Meta: A Year In Fic
Stolen from owari: A year in fic. I have a rather large amount of drabbles, so the meme is fics first, with all my drabbles (anything under 500 words) listed together at the end of the month.
January
The Silence of Midnight (5/7). Tenipuri: Tezuka-centric. I thought I was done with this, and I had the last two chapters drafted. Well, the last two chapters are still in draft form, because suddenly I'm not happy with the ending. I'm still chewing on it.
The Playground. Tenipuri: Sanada/Tezuka. When atama_ga_itai and I wrote this together, we weren't really thinking about fic; we were doing RP logging just for the fun of it. It took us an entire week of on-and-off logging (and a LOT of pent-up squirmy feelings). In the end, when we were done, we looked at it and went, "Wow, this would be fun shared with the fandom." I guess a lot of people agreed--80+ comments? O_o That, or people were just looking for bondage and would take it any way they could get it. ^_^;
Marmalade. Tenipuri: Tezuka/Sengoku. A tribute to days gone by in more ways than one. I really enjoy writing the Halcyon Days universe, because it lets me relax with the writing. Halcyon Days is definitely my no-pressure, description-only stress relief.
Melancholy. Tenipuri: Fuji. 0rien wrote a fic about Fuji in the Shitenhouji match. At the time, I hadn't even read the match, nor did I know the result beyond that Fuji had lost. And yet Fuji kept pacing around in my head until I gave in and wrote him out. It helps the muses settle, I suppose.
Lonely. Tenipuri: Tezuka. I had just bought an eMac. That really has no bearing on anything other than Tezuka deciding he wanted to say something, and taking over the keyboard to do so.
Fly. FMA: Ed and Roy. First FMA ever, but I like how it turned out.
Bitter. Tenipuri: Sanada/Tezuka.
Friday. Tenipuri: Atobe/Oshitari/Tezuka. Because Lazy Sunday made mildly_deluded and daredtygerz so happy, I had to write more when they commanded it.
Present. FMA: Ed, Al, and Winry. I couldn't decide what to give Winry, so I let the drabble gloss over it. Surprisingly enough, lady_mari_chan liked that.
Sumi-e. Tenipuri: Atobe and Tezuka.
After Hours. Tenipuri: Tezuka/Sengoku.
Plushie. Tenipuri: Tezuka/Fuji. I had no idea the Mexican cactus would be THIS popular. Nor the Fuji plushie.
Endangered. Tenipuri: Sanada/Tezuka. Companion piece to The Playground, for no reason other than the scene popping into my head.
Handcuffs. Tenipuri: Atobe/Oshitari/Tezuka.
February
Eikaiwa. Tenipuri: Tezuka. cosmic_kath posted some revelations on Tezuka's favorite author and a book we often see, with some very risque material. Tezuka decided he'd better speak up for himself (before he got a name for being a purveyor of porn), and this was the result.
Senbatsu. Tenipuri: Sanada/Tezuka. atama_ga_itai and I wanted to do more with Sanada and Tezuka. 50_rps gave us the opportunity. It also let us play with a Fuji and a Yukimura.
Bookstore. Tenipuri: Sanada/Tezuka. Please pretend soap doesn't burn. That's all the excuse I have for this PWP atama_ga_itai and myself logged. XD
Volti Subito. Nodame: Chiaki/Nodame. My newest fandom, one that I love with a surprising amount of passion that comes and goes but when it comes, has the intensity of squee I get for Tenipuri. There wasn't any fic for Nodame out there too! I decided something had to be done about that.
Adieu. Tenipuri: Sanada/(Fuji/?)Tezuka. I was probably feeling moody or something. And thus, the waves of deathfic began.
Goodbye. Tenipuri: Atobe, Tezuka. Because darth_claire wanted more fic, and apparently the Adieu universe refused to let go.
Acceptance. Tenipuri: Saeki(/)Fuji. This was supposed to be my entry for subrosa_tennis. I got too impatient, and decided I would post this and write something else. This thing was betaed to within an inch of its life (and my poor beta's). It shows--it's one of the best things I've written.
Apples. Original. bluesgal made me a lovely icon for my Tokyo journal, and so I had to write her something to compensate her for her trouble. I don't know what I was on. I blame the apples.
Breaking The (Writer's) Block. Metafandom. Again, I don't know what I was on. I wish I had more of that, whatever I was smoking.
The Lost Dollmaker. Tenipuri: Tezuka/Fuji. When I wrote this, I had a vague idea of dolls, sort of like BJDs I suppose (though I hadn't paid much attention). What came out was a strange and still too-general sketch about two dollmakers, one of who had a decidedly different take on leaving one's mark in the world. This universe requires a book to give it proper treatment. Whether I will write that book remains to be seen.
Fuji's Presents. Tenipuri: Fuji, various. Written to celebrate Fuji's birthday.
March
Demand. Metafandom. I thought I should do something for White Day. Not my best work. I was exercising the Hikaru no Go muses, actually. This was during the blind_go writing period, and I wanted to give Isumi a bit of room to stretch in preparation for Planeswalker.
Unfinished Business. Tenipuri: Eiji/Fuji. I was writing pot_exchange during this period, as well, and I needed to somehow make a Fuji/Eiji thing happen. In the process of banging my head against whatever hard object was handy nearby, deathfic emerged again. Strangely enough, people enjoyed this. Especially on FFN. I guess they like deathfics. O_o
Moving In Place. Tenipuri: Sanada/(Fuji/)Tezuka. The Adieu universe decided it wasn't finished yet, and it wanted to say some more. I suspect Sanada and Tezuka wanted to make sure I laid down enough seeds to allow for Fuji to join them.
Illusionary Scenes From An Italian Restaurant (or, Never Saying Adieu). Tenipuri: Sanada/Fuji/Tezuka. atama_ga_itai wanted a happy ending to the Adieu arc. The muses were only too happy to oblige, and wrote themselves the ending I had always hoped for. I think that this universe is complete now, because since then I haven't felt any need to write this trio. I guess they got the ending they wanted. Closure's always nice. ^_^
Hachi's Story. NANA: various. I blame a certain chatroom, and something they said. Whatever it was, I don't remember it anymore, but it was enough to spawn this.
