Fanfic Year in Review Meme
5 January 2019 03:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
igenlodePrompted by pedanther, as usual.
(over the last 12 months)
Thanks to continuing work on the Swedish story, I haven't completed much this year, and what I have done has been entirely one-shots. Apart from...
Blue Remembered Hills (75,000 words)
This is ridiculous! This story has been in every single iteration of this meme since 2015... but it finally was published for real, ending in February 2018.
Fandom: Crossover between Phantom of the Opera (Leroux AU)/Blake's 7 (first series)
Characters: Raoul, Christine, Erik, Daroga, Blake, Gan, Avon, Jenna, Vila, Carlotta
Summary: Blake's 7: the "Phantom of the Opera" episode. Blake and Gan find themselves trapped in an unfolding space opera on the planet Newparis, where the mysterious masked genius known as the Ghost takes an all too personal interest in a talented young girl...
An Unfair Advantage (990 words)
Fandom: Phantom of the Opera (musical)
Characters: Piangi, Christine, Carlotta, Phantom (and a cameo from Raoul)
Summary: Cometh the hour, cometh the man... This time there is no interruption to "Point of No Return".
If I Don't, She Will (1,100 words)
Fandom: Crimson Peak
Characters: Alan, Thomas
Summary: Dr Alan McMichael confronts the prospect of the knife, at the hand of a man he has no reason to trust.
A Necessary Evil (3,000 words)
Fandom: Crimson Peak
Characters: Thomas, Lucille, Edith (and a cameo from Alan)
Summary: The one thing he could find to be glad about in the whole humiliating evening was that he had set Edith free. But good resolutions are hard to keep...
Afterwards (3,900 words)
Fandom: Crimson Peak
Characters: Lucille, Edith, Alan, Thomas
Summary: She could not find Thomas. And the world was breaking apart.
Five, although yet again I'm multiple-counting "Blue Remembered Hills!
About 9,000; I'm not counting Blue Remembered Hills in this, because it only squeaked in by virtue of the uploading process lasting until February that year. I didn't do any work worth counting on it in 2018.
On the other hand you can add an estimated 58,000 words in manuscript on the Swedish story, although a lot of that was done in late 2017 before my rate of progress slowed to what felt like a crawl :-p
Raoul/Christine, one (plus the Swedish story, which is very definitely R/C even if the characters themselves are convinced it is hopeless every inch of the way so far).
Alan/Edith, two (and mentioned in a third). Thomas/Edith, two (and mentioned in a third). Lucille/Thomas, two (and mentioned in a third). With considerable overlap all round -- although at least Alan and Lucille are consistent!
Possibly "An Unfair Advantage", although I'm not that keen on any of them. "A Necessary Evil" isn't bad in terms of the way it works in the context of that specific line in the story and (more importantly) of Thomas's attitude to life as a whole.
Worst: again, nothing obvious. Maybe "If I Don't, She Will"; it's a bit clumsy and a [conscious] misquotation of canon at that. On the other hand, it does pinpoint the memorable moment quite neatly.
They all have their points (even the "Blue Remembered Hills" one finally improved when I rewrote it as pure crossover!)
I quite like the simplicity of She could not find Thomas. And the world was breaking apart -- sums up the themes of the story quite nicely.
Worst... probably "If I Don't, She Will" again; confronts the prospect of the knife isn't quite right for what I was trying to say. I was going for the medical overtones of 'goes under the knife' etc...
I think I actually like the mannered elegance of The light from a hundred candles glimmered back from glass and silverware and lay softly across the starched white linen of the men and the silks and jewels of the ladies present, and where it fell it glowed with the gilded wealth of a gilded age over the more stark and desolate openings.
Worst of those four, I'm afraid, is The two voices rise entwined, powerful tenor and soaring passionate soprano, their notes embracing one another with an ardour that more than matches the caresses on stage; it was deliberate bombast, but it's a bit awkward in the process.
I like the ending of "A Necessary Evil", which I put quite a lot of conscious effort into finding: But life was short and happiness briefer yet, and he paid no heed. Although the last line of "An Unfair Advantage" is of course the punchline of the piece.
Again, "If I Don't, She Will" is the weakest here (and it's not as if it's a bad story!) Staking life and everything he cared for on a threadbare ribbon of trust, and the honour of Sir Thomas Sharpe... such as might remain. It's quite a nice attempt, but I don't think the wording of that last coda is quite right.
