Fic: Year in Review

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

These are taken from starterpack. The list they had was more exhaustive. I am judging from fics begun and completed in 2020, which is a bit unfair because I have a tremendous number of multi-year collections with stand-alone chapters.

My best story of this year: Had to break this down.

Best Overall: yours in black lace. [Crowley/Aziraphale, Good Omens, detective AU, noir style].

Best Crack: Night Shade. [Jeeves/Bertie, Jeeves & Wooster, Sex pollen PWP].

Best Hallowe'en: The Undead of Poveglia [Joe/Nicky, The Old Guard, Fairy tale/body horror AU].

Best Fluff: Mood Indigo. [Jeeves/Bertie, Jeeves & Wooster, sweet oh-i-love-you inspired by music].

Best H/C: Assault on the Senses [Holmes/Watson Sherlock Holmes (ACD), Watson Whump.].

Most popular story of this year: Malteasers [Joe/Nicky, The Old Guard, Explicit]. This was my Kinktober collection which features Joe & Nicky getting up to all kinds of sexytimes in Malta.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Laundry Day [Sherlock's clothes/John. BBC Sherlock. PWP.] I understand why a PWP with sentient clothing might not be very interesting to folks but I think it's a pretty good story.

Most fun story to write: yours in black lace. I loved writing the noir voice.

Sexiest story/story with the single sexiest moment: Coffee Song [Moriarty/Moran. BBC Sherlock. PWP] I did something new with this. I took a scene from a K.J. Charles novel and tried to do a paint-by-number or reverse engineering exercise to figure out what made it work. I think it did work.

Also: Cigarette?. [Holmes/Watson. Sherlock Holmes (ACD) Shotgunning]. Proof you can get folks off in only 500 words.

Hardest story to write: Where the Light Enters Us [Joe/Nicky, The Old Guard, a collection of h/c stand-alone chapters]. It was difficult because I was using h/c prompts from two different sources plus a Lonely Plant book to put Joe & Nicky into different cities around the world and different appropriate whump scenarios. Too many moving parts. Also any longish fic that had a lot of plotting was hard. There were several.

Did you take any writing risks this year?: I think writing a canonically Muslim character [Joe from The Old Guard] was a risk.

Comments

[smallhobbit]

I definitely enjoyed Yours in Black Lace - it had several layers which worked really well.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thanks! And thanks for all your help beta-ing and Britpicking. I agree, there were a lot of good things about it and it was 100% a joy to write from start to finish, which hardly ever happens.

[luthienberen]

What a lovely set of questions! Great reading your answers, I particularly liked your response to "Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:"

:-)

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you!

[garonne]

The Laundry Day one sounds fascinating. Also, I love the idea of taking a scene that you think works in a novel and reverse engineering it. I must try that!

(Also, the title "Malteasers" is genius. I just got distracted in the middle of writing this comment to go read some chapters of it *g*)

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

I thought it (Laundry Day) was a good idea. But tagging it properly is not the most straightforward. I mean, consent with sentient clothing is a bit of a challenge.

FYI (since you know KJ Charles) it was the first sex scene of Justin and Nathaniel in An Unnatural Vice (#2 of Sins of the Cities). I think that's the best hate sex (where the two genuinely hate each other and yet there isn't any non-con--or at least none that I felt) I've ever read. The other one of hers I'd like to do similarly is A Seditious Affair. I like that dom/sub dynamic a lot. It works and it's a very clean domination/submission (I don't a better word, pure, it has what I like and not what I don't about d/s dynamics).

Oh, yea! You're the first person to spontaneously comment on the title (I fished for a compliment from ancientreader). I thought the title was brilliant. I thought of it in the grocery store when I passed the Malteasers on the shelf.