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2010: a fanfic year in review
2009 in review
I noticed I never got around to my 2010 Fic Review. So I'll just go ahead and do it now.
Dragon Age
Bereskarn Skein (f!Surana game novelization)
Self-Preservation (f!Surana humor drabble)
Language Acquisition (f!Surana Bereskarn-prequel)
Final Fantasy VII
The Heart Facing Mine (Vincent/Yuffie litfic)
Final Fantasy VIII
Songs For What We Have Lost (ensemble litfic)
Final Fantasy XIII
Obedient Slumbers That Can Wake And Weep (Fang drabble)
Through Yonder Town (Fang drabble)
Rurouni Kenshin
Hard Times (Misao rape aftermath fic)
These Cuts of Mine (sequel to Hard Times)
Favorite(s) of the batch:
"Hard Times" and "Songs for What We Have Lost." Yes, I have kind of a love affair with tragedy. If you know me at all, this shouldn't surprise you.
Best of the batch:
Probably "Hard Times." More on why later.
Most underappreciated by the universe:
"Language Acquisition." Which is sad, because it's the closest I will likely ever come to explaining what the hell is going on with Sens Surana.
(Hard Times isn't on here because it's an old, old fandom and also a rapefic and I don't really expect those to be swallowed easily.)
Most fun to write:
Without a doubt, "Bereskarn Skein." Sens is incredibly fucked-up, yet also fun.
And writing from Zevran's point of view is just a dream come true. He's as easily-distracted as Yuffie, but he can wander into even darker places, while still retaining humor. His world is bloody, but also funny, and he's going to laugh at it and I just. /noms Zevran POV.
Sexiest fic:
Holy crap I manageed to make it through an entire year without writing any sex at all. Not even girlsex. Some rape aftermath, sure, but that's not about sex, or being sexy...
So I'm going to say "Bereskarn Skein," because it is narrated by a damn fine elf.
"Holy crap, that's wrong even for you" fic:
"Hard Times." Hard Times is wrong, even for me. I think I take a horrible sort of delight into seeing just how badly I can HURT. EVERYTHING. with the Hard Times 'verse. (The answer is: extremely badly.)
Fic that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
"Hard Times" again. Part of it's because of where the idea came from. In order to start the fic, I had to figure out who I was dealing with, and I'd never thought of any of the characters in that context before.
Hardest fic to write:
"Hard Times" again, and not just for my own issues.
I really do think that the fics where you play with (or beat up) the Canon require that extra mile. It's not just "Who is this character in the canon source?", it's also "Who is that character here?"
RK is not a universe where rape is something you think about. Rape is some offscreen mystery happening to Other People and none of the main cast ever thinks about it. Hell, I'd buy that Watsuki never even thought about it, despite his setting. The worst thing we've ever truly seen is Beshimi pointing out that he regularly invades Megumi's privacy, and that's kind of a Big Lipped Alligator moment.
And that's what makes it so hard. It's mood-breaking. The characters were never designed with an awareness of this facet. Making them aware of it kind of breaks down a trauma wall for the characters; it's such a thorough change from the characters's predictable interactions that it's a lot like breaking the fourth wall.
I maintain that the Hard Times universe really could fit into the RK timeline. I wanted it to feel more like you'd been missing a shit-ton of really horrible scenes, rather than an out-and-out AU. And yet despite the aura of "This totally fits into canon, it does, it does," I wound up having to build it from the ground up like an AU, because of that trauma wall.
Biggest disappointment:
"Obedient Slumbers." I had hopes for that drabble. They never went anywhere. I'm not even sure "Obedient Slumbers" worked as a piece.
Biggest surprise:
"Songs For What We Have Lost." I wanted to try my hand at linked drabbles. I also wanted to play with memory and imagery, because I always want to play with imagery and memory.
I just didn't expect it to turn out so well.
Most telling fic:
"The Heart Facing Mine." After all this time, I still see Vincent and Yuffie as complements rather than opposites, and I'm still a shipper. Even in the face of DoC, even in the face of a shiny new lesbian destructoromance pairing.
I think Vincent and Yuffie are the two I will always, always return to.
Year-end squee:
Not much squee-worthy this year.
What's next:
A lot of things. I'm hoping to complete "Bereskarn Skein," I'm hoping to complete "These Cuts Of Mine," and I've got a few other projects on the table.