The Choosing. LoTR/Tenipuri AU: various. I am still chewing on this AU, but I thought I would try it out and see whether it went anywhere. Interestingly enough, people would like to see more, but I don't know if there will be more in the near future, not while the entire world is so nebulous. It does involve Tezuka and Fuji on a sailing ship, and the Golden Pair raising horses.
April
Rival April Fools. Tenipuri: Fuji, Eiji, various. I thought, "Hey, it would be cool to use computer code in a fic." And I did. Why this was so popular, I don't quite understand, but maybe it's the whole novelty thing, since ... well, hey, computer code, and pseudo-code that sort-of-works, at that.
Visit. Tenipuri: Akutsu/Dan. I thought by writing my super-secret OTP (never really written before except for one quick samurai AU one-shot in 2006), no one would guess me in subrosa_tennis, since I figured everyone would think I was going to write more Tezuka. I never counted on being the ONLY person to write for subrosa_tennis. *facepalms* Therefore, this was posted, and Subrosa cancelled. This was the impetus for me joining subrosa_tennis as a mod--I didn't ever want to see an empty round again.
Prima Volta. Nodame: Nodame, various. This fandom has me wrapped around its little finger. Four panels and a small mention. That's all it took for me to write this. *facepalms*
Passing Ships. HnG: Hikaru, Ogata. I woke up in the middle of the night, and this was in my head. I had to get it out. I'm still constantly amazed at how much people enjoyed something that was written in 30 minutes at 3 in the morning.
8 Days and 7 Nights in Nagano. Tenipuri/Nodame AU: Fuji/Eiji. I had been assigned the pairing for pot_exchange, and when I learned my recipient also liked Nodame Cantabile, I decided to make a crossover AU. I don't know how it got this long. My exchange fics usually hover around the 1000-word mark, but this ... this sort of took over. And in the end I have no idea if the recipient liked it. ^_^;
Nanobot. Mushishi/The Diamond Age crossover: Ginko, nanobot.
L's Notebook. DN: L, Ryuk. This seems to entertain people to no end, which was the entire point of writing it. It wouldn't have worked if I had made this any longer.
Go Past Him. HnG: Hikaru, Sai.
Like Father, Like Son. HnG/Tenipuri AU: Banji, Kuwabara. I have no excuse beyond thinking, "Hmm, wonder what these two old schemers would be like together ..."
Impatient. Tenipuri: Oshitari, Gakuto.
Three AM. HnG: Yongha/Yashiro. chaineddove wanted Y/Y, I wrote Y/Y.
Lights Out. Tenipuri: Akutsu. Something of an addition to the Visit universe.
Rain and Snow. Tenipuri: Tezuka, Fuji.
Missing Marilyn. Tenipuri: Tezuka. room101 wanted a pink dinosaur. How was I to know this would be so popular and spawn an entire alternate history AU?
Dawn. Tenipuri: Atobe/Tezuka(/Oshitari).
May
Eleven Hands. HnG: Ogata, various. While waiting for blind_go, I realised I had an Ogata muse that was emerging and that refused to leave. I blame a certain NC-17-rated round robin started by ungalad (okay, so I was the other one writing all the smut, but still.)
Numbered (1/?). HnG: Hikaru, Akira, various. I'd watched ONE episode of Numb3rs, but that didn't stop me from attempting this. I was determined to use only pseudomath, but as believable as I could make it without actually doing any real math. I was lucky in that I have a mathematician friend who didn't quite mind being a beta. This was supposed to be a one-shot, but so many people asked for more that I gave in and made it a WIP.
Keima (1/2). HnG: Ogata/Isumi. verloren1983 had gotten hooked on the Ogata/Isumi in the Round Robin for blind_go, and so she used her request as a way to get more of it out of me! I must say, I had fun writing this; the second half, Keima (2/2), would prove far more difficult.
Brillante. Nodame: Chiaki/Nodame. nutty_scribbler and I were becoming friends out of a mutual love for Nodame. To encourage her to go to bed, I told her if she did there would be fic waiting for her when she woke up. And so I had to write it. ^_^;
The Gentleman and The Rogue. Tenipuri: Yagyuu/Niou. mildly_deluded came to Tokyo to visit. The heavens decided this was the perfect time to spawn AU. We started writing cag_fics together because she demanded that I do fic for this universe, too, and so ... here we are.
Handoff. Tenipuri: Kamio/An, Niou. More cag_fics because mildly_deluded was just so inspiring.
Animate-d. HnG: Hikaru, Akira. Having scoured both Akihabara and Ikebukuro unsuccesfully for HnG merchandise for sivullinen, I decided if I couldn't find merchandise, I could at least write about it. Er, yeah. I still want an Akira plushie with a white go stone, and maybe a matching Hikaru plushie with a black one. And could we get a goban plushie too?
Nano-evolution. Mushishi/The Diamond Age AU: Ginko, nanobot. For gen_challenge, I was originally going to write some sort of life-force rider and spout some nonsense about the stream of life. Somehow it turned into talk of nanobots that evolved. Your guess is as good as mine, but people seemed to enjoy it.
Strawberry Tour. Tenipuri: Marui, Jackal, others. mildly_deluded and I had such a hard time searching for strawberry cake I had to transfer it into my muses. Be glad this fic was not called The Great Strawberry Cake Hunt. (Though on second thought, that's not a bad name.)
The Prince's Tree. Original. I woke up with this, and spent an hour writing it in longhand on my bed, trying not to wake the sleeping mildly_deluded up as she napped on an air mattress near my computer (the only reason why I didn't get up to start typing straightaway). Then I spent time typing and editing. It was originally a Sanada/Yukimura fic, but it didn't feel like Sanada or Yukimura to me, and a second opinion confirmed it, so I took some more time to make it clearly original.
Planeswalker 1/4: Emissary. HnG: Isumi, various. *facepalm* The magnum opus. The still ongoing magnum opus. The one that I predicted would take me past 50,000 words when the original blind_go only asked for 5,000. The entire Planeswalker fic is likely to break 50,000 words, yes. I realize this is nowhere near murinae's near-400k In The Forests Of The Night, but when you take into account that I'd been averaging 1000 words ... less if you counted the drabbbles ... Not only was Planeswalker of epic length (to me), it was also leading us into a war. But from this installment, it wasn't obvious. Yet.