At the start of the year I would probably have predicted that I would finish the Swedish story as my major achievement; it took me only a matter of months to finish the first draft of "Blue Remembered Hills", after all, which was of a similar scope. Instead, I'm nowhere near the end, having hit a massive slowdown followed by a massive plot-hole deviation in the middle.
In consequence I've completed far fewer fan-fics than over any previous twelve-month period, even though I've probably spent a similar amount of time writing.
The "Crimson Peak" outburst was completely unanticipated; I'd had the DVD for ages with the vague intention of watching it, and certainly had no expectation of getting round to doing so, much less writing fan-fiction based on it!
Hmm. Probably "Afterwards", due to the extraordinary achievement of having cut the length by a third and still produced an effective and emotionally tense story -- and one which I've learnt within the last hour was ranked joint second in the results of the contest for the purposes of which it had to be cut ;-)
https://www.fanfiction.net/topic/2872/174950972/5/#175376049
"An Unfair Advantage", definitely. I really didn't expect that to do anything like as well as it did, since it's poking fun at the Phantom and all the "Point of No Return"-as-autobiography fans, but it got tons of views and legitimate reviews (despite having the review count inflated by this year's fanfiction.net anti-CU spammer)
I'm tempted to say "Blue Remembered Hills", because the amount of work and the hopes that went into that were totally disproportionate to what level of success it ever achieved... but by the end it did achieve some, and pick up two or three regular reviewers.
Objectively speaking, probably "If I Don't, She Will", which received no reviews, no favourites and not a lot of page views (42 worldwide to date, which is fewer than any other story on my account save "Afterwards", which went up a month later). But the level of response in the "Crimson Peak" fandom is so tiny overall that it's not really possible to make meaningful comparisons.
Not sure. I think they all came out quite well, caveats about first and last lines notwithstanding!
Out of a very limited field, definitely "A Necessary Evil", which has an actual fifty-word sex scene in the middle (and which again I had to take advice on as to its suitability for the teen rating). Although it's not particularly suggestive compared to other fade-to-black scenes I've done in the past.
Definitely "Afterwards", since the others all end on an optimistic note of one sort or another, however tenuous.
"An Unfair Advantage", where Piangi gets to win for once and boast about it at the Phantom's expense ;-p
Discounting "Blue Remembered Hills", probably Alan and Edith in "Afterwards"... even if their actual sweetest moment together in that story was one of the bits that got cut for the 'short version'!
Discounting "Blue Remembered Hills", probably "Afterwards" for the technical challenge plus the external requirement to fit Christmas into it. But the real answer for this year is the Swedish story, of course, which is why it isn't published... (fanfic memes don't really take into account manuscript composition)
"If I Don't, She Will" -- first story in a new fandom on a flush of enthusiasm, brief, and all over in a couple of evenings despite a lot of frame-by-frame film rewinding.
"If I Don't, She Will"; on watching the film I initially found Alan to be a complete cipher, a character who exists only to be the virtuous American in contrast to the decadent untrustworthy foreign English. After writing that story, I had a lot more of a feel for him as a person in his own right.
Probably the Swedish story, given that "Blue Remembered Hills" ceased to be overdue at the start of the year.
Writing Lucille as third-person protagonist for a considerable section of "Afterwards" without using her name (or making the omission seem awkward) was quite a challenge. But the slow revelation that she has murdered Thomas only works as such if you don't know the canon in the first place :-p
Otherwise, just embarking on another novel-length project after the less-than-convincing returns on the previous one (and keeping going on it through the worst of the doldrums) probably features.
This year, I don't need to worry any more about "Blue Remembered Hills" :-D
Finally writing the "Double Agents de Chagny" would be nice, but I'm beginning to doubt that will ever happen or that there would be an audience for it anyway. My immediate goal is to get to the end of the Swedish story and give Raoul his triumphal parade ;-)
pedanther, as usual.Stats
List of Completed Fics
(over the last 12 months)
Thanks to continuing work on the Swedish story, I haven't completed much this year, and what I have done has been entirely one-shots. Apart from...
Blue Remembered Hills (75,000 words)
This is ridiculous! This story has been in every single iteration of this meme since 2015... but it finally was published for real, ending in February 2018.
