I was reading through my flist and ran across several year-end fic memes where people talked about the fic they wrote this year. Usually, I skim the lists and wish I had written enough to do one. Then it occurred to me that I may have done so.

To my surprise, I cam up with this year-long total of 39 fics. This includes drabbles, but I also think that I may be leaving off a fic or two.

How could that be, you ask? It turns out that I write fic for comms or contests but never get around to posting them. Of those 39 fic, I'd say only half are any place that I could actually link to them. I'm working on changing that, but it actually requires more effort than you would think.

Anyhow, once they are all up where everyone can read them, I'll do the complete meme. However, just because I really find it hard to believe that I actually wrote this much, I'm doing a summary:

Total fics:
39

By Word Count: I wrote most of these on a 1000 word limit
100 (drabbles): 5
101-1000: 24
1001-5000: 6
5001+: 1

By Fandom -- It turns out I'm a totally multi-fandom girl
Crossovers (Not listed separately): 14
24: 1
Bones: 1
Leverage: 1
Walking Dead: 1
White Collar: 6
Burn Notice: 7
Supernatural: 8

I've also come to the conclusion that I really need a beta reader. While most of my fics have been for competitions and I can't have them betaed before I post them there, I should really have them betaed before I put them someplace else. I suck at line editing.

It's a good enough total, really. I'm hoping it's better next year.

CBS Network
Round One Starts


Crossovers
Round One Starts


FOX Network
Round One
     
     ( LAS Comments )

     
     ( LAS Comments )

     
     ( LAS Comments )


NBC Network
Round Two


Original Fiction
Round Two


Stargate
Round Two


Supernatural
Round One
     All Sad Words of Tongue or Pen John Winchester; Gen: PG

     Impossible John, Dean, Sam; Gen; PG
     ( LAS Comments )

     Human Castiel; Gen; PG

     Hunter's Discount Dean; Outside POV; PG
     ( LAS Comments )

     Through the Night Dean; Gen: PG
     ( LAS Comments )

I wasn't happy with this fic. I totally agree that the refrain didn't add to the fic. I took it off only to put it back several times. I didn't really like it, but I didn't come up with a different ending.

     If at First Dean; Gen; PG
     ( LAS Comments )


Syfy Network
Round Two

USA Network
Round One
     Good Enough Burn Notice; Team; Gen; PG
     ( LAS Comments )

     Live by the Sword Burn Notice; Michael; Gen; PG
     ( LAS Comments )

     It's a Man's World
     ( LAS Comments )

     Christmas Wishes
     ( LAS Comments )

Over at xoverland we were challenged to do a photo-manip picspam of "Five Unique Crossover Pairings". This is a real challenge to me because I don't do photo-manips or crossover shipping. Heh. But with my Shiny New Computer(tm) that has photoshop elements on it, I thought I'd give it a go. Plus I decided that if I consider Crossover Pairing to mean "characters I'd love to see interact in the same story" I could come up with five couples that aren't seen anywhere. Keep in mind that not only are my photoshop skills are average, but my preferred style of graphics tends to be the opposite of avant garde. *grin*


( Auggie Anderson - Grace Van Pelt )

( Alec Hardison - Penelope Garcia )

( Stella Bonasera - Leroy Jethro Gibbs )

( Parker - John Casey )

( Aaron Hotchner - Ellen Harvelle )

I totally fail at writing Haiku. At least I totally fail at writing Haiku tonight. I've been in a writing slump, which is odd because I've gotten a few warm, fuzzy feedback things lately. Real life is frighteningly real right now, though, so that may be the problem. However, because I can do so, I am going to ignore real life in my LJ. At least for right now.

I was surprised to get a note from GateFic Awards saying that my fic Necessary Sacrifices was nominated for an award. Yay, me. I love that fic. I think its the best fic I've ever written and I'm thrilled that people are still reading it. Especially since it's so damn long. All I'd have to do is make some graphics, throw in a music mix and I could claim a big bang entry. It's a lot to ask people to read a 53k fic.

Myr won't read it because she don't like that I have bad things happen to Jack. Oddly enough, I don't think I was all that mean, but I choose to take her avoidance as a compliment. I'm very happy with some of the POV things I did and I liked some of the little details I put in. I just read it through again and I didn't hate it, so that's a plus.

I want to finish a little White Collar/Burn Notice fic that I started on a lark. Right now I just have Elizabeth Burke meeting up with our favorite burned spy down in Miami. I've fallen in love with the idea and I'm going to try to work through my "I can't write" feelings and see if I can get it done.

