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Tuesday, November 2nd, 2004 12:23 am
the best of meme
Lemming-ness is a highly underrated character attribute. Everyone else's lists seemed so varied and interesting. Mine--not so much. Hmm.
Best of....sort of
Standing in the Common Spaces, Smallville/Spiderman the Movie, Lex Luthor/Peter Parker - I still like reading it. I think that's my actual standard--if I don't wince while reading, I'm still happy with it. The entire story is an ode to hope, even when things are at their worst. I really loved watching Lex through someone else's eyes--someone who could be objective and at the same time, be able to sympathize with both Lex's and Clark's positions. And I like that in the end, the story told what I wanted it to tell--about love and loss and finding a way to move on from both of those things.
Jus Ad Bellum, X-Men the Movie, Logan/Rogue - I am disgustingly infatuated with this story, and not just because it was my first actual attempt at a real novel. I wanted to write something with a over arcing theme, I wanted to write something with a character that undergoes a significant change, and I wanted to make it about hope. If I squint, my favorites are usually about hope--and with Jus, the hope is kind of symbolized in Rogue's journey, from X-Men to true believer, able to understand the difference between what's right and what's easy and able to choose a side by more than default. And being able to be a person to give up everything for an ideal. I still love that.
Sleep While I Drive, Smallville, Clark/Lex - it's a romance novella. A long, winding, semi-pointless romance, about falling in love and making a leap of faith and trusting instinct. I wrote it because I was in love with them, and I wanted everyone else to be, too. A long, scary, lumbering love story. It still amuses the hell out of me that I put them in a bouncy castle. I mean, that was just good times all around.
Echo, Queer as Folk, US, Brian/Daphne - Subverting canon as a slasher is already what I do. Subverting QaF requires work, and dropping Brian in bed with a girl.... It just felt wrong. So I had to try. It was weird and awkward, but so was the situation, and I liked building from that, the way that people with nothing in common find common ground in a person they loved and lost.
Heels, Star Trek Voyager, Chakotay/Paris, Paris/Torres, etc - At the time, I was very Paris/Torres, so writing non-P/T was odd enough. Writing slash was a totally new experience. The cliché of Tom being the ship slut and fucking anything that moved was something I'd wanted to play with for a while, and rewriting five seasons of Voyager's history--well, that was fun, too. I also liked darkening Voyager a little--but then, everyone likes to do that, so not a surprise. Chakotay was just interesting to write--I'd read just enough C/P to wonder what the attraction was, and after writing Heels, I finally got where it was coming from. Didn't convert me, but did make me see why. There was also that entire annoyance with the perceived bias toward slash on ASCEM(L)--I wanted to see if it was my choice of pairing or the quality of my writing that was the problem. I had that question quickly answered. And you know, high heels? This is a total thing of mine.
On Love and Lust at Mutant High, X-Men the Movie, St. John/Bobby - that was so fun I still wish I wrote in that series. All teen drama, all the time, in thirty-two stories, plus the eight outtakes. Everyone had sex, everyone had drama, everyone did things, and again? Fun to write. It also had the added attraction of being the place I first practiced writing slash at length and working on the concept of a relationship, starting from scratch. Since movieverse at the time was very L/R oriented, I figured they would fall under the radar and I wouldn't have to worry about anyone, you know, mocking them while I got my feet under me. I still have fun reading about the first time they have sex--I don't think any posted story, before or since, had me struggling through so much research just to figure out how to phrase everything. I still had issues with the word 'cock'.
In the Absence, Smallville, Lex/Lucas - it squicks me. It squicked me to think about it, it squicked while writing it, and I'm still uncomfortable reading it. I got Lex drunk and let Lucas seduce him. There is no world that this isn't a big wrong, but it just--was there. It's not love, it's not even the hope of love, but it's the connection between them, and the need to take whatever they can get. In retrospect, it's kind of depressing.
Stories Out of Childhood, Queer as Folk US, Justin/Gus - I could have just as easily called it 'look before you fuck', because it's just weirdly appropriate. I always had a deep desire to write a young Brian fic, but that would be, you know, Brian tricking, which isn't anything new and hasn't been done better by other people. Using Gus as a stand-in, letting Justin fall just as desperately in lust and not know why, that was just fun.
