December Talking Meme Master List

(There are still some days left open in the meme, if you want to suggest a(nother) topic.)

No prompt for today, so I'm going to talk about where I am with my Yuletide writing. Because there is less than two weeks until the deadline. It feels like there are still weeks and weeks less, but nope. The deadline approaches, and I have not finished a single fic. I've worked on three today, so a status update.

Assignment: 1300 words, beginning and end, but the middle. Oh, man, the middle. COME ON, STORY. I KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING. WHY CAN'T WE GET IT DOWN?

Treat #1: 8700 words, two and a half scenes left, this is the fun idea that started out small and normal and then blew up. This is not my fault, but I can't explain why it's not my fault until later, so. Just know, it's not my fault.

Treat #2: 800 words, all of the scenes are started, but none are finished. Reviewing source material again now, but I need to break to do other things soon.

Treats #3, 4, and 5: Nonexistent at the moment, but I still have hope.

I need to go run errands and then sit down and finish a draft of my assignment. Just the middle left, come on. This can be done soon. It can.

Does anyone want to do some fic cheerleading for me? I'm writing a Sons of Anarchy/Fast and the Furious series crossover from Mia Toretto's point of view. If you leave me your email in a comment, I will send you the 500 or so words I have and you can cheerlead for me. Or tell me it's horrible and I should start over. Whichever works.

I need to update my icons.

Also, I'm now a tag wrangler for AO3. It looks like it will be complicated, but fun.

I've kind of been in a mood lately (stress about school and the weather and money and my parents' health will do that), and in an effort to shake myself out of it before I go see my family for the holidays, I've been watching Harry Potter movies. (I dvred the first four when they spent a weekend playing them and showing previews for the Half Blood Prince - which, based on what I've seen, I've managed to forget every single detail about the book and should probably reread it at some point.) I've also been skimming through the fic I wrote this year, debating about doing the annual fic round-up (though, this year, I may actually post more fic between now and 2009, so I'd do better to wait) and absolutely shocked, still, that I wrote Twilight fic, because the source material is such crap and I don't actually want to promote it, but Rosalie! Emmett! Anyway.

(OMG. I'm watching Chamber of Secrets and the spider scene just made it hard to breathe. I haven't watched this scene since I saw it in the theater - I always fast forward or leave the room - and now I remember why. That's the scariest thing I've EVER seen in a movie. And the noise. WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SPIDERS?)

So I'm not going to do the round-up just yet, but I wrote a couple stories which really make me proud, and which I enjoy, so I thought I'd talk a little about them, in an attempt to remind myself that I used to really like things and enjoy life and fandom, and there is more to my life than school, etc.

(Though I did just order Unwind and Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3) from Lexis Nexis, so school has some benefit.)

Some of my favorite fics I've written this year, in no particular order.

1. "We Live It, We Breathe It", Fast and the Furious/Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Letty/Faith, Letty/Mia, Letty/Dominic

Summary: She's a superhero now. Why the hell can't she save the world?

I wrote this for nikitangel's birthday, a direct sequel to the story I wrote for her birthday in 2007 (which was also a crossover, but of much more epic, cracktastic proportions - you can read it here: "Ten Slayers Who Never Were (The Of All the Women in All the World Mix)." I crossed over Buffy with nine other fandoms, and Wish!Verse Buffy to make ten. If you do read it, check the comments; thestalkycop added a comment drabble with an eleventh fandom). Though I'm not a fan of Buffy season seven, nor am I a fan of how it ended, I love how it opens up other universes for easy potential crossovers. It's practically begging to be crossed over, to write about who became Slayers then. So the first story set up Letty as a vampire slayer, working on Faith's team. This explores that dynamic more, as well as deals with the events of The Fast and the Furious.

What I like most about it is the way I capture Letty, no nonsense, strong, stubborn, and capable of loving very deeply. She's bisexual, and it's absolutely not a big deal to her. She loves more than one person at a time, and though she doesn't have enough time to give to each of them, she can't be everywhere at once, she doesn't regret loving them. It's awkward, sometimes, her two lives colliding (before vampires and after), but it's life, and she rolls with it. I really love all the ways, big and small, she's changed since becoming a Slayer, and the way it's most obvious when she's trying to be the same old woman for Mia and Dom.

