potentiality_26

I'm going to try to do the Snowflake Challenge again this year, since it seems like a good way to get back into the swing of positing regularly.  Should be fun!

(I'm trying to post a fic today. Send me good energies if you can spare them lol)
  

The BBC estimates that most people will only read 6 books out of the 100 listed below. Repost this and bold the titles you’ve read.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series – J.K. Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffeneger
20 Middlemarch – George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis
34 Emma – Jane Austen
35 Persuasion – Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne
41 Animal Farm – George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving
45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding
50 Atonement – Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel
52 Dune – Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
72 Dracula – Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses – James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal – Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession – AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchel
83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
94 Watership Down – Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

Thought I'd try this out even though it's a somewhat wonky list- couple of repeats, couple of "Really? That made the list?" books- and I'd be interested to see what others think.  
     

I live!

From this list. 

From corvidology:

10: What’s your favorite trope?

Pining/Seemingly Unrequited Love.  As I said in an earlier post, I think it's the little black dress of fandom. 

11: What’s your (least) favorite overused trope?

I'm not a fan of specific movie or book AUs.  I do enjoy the fusion type where, say, it's a Harry Potter AU so the characters go to Hogwarts or it's a Pacific Rim AU so the characters are Jaeger pilots even though the plot is largely original- but if the fic is just following the story beats of something else, it has to be really good and really well suited to the characters to keep my attention. 

12: Which trope would you absolutely abolish?

There isn't one.  There are definitely tropes I would rather never hit my eyeballs again, but that is why AO3 blessed us with the ability to filter tags.  Like I know this question is just a thought experiment and I can't actually abolish any trope, but with the climate in fandom being like it has been for the last few years, I'm not willing to point a finger at anything.

13: Are there any tropes you’re embarrassed for enjoying?

RPF.  I used to never read it unless the people involved were fictionalized and preferably long dead, but then I watched Buzzfeed Unsolved and weakened.  That's more a genre than a trope, though.  I can think of any tropes I'm embarrassed for enjoying.    

Also, I guess I have to re-answer question 22 from my last post, since I've had a real "start reading a 100k slow burn fic at midnight" kind of week.  And 100k is a book, y'all.  One that would probably take me a few days to a week to read.  What is it about that wordcount on a fanfiction makes us look at it in the middle of the night and think, "Sure, that's possible"? 
  

Fic meme taken from stonepicnicking_okapi.  Ask me:

1: Do you/would you like to write professionally?
2: Which author has influenced you the most?
3: Any guilty pleasures (books/fics)?
4: What’s better (or the least bad): character over plot or plot over character?
5: Do you think stories can change lives? Is there a story that has changed yours?
6: What’s your biggest pet peeve when it comes to writing?
7: Do you listen to music while you write/read?
8: Favorite quotes?
9: If you could wish for a new book from any author, who would it be?
10: What’s your favorite trope?
11: What’s your (least) favorite overused trope?
12: Which trope would you absolutely abolish?
13: Are there any tropes you’re embarrassed for enjoying?
14: Do you have a go-to AU?
15: What kind of character do you wish you saw portrayed more often?
16: What’s more frustrating: plotholes or OOC characters?
17: What’s more draining: writing smut, fluff or angst?
18: Are you a ‘neatly designed outline’ writer or a ‘fuck it i’ll figure it out as i go’ writer?
19: Do you think major character deaths are ever necessary?
20: If you could ‘unkill’ any character from any story, who would it be?
21: Would you like to write an alternative ending for any of your favorite shows/books/etc?
22: Are you more likely to be the person who starts reading a 100k slow burn fic at midnight or the person who starts writing a drabble at 4 a.m.?
pick just one:
23: fluff or angst?
24: fantasy or sci-fi?
25: fake dating AU or inpromptu babysitting AU?
26: road trip AU or high school AU?
27: coffee shop AU or florist AU?
28: stuck in an elevator AU or camping gone bad AU?
29: 20s AU or 50s AU?
30: high school AU from a fantasy/sci-fi story or fantasy/sci fi AU from a realistic story?
31: mythological creature AU or superhero AU?
32: meet cute or meet ugly?
  

Some long fics used to come with a playlist.  What's a song that you were introduced to by something fannish, and what was it inspired by?  Bonus: Share a link to the song/music.

Not too long ago, while we were talking about a King Arthur: Legend of the Sword plot-bunny, theicescholar mentioned Hozier's Better Love as musical inspiration, and I've listened to it a ton since then.  I can't believe Hozier wrote such an amazing song for a movie that disappeared into the ether like that Tarzan movie did. 

Anyway.  Great song.  I'm sure there are other's I've been introduced to fannishly, but that's the one that springs to mind.   
  

What fandom did everyone else get into, but you never did?

I think Teen Wolf is probably the most ready answer to this.  That show was everywhere for a while, wasn't it?
  