In a Yellow Wood, Smallville, Lex and Clark - I forget this story a lot. I have no idea why, but I do when I'm thinking of my fics, and it's probably one of my better ones. The entire series still works for me and makes me deeply regret not writing more in that universe, just to see where I could have gone. It's vaguely hopeful, and giving up, and accepting responsibility, and it's also just worst case scenario. And just fun as hell as an AU.
In a Thousand Miles, X-Men the Movie, Logan/Rogue - it never ceases to amuse me that in three of my four primary fandoms, I wrote roadtrip fic. This was the second and written under the influence of an overdose of Jane St. Clair and Bishclone, and where my addiction for run-on sentences and my rocky relationship with adjectives and adverbs was cemented for all time. It's just a love story, complete with leaps of faith and hope and the way that being in love makes you do anything.
You know, if I look at the list, except for In a Yellow Wood and Jus Ad Bellum, they're primarily love stories, and I'd argue both of them are, in a really weird way. Most are love stories with the object of the affections not even there, which is, in retrospect, not a little creepy. Hmm.
So. Agree? Disagree? Think I left something off, or completely disagree? I'm curious. Critique welcomed.
Best of....sort of
Standing in the Common Spaces, Smallville/Spiderman the Movie, Lex Luthor/Peter Parker - I still like reading it. I think that's my actual standard--if I don't wince while reading, I'm still happy with it. The entire story is an ode to hope, even when things are at their worst. I really loved watching Lex through someone else's eyes--someone who could be objective and at the same time, be able to sympathize with both Lex's and Clark's positions. And I like that in the end, the story told what I wanted it to tell--about love and loss and finding a way to move on from both of those things.
Jus Ad Bellum, X-Men the Movie, Logan/Rogue - I am disgustingly infatuated with this story, and not just because it was my first actual attempt at a real novel. I wanted to write something with a over arcing theme, I wanted to write something with a character that undergoes a significant change, and I wanted to make it about hope. If I squint, my favorites are usually about hope--and with Jus, the hope is kind of symbolized in Rogue's journey, from X-Men to true believer, able to understand the difference between what's right and what's easy and able to choose a side by more than default. And being able to be a person to give up everything for an ideal. I still love that.
Sleep While I Drive, Smallville, Clark/Lex - it's a romance novella. A long, winding, semi-pointless romance, about falling in love and making a leap of faith and trusting instinct. I wrote it because I was in love with them, and I wanted everyone else to be, too. A long, scary, lumbering love story. It still amuses the hell out of me that I put them in a bouncy castle. I mean, that was just good times all around.
Echo, Queer as Folk, US, Brian/Daphne - Subverting canon as a slasher is already what I do. Subverting QaF requires work, and dropping Brian in bed with a girl.... It just felt wrong. So I had to try. It was weird and awkward, but so was the situation, and I liked building from that, the way that people with nothing in common find common ground in a person they loved and lost.
Heels, Star Trek Voyager, Chakotay/Paris, Paris/Torres, etc - At the time, I was very Paris/Torres, so writing non-P/T was odd enough. Writing slash was a totally new experience. The cliché of Tom being the ship slut and fucking anything that moved was something I'd wanted to play with for a while, and rewriting five seasons of Voyager's history--well, that was fun, too. I also liked darkening Voyager a little--but then, everyone likes to do that, so not a surprise. Chakotay was just interesting to write--I'd read just enough C/P to wonder what the attraction was, and after writing Heels, I finally got where it was coming from. Didn't convert me, but did make me see why. There was also that entire annoyance with the perceived bias toward slash on ASCEM(L)--I wanted to see if it was my choice of pairing or the quality of my writing that was the problem. I had that question quickly answered. And you know, high heels? This is a total thing of mine.
On Love and Lust at Mutant High, X-Men the Movie, St. John/Bobby - that was so fun I still wish I wrote in that series. All teen drama, all the time, in thirty-two stories, plus the eight outtakes. Everyone had sex, everyone had drama, everyone did things, and again? Fun to write. It also had the added attraction of being the place I first practiced writing slash at length and working on the concept of a relationship, starting from scratch. Since movieverse at the time was very L/R oriented, I figured they would fall under the radar and I wouldn't have to worry about anyone, you know, mocking them while I got my feet under me. I still have fun reading about the first time they have sex--I don't think any posted story, before or since, had me struggling through so much research just to figure out how to phrase everything. I still had issues with the word 'cock'.