The Good Ship Nodame. Nodame: Chiaki/Nodame, Mine. tarigwaemir guessed my predilection for science fiction (must have been the William Gibson), and pressed me into writing a SF AU for Nodame. Surprisingly enough, people want more of this universe, too. I have too many AUs in my head.
Planeswalker 2/4: Marionette Maker (part 1). HnG: Isumi, various. I was finally able to bring in Yang Hai and the rest of the China pros, and hooray, this was the last chapter of plot-rehash. At the same time, I hoped to flesh out the world a little more.
Evening Stroll. Tenipuri: Tezuka/Miyuki. Also known as the fic I wrote on a dare. Miyuki is the only canon female character I can see with Tezuka, and so when someone dared me to write Tezuka and het, I said, "Fine, I will," and did. ^_^ So okay, it's not explicit. I'm sorry, I'm a gen writer!
Just Watch. NANA: Nana(/Hachi).
Awaiting. Bleach: Rukia, Byakuya.
And The Cables Slept. Tenipuri: Kite/Tezuka. For pixxers's birthday I wrote her a rehash, because all I could think about was her fic. At least she didn't hate me for it.
Juudan. HnG: Ogata. Pre-Ogata/Isumi, in my own little Keima progression. One day I'm going to have to list the proper progression in chronological order.
Post. Mushishi/The Diamond Age AU: Ginko, nanobot. I had originally thought to continue this one, but interest for this crossover seems to have died out, so I probably won't.
June
Hollowly. Tenipuri: Sanada/Yukimura. Reading lysapadin's Pen and Ink universe made the newly-awakened Yukimura fic muse antsy. He refused to stop insisting on headspace, and so I gave up, let him have his say, and then stuffed him back into his shoebox.
Rush Hour. HnG: Hikaru, Sai. For some reason, I thought of Sai, and then I thought of Sai on the train during rush hour, and suddenly I started to giggle. Tokyo's subways are HORRIBLE for maintaining any semblance of personal space on the trains when there's even a decent amount of traffic around. How on earth would Sai cope with people pushing into him all the time? I couldn't write that sort of chaos, but I managed to have fun by having someone sit down right through him. ^_^
Crossing Boundaries 1/?. HnG: Le Ping/Isumi. chaineddove approached me because she wanted an Isumi-perspective writer for one of her pet pairings. This was the first time I'd collaborated with someone over Google Docs, and I have never looked back. Part 2 followed soon thereafter.
The Zombies Attack!. Tenipuri: various. I have no excuses. This is my own version of crack. So is the sequel, The Tennis Club Fights Back!.
Shine Brighter. HnG: Akira, Hikaru, various. For gen_challenge, and the prompt was "subway ride". Somehow, over time, this got truncated in my mind to merely "subway", and I had originally planned on writing Hikaru and Akira poring over subway maps, with Hikaru suddenly declaring that this looked just like playing for territory, and then it escalating into a war where one had to call out subway lines and capture major exchange stations in order to win. I spent three weeks pondering the mechanics of this game. Then apocalyptic!subway pushed itself into my head. I can still hear the water, dripping, somewhere down the subway tunnel. Drip. Drip. Drip. This started out as an exercise in how well I could "show, not tell", and paint an apocalyptic picture without shouting it in my readers' faces. From the reception, I guess it went over all right!
Tezuka's Notebook. Tenipuri/DN AU: Tezuka, Ryuk. Death Note had just finished airing, and everywhere you looked, there was an "X finds the Death Note" story. As my favorite character is Tezuka, and it wouldn't have been as much fun if I had given it to Isumi or Ogata, I wrote Tezuka's Notebook. I wasn't sure how people would react to it (the most logical choice for the Death Note would probably be Fuji, to be honest), but I wanted to see how a moral stalwart would do when faced with the Death Note. Tezuka strikes me as VERY much like Yagami Souichirou, who died much too early, and was much too old to be able to change. If there was anyone who I would consider a paragon of virtue (if only to appease his own sense of moral justice or his own image of himself), Tezuka would be it. I had an entire story mapped out, too, about how he would ... ah, but that would be telling. ^_~ I haven't given up on this one yet.
Six Go Stones. HnG: Touya Akira. I don't understand why I like writing younger versions of quiet characters. First Tezuka, now Touya. What's wrong with me? At least I wasn't tempted to turn this one into a series.
Bittersweet. HnG: Yongha/Hikaru. Why this pairing is so popular is beyond me--I mean, a 100-word drabble getting recced? ^_^; But people recced this when there wasn't even any humor a la L's Notebook. O_o
Chuuban. HnG: Ogata/Isumi. The Keima progression continued with this one, and I think the muses are comfortable with this for now, because I haven't felt like writing any more Ogata/Isumi since.
Red Thread. NANA: Shin/Reira. chaineddove liked NANA enough to squee over it with me, even though I was anime-only. So I had to write this. (That, and I owed her far too many drabbles, so I wanted to cut down the number a little.)
Hamster's Burden. Tenipuri: Atobe. I wanted to play with the concept of noblesse oblige. I don't think I've got it quite right, but this was the result.
July
Crossing Boundaries 3/?. HnG: Le Ping/Isumi. chaineddove and I continued to headdesk at just how obtuse Isumi could be. Never mind that I write Isumi.
Onwards Together. Tenipuri: Fuji, Eiji. tenifriends gave me the opportunity to write Fuji and Eiji as non-romantic friends. This one actually threatened to go canon AU on me with Fuji playing seriously in the future (post Nationals, post Shitenhouji), but I tried to ignore it. We'll see how things go once Nationals is over.
Planeswalker 2/4: Marionette Maker (part 2). HnG: Isumi, various. Finally! Plot! My own, and not just a re-hash of the original canon! There is more, but I don't want to post too-long chapters. I have about 5000 words written that still needs fleshing out, editing, etc etc ...
Tezuka's New Laptop. Tenipuri: Tezuka, Inui. I wanted to try writing Inui, and at this point in time I was a little frustrated with my eMac. I fantasized about buying a new computer, and lo and behold, Tezuka took my place.
Water. Ouran: Hikaru/Kaoru/Kyouya. Dipping my foot into Ouran waters. This OT3 seems to be the only one I can actually write!
Con Amore. Nodame: Kuroki. This was all I needed to know that as much as I loved Kurokin, he would never be a muse for me.
