2009 fic/vid roundup
Despite school in the first half and new jobs in the second, 2009 was a good year for fannish creativity. I wrote 50% more stories and three times as many words as last year. I started vidding, and made a House vid that lived up to what I'd envisioned years ago. I uploaded a batch of stories to the Archive of Our Own, participated in my first mcsmooch, tried out anthropomorfic and some new kinks, and took the plunge and posted a few of my (formerly) private Mary Sue vignettes. I got peripherally involved in kink politics, one result of which was to, with a few exceptions, begin using "contains" in headers instead of "warning." I once again did best with 'fests that offered deadlines and prompt selections.
I also seem to have written almost no gen this year. Although I can think of a few reasons this happened, it is not cool. Need to finish some works in progress on that front.
2008 | 2007 | 2006
And now, without further ado, the final roundup, with mini-DVD commentaries, in chronological order by fandom:
Fics
House
A Measure of Comfort - Wilson/Cuddy, R, 1,080 words
My first Wilson/Cuddy story. I wanted to turn off the episode in the middle so I could write it. I like the way it turned out, although I don't believe it really could have happened.
Extra Credit - Wilson/Amber, NC-17, 1,685 words
Amber was fun to try out. I can totally see her convincing Wilson to try new things in bed, and Wilson enjoying them, to his surprise.
House/SGA Crossovers
The Benefits of Dental Hygiene - Foreman/Ronon, NC-17, 1,200 words
Who knew Dee's "floss" prompt could bring guys together across galaxies? My first try for this pairing, and I think there's chemistry there. Ronon's speech is so much fun to write-though I seem to have developed a habit of having him slap people on the back or shoulder and jog off.
Earning their Keep - Sheppard/McKay/Wilson(/House), NC-17, 409 words
OT4, hurrah! Another first for me, off Dee's birthday fic. I wrote it pretty quickly and still think it's yummy.
SGA
Outtakes - McKay/Sheppard, R, 2,300 words
Written on New Year's Eve/Day, and a personal favorite for the year. I wanted to write something where fic tropes that should go wrong actually do, or scenarios usually taken for granted are seen as being a little strange: the waiting naked in a room, the kisses hard enough to draw blood, the convenient tube of lube in the bedside table, the coming so hard they pass out, and the lack of injuries in certain personal areas. Happily, it grew into something hot and sweet and funny. It took a little while after the bran muffin line went in for me to realize that it set up an aww-worthy ending.
Rodneyo and Johniet: A Prologue (beware "Vegas" spoilers at top of post) - Meta-slash, PG, 100 words
My only poem for the year, but such fun! I'm still sorry about the insult to the producers, and I personally don't slash these two as hard as the drabble does, but the last line came out unexpectedly profound.
Ritual of Release - Weir/Sheppard/Lorne, NC-17, 1,730 words
Aw, first threesome, and first time writing any of these characters combined. I like the name of the aliens, the convenience of the AMTDI ritual, and having an excuse to think about Sheppard being so happy to suck on things.
Why Rodney Should Stop Recommending Planets the Ancients Struck from their Database, or, The One with Tentacle Hentai - John/creature, Rodney/creature; NC-17, 6,230 words
Bad title, but still can't think of a better one. Also: tentacles! Also: can't believe I finished this while sitting next to my grandparents! Okay, but seriously, this was hugely satisfying to finish, and there are lots of parts I still love to re-read. At the same time, though, I continue to be troubled by the consent/enjoyment issues, which, even with the conversation between John and Rodney at the end, I think aren't resolved enough. John fights it because he knows he's going to like it, Rodney says; that's the best I could come up with to have them captured and get off on it, but maybe I ended up forcing the characters into that outcome instead of figuring out more elegant or believable ways for them to end up where they did or else changing the capture part or the getting-off part. Hmmm.
In his room at night, alone - Sheppard/creature (fantasy), Sheppard/McKay (fantasy); NC-17, 505 words
Now, this? Very much yes. All fantasy means John's in control, even when imagining that he's not. Safe and sexy. I ended up loving the last line. Too often, my endings are summaries or too pat or something.
