Writer's Meme

[out_there]

As per scrunchy:
WRITER'S MEME: Sometimes it's ok to pimp yourself out. Post a list of the top five favorite fics you've written, regardless of fandom or the reason you love them. This isn't about the BEST things you've written, but what you LOVE most. Then tag five other people to do the same.



Ask a Scientist (it's quantum physics) - West Wing, Josh/Donna, past Josh/Sam
I'm trying to focus on stories from a variety of fandoms and this is one of thsoe stories I still love. Even though it's been Jossed (written after S4 but not adjusted for S5-7), I still love the characters and POV of this. I love this Donna -- the combination of emotional softness and harshness, the way she's capable, practical, willfully stubborn and genuinely trying -- and I love this Sam, who's found his place without the West Wing and without politics, and has his own form of wisdom. I like the brief mentions of other characters, such as the mental image of CJ sprawled across her couch.

I remember writing this -- waiting at the train station, scribbling down thoughts and lines -- and in a lot of ways, it sums up my feelings towards WW as a fandom and all the reasons I couldn't really stick it out. It's weary but trying hard, struggling to find magic and getting mired in all the petty little things that make life imperfect, but despite that, there's wisdom learnt and hope for the future. And I love the story.

Blood, Ash and Heat - Angel the Series, Wesley character piece
Inside my head, I think of this as "Five Ways Wes Didn't Die". To cope with the AtS series finale, I sat down and wrote this that night. Throughout the seasons, I loved Wes and in a way, this is a love song to him, to his potential bravery and stupidity and joy; to all the ways he was out-classed and kinda screwed -- always had been as a character, always would be -- and yet that never really limited his choices or all the ways it could go badly for him. It's a mournful love song, but it's a love song nonetheless.

At Gunpoint - Stargate Atlantis, Rodney/John
It's porn. It's a PWP with a gun. But regardless of that, it's genuinely hot. And I'm pretty proud of that, because writing porn is not something that's ever easy, regardless of how clearly you can imagine it. Writing porn that deals with a personal kink (in this case: voyuerism, guns, giving instructions/submitting to them) is even harder for me to do well, but I think I did.

I Made Phone Calls With Foreign Coins - Sports Night, Dana/Natalie
Femslash is something I don't really write. (Literally, I've written two femslash stories and two het scenes, and everything else is gen or slash. It's something I don't *do*.) But I adore Dana and sometimes, as much as I love the boys together, I want to give Dana a moment of happiness. And while Natalie/Jeremy is dorky and adorable, Natalie seems to be the only person on Earth who can both totally understand Dana and make her feel confident. (Admittedly, she often uses this power for evil and encourages chasing after Casey, but if used for good, the pair of them could take over network sports.)

I liked giving the girls a happy ending, I liked having the girls to have the snarky, witty, emotionally vulnerable conversations. And even more than that, I love the title. Of all the titles I've had to randomly make up for a story, it's my favourite by far.

Like Sailing and Home Runs - Sports Night, Dan/Casey
If I could write novels, if I could write original fiction, I'd want it to be as good as this story. I don't think I ever could -- personally, I think I fluked this story and it came out far better than I actually deserved -- but if I did, I'd want to feel the utter, overwhelming pride for it that I feel for this story.

It's Dan, it's Casey. It's fatherhood and relationships and loss. It's lying to yourself and lying to others, the pain of mourning, of forgiving, of healing. It's all those things that we base our self-worth on, all those things that we intellectually know but can't emotionally believe. It feels true and honest, feels like the story actually means something, and throughout it all, it's my boys being lovable and human and flawed and fantastic.

And without a doubt, it's still the best thing I've ever written.

Comments

[phoebesmum.livejournal.com]

I did this a while back - I was going to say, aaaaages ago, but it was only March; LJ-time really does flow differently to real time. Mine are here (http://phoebesmum.livejournal.com/518143.html).

I love Like Sailing and Home Runs, too. V proud to have helped with the betaing of same!

[out-there.livejournal.com]

It's interesting the stories you remember fondly as opposed to the stories that you're proud of (as opposed to the stories that everyone else is fond of). I wonder how much of it has to do with remembering how you felt as you wrote them, and how much has to do with the story itself.

I love Like Sailing and Home Runs, too. V proud to have helped with the betaing of same!

*beams*

[phoebesmum.livejournal.com]

What I would actually love to know - and this is so self-centred and arsey, I should be ashamed of myself (and am a bit) is, what stories did other people like? And why? There should be a meme like that. I'd certainly be too embarrassed to come right out and ask any other way, I do have some shame!

Heh. I find I still have the beta of this on my C drive, along with the table I had to draw up to keep track of what was happening when!

[scout-kent.livejournal.com]

That would be an excellent meme. I know that what I notice and have to say about my long-term favorite stories is probably quite different from what I said in my initial comments. Sometimes my favorite bits in from a story are things I didn't much notice the first time around!

Like Sailing and Home Runs wasn't one of the first fan fics I read, but it was one of the first that stunned me, one of the first that made me want to share the world of fandom with others just so I could say, "Look! Look at the amazing things people are doing and sharing."

[out-there.livejournal.com]

Like Sailing and Home Runs wasn't one of the first fan fics I read, but it was one of the first that stunned me, one of the first that made me want to share the world of fandom with others just so I could say, "Look! Look at the amazing things people are doing and sharing."

*feels all warm and fuzzy*

[out-there.livejournal.com]

That would be a very cool meme.

And, heh, I'd forgotten that we'd needed a spreadsheet to track that. That's a sign of a slightly more complicated than expected story.

[phoebesmum.livejournal.com]

The jumping backward and forward timeline would have been difficult enough to track, but throw into the mix that Danny kept lying and it's a wonder either of us got through without our heads exploding. But it was all well worth it in the end. Besides ... I'm just nerdy enough to enjoy that sort of thing ...

[meadowlion.livejournal.com]

I think I'd missed out on a couple of these during some of my helplessly extended hiatuses (hiati?) from LJ, so, yay for new-to-me good fics to read! =o)

[out-there.livejournal.com]

*GRINS*

It's always good to discover nwew stuff (even if it's been around a while.)