Fandom: Crossover between Phantom of the Opera (Leroux AU)/Blake's 7 (first series)
Characters: Raoul, Christine, Erik, Daroga, Blake, Gan, Avon, Jenna, Vila, Carlotta
Summary: Blake's 7: the "Phantom of the Opera" episode. Blake and Gan find themselves trapped in an unfolding space opera on the planet Newparis, where the mysterious masked genius known as the Ghost takes an all too personal interest in a talented young girl...
An Unfair Advantage (990 words)
Fandom: Phantom of the Opera (musical)
Characters: Piangi, Christine, Carlotta, Phantom (and a cameo from Raoul)
Summary: Cometh the hour, cometh the man... This time there is no interruption to "Point of No Return".
If I Don't, She Will (1,100 words)
Fandom: Crimson Peak
Characters: Alan, Thomas
Summary: Dr Alan McMichael confronts the prospect of the knife, at the hand of a man he has no reason to trust.
A Necessary Evil (3,000 words)
Fandom: Crimson Peak
Characters: Thomas, Lucille, Edith (and a cameo from Alan)
Summary: The one thing he could find to be glad about in the whole humiliating evening was that he had set Edith free. But good resolutions are hard to keep...
Afterwards (3,900 words)
Fandom: Crimson Peak
Characters: Lucille, Edith, Alan, Thomas
Summary: She could not find Thomas. And the world was breaking apart.
Total number
Five, although yet again I'm multiple-counting "Blue Remembered Hills!
Total word count
About 9,000; I'm not counting Blue Remembered Hills in this, because it only squeaked in by virtue of the uploading process lasting until February that year. I didn't do any work worth counting on it in 2018.
On the other hand you can add an estimated 58,000 words in manuscript on the Swedish story, although a lot of that was done in late 2017 before my rate of progress slowed to what felt like a crawl :-p
Ship/character breakdown
Raoul/Christine, one (plus the Swedish story, which is very definitely R/C even if the characters themselves are convinced it is hopeless every inch of the way so far).
Alan/Edith, two (and mentioned in a third). Thomas/Edith, two (and mentioned in a third). Lucille/Thomas, two (and mentioned in a third). With considerable overlap all round -- although at least Alan and Lucille are consistent!
Specifics
Best/worst title?
Possibly "An Unfair Advantage", although I'm not that keen on any of them. "A Necessary Evil" isn't bad in terms of the way it works in the context of that specific line in the story and (more importantly) of Thomas's attitude to life as a whole.
Worst: again, nothing obvious. Maybe "If I Don't, She Will"; it's a bit clumsy and a [conscious] misquotation of canon at that. On the other hand, it does pinpoint the memorable moment quite neatly.
Best/worst summary?
They all have their points (even the "Blue Remembered Hills" one finally improved when I rewrote it as pure crossover!)
I quite like the simplicity of She could not find Thomas. And the world was breaking apart -- sums up the themes of the story quite nicely.
Worst... probably "If I Don't, She Will" again; confronts the prospect of the knife isn't quite right for what I was trying to say. I was going for the medical overtones of 'goes under the knife' etc...
Best/worst first line?
I think I actually like the mannered elegance of The light from a hundred candles glimmered back from glass and silverware and lay softly across the starched white linen of the men and the silks and jewels of the ladies present, and where it fell it glowed with the gilded wealth of a gilded age over the more stark and desolate openings.
Worst of those four, I'm afraid, is The two voices rise entwined, powerful tenor and soaring passionate soprano, their notes embracing one another with an ardour that more than matches the caresses on stage; it was deliberate bombast, but it's a bit awkward in the process.
Best/worst last line?
I like the ending of "A Necessary Evil", which I put quite a lot of conscious effort into finding: But life was short and happiness briefer yet, and he paid no heed. Although the last line of "An Unfair Advantage" is of course the punchline of the piece.
Again, "If I Don't, She Will" is the weakest here (and it's not as if it's a bad story!) Staking life and everything he cared for on a threadbare ribbon of trust, and the honour of Sir Thomas Sharpe... such as might remain. It's quite a nice attempt, but I don't think the wording of that last coda is quite right.
General questions
Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?
At the start of the year I would probably have predicted that I would finish the Swedish story as my major achievement; it took me only a matter of months to finish the first draft of "Blue Remembered Hills", after all, which was of a similar scope. Instead, I'm nowhere near the end, having hit a massive slowdown followed by a massive plot-hole deviation in the middle.