I also love her impotency; here she's been given (forced into) all this power, and still she can't help the people she loves. She saves the world, or her little piece of it, every night, but she can't save her actual world. It's a blow, learning you can't fix things, you can't handle everything, and I like the way I explored that here.

There's also some nice Faith characterization, and some commentary on some of the plot threads of both Buffy and Angel.

Also, there's lots of hot in this story, and some of my favorite characters and pairings.

Mostly, I just love a successful crossover.

Speaking of successful crossovers.

2. "The Moon is on the Sea", Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Lilo & Stitch (I know!), Buffy/Nani (I KNOW!)

Summary: Nani Pelekai thought she'd seen everything when her sister's dog turned out to be an alien.

This was written based on something juleskicks said awhile ago, and it took ages to write for some reason, but I absolutely love it. It's Buffy and Nani, bonding over crazy younger siblings and weird lives and the oddness of the world.

I love some of the word choices, I think they're absolutely beautiful, and I really like how well Buffy fit into an animated Hawaii. Lilo is fabulous, sharp and smart and amazing, all the things I love about her, and Nani is an incredible woman. I love the parallels, two young women forced into too much responsibility too soon, and the way they deal with the unbelievable parts of their worlds. Vampires and aliens, oh my.

Mostly, I just love Nani here, with her desire to thank Buffy, and her inability to full communicate why she's so pleased she's made a new friend.

Speaking again of crossovers (did I write anything other than crossovers and apocalypse fic this year?), here's another one I love.

3. "Love is a Painful Thing (The Second Best Mix)", Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Faith/Dawn Faith/Buffy (unrequited); Blue Crush, Eden/Lena, Eden/Anne Marie (unrequited); Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants/She's the Man, Bridget/Viola, Bridget/Carmen (unrequited); Stick It, Haley/Mina

Summary: You love her beyond the telling of it, but she’s not for you. Until the one time she is.

I wrote this for pene for femslash08 and as soon as I got the assignment, I knew I wanted to write all the prompts. So I did.

I really love Dawn in this, the way she's trying so hard to be real, and the way she's trying to prove herself to Buffy. Faith is so steady, silent and calm, and the way she woos absolutely perfect. I love, too, how much it must suck to be Buffy's little sister, especially when she's an adult and Buffy isn't ready to realize that.

Eden's story is beautiful, too, how much she wants to love Lena instead of Anne Marie, how much she's trying to keep the world held together while Anne Marie is off competing, the way she's left with their house and Anne Marie's sister, and their little world.

Mostly, I love the ways love can hurt, and the way just because you love someone, it doesn't mean that everything will work out, or that you'll get your happy ending. But also, just because you don't get what you want doesn't mean it's the end of the world, or that you won't find love elsewhere, or that you won't have a happy, fulfilling life.

4. "Oh, the Inconstant Sea", Pirates of the Caribbean, Elizabeth/William, Elizabeth/Calypso

Summary: Oh, how Elizabeth loves the sea.

I wrote this for resolute as a pinch-hit for the 2008 apocalyptothon. It is the first (and only) POTC fic I've written, but I'm so glad I did. I love Elizabeth here, and her pragmatism, and her love of the sea. Loving it is loving Calypso, but neither are trustworthy.

Plus, this involves the walking dead, and arguing with a goddess, and trying to save her husband once he finally comes home. She's so strong, Elizabeth, and so determined. And, though she loves, she doesn't trust, and it's possible that love will be her undoing.

5. "Canaries in the Mines", Firefly/Serenity, River

Summary: River carries the names inside her thoughts, and whispers them like benedictions.

I wrote this for maharetr as a pinch-hit for the 2008 apocalyptothon, and I love the language, and the way River is still slightly crazy, but also knows so much. She carries secrets, she carries worlds, and at the end of the world, she is left alone with the ghosts.

There are little scenes, flashbacks, which make my breath catch and send a chill down my spine. The stars talk to her, and sing their songs, and she carries all she's ever loved into the end of the world.

So there you go. Five stories of 2008 I absolutely love.

Am I writing my Yuletide fic? No, of course not, even though that's how I should be procrastinating.

Instead, I've managed to write a thousand words of the Cullen-Hale foursome. What's happened to me? Really? How did this become the fandom thing I think about most often? How?