How Bright This World's Sky. SZS: Itoshiki/Fuura. Out of nowhere, the title stuck in my head, and I wanted to do something with it. When a student didn't show up, I wrote this while waiting. I Googled the phrase just to figure out why and where this had come from, but to no avail, so I guess I was just feeling poetic. The title is still my favorite part. ^_^;
As We Watch. HP: Dumbledore/Snape, various. Reaction to HP7 and finishing it. That, and Snape wanted to show people he lived, that he existed, that he was Hogwarts's headmaster. However short a period, he was one.
Paris. Nodame: Nodame/Chiaki. People liked this enough to translate it into Thai! O_o
August
Crossing Boundaries 4/?. HnG: Le Ping/Isumi. The antics continued, but we were finally getting somewhere! chaineddove and I found things slow going at times. This was also the time of the Strikethroughs.
Once More. Ouran: Kyouya. Again, I proved my inability to write anything besides this OT3.
Rude Awakening. Genshiken: Madarame. Because one day, I know, this will happen. Poor Madarame just had it happen to him first.
Afterwards. Tenipuri: Tezuka, various. After reading Genius 353 and the loss, Tezuka just wouldn't settle. He still hasn't--he lost, and he's given the team a burden to carry now.
Summer Sun. HnG: Yang Hai/Isumi. I will probably never have a properly functioning Yang Hai muse. It takes a very different mindset, and I just can't think in a cunning enough manner.
This Wasn't The Plan. Nodame: Chiaki/Nodame. My first ever canon future fic, when I had sworn off canon future until canon was done. Well, it proves I never keep my promises.
September
After The War. Tenipuri: Fuji, various. Notable for an anonymous comment that rather ticked me off (after I made absolutely sure I wasn't actually plagiarizing, even unconsciously).
Break. Tenipuri: Kuki/Tezuka. I have no idea why I had this in mind. Maybe I just wanted to write noir.
Postcards From Tokyo, Four Poems. Original.
Candyland. Tenipuri: Tezuka. It didn't take long for the dinosaur to return with a vengeance.
October
Reflections Beside The Koi Pond. HnG: Sai. It was fun being able to write Sai again, and for some reason I found the idea of the HnG cast being goldfish irresistable.
Crossing Boundaries 5/?. HnG: Le Ping/Isumi. The idea to make this a collage of e-mails, letters, chat transcripts and other things just popped into my head, and we had been previously suffering collective writer's block, but with this we were able to muddle through somehow. I also think neither of us was very happy with chapter 4.
November
Numbered 2/?. HnG: Akira, Hikaru. I wanted to indulge my inner math geek some more, and I felt like it had been long enough since Numbered had been updated. Since anything had been updated, really.
Letters to the Inter-dimensional Agency, or The Quest for the One True Heir (1/?). Tenipuri: Tezuka, Ohtori, various. readerofasaph approached me asking if I was interested in a collaboration, and I'd always admired her work, so I was happy to say yes. We were pondering CLAMP and how someone should do a fic equivalent of CLAMP (cross-referencing everything, throwing in random nods to random fandoms/fangirls, making AUs up everywhere ...) Letters emerged very quickly, and both of us thought this was going to be very Douglas Adams in execution. Part 2 appeared almost instantly after, but as I am responsible for Part 3 and my Tezuka muse has gone into hibernation, we may be in for a bit of a wait now.
Inflight. Tenipuri: Fuji. Written on an airplane. I wanted to give this to someone, but I think she refuses to acknowledge it. I guess she doesn't like it at all. This means I'll have to write her something else.
Windrunner. Tenipuri: Fuji, various. I have no idea what I was on. This emerged during Inflight, and the process is as stated in the Author's Notes. I don't know why people keep asking for more of my AUs--are they really that good? There are far too many of them now ...
Coming Home. HnG: Iijima. While searching for inspiration for fifthmus, this took hold of me and refused to leave. I still wonder if it might have been better to just stay on the train all the way down.
Crossing Boundaries 6/?. HnG: Le Ping/Isumi. FINALLY chaineddove and I managed to get them to kiss. And then the muses decided they'd had quite enough soul-searching, thankyouverymuch. *facepalm* If it makes anyone else happy, CB7 was written immediately after, but we're still not done.
Starless Night. NANA: Naoki. chaineddove can be blamed for all the NANA I write from now on, I think. She wanted Naoki. All I could remember of Naoki was a guy who reminded me of Eiji, only slightly less spastic. But she said the end result was acceptable, and I trust her on that, so here we are.
December
Illuminations. Tenipuri: Kurobane/Saeki. Never underestimate the power of canon merchandise to incite squee and/or fic.
Caramel. HnG: Hikaru/Akira. I'd been having trouble with this prompt until ontogenesis and koramay basically told me to just write them being naughty with caramel sauce. They were right--once I let the boys get a little more risque, things went a lot more smoothly.
Chocolate Enchanteur. Tenipuri: Tezuka. Marilyn the dinosaur strikes again.
Total Year's Output: 144,400 words.
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Oh my god. I don't know how I managed to put out so many words. Or pieces. WTF? I don't know if I want to count them. It took three hours to write this meme. Sheer pig-headedness saw me through. I think next year I will have to seriously look at whether or not I want to do this darned thing again.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2007?
Sanada/Tezuka, and especially Sanada/Fuji/Tezuka. How did that happen? O_o I also didn't expect to write Saeki/Fuji, Bane/Saeki, or Fuji/Eiji. I told myself there would be no Hikaru/Akira, either. Finally ... Kuki? Kuki/Tezuka? Where did that even come from? *bewildered* On the HnG front, I didn't even know who Yongha was in Jan 2007, and here I am with two Yongha/someone fics to my name. Also, Ogata/Isumi completely blindsided me; and to think, fandom credits me as one of the two people responsible (ungalad being the other) for this pairing ...
What's your favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest.
Planeswalker and the Keima progression. I couldn't be happier with both. Illusionary Scenes in an Italian Restaurant (or, Never Saying Adieu) also makes me happy, because we should all have happy endings. However, I'm most pleased with Rude Awakening, because I've read it many times now, and I can't think of a single way I could change it to make it any better. So it isn't popular--three readers, I think. But I think it's perfect and it's said all I want to say. No more, no less.
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?
Yes. I want to finish all the WIPs I have. I also want to publish at least one story. And a personal goal: that Prince of Tennis Alice-in-Wonderland-tea-party smut. I consider it a personal challenge.