Professional Jealousy - McKay/Sheppard, PG-13, 950 words
Heh-my first inclusion of a real celebrity in a fic. But SGA did it first, and I did joke with the guy about his cameo, so. I think this came out quite cute-still love Rodney's easy appeasement when John plays to his ego with the lines about jealousy and "You've blown up stuff way bigger than Pluto." Finding that comment on the Facebook page was just icing on the cake.
Salve - John/Rodney, R, 1,755 words
I got a sunburn; I conceived of this scenario with aloe rubbing and lazy arms flopping; and lo, for a change I was able to make it happen.
Drilled - McKay/Sheppard (drill/stud), adult, 1,100 words
My first foray into the wild world of SGA anthropomorfics. I guess that makes me a fully fledged member of the fandom now. This was super fun to write; I was glad to be able to finally find a plot on which to hang all those fastener terms, which had been lying around on my hard drive for a while.
A Week in the Life - Rodney/Katie, NC-17, 5,315 words
If I were doing one of those memes, I'd say this is the most underappreciated of my stories this year. I think that's because of the pairing-het in a massively slash-oriented fandom, putting Rodney with someone besides John, featuring Katie when a lot of people don't like her-and because the consent play scared people off. But I think these two are uber-adorable together, down to the comical miscommunications, even though they're pretty terrible for each other; and I really wanted to write a story where the consent play is clearly play, agreed to by both, enjoyed by both, and arranged "on screen," as a reaction to so many stories where we don't know it's not a real assault until the end. And then add in sex that is not perfect, but is still sexy. I'm proud to have achieved what I wanted here, and to have seen that some people love what I love about it too. The little scene with Ronon was a great surprise.
Upside Down and Inside Out - Temporarily-a-girl!John/Rodney, NC-17, 3,691 words
Last but not least. After a four-month dry spell following the end of Kink Bingo, while I was reading the SGA Santa request lists the image of Sheppard in suspension bondage having happy girl-orgasms popped into my head and wouldn't let go. It was great to try a story where someone gets sex-swapped-I really wish there were a better term for it, because it's not genderswap, technically; John doesn't suddenly feel like a girl in his head while retaining a man's body-and doesn't change his gender or sexual identity, nor is the story exactly about the swap, or at least it's not riddled with angst or (initial) revulsion. It's only been a couple of days since I finished it, so perspective is somewhat lacking, but I do wonder if it wouldn't have been better to have had John volunteer rather than be coerced-but I'd promised myself I wouldn't get tangled up in the setup or characterization because it was supposed to be a straight-up PWP and otherwise the thing would never have gotten done, so that's that. I tried to balance detail and tab/slot stuff with emotional and secondary physical signs of arousal to make the trio of orgasms hot. It worked for me, which I still think is a sign that it will work for readers.
Anthropomorphic
Pierced - Muslin/Sewing Machine, adult, 315 words
I stopped listing firsts somewhere along the way. This would be my first anthropomorfic, and is still the only non-fandom-related one I've done. Have no idea where this came from, but am pleased it presented itself. Sexual connotations are everywhere! What will be next?
(Also the the Rodney!drill/John!stud above.)
DS9 OCs
Right, and then I did something I never thought I'd build up the courage to do, and publicly posted some of the Mary Sue fic whose origins date back to high school (or, conceptually, childhood). As I said in the author's notes to the first post, these were newer installments. Not written with an audience in mind, so they're not very well-crafted, and they're very personal-but the less I say about that, the easier it is to share them.
The one with the hjartak - OFC/OMC, NC-17, 3,500 words
The one with the aftermath - OFC, Bashir, Odo; Gen, 3,100 words
The one with the vibrator - OFC/OMC, NC-17, 1,400 words
Vids
I Get A Kick Out Of You - House, House-Wilson friendship, 3:00
First vid! Oh, such fun to put together, and I'm really happy with the response. We got to reminisce about how much fun these two used to be. I never did grow to hate the song, although it drove my dad crazy (I worked on this in the week between moves) until the headphones came out. There are a few things I'd change about this now-a sign I've been getting better in these first few months-and I think there are some lingering aspect ratio problems, but nothing too troubling. I love the timing of House's paper flick and their eye contact in the Corvette. topaz_eyes was right, though-the end looks like an obituary.
