TB Live Journal

Fandom: Lioness Quartet
Pairing: Alex/Thom, Alex/Roger (You sort of have to squint here, but I promise it's in there.)
Rating: G
Notes: This is totally not as awesome as it was in my head. I struggled from word one on this. But I am tired of working on it.

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I usually do this in December, but I missed it in 2008 and I kept meaning to do it. So why not.

Year In Review
With the year now being January 2008 to December 2008.

Fics alpha by title.

Gundam Wing
Age Inappropriate: 13,141 words
Asylum: 22,849 words (WIP)
Brand New Day: 6,564 words (WIP)
Chiasma: 35,825 words (WIP)
Code of Conduct: 42,866 words (WIP)
History Play: 1,835 words
Properties of ZERO: 13,023 (WIP)
Six Seconds To Gone: 14,260 words (WIP)
Stay, Stupid: 12,794 words
The Year Without Trowa: 31,871
2.7 Kelvin: 13,768 (WIP)

9 drabbles: 11,013 words

Total for Gundam Wing: 219,809 words

At an average of 250 words a page, that's about 880 pages.


Harry Potter
1 drabble: 874 words

At 250 words a page, that's about 3 pages.


Lionness Rampant
We: 6,270 words (complete)


House
1 drabble: 1,284

At 250 words a page, that's about 4 pages.


Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
1 drabble: 1,289 words

At 250 words a page, that's about 5 pages.


Torchwood
1 drabble: 223 words

At 250 words a page, that is not a page.



Total words written for 2008: 229,749 or 918 pages


The Breakdown:

Fandoms: 6
Stories: 12
Drabbles: 13

Completed Stories: 5
Works In Progress: 7


From My Past Year Of Writing, My Favourite Was...

Favourite Story:: ????
...I absolutely cannot choose, because I worked on such wonderful stuff this year. I loved working on the final chapter of The Year Without Trowa because it really did take a year to write it, and living with something that long is so worth it. For the same reason I love Chiasma, and it's dark and intriguing and I am enjoying the challenge format. I loved We because Lionness Rampant was my childhood favourite series. I will always love Properties of Zero, because my attitude toward it has evolved and still evolves the longer it lingers, because it's a summertime fic, because it has Treize and that's always awesome for me.

Best Story: Chiasma
...because, challenge format aside, I think it's one of my most creative and possibly one of the most mature fics I've done. It's a narrative challenge and a character piece and I have some fun OCs as well, and it's my best attempt at delving into L2 culture and history.

Most Underappreciated By The Universe: the Torchwood drabble
...which is not an entirely fair thing to say, as it's from a show that is confined to BBC America for all but two or three of my lj readers. But you gotta give love to John Barrowman.

Most Fun: Age Inappropriate
...because despite the seriousness of the subject matter, it's really a comedy piece. It had wit and slapstick and silly-hot sex scenes, and Quatre married to Noin. And a gay bar on L4.

Most Disappointing: that Star Trek drabble
...I mean, read the thing. Well, don't, but if you had, you would understand.

Most Sexy: Brand New Day
...because it's about two young people who are experiencing first love together and it's vast and frightening and extremely immediate, but it's still ultimately tender.

Hardest to Write: 2.7 Kelvin
...because once we stopped working on it as frequently as in the beginning, it's always been the one that's hardest for me to get back into and to sustain long enough to write a chapter.

Most Unintentionally Telling: Chiasma

Best Written: Chiasma

Worst Written: I'm going to say Six Seconds to Gone, because I can never manage to replicate what I did stylistically in the prologue. I love the prologue. But I think it gets messier after that.


And finally, as before, you may choose any of my stories and ask me what happens after the end of it, and I shall be happy to answer.

Tally-ho, 2009!

More recs. Because I can't stop.


Alex/Delia
Black and Gold - A brief look at how they deal with Roger's death. Short but moving.

Blue Silk Threads - How Delia came into the mix, and how Cythera narrowly avoided it.


Alex/Thom
Yes, Quite - A little silly, but I like Thom's arrogance.


Alex/Alanna
Crossroad Mirrors - Not the best that I've seen of the pairing, but gratifyingly it answers a certain longing you might have had for Alex to know and confront Alanna with the truth about a few matters. It's not the most adult narrative, but Alex came across well, I thought.


Alex/Roger
Our Smiling Friend - Pretty much what you'd expect. Good, though. I like the subtley of the relationship between them, and there's a line in this I particularly thought just made the piece. See if you can pick it out.


George
George Cooper: Beginnings - I guess it's just nice to see George get some love. It's exactly what it looks like.