... this was 4557 words, so Semagic tells me. *facepalms*
January
The Silence of Midnight (5/7). Tenipuri: Tezuka-centric. I thought I was done with this, and I had the last two chapters drafted. Well, the last two chapters are still in draft form, because suddenly I'm not happy with the ending. I'm still chewing on it.
The Playground. Tenipuri: Sanada/Tezuka. When atama_ga_itai and I wrote this together, we weren't really thinking about fic; we were doing RP logging just for the fun of it. It took us an entire week of on-and-off logging (and a LOT of pent-up squirmy feelings). In the end, when we were done, we looked at it and went, "Wow, this would be fun shared with the fandom." I guess a lot of people agreed--80+ comments? O_o That, or people were just looking for bondage and would take it any way they could get it. ^_^;
Marmalade. Tenipuri: Tezuka/Sengoku. A tribute to days gone by in more ways than one. I really enjoy writing the Halcyon Days universe, because it lets me relax with the writing. Halcyon Days is definitely my no-pressure, description-only stress relief.
Melancholy. Tenipuri: Fuji. 0rien wrote a fic about Fuji in the Shitenhouji match. At the time, I hadn't even read the match, nor did I know the result beyond that Fuji had lost. And yet Fuji kept pacing around in my head until I gave in and wrote him out. It helps the muses settle, I suppose.
Lonely. Tenipuri: Tezuka. I had just bought an eMac. That really has no bearing on anything other than Tezuka deciding he wanted to say something, and taking over the keyboard to do so.
Fly. FMA: Ed and Roy. First FMA ever, but I like how it turned out.
Bitter. Tenipuri: Sanada/Tezuka.
Friday. Tenipuri: Atobe/Oshitari/Tezuka. Because Lazy Sunday made mildly_deluded and daredtygerz so happy, I had to write more when they commanded it.
Present. FMA: Ed, Al, and Winry. I couldn't decide what to give Winry, so I let the drabble gloss over it. Surprisingly enough, lady_mari_chan liked that.
Sumi-e. Tenipuri: Atobe and Tezuka.
After Hours. Tenipuri: Tezuka/Sengoku.
Plushie. Tenipuri: Tezuka/Fuji. I had no idea the Mexican cactus would be THIS popular. Nor the Fuji plushie.
Endangered. Tenipuri: Sanada/Tezuka. Companion piece to The Playground, for no reason other than the scene popping into my head.
Handcuffs. Tenipuri: Atobe/Oshitari/Tezuka.
February
Eikaiwa. Tenipuri: Tezuka. cosmic_kath posted some revelations on Tezuka's favorite author and a book we often see, with some very risque material. Tezuka decided he'd better speak up for himself (before he got a name for being a purveyor of porn), and this was the result.
Senbatsu. Tenipuri: Sanada/Tezuka. atama_ga_itai and I wanted to do more with Sanada and Tezuka. 50_rps gave us the opportunity. It also let us play with a Fuji and a Yukimura.
Bookstore. Tenipuri: Sanada/Tezuka. Please pretend soap doesn't burn. That's all the excuse I have for this PWP atama_ga_itai and myself logged. XD
Volti Subito. Nodame: Chiaki/Nodame. My newest fandom, one that I love with a surprising amount of passion that comes and goes but when it comes, has the intensity of squee I get for Tenipuri. There wasn't any fic for Nodame out there too! I decided something had to be done about that.
Adieu. Tenipuri: Sanada/(Fuji/?)Tezuka. I was probably feeling moody or something. And thus, the waves of deathfic began.
Goodbye. Tenipuri: Atobe, Tezuka. Because darth_claire wanted more fic, and apparently the Adieu universe refused to let go.
Acceptance. Tenipuri: Saeki(/)Fuji. This was supposed to be my entry for subrosa_tennis. I got too impatient, and decided I would post this and write something else. This thing was betaed to within an inch of its life (and my poor beta's). It shows--it's one of the best things I've written.
Apples. Original. bluesgal made me a lovely icon for my Tokyo journal, and so I had to write her something to compensate her for her trouble. I don't know what I was on. I blame the apples.
Breaking The (Writer's) Block. Metafandom. Again, I don't know what I was on. I wish I had more of that, whatever I was smoking.
The Lost Dollmaker. Tenipuri: Tezuka/Fuji. When I wrote this, I had a vague idea of dolls, sort of like BJDs I suppose (though I hadn't paid much attention). What came out was a strange and still too-general sketch about two dollmakers, one of who had a decidedly different take on leaving one's mark in the world. This universe requires a book to give it proper treatment. Whether I will write that book remains to be seen.
Fuji's Presents. Tenipuri: Fuji, various. Written to celebrate Fuji's birthday.
March
Demand. Metafandom. I thought I should do something for White Day. Not my best work. I was exercising the Hikaru no Go muses, actually. This was during the blind_go writing period, and I wanted to give Isumi a bit of room to stretch in preparation for Planeswalker.
Unfinished Business. Tenipuri: Eiji/Fuji. I was writing pot_exchange during this period, as well, and I needed to somehow make a Fuji/Eiji thing happen. In the process of banging my head against whatever hard object was handy nearby, deathfic emerged again. Strangely enough, people enjoyed this. Especially on FFN. I guess they like deathfics. O_o
Moving In Place. Tenipuri: Sanada/(Fuji/)Tezuka. The Adieu universe decided it wasn't finished yet, and it wanted to say some more. I suspect Sanada and Tezuka wanted to make sure I laid down enough seeds to allow for Fuji to join them.
Illusionary Scenes From An Italian Restaurant (or, Never Saying Adieu). Tenipuri: Sanada/Fuji/Tezuka. atama_ga_itai wanted a happy ending to the Adieu arc. The muses were only too happy to oblige, and wrote themselves the ending I had always hoped for. I think that this universe is complete now, because since then I haven't felt any need to write this trio. I guess they got the ending they wanted. Closure's always nice. ^_^
Hachi's Story. NANA: various. I blame a certain chatroom, and something they said. Whatever it was, I don't remember it anymore, but it was enough to spawn this.
The Choosing. LoTR/Tenipuri AU: various. I am still chewing on this AU, but I thought I would try it out and see whether it went anywhere. Interestingly enough, people would like to see more, but I don't know if there will be more in the near future, not while the entire world is so nebulous. It does involve Tezuka and Fuji on a sailing ship, and the Golden Pair raising horses.
