Fandom Snowflake Challenge 2016 #1-3

[brightknightie]

Inspired by lightbird, I've decided to participate in snowflake_challenge this year. Anyone else in?

#1. Why are you participating in Snowflake?

It's a no-commitment, low-pressure, wide-open, challenge-prompt game to encourage fannish interaction and productivity. I'd like to participate more in fandom this year, both better keeping up my fannish relationships (with you guys!) and being fannishly useful to others (also you guys!), and producing more fanworks. Fandom has always brought me joy (even when it also brought me frustration and fury ~grin~). I don't want to come any nearer losing that, ever.

#2. What's your fannish wish list?

From TPTB, I wish for:

• Person of Interest to go out on a high note, true to the sensitivity to modern fears and the spirit of human interdependence that made it appointment-TV for me. I know that many people are disappointed, if not dismayed, by developments over the past two seasons, but it still makes me think, and it still makes me feel, and I hope it gathers that all up in the best way for this final push.
• Mulan to get her own adventure, and in due course her own happy ending, on Once Upon a Time, with Aurora off on the sidelines with her husband and child. (And lots and lots of swordplay.)
• Poldark and Agent Carter to only get better and better.
• Mr. Moffett to promote his own replacement on Doctor Who, someone with fresh ideas and enthusiasms. Putting aside the fact that I've watched this year's Christmas special three times already (I ♥ grown-up Professor Song!), it's time and past for a new direction.
• The next Star Trek movie to be an exciting new story, not a re-hash of any classic story, and the next Trek TV series to be awesome in every imaginable way.
• A wonderful new Chalion novel from Ms. Bujold.
• The MCU to watch its step — and keep stepping forward! — with the Scarlet Witch and the Vision. (I'm watching you, PTB.)
• Pro release of Young Blades in any format. (ANY format. I bough the Polish DVD of the clip-show episode, for crying out loud. PTB, SELL ME THIS SHOW. Thank you.)

From fandom, I wish for:

• A happy, healthy, fun FKFicFest 2016! With lots of delighted players! Telling amazing new stories!
• More ficathons (and related games and events) for which my own dearest fandoms are eligible, and more people happy to play in said dearest fandoms.
• Fantasic new stories (or vids or paintings or whatever) of any type in D&DC, BSG78, YB and FK.
• Fantastic new stories in HL that feature the spirit and characters of the early seasons, perhaps as substantive flashbacks to a much later present. Also a new-to-me, rich and wide, plot and adventure and romance, Duncan/Tessa story, pretty please mmmmmm. (Methos can be in it, too, honest. We'll figure something out. ~grin~)
• Excellent Nick/Urs stories in FK, because otherwise I must write them myself and I would be a better audience than a writer for some things. ♥
• Happy conversations, discussions, glee and analyses at Dreamwidth-friendly, work-and-life-friendly, paces.

#3. Recommend at least 3 of your own fanworks.

Most popular story

The AO3 says that my fanfiction "Fortune Prove" (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; 2009; ~13K words, PG; Willow, Jenny, Buffy, Giles, etc.) is by far my most popular story, by kudo-count and bookmark-count both. I worked really hard on it, so that's nice. For the ficathon prompt I received, I researched Jenny Calendar's background so thoroughly, and learned so much, that I intimidated myself out of ever even trying to write from her perspective. I didn't dare! So I looked through Willow's eyes, instead.

(Actually, though, the story on which I've received the most comments over the years, by all means and methods, is my very first fanfiction, a "Forever Not," for all intents and purposes: "Quid Pro Quo, Doctor Lambert" (Forever Knight; 1996; ~3K words, PG; Natalie, Lacroix, Janette, etc).)

Favorite story

I hope that I don't use so very many words to say simple things, anymore, but my "Kindred Spirits" (Forever Knight; 2001; ~13K words, PG; Nick, Urs, Jacqueline, etc.), a tag to "Hearts of Darkness," is still my favorite of my own work. It makes me cry. How strange and absurd is that, crying at my own story? But this was a story written in the old-fashioned way, entirely for me, myself, not for any ficathon, recipient or event, so it should push my own buttons, I think.

(I'm also ridiculously fond of "Chante à Nouveau" (Forever Knight; 2012; ~10K words, PG-13; Urs, Lacroix, Nick, Fleur, etc.). This was written for a ficathon recipient, but her prompt tapped my preferences in a gusher. ~grin~)

Proudest story

Presently, the fanfiction accomplishment of which I'm most proud is "Between within and without" (Daniel Deronda - Geroge Eliot; 2015; ~7K words, G; Gwendolyn, Catherine, Julius, etc.). Attempting to poke my keyboard into Eliot's world was as humbling as I expected and as exhilarating as I couldn't have imagined. I would never have attempted it outside a ficathon, nor without such an eloquent plea as the prompt I received. And as often happens to me, I never appreciated or understood the character of Gwendolyn as well until I strove to write her.

My much longer-standing, champion occupant of this slot has been "A Little Salsa Picante" (Forever Knight; 2006; ~3K words, PG; Schanke, Nick, Natalie). When I look at my older fanfiction, I almost always cringe at something in the writing that I've learned since to do much better, but this one... always makes me smile. Thanks, Schanke, for bringing me this one.

Least popular story

Like many of us, I'm afraid, I have pieces on the AO3 with neither comments, kudos nor bookmarks. But some of those did get kind replies and critiques in their days on FKFic-L or LJ or elsewhere!

Numbers aside, my least-popular story in a very special way is, I think, "Responses" (Forever Knight; 2009; ~3K words, R; Erica, Fleur, Lacroix). If you're reading this, you probably know I'm hopeless at writing romance, never mind writing sensuality or sex. Inside my own head, "Responses" is the "hottest" thing I've ever written, and in fact was my first try at anything like that. Ever since, I've let this failure prevent me from trying anything like it again. But I am going to try this year — I am — for that Nick/Urs story I've been talking about since summer.

Comments

[senmut]

May your fannish adventures this year prove rewarding. (I have at least a couple of FK fics in the Stockings this year, drabble/drabblets as always, so perhaps one might hit a craving.)

[brightknightie]

Thank you for the good wish for the new year! You, too!

I look forward to the Fandom Stocking reveal. Thank you for the teaser. :-)

I'm afraid that I've failed to produce anything for Fandom Stocking this year; I feel a little bad about that. But everyone has more and less productive times, and that's how my holiday season came out.

[lightbird]

:D

I loved Kindred Spirits (I like that episode a lot and the twist they did with multiple personalities was really interesting). It's been a while since I read Chante à Nouveau but I remember liking that one too.

And I actually recced A Little Salsa Picante at fancake a couple of years ago for the 'gateway' theme month. My rec is here.

Yeah, sometimes it takes a while to get kudos. Eventually people come on the site and find the stories, though.

Good luck writing the Nick/Urs story. I would love to read it. :)

[brightknightie]

Thank you very much for your kind thoughts about my fanfic. And yes! I remember your generous recommendation of "A Little Salsa Picante"! I don't actually remember how it came to my attention then, but I do remember it. :-)

And thank you for the continued encouragement on the theoretical Nick/Urs story. You replied with mention of flashbacks to my last post musing about the story, and I've been musing since about flashbacks or not (probably not) in it, and meaning to get back to comment. I have more thoughts on that than you probably care to read as a reply rather than in a story :-) and I thank you for raising it.