(Notice, I don't ask when. It become my favorite fandom of lulz when I was in the middle of cleolinda's Breaking Dawn recap and realized I had to go buy the book because I needed to read the crack. As for fic, well, if Rosalie and Emmett weren't so goddamn hot, this never would have happened. Also, Jasper and his bat. And Alice, full stop.)

I actually have thoughts about Jasper and the bat, but I'll save them for later. I'm closing the laptop now.

smallfandomfest is taking prompts again. I had so much fun with this the last time I did it, and I hope you guys are interested, too. So far I've submitted prompts for The Fast and the Furious, The Lost Boys, and Lilo & Stitch, though I'll probably add some Baby-sitters Club and maybe Blue Crush later.

Submit Prompts Here

( the prompts I submitted )

This story has eaten my brain. Forty-five hundred words and counting. I need to head to bed soon, but it's been a relaxing evening, despite the fact I have a final in the morning. I studied, I cleaned, I went for a walk, and I wrote. A balanced evening.

I want to keep writing, especially because I think this story is almost done.

I also want to go visit friends and go drinking, not study for finals. That's obviously not going to happen either.

The full moon was gorgeous this month. Just absolutely breathtaking.

---

Because I really dislike what I'll be studying after tomorrow's final, I'll want new things to write. Help distract a procrastinating student!

1) If you can guess which story I wrote for Remix Redux (and I did just do one), I'll write you a ficlet of your choice (as long as I have at least a passing familiarity with the fandom).

2) Give me a prompt and I'll write a drabble or a short poem. (In fact, if you want a poem and give me a form, I'll write that, too, even though form poetry can be the devil.)

3) Leave your name and I'll tell you what I like best about you right then.

Short break from studying to write some birthday fic. It's coming along nicely, even though it's already about 1500 words longer than I expected. I'm going to be hard pressed to finish it by the recipient's birthday, but I'm going to try. I'll study again here in a bit, and then write again. I may just have to end it a different way than I planned, because I started this almost a year ago and don't really remember what I had planned at that point.

It's so much fun, though, and I really love how this throwaway crossover has turned into something fabulous.

I seem to have started another Supernatural story for spn_xx. How'd that happen? I remember when I wrote "a billion chinese people can't be wrong" and said it was the only time I would write Supernatural. It seems I lied. Another story or so and I'll qualify for it in the Remix next year, if musesfool does it again.

---

Speaking of the Remix, I am doing something new this year. I'm not sure if it is going to work. I hope it will. I hope my assigned author doesn't mind. I don't think ze will, but you never know.

I already have a title, which is unusual for me (to have one so early). I love it. Now let's see if I can make the story work, too. So far, each word is a struggle.

I am currently watching Lilo & Stitch and working on that Lilo and Stitch/Buffy the Vampire Slayer Nani/Buffy WIP. I want to stay up writing it, but I really need to get to bed soon. I have a ton of things to do before the Superbowl party tomorrow night, and a two hour meeting in the middle of the afternoon.

In addition to the Nani/Buffy story, I've worked on the following stories this weekend:

1) A story about the Slayer featured in season eight's "The Chain", set early in her story.
2) Another story about that Slayer set after "The Chain".
3) A Baby-Sitters Club story about Dawn saying good-bye to her friends when she returns to California permanently.
4) A Lost Boys story about Maria and all the things lurking in the darkness.

I suddenly want to write a story about thirteen-year-old Nani meeting thirteen-year-old Abby when the BSC goes to Hawaii. Lilo could be a baby and their parents could still be alive and wouldn't Nani and Abby be adorable? And baby Lilo? (No Stitch is sad, but, still.)

I think I need to add more Elvis to the Nani/Buffy story. There's never enough Elvis.

One of my favorite lines from this movie:

Lilo: I'm sorry I bit you, and pulled your hair, and punched you in the face.

Oh, Lilo.

And now I want to write about Lilo and Myrtle when they're teenagers and obviously bickering because they are in love.

(Also, why are they letting the little white girl boss them around? Seriously?)

Oh, yay, more Elvis music. This makes me happy.

It's always a good day when you can write about women protragonists in a mostly male character oriented fandom and include this line:

They have whispered a spell for each meteor in the sky.

I like meteors and comets and stars.

I also like this Supernatural story I'm writing.

Edited to Add, 2:04 a.m.: I've finished my spn_xx story! Woo!