April
Rival April Fools. Tenipuri: Fuji, Eiji, various. I thought, "Hey, it would be cool to use computer code in a fic." And I did. Why this was so popular, I don't quite understand, but maybe it's the whole novelty thing, since ... well, hey, computer code, and pseudo-code that sort-of-works, at that.
Visit. Tenipuri: Akutsu/Dan. I thought by writing my super-secret OTP (never really written before except for one quick samurai AU one-shot in 2006), no one would guess me in subrosa_tennis, since I figured everyone would think I was going to write more Tezuka. I never counted on being the ONLY person to write for subrosa_tennis. *facepalms* Therefore, this was posted, and Subrosa cancelled. This was the impetus for me joining subrosa_tennis as a mod--I didn't ever want to see an empty round again.
Prima Volta. Nodame: Nodame, various. This fandom has me wrapped around its little finger. Four panels and a small mention. That's all it took for me to write this. *facepalms*
Passing Ships. HnG: Hikaru, Ogata. I woke up in the middle of the night, and this was in my head. I had to get it out. I'm still constantly amazed at how much people enjoyed something that was written in 30 minutes at 3 in the morning.
8 Days and 7 Nights in Nagano. Tenipuri/Nodame AU: Fuji/Eiji. I had been assigned the pairing for pot_exchange, and when I learned my recipient also liked Nodame Cantabile, I decided to make a crossover AU. I don't know how it got this long. My exchange fics usually hover around the 1000-word mark, but this ... this sort of took over. And in the end I have no idea if the recipient liked it. ^_^;
Nanobot. Mushishi/The Diamond Age crossover: Ginko, nanobot.
L's Notebook. DN: L, Ryuk. This seems to entertain people to no end, which was the entire point of writing it. It wouldn't have worked if I had made this any longer.
Go Past Him. HnG: Hikaru, Sai.
Like Father, Like Son. HnG/Tenipuri AU: Banji, Kuwabara. I have no excuse beyond thinking, "Hmm, wonder what these two old schemers would be like together ..."
Impatient. Tenipuri: Oshitari, Gakuto.
Three AM. HnG: Yongha/Yashiro. chaineddove wanted Y/Y, I wrote Y/Y.
Lights Out. Tenipuri: Akutsu. Something of an addition to the Visit universe.
Rain and Snow. Tenipuri: Tezuka, Fuji.
Missing Marilyn. Tenipuri: Tezuka. room101 wanted a pink dinosaur. How was I to know this would be so popular and spawn an entire alternate history AU?
Dawn. Tenipuri: Atobe/Tezuka(/Oshitari).
May
Eleven Hands. HnG: Ogata, various. While waiting for blind_go, I realised I had an Ogata muse that was emerging and that refused to leave. I blame a certain NC-17-rated round robin started by ungalad (okay, so I was the other one writing all the smut, but still.)
Numbered (1/?). HnG: Hikaru, Akira, various. I'd watched ONE episode of Numb3rs, but that didn't stop me from attempting this. I was determined to use only pseudomath, but as believable as I could make it without actually doing any real math. I was lucky in that I have a mathematician friend who didn't quite mind being a beta. This was supposed to be a one-shot, but so many people asked for more that I gave in and made it a WIP.
Keima (1/2). HnG: Ogata/Isumi. verloren1983 had gotten hooked on the Ogata/Isumi in the Round Robin for blind_go, and so she used her request as a way to get more of it out of me! I must say, I had fun writing this; the second half, Keima (2/2), would prove far more difficult.
Brillante. Nodame: Chiaki/Nodame. nutty_scribbler and I were becoming friends out of a mutual love for Nodame. To encourage her to go to bed, I told her if she did there would be fic waiting for her when she woke up. And so I had to write it. ^_^;
The Gentleman and The Rogue. Tenipuri: Yagyuu/Niou. mildly_deluded came to Tokyo to visit. The heavens decided this was the perfect time to spawn AU. We started writing cag_fics together because she demanded that I do fic for this universe, too, and so ... here we are.
Handoff. Tenipuri: Kamio/An, Niou. More cag_fics because mildly_deluded was just so inspiring.
Animate-d. HnG: Hikaru, Akira. Having scoured both Akihabara and Ikebukuro unsuccesfully for HnG merchandise for sivullinen, I decided if I couldn't find merchandise, I could at least write about it. Er, yeah. I still want an Akira plushie with a white go stone, and maybe a matching Hikaru plushie with a black one. And could we get a goban plushie too?
Nano-evolution. Mushishi/The Diamond Age AU: Ginko, nanobot. For gen_challenge, I was originally going to write some sort of life-force rider and spout some nonsense about the stream of life. Somehow it turned into talk of nanobots that evolved. Your guess is as good as mine, but people seemed to enjoy it.
Strawberry Tour. Tenipuri: Marui, Jackal, others. mildly_deluded and I had such a hard time searching for strawberry cake I had to transfer it into my muses. Be glad this fic was not called The Great Strawberry Cake Hunt. (Though on second thought, that's not a bad name.)
The Prince's Tree. Original. I woke up with this, and spent an hour writing it in longhand on my bed, trying not to wake the sleeping mildly_deluded up as she napped on an air mattress near my computer (the only reason why I didn't get up to start typing straightaway). Then I spent time typing and editing. It was originally a Sanada/Yukimura fic, but it didn't feel like Sanada or Yukimura to me, and a second opinion confirmed it, so I took some more time to make it clearly original.
Planeswalker 1/4: Emissary. HnG: Isumi, various. *facepalm* The magnum opus. The still ongoing magnum opus. The one that I predicted would take me past 50,000 words when the original blind_go only asked for 5,000. The entire Planeswalker fic is likely to break 50,000 words, yes. I realize this is nowhere near murinae's near-400k In The Forests Of The Night, but when you take into account that I'd been averaging 1000 words ... less if you counted the drabbbles ... Not only was Planeswalker of epic length (to me), it was also leading us into a war. But from this installment, it wasn't obvious. Yet.
The Good Ship Nodame. Nodame: Chiaki/Nodame, Mine. tarigwaemir guessed my predilection for science fiction (must have been the William Gibson), and pressed me into writing a SF AU for Nodame. Surprisingly enough, people want more of this universe, too. I have too many AUs in my head.