In the Absence, Smallville, Lex/Lucas - it squicks me. It squicked me to think about it, it squicked while writing it, and I'm still uncomfortable reading it. I got Lex drunk and let Lucas seduce him. There is no world that this isn't a big wrong, but it just--was there. It's not love, it's not even the hope of love, but it's the connection between them, and the need to take whatever they can get. In retrospect, it's kind of depressing.
Stories Out of Childhood, Queer as Folk US, Justin/Gus - I could have just as easily called it 'look before you fuck', because it's just weirdly appropriate. I always had a deep desire to write a young Brian fic, but that would be, you know, Brian tricking, which isn't anything new and hasn't been done better by other people. Using Gus as a stand-in, letting Justin fall just as desperately in lust and not know why, that was just fun.
In a Yellow Wood, Smallville, Lex and Clark - I forget this story a lot. I have no idea why, but I do when I'm thinking of my fics, and it's probably one of my better ones. The entire series still works for me and makes me deeply regret not writing more in that universe, just to see where I could have gone. It's vaguely hopeful, and giving up, and accepting responsibility, and it's also just worst case scenario. And just fun as hell as an AU.
In a Thousand Miles, X-Men the Movie, Logan/Rogue - it never ceases to amuse me that in three of my four primary fandoms, I wrote roadtrip fic. This was the second and written under the influence of an overdose of Jane St. Clair and Bishclone, and where my addiction for run-on sentences and my rocky relationship with adjectives and adverbs was cemented for all time. It's just a love story, complete with leaps of faith and hope and the way that being in love makes you do anything.
You know, if I look at the list, except for In a Yellow Wood and Jus Ad Bellum, they're primarily love stories, and I'd argue both of them are, in a really weird way. Most are love stories with the object of the affections not even there, which is, in retrospect, not a little creepy. Hmm.
So. Agree? Disagree? Think I left something off, or completely disagree? I'm curious. Critique welcomed.
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From:I didn't know you wrote in Xmen Movieverse. I may have to go check out your older stuff. And the whole list just gives me the urge to go back over old fandoms... Voyager fic? Doesn't that just bring me back a few years.
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From:I was thinking of Blow Your Mind, but it turned into a series and the storyline became uneven after that, so not so much with the best. Though I'm still addicted to the leather pants of hotness.
*happy place with leather pants*
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From:That certainly worked! ;) Ah--early CLex, with so much happy potential... Thank you, for all that you do!
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From:I haven't yet completed reading "Standing In the Common Spaces." It has more to do with my wanting to have a happy Clex as opposed to your writing. I'll have to give that one another try at a later date. I'm reading Somewhere again for about the tenth time, and don't want to blow my good feel. :-)
Um, Never read In a Yellow Wood. Will add this to my list.
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From:I haven't yet completed reading "Standing In the Common Spaces." It has more to do with my wanting to have a happy Clex as opposed to your writing. I'll have to give that one another try at a later date. I'm reading Somewhere again for about the tenth time, and don't want to blow my good feel. :-)
If it's any consolation, in my imaginary sequel, Lex and Clark get together after more epic angst. *grins*
Um, Never read In a Yellow Wood. Will add this to my list.
*I* forgot it until
About Somewhere--the problem with it is that I didn't edit it nearly hard enough, and some plot points were too--off. I love it, it's just--not as strong or solid as it could have been.
Thanks for teh comments!
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From:Peter Parker is my woobie. Sniff.
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From:*mulls* I think I like it so much, and consider it so strong as a whole, becuase I just managed not to break it into a Clex fic by fixing everything by the end, and man, did I want to, so badly. It stayed focused, which so few of my stories ever do.
*g* There is so hope there. I mean, you have to *squint*, but it's there. Though Koimistress's ending idea of Lex having arranged MJ's death to get Peter to Metropolis, then Peter staying because Lex was there and he woudln't be alone--*that* was way too tempting.
*grins sunnily*
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From:Also, "Five Reasons Not to Date Luthors" gets my vote as one of the best comic stories out there. It makes me laugh out loud, especially when Clark distracts Lex, and redecorates the penthouse.