In consequence I've completed far fewer fan-fics than over any previous twelve-month period, even though I've probably spent a similar amount of time writing.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?
The "Crimson Peak" outburst was completely unanticipated; I'd had the DVD for ages with the vague intention of watching it, and certainly had no expectation of getting round to doing so, much less writing fan-fiction based on it!
What's your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.
Hmm. Probably "Afterwards", due to the extraordinary achievement of having cut the length by a third and still produced an effective and emotionally tense story -- and one which I've learnt within the last hour was ranked joint second in the results of the contest for the purposes of which it had to be cut ;-)
https://www.fanfiction.net/topic/2872/174950972/5/#175376049
Okay, NOW your most popular story.
"An Unfair Advantage", definitely. I really didn't expect that to do anything like as well as it did, since it's poking fun at the Phantom and all the "Point of No Return"-as-autobiography fans, but it got tons of views and legitimate reviews (despite having the review count inflated by this year's fanfiction.net anti-CU spammer)
Story most underappreciated by the universe?
I'm tempted to say "Blue Remembered Hills", because the amount of work and the hopes that went into that were totally disproportionate to what level of success it ever achieved... but by the end it did achieve some, and pick up two or three regular reviewers.
Objectively speaking, probably "If I Don't, She Will", which received no reviews, no favourites and not a lot of page views (42 worldwide to date, which is fewer than any other story on my account save "Afterwards", which went up a month later). But the level of response in the "Crimson Peak" fandom is so tiny overall that it's not really possible to make meaningful comparisons.
Story that could have been better?
Not sure. I think they all came out quite well, caveats about first and last lines notwithstanding!
Sexiest story?
Out of a very limited field, definitely "A Necessary Evil", which has an actual fifty-word sex scene in the middle (and which again I had to take advice on as to its suitability for the teen rating). Although it's not particularly suggestive compared to other fade-to-black scenes I've done in the past.
Saddest story?
Definitely "Afterwards", since the others all end on an optimistic note of one sort or another, however tenuous.
Most fun?
"An Unfair Advantage", where Piangi gets to win for once and boast about it at the Phantom's expense ;-p
Story with single sweetest moment?
Discounting "Blue Remembered Hills", probably Alan and Edith in "Afterwards"... even if their actual sweetest moment together in that story was one of the bits that got cut for the 'short version'!
Hardest story to write?
Discounting "Blue Remembered Hills", probably "Afterwards" for the technical challenge plus the external requirement to fit Christmas into it. But the real answer for this year is the Swedish story, of course, which is why it isn't published... (fanfic memes don't really take into account manuscript composition)
Easiest/most fun story to write?
"If I Don't, She Will" -- first story in a new fandom on a flush of enthusiasm, brief, and all over in a couple of evenings despite a lot of frame-by-frame film rewinding.
Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?
"If I Don't, She Will"; on watching the film I initially found Alan to be a complete cipher, a character who exists only to be the virtuous American in contrast to the decadent untrustworthy foreign English. After writing that story, I had a lot more of a feel for him as a person in his own right.
Most overdue story?
Probably the Swedish story, given that "Blue Remembered Hills" ceased to be overdue at the start of the year.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Writing Lucille as third-person protagonist for a considerable section of "Afterwards" without using her name (or making the omission seem awkward) was quite a challenge. But the slow revelation that she has murdered Thomas only works as such if you don't know the canon in the first place :-p
Otherwise, just embarking on another novel-length project after the less-than-convincing returns on the previous one (and keeping going on it through the worst of the doldrums) probably features.
What are your fic writing goals for next year?
This year, I don't need to worry any more about "Blue Remembered Hills" :-D
Finally writing the "Double Agents de Chagny" would be nice, but I'm beginning to doubt that will ever happen or that there would be an audience for it anyway. My immediate goal is to get to the end of the Swedish story and give Raoul his triumphal parade ;-)
no subject
Date: 2019-01-06 03:09 pm (UTC)What's the "Double Agents de Chagny" about?
no subject
Date: 2019-01-07 02:16 am (UTC)(I only ever remember to do it when I see someone else post theirs, which is why they come out at rather more than twelve-monthly intervals and hence some fics get missed altogether!)
I really ought to locate and post my 'Double Agents de Chagny' material (such as it is), which is buried in some very old emails, so that I can find it if and when I ever attempt to write the story...