Planeswalker 2/4: Marionette Maker (part 1). HnG: Isumi, various. I was finally able to bring in Yang Hai and the rest of the China pros, and hooray, this was the last chapter of plot-rehash. At the same time, I hoped to flesh out the world a little more.
Evening Stroll. Tenipuri: Tezuka/Miyuki. Also known as the fic I wrote on a dare. Miyuki is the only canon female character I can see with Tezuka, and so when someone dared me to write Tezuka and het, I said, "Fine, I will," and did. ^_^ So okay, it's not explicit. I'm sorry, I'm a gen writer!
Just Watch. NANA: Nana(/Hachi).
Awaiting. Bleach: Rukia, Byakuya.
And The Cables Slept. Tenipuri: Kite/Tezuka. For pixxers's birthday I wrote her a rehash, because all I could think about was her fic. At least she didn't hate me for it.
Juudan. HnG: Ogata. Pre-Ogata/Isumi, in my own little Keima progression. One day I'm going to have to list the proper progression in chronological order.
Post. Mushishi/The Diamond Age AU: Ginko, nanobot. I had originally thought to continue this one, but interest for this crossover seems to have died out, so I probably won't.
June
Hollowly. Tenipuri: Sanada/Yukimura. Reading lysapadin's Pen and Ink universe made the newly-awakened Yukimura fic muse antsy. He refused to stop insisting on headspace, and so I gave up, let him have his say, and then stuffed him back into his shoebox.
Rush Hour. HnG: Hikaru, Sai. For some reason, I thought of Sai, and then I thought of Sai on the train during rush hour, and suddenly I started to giggle. Tokyo's subways are HORRIBLE for maintaining any semblance of personal space on the trains when there's even a decent amount of traffic around. How on earth would Sai cope with people pushing into him all the time? I couldn't write that sort of chaos, but I managed to have fun by having someone sit down right through him. ^_^
Crossing Boundaries 1/?. HnG: Le Ping/Isumi. chaineddove approached me because she wanted an Isumi-perspective writer for one of her pet pairings. This was the first time I'd collaborated with someone over Google Docs, and I have never looked back. Part 2 followed soon thereafter.
The Zombies Attack!. Tenipuri: various. I have no excuses. This is my own version of crack. So is the sequel, The Tennis Club Fights Back!.
Shine Brighter. HnG: Akira, Hikaru, various. For gen_challenge, and the prompt was "subway ride". Somehow, over time, this got truncated in my mind to merely "subway", and I had originally planned on writing Hikaru and Akira poring over subway maps, with Hikaru suddenly declaring that this looked just like playing for territory, and then it escalating into a war where one had to call out subway lines and capture major exchange stations in order to win. I spent three weeks pondering the mechanics of this game. Then apocalyptic!subway pushed itself into my head. I can still hear the water, dripping, somewhere down the subway tunnel. Drip. Drip. Drip. This started out as an exercise in how well I could "show, not tell", and paint an apocalyptic picture without shouting it in my readers' faces. From the reception, I guess it went over all right!
Tezuka's Notebook. Tenipuri/DN AU: Tezuka, Ryuk. Death Note had just finished airing, and everywhere you looked, there was an "X finds the Death Note" story. As my favorite character is Tezuka, and it wouldn't have been as much fun if I had given it to Isumi or Ogata, I wrote Tezuka's Notebook. I wasn't sure how people would react to it (the most logical choice for the Death Note would probably be Fuji, to be honest), but I wanted to see how a moral stalwart would do when faced with the Death Note. Tezuka strikes me as VERY much like Yagami Souichirou, who died much too early, and was much too old to be able to change. If there was anyone who I would consider a paragon of virtue (if only to appease his own sense of moral justice or his own image of himself), Tezuka would be it. I had an entire story mapped out, too, about how he would ... ah, but that would be telling. ^_~ I haven't given up on this one yet.
Six Go Stones. HnG: Touya Akira. I don't understand why I like writing younger versions of quiet characters. First Tezuka, now Touya. What's wrong with me? At least I wasn't tempted to turn this one into a series.
Bittersweet. HnG: Yongha/Hikaru. Why this pairing is so popular is beyond me--I mean, a 100-word drabble getting recced? ^_^; But people recced this when there wasn't even any humor a la L's Notebook. O_o
Chuuban. HnG: Ogata/Isumi. The Keima progression continued with this one, and I think the muses are comfortable with this for now, because I haven't felt like writing any more Ogata/Isumi since.
Red Thread. NANA: Shin/Reira. chaineddove liked NANA enough to squee over it with me, even though I was anime-only. So I had to write this. (That, and I owed her far too many drabbles, so I wanted to cut down the number a little.)
Hamster's Burden. Tenipuri: Atobe. I wanted to play with the concept of noblesse oblige. I don't think I've got it quite right, but this was the result.
July
Crossing Boundaries 3/?. HnG: Le Ping/Isumi. chaineddove and I continued to headdesk at just how obtuse Isumi could be. Never mind that I write Isumi.
Onwards Together. Tenipuri: Fuji, Eiji. tenifriends gave me the opportunity to write Fuji and Eiji as non-romantic friends. This one actually threatened to go canon AU on me with Fuji playing seriously in the future (post Nationals, post Shitenhouji), but I tried to ignore it. We'll see how things go once Nationals is over.
Planeswalker 2/4: Marionette Maker (part 2). HnG: Isumi, various. Finally! Plot! My own, and not just a re-hash of the original canon! There is more, but I don't want to post too-long chapters. I have about 5000 words written that still needs fleshing out, editing, etc etc ...
Tezuka's New Laptop. Tenipuri: Tezuka, Inui. I wanted to try writing Inui, and at this point in time I was a little frustrated with my eMac. I fantasized about buying a new computer, and lo and behold, Tezuka took my place.
Water. Ouran: Hikaru/Kaoru/Kyouya. Dipping my foot into Ouran waters. This OT3 seems to be the only one I can actually write!
Con Amore. Nodame: Kuroki. This was all I needed to know that as much as I loved Kurokin, he would never be a muse for me.