George/Jonathon
Highness - Not a pairing fic, precisely. It's cerebral and abstract and obstruse, three of my favourite fic adjectives. This is really a fic about Jonathon being lost in his own conflicting wants and obligations. I liked it.


Thom/Alanna
Indifference, Usually - Si-Cham speculates on Thom. Short and nicely done.

The Road Less Travelled By - Yes, it IS one of the ubiquitous 'Alanna went to the convent instead' fics. BUT, here's what makes it so very good: it's written from Thom's POV, and, shockingly, neither of them are the amazing heroes of the books. It's got an air of melancholy that's beautifully drawn. I won't spoil the real kicker, but it sure shocked me. Read it. Read it. Read it.


Alanna/Numair
A Discovery Of Brotherhood - Short but sweet. I repeat that I didn't read much past the Lioness Quartet, so I'm not sure if it was ever revealed how Numair and Alanna became friends. I would hope it goes a lot like this.


Jonathon/Thom
Envy - Short and not very complex, but the last line got me, and it does have a unique angle on a significant event in the books.


Jonathon/Volney Rain
The Talented Volney Rain - I didn't read anything past Realm of the Gods because I was quite bored by then, but I'm glad I read this fic. Very ably written, interesting, dry, and it made me feel like I knew the character even though I hadn't read the book. I didn't quite go for the slash pairing, but I liked how it was presented.


Jonathon/Thayet
Epitaph For An Umbrella - Ignore the weird title. Nicely introspective on Jonathon, who, if he did need to be a little shaken out of his own ego, still finds it difficult to live through.


Gary/Raoul
Far Too Curious - Okay, it really is quite silly, but I still laughed. Raoul and Gary have a drunken inspiration about 'Alan'; and like anything that happens when you're drunk, you'd be better off forgetting it entirely.


Gary/Cythera
Tea And Tension - I'm a sucker for Cythera. Nothing revelatory, but still enjoyable.

Belonging - This broke my heart. The premise is a little out there, but the writer makes it work, and how. Broke my freaking heart.


Francis of Nond
Shadows See All - Not the best fic, but, as it goes, nice to see more of Francis. It's exactly what it sounds like.


Roald/Shinkokami
Shadowed Passions - I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this. It's long, it's unfinished, and nothing really happens in it; but I still liked it. Roald is a tightly wound ball of issues all drastically repressed. I didn't read the books with these characters, but the background was very thoroughly explored. It also deals with Roald experiencing post-traumatic stress, which I thought was unique and touching, especially given the times we live in.


Prince Liam
Valiantly, Oh Valiantly, Little Black Sheep - I liked this because I thought the writer did a good job evoking the sadness and disappointment and confusion-- and guilt-- a parent can feel about the one child who just doesn't seem to even belong to you. I also liked it because (again, not that I read the books) I dread sequels featuring 'the children of' the original characters, especially because they're always better and more perfect and more heroic and more exceptional, and that's a kind of betrayal of what you go through with the originals. It's the reason I stopped reading the Tortall books after Realm of the Gods-- it was clear to me that the series I had grown up with and loved was going to change in order to be bigger and badder than it was for MY characters. Anyway, this is the right flavour for dealing with that attitude, and I enjoyed it.




There you go. Love.

Fandom: Lioness Rampant
Pairing: Alex/Thom, hints of other things
Rating: PG
Notes: You knew it would only be a matter of time once I discovered the fandom. Based on a lot of thoughts about Thom and what it's like to be the not-Alanna half of the siblings. Non-linear, because I felt like. Ridiculous preponderance of italics. Enjoy.

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Haircut.

Defrost the goose in my freezer.

Hoover bedroom.

Catch up on Season 2 of House.

Groceries shopping.

Start a new book.

Finish an old book.

Murder housemate.

Murder housemate's cat.

Shopped for dress for friend's wedding.

Shopped for a 'Congratulations, it's a ___' baby card for pregnant friend.

Visited parents.

Taken a walk outside.

Bought the black tea I desperately, desperately need.

Watered plants.




But I didn't do any of that.


What did I do?




I read a buttload of Tamora Pierce fanfic.



The good news is that I've got to be coming to an end on unearthing the reasonably good fics. I've got to be close to just plowing through ff.net, and I'm not emotionally prepared for that. So this newfound obsession can die a natural death.

Meanwhile, new recs.

Lady Roxanne and the sequel Sigh for Cythera - More great Gary fun. The author took two very small bits of Gary information and created a very good fic out of it, notable in particular for lively dialogue that's all absolutely in character. It's interesting as well to see the characters from a new narrative viewpoint. Squire Alan doesn't look quite so charming from the outside, for one, and I loved it.

