Year-end fic meme

[nonelvis]

Fic written in 2018
It's All We Know Now to Never Go Back (Mirror!Lorca/River Song, Star Trek: Discovery/Doctor Who crossover; Teaspoon, AO3)
The Winter Festival (Prime!Lorca/Kat Cornwell, Star Trek: Discovery)
War Games (Mirror!Lorca/Ash Tyler, Star Trek: Discovery)
A Quiet Empire (Mirror!Lorca/Michael Burnham, Star Trek: Discovery)
The Incredible Shrinking Doctor (Eleventh Doctor/River Song, Doctor Who; Teaspoon, AO3)
Korea, 1950-Something (Rory Williams/Hawkeye Pierce, Doctor Who/M*A*S*H crossover; Teaspoon, AO3)

Leitmotif of the year
I should probably drop this question from the meme even though it’s been there from the start, simply because for any given year in fic, my real leitmotif is "writing whatever the hell I feel like" -- though I will acknowledge that A Quiet Empire is now the third long story I've written in which a reasonably moral individual is corrupted and literally seduced by evil. (The other two are my Twelve/Clara/Missy story, The Girl Who's Got Your Number, and my Twelve/Missy/Simm!Master story, The Trolley Problem. And huh, scrolling through my list of fic now, Fake Palindromes, the Handy/Ace story, is sort of adjacent to this theme, too, because Handy gives into unrequited longings to cheat on Rose with Ace.)

... I should probably have a long sit-down chat with my id about a few things.

Overall thoughts
Man, I did a lot of writing in fandoms other than Doctor Who, apparently, although I certainly didn't intend for things to turn out that way! There's only one pure DW story on this list (The Incredible Shrinking Doctor), and it’s basically just a filthy joke in ficlet form. I did mean to write more DW fic -- and honestly, more fic in general -- but between work, designing and coding a new Teaspoon skin, and the usual existential despair about the political situation, that just didn't happen.

My best story of the year
A Quiet Empire was one of those stories that just had to be written (shut up, stupid id), and I'm really pleased with how deep it dives into Michael's emotions, especially her angst and despair, and how she uses those emotions as fuel for revenge and ultimately, her escape from the Charon. It's also a nice, long story (at least by my standards!); I'm always proud of myself when I can crack the 10,000-word barrier.

My favorite story of the year
Also A Quiet Empire, obviously, though It's All We Know Now to Never Go Back is a close second even if the title gives me an earworm Every. Single. Time. (The song in question, in case you're wondering.)

Most fun story to write
Is it The Incredible Shrinking Doctor, which basically wrote itself, or War Games, which also basically wrote itself during an unexpected extra hour on a cross-country flight while I tried to shield my iPad from my seatmates' view? Which was "fun" more in that I had told lizbee that Mirror!Lorca/Ash Tyler wasn't exactly my pairing, but I'd consider pinch-hitting if she couldn't find anyone else to fill the exchange prompt, and WHOOPS a story happened when I wasn't looking.

Story with the single sexiest moment
It's All We Know Now to Never Go Back: Mirror!Lorca and River playing strip poker. That's all you need in any fic, really.

Most "holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story
Definitely A Quiet Empire. I mean, nothing says "I love you" like forcing the object of your affection to commit a small act of genocide if she wants to escape, right?

Story that shifted my own perception of the characters
None of them, really.

Hardest story to write
Korea, 1950-Something. I'd never written M*A*S*H before and was slightly terrified of writing Hawkeye's dialogue, and unlike every other time I try to master a character's voice, the more M*A*S*H I watched to nail down Hawkeye, the less I felt like I could do it. Also, the story sort of demanded a plot, even a minimal one, and getting the pacing right in that opening section without it turning into a giant exposition dump was really hard. I'm happy with the final results, but man, it took some work to get there.

Biggest disappointment
WHO KNEW, PART I: I guess people aren't as interested as I am in what kind of fucked-up relationship Michael Burnham would have with Mirror!Lorca had Lorca won the battle in the Charon throne room.

Biggest surprise
WHO KNEW, PART II: I had no idea how much people would like Korea, 1950-Something. None. I was honestly expecting maybe three kudos on the story, tops. Instead, I guess fandom was hungering for Rory/Hawkeye? Somehow? I don't get it either, but I'm still grateful people liked the story.

Most unintentionally telling story
A Quiet Empire, apparently. *glares at id*

Story I haven't written yet, but intend to
I have a few paragraphs of Thirteen/Yaz written that haven't gone anywhere yet, but which I might still finish someday. I see the ship, but feel like it might only really speak to me after Yaz leaves the TARDIS, possibly after she realizes her feelings can't be reciprocated in the way she wants -- and an older, more experienced Yaz might have the hindsight to recognize her past issues, while finally being able to ask for what she wants without expecting a longer-term relationship.

Comments

[lizbee]

I feel like I played a very small part in some of your successes this year, and I'm proud.

(I recced "A Quiet Empire" to a friend, who remembered seeing it in the tag and assuming it was going to be gross and fluffy. So if the reception was a bit muted, I suspect it's because people are, in general, wary of Lorca/Burnham.)

(And rightly so, there is way too much babyfic for that pairing.)

(...although now I'm picturing the Emperor's face on discovering that (a) prime!Lorca is alive; and (b) he's the father of her future sort-of grandchild, and ... okay, no, we're not doing that.)

[nonelvis]

You absolutely did play a part here, and you should be proud! Thank you for all your help, especially when it came to fixing my canon errors.

(Would you believe I found a missing quotation mark in A Quiet Empire today? I am telling myself I left it out deliberately, probably.)

WHY IS THERE MIRROR!LORCA/BURNHAM BABYFIC, LIZ

I MEAN, I KNOW THE ANSWER, BUT STILL

(Also, thank you for reccing my fic! It is gross, heh, but not fluffy, that's for sure.)