And I have to how off my Auggie icon. I love the tattoo. I love the character. And you can never have too many icons of good-looking men. Or at least I can't.

I've been writing fic with word limits lately (drabbles, double-drabbles and the like). I get the base of the story in and then I do a word count. I get really excited when it's under -- "Woo-hoo, I've got four words!" You can do a lot with four words, baby. Even more exciting is 12 words - that's a whole concept, a theme, a mood.

Yeah. I'm spending way too much time on these little bits of writing.

I will, however, share them all with you at some point.

Just drabbles, but still writing.

I joined xoverland. It's a community where you write fic, make graphics and play games to earn points for the team you belong to. The best part is that it's all about the crossover, baby!

I'm hoping it gets me writing a bit more. I've been... unfocused as of late and that makes it hard to motivate myself to do anything.

Not sure if it will work, mostly because I tend to miss the deadlines for things (bad me). But I did manage to enter in the first fic challenge (good me).

The first challenge: write up to three crossover drabbles with the theme: kiss. Even though I hate the prompt (it really almost forces you to write a ship), I managed to write two. Yay, me! They will be posted shortly!

I did this list for a crossover discussion on spnroundtable. I thought I'd post it here because they are all good stories.

Keep in mind who I am. These are gen stories that stick close to canon (mostly) and are all about the characterizations. Since romance and porn usually bore me, I'm not going to recommend them. Crossovers do tend to be AU-ish, but the ones that go massively off track are labeled as such.

jujuberry136 has two SPM/CM fics: The Time Has Come to Be Gone and When You are Done. They are both set more in the Supernatural world than in the Criminal Minds one -- although I really like how she merged the two in the sequel. Some of the things in the plot are AU enough make my canon-obsessed self squirm, but it's done so damn well that it doesn't distract from my enjoyment of the fics. The characterizations are amazing and she manages to make all the characters smart and valuable, something that is almost impossible when dealing with a crossover that has some many characters.

art_savage wrote This Bitter Earth which is my favorite CM/SPN crossover to date. It's more Dean than Sam and she limits the number of CM people involved but, IMHO, it makes for a solid story that way. I hold out hope for a sequel. The very best thing about this fic is the wonderful characterization of Dean and of the boy's relationship at the end of season four. Dead on, but yet not completely lacking warmth and love.

Off LJ, kikkimax has two fics Defect and it's sequel Hell, and Back. Set after season two they are AU. I enjoyed the first one but in all honesty, I haven't read the sequel because it was so very AU. Remember, though, that my not reading the fic had nothing to do with the quality of the fic, but rather my inability to remove my canon blinders. I enjoyed the characterization in "Defect" and really liked how she used all the characters and her plot to get Dean out of his "deal with the devil". I also need to point out that I really don't like Gideon, but this fic made me forget that.

Over on ff.net, I like Hunters and Prey/Facade by PaBurke. It's short but good. Once again it's well-written enough for me to like Gideon. I really think she captures the difficulties the CM team would have if they would run to the Winchester brothers. Not in profiling them, but in dealing with the unknown that they are.

While searching for links for these recs, I also ran across a crossover by buffyaddict13 called Haunted Minds. I haven't read it, so I can't exactly recommend it, but I plan on reading it and thought I'd share. ETA: This fic is a WIP. Sorry 'bout that. It is a wonderfully well written WIP, a tad more emo than I usually go for but well-written enough to keep me going. It's heavily Reid-centric, but (IMO) keeps him in character. I feel the need to point out that, without an ending I just can't call it a "rec" because the ending will determine if I would ever read it a second time and wanting to reread a fic is paramount to me reccing it.

Added via a comment: baylorsr gives us Redux. Because of the type of fic it is, I'm only giving you her tease: "A Criminal Minds AU gen crossover. Takes place after 1.22, Devil’s Trap, immediately following the car accident. Agent Hotchner has been wanting to meet the Winchester family for a long time." It was well done and despite my dislike of AU fics, I will add my recommendation.

Added via kuroaloeart: lilaeth wrote Eat It, Twilight. It's a long piece (written for a big bang, I think) set in the fifth season of both shows. It takes a fairly harsh view of Twilight fans (or teenaged girls), but it's got the characterizations down pretty good. Fair warning: This is set between "Good God, Y'all" and "Free to be You and Me" and has all the issues that the boys had then.

I think that covers it. Hope you like them.

Oh... if you know of one that's not listed here, let me know. I've also ran across several NCIS and Numb3rs crossovers. I will share them at some future point.