Every Day is Halloween in the Pegasus Galaxy - SGA; Team, Wraith; 2:35
Possibly my favorite of the four I've done so far. Wraith POV! Humor! Sheppard being all submissive! The song and the show were truly meant to be. Thing that irks me most is the part with Teyla and the Queen. Awkward. Favorite might be the "irony" silly face.
Duet for Two Handguns - The Professional, Leon/Mathilda, 2:00
A song in search of a vid; a movie made for the gun-play prompt; a chance to watch one of my favorites again and make something from it. All around excellent. The champagne clink is still off and would probably benefit from a freeze-and-hold or some other special effect I have yet to experiment with, same as the last shot. I am very happy with how the low-for-Leon and high-for-Mathilda worked out. I should do a little commentary one day about what I was trying to do here, showing a guy who thought he was alone in a kink but finds he can share it with someone else, and in doing so, learns to be confident in having that kink.
Kink Bingo tentacles vidlet - SGA; Radek, John, Ronon, Jennifer, tentacles; 0:57
This was so simple to make-I did it in a few hours with a free audio sample and Windows Movie Maker for the clipping because the postal system was playing pinball with my DVDs-yet so effective when done. Tentative approach, arousal, climax, somewhat traumatized recovery. thingswithwings had some really interesting things to say recently about how issues of consent so often seep into kink vids because the people who make the sources have such trouble not associating kink with threat/evil/pain, which I think applies here. Anyway-it's not every day that you get to vid tentacle kink, so this made me happy.
Stats:
Goals for 2010:
I also seem to have written almost no gen this year. Although I can think of a few reasons this happened, it is not cool. Need to finish some works in progress on that front.
2008 | 2007 | 2006
And now, without further ado, the final roundup, with mini-DVD commentaries, in chronological order by fandom:
Fics
House
A Measure of Comfort - Wilson/Cuddy, R, 1,080 words
My first Wilson/Cuddy story. I wanted to turn off the episode in the middle so I could write it. I like the way it turned out, although I don't believe it really could have happened.
Extra Credit - Wilson/Amber, NC-17, 1,685 words
Amber was fun to try out. I can totally see her convincing Wilson to try new things in bed, and Wilson enjoying them, to his surprise.
House/SGA Crossovers
The Benefits of Dental Hygiene - Foreman/Ronon, NC-17, 1,200 words
Who knew Dee's "floss" prompt could bring guys together across galaxies? My first try for this pairing, and I think there's chemistry there. Ronon's speech is so much fun to write-though I seem to have developed a habit of having him slap people on the back or shoulder and jog off.
Earning their Keep - Sheppard/McKay/Wilson(/House), NC-17, 409 words
OT4, hurrah! Another first for me, off Dee's birthday fic. I wrote it pretty quickly and still think it's yummy.
SGA
Outtakes - McKay/Sheppard, R, 2,300 words
Written on New Year's Eve/Day, and a personal favorite for the year. I wanted to write something where fic tropes that should go wrong actually do, or scenarios usually taken for granted are seen as being a little strange: the waiting naked in a room, the kisses hard enough to draw blood, the convenient tube of lube in the bedside table, the coming so hard they pass out, and the lack of injuries in certain personal areas. Happily, it grew into something hot and sweet and funny. It took a little while after the bran muffin line went in for me to realize that it set up an aww-worthy ending.
Rodneyo and Johniet: A Prologue (beware "Vegas" spoilers at top of post) - Meta-slash, PG, 100 words
My only poem for the year, but such fun! I'm still sorry about the insult to the producers, and I personally don't slash these two as hard as the drabble does, but the last line came out unexpectedly profound.
