports Night.)
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
You know what? There can never been too much love for Like a Long-Time Painted Smile. It's not "under-appreciated" but it's still the story I'd point people to.
Easiest story to write:
Like a Long-Time Painted Smile. I really wanted to see what happened next and there's a lot of scenes in it that I love. And while I worried about pacing, I never actually stalled on how to write it or what I wanted to say (which I did on most of the others.)
Most fun story to write:
It's going ot be boring to use the same story for every question, so let's say "Give all my secrets away". That actually wasn't too hard once I started -- and it was a lot fo fun researching Merlin's insults and focusing on being sulky and cranky in the heat.
Hardest story to write:
Like a Frozen Over Lake -- that one stalled in 2021 and it was sheer determination that made it start moving again.
Fic writing goals for 2024:
To continue writing. I do enjoy the hobby, even if I end up sacrificing sleep for it. To try to write stories where I'm answering a question I want to know more about (i.e. Like a Long-Time Painted Smile) rather than trying to meet a summary description.
Favourite opening line:
I do love an opening line that actually sets the scene, so it's a tie between:
It's another swelteringly hot day under a bright blue sky, and Arthur suggests hunting. - Give all my secrets away
The packed departure desks at LaGuardia airport paint a depressing picture: everywhere Casey looks there are stressed travellers arguing and complaining about cancelled flights. - Like a Frozen Over Lake
Favourite closing line:
He'll tell Arthur about the dragon tomorrow. - Give all my secrets away
That feels like Merlin to me - lots of personality and a fun POV to write.
Favourite line from anywhere:
You know, this was mostly an excuse to skim over Like a Long-Time Painted Smile to pull out some of my favourites.
- There's such an unforgivable difference between can't and won't.
- "Da-ge is my oldest friend. He wouldn't ask me to give you up," Lan Xichen says, willfully blind as only the fortunate can be.
- How lonely must it be for Lan Xichen to be an infallible symbol to his sect, to always be a source of comfort and leadership to those around him, too strong and righteous to be allowed to have doubts or failings.
- It's terrifying like the first time he stepped on a sword, not knowing if he was about to fall or about to soar.
- There's something fierce and animal sharp beneath that that says, *mine*, that wants to protect Lan Xichen and keep him safe, that wants to tear apart worlds to keep Lan Xichen smiling.
- How easy it must be to live in a world where you've never had to choose between compromise and survival.
- That he understood, in the instinctive way children do, that not everyone is seen and loved.
Favourite title:
Like A Long-Time Painted Smile because I always hear the verse when I read it:
no subject
Date: 2024-04-16 12:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-04-16 01:41 pm (UTC)It's nice to see that 5-6 stories a year is my standard output these days and to remember what was actually written when. (And its even a bit fun to search for favourite lines and congratulate yourself on something.)
no subject
Date: 2024-04-16 10:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-04-16 10:37 pm (UTC)Aw, thank you! I still have such fondness for SN but writing it doesn't come as easy these days.