How Bright This World's Sky. SZS: Itoshiki/Fuura. Out of nowhere, the title stuck in my head, and I wanted to do something with it. When a student didn't show up, I wrote this while waiting. I Googled the phrase just to figure out why and where this had come from, but to no avail, so I guess I was just feeling poetic. The title is still my favorite part. ^_^;
As We Watch. HP: Dumbledore/Snape, various. Reaction to HP7 and finishing it. That, and Snape wanted to show people he lived, that he existed, that he was Hogwarts's headmaster. However short a period, he was one.
Paris. Nodame: Nodame/Chiaki. People liked this enough to translate it into Thai! O_o
August
Crossing Boundaries 4/?. HnG: Le Ping/Isumi. The antics continued, but we were finally getting somewhere! chaineddove and I found things slow going at times. This was also the time of the Strikethroughs.
Once More. Ouran: Kyouya. Again, I proved my inability to write anything besides this OT3.
Rude Awakening. Genshiken: Madarame. Because one day, I know, this will happen. Poor Madarame just had it happen to him first.
Afterwards. Tenipuri: Tezuka, various. After reading Genius 353 and the loss, Tezuka just wouldn't settle. He still hasn't--he lost, and he's given the team a burden to carry now.
Summer Sun. HnG: Yang Hai/Isumi. I will probably never have a properly functioning Yang Hai muse. It takes a very different mindset, and I just can't think in a cunning enough manner.
This Wasn't The Plan. Nodame: Chiaki/Nodame. My first ever canon future fic, when I had sworn off canon future until canon was done. Well, it proves I never keep my promises.
September
After The War. Tenipuri: Fuji, various. Notable for an anonymous comment that rather ticked me off (after I made absolutely sure I wasn't actually plagiarizing, even unconsciously).
Break. Tenipuri: Kuki/Tezuka. I have no idea why I had this in mind. Maybe I just wanted to write noir.
Postcards From Tokyo, Four Poems. Original.
Candyland. Tenipuri: Tezuka. It didn't take long for the dinosaur to return with a vengeance.
October
Reflections Beside The Koi Pond. HnG: Sai. It was fun being able to write Sai again, and for some reason I found the idea of the HnG cast being goldfish irresistable.
Crossing Boundaries 5/?. HnG: Le Ping/Isumi. The idea to make this a collage of e-mails, letters, chat transcripts and other things just popped into my head, and we had been previously suffering collective writer's block, but with this we were able to muddle through somehow. I also think neither of us was very happy with chapter 4.
November
Numbered 2/?. HnG: Akira, Hikaru. I wanted to indulge my inner math geek some more, and I felt like it had been long enough since Numbered had been updated. Since anything had been updated, really.
Letters to the Inter-dimensional Agency, or The Quest for the One True Heir (1/?). Tenipuri: Tezuka, Ohtori, various. readerofasaph approached me asking if I was interested in a collaboration, and I'd always admired her work, so I was happy to say yes. We were pondering CLAMP and how someone should do a fic equivalent of CLAMP (cross-referencing everything, throwing in random nods to random fandoms/fangirls, making AUs up everywhere ...) Letters emerged very quickly, and both of us thought this was going to be very Douglas Adams in execution. Part 2 appeared almost instantly after, but as I am responsible for Part 3 and my Tezuka muse has gone into hibernation, we may be in for a bit of a wait now.
Inflight. Tenipuri: Fuji. Written on an airplane. I wanted to give this to someone, but I think she refuses to acknowledge it. I guess she doesn't like it at all. This means I'll have to write her something else.
Windrunner. Tenipuri: Fuji, various. I have no idea what I was on. This emerged during Inflight, and the process is as stated in the Author's Notes. I don't know why people keep asking for more of my AUs--are they really that good? There are far too many of them now ...
Coming Home. HnG: Iijima. While searching for inspiration for fifthmus, this took hold of me and refused to leave. I still wonder if it might have been better to just stay on the train all the way down.
Crossing Boundaries 6/?. HnG: Le Ping/Isumi. FINALLY chaineddove and I managed to get them to kiss. And then the muses decided they'd had quite enough soul-searching, thankyouverymuch. *facepalm* If it makes anyone else happy, CB7 was written immediately after, but we're still not done.
Starless Night. NANA: Naoki. chaineddove can be blamed for all the NANA I write from now on, I think. She wanted Naoki. All I could remember of Naoki was a guy who reminded me of Eiji, only slightly less spastic. But she said the end result was acceptable, and I trust her on that, so here we are.
December
Illuminations. Tenipuri: Kurobane/Saeki. Never underestimate the power of canon merchandise to incite squee and/or fic.
Caramel. HnG: Hikaru/Akira. I'd been having trouble with this prompt until ontogenesis and koramay basically told me to just write them being naughty with caramel sauce. They were right--once I let the boys get a little more risque, things went a lot more smoothly.
Chocolate Enchanteur. Tenipuri: Tezuka. Marilyn the dinosaur strikes again.
Total Year's Output: 144,400 words.
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Oh my god. I don't know how I managed to put out so many words. Or pieces. WTF? I don't know if I want to count them. It took three hours to write this meme. Sheer pig-headedness saw me through. I think next year I will have to seriously look at whether or not I want to do this darned thing again.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2007?
Sanada/Tezuka, and especially Sanada/Fuji/Tezuka. How did that happen? O_o I also didn't expect to write Saeki/Fuji, Bane/Saeki, or Fuji/Eiji. I told myself there would be no Hikaru/Akira, either. Finally ... Kuki? Kuki/Tezuka? Where did that even come from? *bewildered* On the HnG front, I didn't even know who Yongha was in Jan 2007, and here I am with two Yongha/someone fics to my name. Also, Ogata/Isumi completely blindsided me; and to think, fandom credits me as one of the two people responsible (ungalad being the other) for this pairing ...
What's your favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest.
Planeswalker and the Keima progression. I couldn't be happier with both. Illusionary Scenes in an Italian Restaurant (or, Never Saying Adieu) also makes me happy, because we should all have happy endings. However, I'm most pleased with Rude Awakening, because I've read it many times now, and I can't think of a single way I could change it to make it any better. So it isn't popular--three readers, I think. But I think it's perfect and it's said all I want to say. No more, no less.
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?
Yes. I want to finish all the WIPs I have. I also want to publish at least one story. And a personal goal: that Prince of Tennis Alice-in-Wonderland-tea-party smut. I consider it a personal challenge.
... this was 4557 words, so Semagic tells me. *facepalms*