Ritual of Release - Weir/Sheppard/Lorne, NC-17, 1,730 words
Aw, first threesome, and first time writing any of these characters combined. I like the name of the aliens, the convenience of the AMTDI ritual, and having an excuse to think about Sheppard being so happy to suck on things.
Why Rodney Should Stop Recommending Planets the Ancients Struck from their Database, or, The One with Tentacle Hentai - John/creature, Rodney/creature; NC-17, 6,230 words
Bad title, but still can't think of a better one. Also: tentacles! Also: can't believe I finished this while sitting next to my grandparents! Okay, but seriously, this was hugely satisfying to finish, and there are lots of parts I still love to re-read. At the same time, though, I continue to be troubled by the consent/enjoyment issues, which, even with the conversation between John and Rodney at the end, I think aren't resolved enough. John fights it because he knows he's going to like it, Rodney says; that's the best I could come up with to have them captured and get off on it, but maybe I ended up forcing the characters into that outcome instead of figuring out more elegant or believable ways for them to end up where they did or else changing the capture part or the getting-off part. Hmmm.
In his room at night, alone - Sheppard/creature (fantasy), Sheppard/McKay (fantasy); NC-17, 505 words
Now, this? Very much yes. All fantasy means John's in control, even when imagining that he's not. Safe and sexy. I ended up loving the last line. Too often, my endings are summaries or too pat or something.
Professional Jealousy - McKay/Sheppard, PG-13, 950 words
Heh-my first inclusion of a real celebrity in a fic. But SGA did it first, and I did joke with the guy about his cameo, so. I think this came out quite cute-still love Rodney's easy appeasement when John plays to his ego with the lines about jealousy and "You've blown up stuff way bigger than Pluto." Finding that comment on the Facebook page was just icing on the cake.
Salve - John/Rodney, R, 1,755 words
I got a sunburn; I conceived of this scenario with aloe rubbing and lazy arms flopping; and lo, for a change I was able to make it happen.
Drilled - McKay/Sheppard (drill/stud), adult, 1,100 words
My first foray into the wild world of SGA anthropomorfics. I guess that makes me a fully fledged member of the fandom now. This was super fun to write; I was glad to be able to finally find a plot on which to hang all those fastener terms, which had been lying around on my hard drive for a while.
A Week in the Life - Rodney/Katie, NC-17, 5,315 words
If I were doing one of those memes, I'd say this is the most underappreciated of my stories this year. I think that's because of the pairing-het in a massively slash-oriented fandom, putting Rodney with someone besides John, featuring Katie when a lot of people don't like her-and because the consent play scared people off. But I think these two are uber-adorable together, down to the comical miscommunications, even though they're pretty terrible for each other; and I really wanted to write a story where the consent play is clearly play, agreed to by both, enjoyed by both, and arranged "on screen," as a reaction to so many stories where we don't know it's not a real assault until the end. And then add in sex that is not perfect, but is still sexy. I'm proud to have achieved what I wanted here, and to have seen that some people love what I love about it too. The little scene with Ronon was a great surprise.
Upside Down and Inside Out - Temporarily-a-girl!John/Rodney, NC-17, 3,691 words
Last but not least. After a four-month dry spell following the end of Kink Bingo, while I was reading the SGA Santa request lists the image of Sheppard in suspension bondage having happy girl-orgasms popped into my head and wouldn't let go. It was great to try a story where someone gets sex-swapped-I really wish there were a better term for it, because it's not genderswap, technically; John doesn't suddenly feel like a girl in his head while retaining a man's body-and doesn't change his gender or sexual identity, nor is the story exactly about the swap, or at least it's not riddled with angst or (initial) revulsion. It's only been a couple of days since I finished it, so perspective is somewhat lacking, but I do wonder if it wouldn't have been better to have had John volunteer rather than be coerced-but I'd promised myself I wouldn't get tangled up in the setup or characterization because it was supposed to be a straight-up PWP and otherwise the thing would never have gotten done, so that's that. I tried to balance detail and tab/slot stuff with emotional and secondary physical signs of arousal to make the trio of orgasms hot. It worked for me, which I still think is a sign that it will work for readers.