Five Things That Never Happened To Roger Of Conte - I'm not a fan of the 'five things' gimmick. Ever. I feel like if you can imagine all those things that never happened you could write a whole fic out of them. But Number Four in this made me laugh aloud, so it gets a star rating from me.

Things Invisible To See - Good solid writing, if not the most revelatory content. Liam muses over why he's following Alanna still after having broke it off with her. I'm not sure Liam really needed his own two chapters, as his side of things got pretty well covered by the books, but it was still nice.

Snapshots - A completely anachronistic title for the genre of medieval fantasy, but whatever. The George and Alanna chapters were particularly moving, I thought, and the whole piece has a feeling of suppressed emotion, almost an itch.

This One Day - Again, not brilliant, but it struck me very hard. I realise I'm sensitive over the brother issue, but I thought it was a very pointed and poignant look at how grief stays in your life. Also, Jon's a prick.

Sadly, the most brilliant fics I read all day are on a friends-locked journal, which is tragic, really, because they really were brilliant in all respects-- terrific style, some really wild plots, excellent characterisation, and best of all fantastically Thom-centric without being the least bit sympathetic to the character. I don't know why I'm telling you all this, as I'm not going to link you to some poor girl's journal as she doesn't want randoms there; I suppose I'm gloating that I found good fic and got to read it. We all know how bloody rare that is.




Oh, and don't despair, people. One thing I could have done with my day and did was work on my own fanfic. We've got a chapter of Stay almost ready to post, and a chapter of Kelvin is right behind it.

This happens, to those of us who didn't grow up with the interwebs. Every once in a blue moon, I'll remember that fanfic isn't just Kirk/Spock, and it will occur to me to google some childhood favourite series to see if anyone ever wrote anything ficcily.

I've been re-reading The Lioness Rampant Quartet by Tamora Pierce. The first book was published in 1988, when I happened to be of a ripe age to read about girls who disguise themselves as boys to become knights. It was like gold, or crack pressed into pages. I was once grounded from reading (yes, I was that geeky) when I hadn't yet finished the third book. I snuck it to school in my backpack, but I was so terrified my mother would find out I was reading that I couldn't finish the chapter. It was the most agonising three days of my entire life, so awful that my mother was moved to compassion and granted me the rest of the week to end my pain.

So today, I think-- hey, I wonder if anyone ever wrote Lioness fanfic.

Ohhhh, they did.

Most of it's crap. The overwhelming majority of fanfic is crap, so that's to be expected. But oh. Oh. There were just a few teases-- just a few hints of fics that would satisfy that lingering wish that DAMNIT, why hadn't the industry allowed writers more than 200 pages in those days? They actually made Pierce cut out the relationship between Thom and Roger, for Chrissakes, and that was the most interesting thing in the book! (Yes, even at that age, I was a slasher. And now I know it's canon!)

So for the benefit of any of you who ever read The Lioness Quartet (hey, Marsh), I give you:

Strange Happenings - Gary barely got love in the books, so I enjoyed this, although it's not the most sophisticated story in the world.

No-One To Blame But Myself - Cruelly unfinished. Dark, definitely dark, and promised to be quite nasty too, damn these authors who never finish anything... It's probably sick, since the Quartet IS young adult fiction, but this satisfied something vicious in me, particularly the Alex/Roger/Thom triangle.

Those The Gods Love - I don't know if it's just me or what, but I only got half of what I assume was a whole file. Still, the half I did get, I liked well enough. I'm new to this fandom, so I'm still in the honeymoon phase where just the mere existence of Alex/Jon slash is going to thrill me. (If anyone else tries this link and they get a whole chapter, you BETTER let me know)

The Road Less Travelled - A Thom/George, if you can believe it. I couldn't. But I still enjoyed the story, which captured Thom in a nicer place than he ended out, still young and vulnerable enough to be enticing and prickly and arrogant enough to grate the nerves just right. And who doesn't wish there'd been more naked George in the books? Well, the eleven year olds who are reading it for the cool swordfights, prolly...

Deception - Alex. I love it for that reason alone. A fairly sensitive look at how Alex's attraction to Alan darkened over the years. Even re-reading the Quartet now I feel like Alex goes almost entirely unexplained, too buried in subtext for it to be clear why he became Alanna's enemy. This soothed my grumps over it.

I may post more as I find it. For now, I feel gratified mostly to know that these incredible books haven't drowned amongst the other offerings out there, including Pierce's later works. These were the first books I was passionately in love with, and I've always wondered if they had any kind of reception in the world. I wanted to be Alanna. I wanted to fall in love with my own George. I wanted a twin brother Thom, especially since my own kid brother was a royal pain in ass.

I have to say, this venture into a new fandom was much more successful than the time I googled David Eddings.