The sign-ups for the next Yuletide are open.

I'm still not sure if I want to participate. I don't enjoy most of the fic created from it, even though quite a bit of it is wonderfully written. I often feel like I'm venturing into a foreign country when I drop into Yuletide -- a land of people who look at fic differently, who read and write it for different reasons and purposes, who focus on different aspects of characters, people who almost speak a different language.

The only reason I'm considering joining is because I really liked the story I wrote last year. Some of my best writing, if only because I managed to say what I wanted to in under 1500 words. If I do join, I think I'll do it in order to be challenged to write something outside my usual comfort zone. That, of course, is a drawback right there. I'm completely aware that I don't see shows or characters the same way most fans do and I'm always afraid that they won't be what the requester wanted. For that matter, I'm always uncertain if my requests are the kind that people would enjoy writing.

Yeah, I know it's a lot of introspection over fanfic, but writing--writing anything--does that to me. It's totally beyond me why I want to do something that makes me feel so insecure and completely inadequate.

Yet, I do. I'm sure there is a mental illness that covers that.

I took some time today to choose my fandoms for Yuletide.

I did find six fandoms I liked, but I kept wishing for a different type of request: the non-ship request or at least a non-favorite fic-character request. For example, I'd like to be able to nominate '24', on the stipulation it's about Jack. I'd like to see some CSI:NY fic about Mac or Flack or Danny that doesn't involve one or all of them getting laid or thinking about getting laid or almost getting laid. I know that Firefly had a whole lot of sexual tension going on but that was in addition to damn fine plots, and I sure would like to see some Zoe or Book fic because they are fine characters.

I fear saying that I'd write a Simon and Simon fic because the request may be that the brothers sleep together or almost do or even just want to. And you don't even what to think what they want from Winnie the Pooh fic.

I'm so tired of the cutesy little names that come from fic: Chlack, DNA, Clex... Did I somehow end up in Middle School? Are we going to be singing the kissing song next? I'm tired of crossovers whose sole purpose is to write a sex scene with two good looking actors/actresses.

I want plot. I want characterization above the "what gets you hot" level. I would like conversation and dialog that may actually be on an intellectually adult level rather than an x-rated adult level.

I know that fanfic isn't about great writing; it never has been. But I would like to see the characters I love, actually acting like the characters I love. Fanfic used to give me that.

Now? Not so much.

I miss that.

I'm reading fic and it's well written and interesting, but it has an underlying injustice and helplessness to it. Like the person who's writing it has the fundamental belief that good never wins; that the right thing may be what some people aim for but in the end the world is cruel and heartless; the best you can hope is that you accept that and try not to be bitter. While I greatly appreciate that there is none of the usual wallowing in angst over the injustice of life, there is not struggle to make things better either.

There is also the underlying thought that people -- even the people who care about you -- cannot understand you and, therefore, none of their actions will ever, truly matter. It's one of those fics where the POV character is always right and misunderstood and tries his/her best, but the other character's behaviors are always as self-serving, less-than-adequate, and half-hearted. Or else done out of pity and guilt.

That's not unusual for fanfic, as fanfic often takes the worst possible view of everyone's actions or else spins them in such a way that the actions are hollow and meaningless. The unique thing about his fic is that it has a changing POV. Usually the writers of such stories have one character and that one character is the misunderstood outcast that wonders through life being wronged and alone. This fic changes POVs so that there are now five such people wondering around. And, most confusingly, they are alternately, the misunderstood and the one who just 'doesn't get it'.

I get no pleasure from reading such fic -- no mater how interesting the plot is. I understand being a misunderstood outcast, feeling that no one in the world could ever know how I feel or appreciate the aloneness that comes from being unique or living in a area where most have no idea what 'fandom' is. But that doesn't mean I can't relate to them at all, on any level. And it doesn't mean that they can't ever relate to me, either.

Most importantly, it doesn't mean that their actions are lessened by that lack of understanding. If I'm feeling down and someone empathizes and brings me a cup of coffee or a chocolate bar to help me feel better, that action is worth something, even if that person really doesn't have clue why I'm feeling that way.

It's a tendency to paint everything in the worst possible light in order to make the main character sympathetic -- not by having them behave in a sympathetic way, but by having everyone else be completely unsympathetic. It also makes the main character's actions right because everyone else is incapable of seeing the real problem; thereby eliminating the need for the author to truly justify the actions.

You want me to like your character? Then make him/her likeable, don't make everyone else a bunch of jerks. Otherwise, in the end, I won't like anyone.