Anthropomorphic
Pierced - Muslin/Sewing Machine, adult, 315 words
I stopped listing firsts somewhere along the way. This would be my first anthropomorfic, and is still the only non-fandom-related one I've done. Have no idea where this came from, but am pleased it presented itself. Sexual connotations are everywhere! What will be next?
(Also the the Rodney!drill/John!stud above.)
DS9 OCs
Right, and then I did something I never thought I'd build up the courage to do, and publicly posted some of the Mary Sue fic whose origins date back to high school (or, conceptually, childhood). As I said in the author's notes to the first post, these were newer installments. Not written with an audience in mind, so they're not very well-crafted, and they're very personal-but the less I say about that, the easier it is to share them.
The one with the hjartak - OFC/OMC, NC-17, 3,500 words
The one with the aftermath - OFC, Bashir, Odo; Gen, 3,100 words
The one with the vibrator - OFC/OMC, NC-17, 1,400 words
Vids
I Get A Kick Out Of You - House, House-Wilson friendship, 3:00
First vid! Oh, such fun to put together, and I'm really happy with the response. We got to reminisce about how much fun these two used to be. I never did grow to hate the song, although it drove my dad crazy (I worked on this in the week between moves) until the headphones came out. There are a few things I'd change about this now-a sign I've been getting better in these first few months-and I think there are some lingering aspect ratio problems, but nothing too troubling. I love the timing of House's paper flick and their eye contact in the Corvette. topaz_eyes was right, though-the end looks like an obituary.
Every Day is Halloween in the Pegasus Galaxy - SGA; Team, Wraith; 2:35
Possibly my favorite of the four I've done so far. Wraith POV! Humor! Sheppard being all submissive! The song and the show were truly meant to be. Thing that irks me most is the part with Teyla and the Queen. Awkward. Favorite might be the "irony" silly face.
Duet for Two Handguns - The Professional, Leon/Mathilda, 2:00
A song in search of a vid; a movie made for the gun-play prompt; a chance to watch one of my favorites again and make something from it. All around excellent. The champagne clink is still off and would probably benefit from a freeze-and-hold or some other special effect I have yet to experiment with, same as the last shot. I am very happy with how the low-for-Leon and high-for-Mathilda worked out. I should do a little commentary one day about what I was trying to do here, showing a guy who thought he was alone in a kink but finds he can share it with someone else, and in doing so, learns to be confident in having that kink.
Kink Bingo tentacles vidlet - SGA; Radek, John, Ronon, Jennifer, tentacles; 0:57
This was so simple to make-I did it in a few hours with a free audio sample and Windows Movie Maker for the clipping because the postal system was playing pinball with my DVDs-yet so effective when done. Tentative approach, arousal, climax, somewhat traumatized recovery. thingswithwings had some really interesting things to say recently about how issues of consent so often seep into kink vids because the people who make the sources have such trouble not associating kink with threat/evil/pain, which I think applies here. Anyway-it's not every day that you get to vid tentacle kink, so this made me happy.
Stats:
- Fics: 18
- Word Count: 36,365 (plus WsIP)
- Vids: 4
- Minutes: 8.5 (plus WsIP)
- Slash: 9
- Het: 8
- Gen: 3
- Threesome/moresome: 2
- Mixed/Other: 5
- Meta-type: 2
- Poems: 1
- Fandoms: 5
Goals for 2010:
- Work to reincorporate some of the careful styling and attention to story and characterization that I had when I first started posting stories. I haven't written anything as crafted as "Dissonance" or as meaningful to the characters as "A Helping Hand" or "Untouchable" in a while.
- Finish writing WsIP: dancing (in progress for 1 year), MRI (2 years), secret House crossover (3 years)
- Vids to make/finish: Team Oliver!, Pegasus Dylan, John/Ronon silly dance song, McShep (?) Auden
- Work with synn on a design for my subdomain now that there are enough stories to warrant breaking up the index page