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From:I, er, really like that one. *grins*
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From:Somewhere I Have Never Traveled is my favorite.
And you haven't listed it. *is sad*
Also, I *will* finish your most recent addition to that AU tonight. I would have finished it last night but Madelyn made me do emergency beta. So blame her. Damn, I am so far behind on the f-list fic.
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From:Also, I *will* finish your most recent addition to that AU tonight. I would have finished it last night but Madelyn made me do emergency beta. So blame her. Damn, I am so far behind on the f-list fic.
*giglges* me too. I have learned it's easier just to have Madelyn tell me to click on a link she provides. *grins* and I'm *thrilled* you enjoy that AU. It's my post-rift happyplace! *hugs*
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From:The other is Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, which is the most gorgeous romance I've ever read, bar none. I've re-read that story at least 20 times. The emotions are so intense and so real. If one can be in love with a story, I'm in love with Somewhere.
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From:Somewhere kind of, to me, suffers from me getting too tired of it to do all my final edits and be as hard on it as I wnated to be before posting the final version. But it's totally my post-Rift happy place.
Thank you for teh comments!
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From:Although I did think, if it had to be done, at least it was done very nicely^_^
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From:*grins* thank you, though! I'm so glad you liked it!
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From:*grin* And I'm very glad you liked Looking Glass! Thanks!
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From:Sleep While I Drive and Standing in Common Spaces are both there, as is Only Sometimes (just because it hurts so damn much and I randomly remind myself of what an evil person you can be *g*). But the other three stories of yours there are Three Impossible Things, The Wasteland, and Handful of Dust (plus Coda).
Sleep While I Drive I love for the romance and the hope and the love. It makes me happy and that in and of itself is enough. It's not so much the writing or the storytelling, because honestly, there are other stories I'd pick as your best for those, but it's the feeling, the tone, and the atmosphere. It's a hot sticky night and an open car window and it's love that's scary and new and *right*. It's the tone that pulls me in everytime. And Three Impossible Things is like it’s sister fic. The same happy and the same obsessive love. But honestly, if I had to chose one over the other, I like Three Impossible Things best. Because it’s Clark taking what he wants. And while it’s amazingly bold and *cruel* of him, isn’t that what love is? Where SwiD is Lex courting Clark in his obscure Lexian way, Three Impossible Things is Clark claiming Lex. Clark is captivatingly human in this fic and it’s something that I enjoy re-reading just for that.
Standing in Common Spaces I love for it's unique POV. It's a distinctly Clex piece and you inbue it with all the angst and love inherent to futurfic. But it's unique in that it's told from the point of view of someone who has no bias, no stake in the game. There's none of the complications of a Martha or Chloe or Luthor POV, and yet, Pete perhaps understands better than anyone else exactly what is at stake and exactly what the consequences are. He’s the ultimate observer, seeing their life through his lens and yet he can’t help but be there. It's beautifully done, and there's nothing else quite like it in fandom.
The Wasteland and Handful of Dust are both unique and universal. I love them both for one reason -- they push Lex to the edge and beyond. They take a character that we think we *know* -- evil, unloved, driven, obsessive, etc etc -- and push him beyond all that. They both have the same hypnotic tone of SWiD flipped on its end, darker and earthier, but the love is still there (twisted as hell). It’s the imagination, the emotion, and the goal of the fics that gets me. Whether or not you feel they’re tightly written or achieve that goal, you can *see* what the author is trying to convey. A Lex who is so much more than the labels placed upon him, and it’s beautiful and fascinating for it’s ambition. (It kind of reminds me of judging the Olympics, a perfectly done, good routine, should be judged highly but a not quite, almost perfect routine that tries to do something spectacular should be judged just as highly).
So. Yeah. Those are my favorites.
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From:It's so not nice of me, but that's why I like it, too. I just want Clark to--just once, while still being in his right mind--go after something he realy wants. He's way to passive sometimes.
Hm. I'll be honest--I'm surprised anyone liked HoD at this point. I mean, not because I don't like it, I really, really do, but because it's a very first-season story. And it's so dark. Not that that is a bad thing, it just--I don't know. It's *really* cool to know it still resonates with people.
Thank you so much for the comments! *hugs* I appreciate it a *lot*.
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My fav
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Re: My fav
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