From muccamukk:

Comment with any of these words and I'll answer the question for them!

monday: do you struggle with the 'boring' parts of writing?
tuesday: name a fic you have posted which you think is overrated?
wednesday: name a fic which you have posted which you think is underrated?
thursday: have you ever written a high fantasy concept?
friday: most self-indulgent fic you have ever posted?
saturday: what gets you excited whilst writing?
sunday: how frequently do you take requests or prompts, if at all?
fortnight: what wip do you plan on posting next, if at all?
january: what was the first fic you posted this year?
february: have you ever written and/or a holiday-centric fic?
march: do you listen to music whilst writing?
april: have you ever written and/or posted a crackfic?
may: a fic you have regretted posting?
june: have you ever written and/or posted a marriage fic?
july: what’s the hottest fic you have written and/or posted if you write smut at all?
august: are any of your fics associated with certain genres/artists/songs/etc?
september: share a comment or review which still warms your heart?
october: name the darkest or angstiest fic you have written and/or posted?
november: do you have any rituals or requirements for getting in the mood for writing?
december: have you ever gifted a fic to someone?
recent: the most recent fic you have posted online?
ancient: the first fic you ever posted online?
seconds: shortest completed fic?
minutes: how long does it normally take you to complete a fic?
hours: longest wip or completed fic?
tomorrow: favourite ways to write fluff?
yesterday: favourite way to write angst?
today: have you made any progress in any wips today?
calendar: do you have a schedule for posting?
forever: do you balance fic writing with original concept stuff?
  

What is a fandom that you never thought you'd get into, but did?  Bonus: How did you end up getting into it?

Depends what "get into" means in this context. 

I've always loved Sherlock Holmes stories and enjoyed reading other people's fics, but I did surprise myself by actually writing one last year, and I'm working on a few more.  

In terms of just being a fan of a series, I was resistant to Inspector Lewis for a long time.  A lot of people I knew were into it, and I was sure it was technically good, but I saw one episode, didn't care for it, and never really gave it another chance.  Years later I did and enjoyed it very much.  Lots of great fics there too.    

In both cases I really don't know what changed.  I guess it was just the right time.
  

Nabbed from thisbluespirit:

List your top fanfic on AO3 for every year, sorted by kudos.

2013
Today and Sleeping Patterns, both Artemus Gordon/James West Wild Wild West fics, are tied for #1 from this year. 

2014
Heartlines, a James Bond/Q James Bond and Sherlock crossover fic.

Not surprise there.  It's for two juggernaut fandoms (though I did write it somewhat after the original Bondlock heyday) and my second most kudo'd fic of all time.  

2015
Getting It Right, a Harry Hart/Eggsy Unwin Kingsman fic.

Aaaaand this is my most kudo'd fic of all time.  Kingsman was never quite a juggernaut fandom, but boy was it enthusiastic.  The thing about "Heartlines" is that while it has regularly gotten kudos ever since I posted it, there was never a big rush (and I get that, it's a slightly odd take on the soulmate trope and not to all tastes), while "Getting It Right" had made my top three the day after I posted it, and was #1 by the end of the week.  

2016
Love Potion No. 9, another Harry Hart/Eggsy Unwin Kingsman fic. 

2017
Until I Saw Your Face, also a Harry Hart/Eggsy Unwin Kingsman fic.

This is a bit of a cheat, since it's a chapter fic I started posting in August 2016 and only finished right at the beginning of January in 2017.  More fairly:

Everything Changes, again a Harry Hart/Eggsy Unwin Kingsman fic.

I'm... confused about this fic.  Seven of my top ten fics are for Kingsman when sorted by kudos, it's basically the fandom where I got love, but by the summer of 2017 things were petering out somewhat.  The sequel was coming in the fall and a lot of people were thinking it might reinvigorate their interest (spoiler alert: for a lot of people it. did. not), but otherwise things were getting quiet.  It surprises the heck out of me that this fic overtook so many older fics (it's #7 among my fics overall).  It got a much bigger response than I expected, both because the fandom wasn't as big as it had been, and because- while I was certainly pleased with it- I never thought it was that much better than everything else I was working on at the time.  Guess it struck a chord with everyone.   

Ah, well.  2017: the last year I wrote Kingsman fic (see above sequel remarks).  Goodnight, sweet prince. 

2018
Eighth Time's the Charm, a Lou Miller/Debbie Ocean Ocean's 8 fic. 

Not much to say about this one, except that I was proud of myself for turning it out so quickly after seeing the movie.

2019
... Electing not to do 2019.  I'd rather wait and see where I am at the end of the year.
  

You get to insert your favorite OTP into a new fandom.  Who is the OTP, and what fandom?  Bonus: Give us a preview!

I love fusions, so it's tough to pick just one.  Lately I'm thinking a lot about crossovers between classics and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (possibly because Fairies Aren't Gentleman by AMarguerite is so good).  JSAMN is just such an amazing piece of historical fantasy that it's natural to think what actual period novels would be like in that universe, and obviously my thoughts are shippy because that's how I roll.  So far I've got bits of a Raffles crossover (with Raffles/Bunny), a Pride and Prejudice crossover (with Darcy/Elizabeth), and a David Copperfield crossover (with David/Uriah).