I noticed I never got around to my 2010 Fic Review. So I'll just go ahead and do it now.
Dragon Age
Bereskarn Skein (f!Surana game novelization)
Self-Preservation (f!Surana humor drabble)
Language Acquisition (f!Surana Bereskarn-prequel)
Final Fantasy VII
The Heart Facing Mine (Vincent/Yuffie litfic)
Final Fantasy VIII
Songs For What We Have Lost (ensemble litfic)
Final Fantasy XIII
Obedient Slumbers That Can Wake And Weep (Fang drabble)
Through Yonder Town (Fang drabble)
Rurouni Kenshin
Hard Times (Misao rape aftermath fic)
These Cuts of Mine (sequel to Hard Times)
Favorite(s) of the batch:
"Hard Times" and "Songs for What We Have Lost." Yes, I have kind of a love affair with tragedy. If you know me at all, this shouldn't surprise you.
Best of the batch:
Probably "Hard Times." More on why later.
Most underappreciated by the universe:
"Language Acquisition." Which is sad, because it's the closest I will likely ever come to explaining what the hell is going on with Sens Surana.
(Hard Times isn't on here because it's an old, old fandom and also a rapefic and I don't really expect those to be swallowed easily.)
Most fun to write:
Without a doubt, "Bereskarn Skein." Sens is incredibly fucked-up, yet also fun.
And writing from Zevran's point of view is just a dream come true. He's as easily-distracted as Yuffie, but he can wander into even darker places, while still retaining humor. His world is bloody, but also funny, and he's going to laugh at it and I just. /noms Zevran POV.
Sexiest fic:
Holy crap I manageed to make it through an entire year without writing any sex at all. Not even girlsex. Some rape aftermath, sure, but that's not about sex, or being sexy...
So I'm going to say "Bereskarn Skein," because it is narrated by a damn fine elf.
"Holy crap, that's wrong even for you" fic:
"Hard Times." Hard Times is wrong, even for me. I think I take a horrible sort of delight into seeing just how badly I can HURT. EVERYTHING. with the Hard Times 'verse. (The answer is: extremely badly.)
Fic that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
"Hard Times" again. Part of it's because of where the idea came from. In order to start the fic, I had to figure out who I was dealing with, and I'd never thought of any of the characters in that context before.
Hardest fic to write:
"Hard Times" again, and not just for my own issues.
I really do think that the fics where you play with (or beat up) the Canon require that extra mile. It's not just "Who is this character in the canon source?", it's also "Who is that character here?"
RK is not a universe where rape is something you think about. Rape is some offscreen mystery happening to Other People and none of the main cast ever thinks about it. Hell, I'd buy that Watsuki never even thought about it, despite his setting. The worst thing we've ever truly seen is Beshimi pointing out that he regularly invades Megumi's privacy, and that's kind of a Big Lipped Alligator moment.
And that's what makes it so hard. It's mood-breaking. The characters were never designed with an awareness of this facet. Making them aware of it kind of breaks down a trauma wall for the characters; it's such a thorough change from the characters's predictable interactions that it's a lot like breaking the fourth wall.
I maintain that the Hard Times universe really could fit into the RK timeline. I wanted it to feel more like you'd been missing a shit-ton of really horrible scenes, rather than an out-and-out AU. And yet despite the aura of "This totally fits into canon, it does, it does," I wound up having to build it from the ground up like an AU, because of that trauma wall.
Biggest disappointment:
"Obedient Slumbers." I had hopes for that drabble. They never went anywhere. I'm not even sure "Obedient Slumbers" worked as a piece.
Biggest surprise:
"Songs For What We Have Lost." I wanted to try my hand at linked drabbles. I also wanted to play with memory and imagery, because I always want to play with imagery and memory.
I just didn't expect it to turn out so well.
Most telling fic:
"The Heart Facing Mine." After all this time, I still see Vincent and Yuffie as complements rather than opposites, and I'm still a shipper. Even in the face of DoC, even in the face of a shiny new lesbian destructoromance pairing.
I think Vincent and Yuffie are the two I will always, always return to.
Year-end squee:
Not much squee-worthy this year.
What's next:
A lot of things. I'm hoping to complete "Bereskarn Skein," I'm hoping to complete "These Cuts Of Mine," and I've got a few other projects on the table.