Yuletide 2014 Restrospective

[scribblemyname]

Let's start off by saying Yuletide was epic for me. It started with an assignment and a drabble challenge (where the first 15 drabbles were written in November and the last 15 a week before reveals), then blew up into me snagging pinch hits and having someone else get the nod for about three of them. It culminated in some crazy treats while I was wrangling the last pinch hit on a Saturday overnighter, then switching to nonYuletide Christmas-due fic, my computer crashed truly spectacularly upon bootup the next morning on Sunday. It has yet to resurrect and the shop is in order. At least I know where the Christmas bonus is going!

So onto Yuletide.

FANDOM REC

First, I want to throw out there how pleased as punch I was when Unusual Dragon Hoards got nominated. When that artwork was still just one set, I squeed over them and begged lithiumlaughter for fic. She obliged and I think it's the first fic in the fandom, even if it's not on Yuletide.

FIC REVEAL

Then there's what I wrote. I was pretty careful in my sign-up because there were certain things I really, really wanted to write, and no bucket list this year. I wanted to be smart and write the stuff I knew I wanted to scribble in.

My assignment was

Keep Us Sane (1087 words) by scribblemyname
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Unusuals
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Casey Shraeger & Jason Walsh, Allison Beaumont/Jason Walsh, Davis Nixon/Casey Shraeger
Characters: Casey Shraeger, Jason Walsh, Allison Beaumont, Davis Nixon
Additional Tags: Yuletide, established relationships - Freeform, Christmas, partners, Friendship, Some Innuendo and Sexual Implications, Secrets, Jason Walsh Can't Cook, Gratuitous Coffee Drinking, Misses Clause Challenge
Summary:

Shraeger doesn't worry about Walsh's secrets any more, but sometimes they itch, just because he still shoots her that smug grin when she can't guess them.

I wanted so badly to write for The Unusuals that I'm still over the moon about it. I didn't write epic, just dug into the little prompt about Walsh and Shraeger's platonic partner relationship with a side of Beaumont and personal boundaries. In short, just exactly what I wanted to write. The rest of the cast thrill and delight me and I definitely volunteered for any, but I've really had a hankering to write these three characters in particular with a prompt in mind.

There was the question in my recipient's letter if they ever got asked if they slept together because Walsh does have a history of sleeping with a coworker (and Allison did hear that tiny little issue of, ahem, coworker from Brown in the episode where she got shot and everyone found out, so not insignificant). That question ended up dominating more of the fic than I intended, but it also gave me room to explore a bit more of how they really do view each other (platonically) and gave me a great excuse for a Davis/Casey scene. I'm determined to write for both pairings in the couples big bang (in one fic, I'm not insane).

CREDITS: lithiumlaughter served as an awesome beta who helped me cut down on repetitions of the word "grin" and fix other little issues. Eternal thanks.

Next, we come to my first pinch hit, which I picked up purely because I love Vienna Teng's lyrics, not because I realized there were actual stories behind her songs.

Now You See Her (1087 words) by Remember When
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Homecoming (Walter's Song) - Vienna Teng (Song), Shasta (Carrie's Song) - Vienna Teng (Song), Whatever You Want - Vienna Teng (Song)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Walter/Carrie (Vienna Teng)
Characters: Walter (Vienna Teng), Carrie (Vienna Teng), Anna Rose (Vienna Teng), The Wife (Whatever You Want - Vienna Teng)
Additional Tags: Absolution, Character Study, Forgiveness, Making things right, Reconciliation, break-up, Romance, Separation, Small Towns, on the road, whistleblower
Summary:

You do not wonder why you can never go home, but you wonder why it seems to follow you, all the mistakes you ever made.

This was seriously a case of just digging into the lyrics and figuring out who I thought everyone was. Walter's song and Carrie's song were obvious and Teng said that Walter was the ex-boyfriend of Carrie's situation, so readymade there. Then I hit "Whatever You Want," a tale of two named parties an extra or joint voice serving as narrator who take down a corrupt businessman. I decided the guy was Walter and ran from there.

CREDITS: I had to reach out to someone new for a beta because when possible, I prefer to get fandom-specific help. isiscolo, discovered via the Yuletide Beta spreadsheet, rescued me and had actual experience living in the desert too. She cleaned up the wacky artifacts of stream-of-consciousness, rapid-fire writing where I drop back a little too hard on my poetic roots and made the fic so, so much better. Much appreciated!

My second pinch hit was probably my worst idea ever, not because I didn't have a great idea for the prompt, but because I got waaay too ambitious and had a hard time making it come together.

The Huxley Mistletoe Caper (2310 words) by Remember When
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Endgame (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Arkady Ballagan & Alcina Albeniz, Sam Besht/Danni
Characters: Arkady Balagan, Alcina Albeniz, Sam Besht, Danni (Endgame), Hugo Lum, Pippa Venturi
Additional Tags: Friends to Lovers, Matchmaking, Shameless Meddling, Friendship, Found Family, Mistletoe, Christmas, lots of fluff, a little bit of angst, Humor
Summary:

Pippa slipped in just as Alcina was slipping out and exchanged smiles with the cleaning lady before addressing Arkady. "What's with all the mistletoe? Some creep tried to kiss me as I came in."

 

 

 

 

Arkady thinks Sam needs a Christmas kiss and he knows just who should give it to him.

Thankfully, my recipient liked this fic! I love her for overlooking the transitions that aren't nearly as smooth as my usual because all in all it was a fun little piece and I included the match not just the matchmaking and I like how it came out.

But getting there!

Bears, bears, bears, bemoaning, patient beta is patient (and never got a chance to beta it because I kept writing treats when the fic wasn't cooperating and...), patient beta is awesome.

I ended up having to watch the last episode of the series again to write this and veered sharply toward a character I wasn't intending to give a large role and had a lot more sillyness and less Danni/Sam than planned, but recipient is pleased so I am too.

CREDITS: All Yuletide related comms, tielan's journal, and in_the_blue's inbox where I was able to verbally work through my frustration with this crazy fic and yield enough encouragement to keep going.

Now let's talk about a couple treats that took over my brain. I mean it. They just moved in and wrote themselves despite my best efforts.

Beneath Our Skins (2915 words) by scribblemyname
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Characters: Jane Carter (Mission: Impossible), William Brandt, Ethan Hunt, Benji Dunn
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat, Team Bonding, Ensemble - Freeform, Shapeshifting AU, Animal Transformation, Rescue, Friendship, Found Family, Betting Pool, Scenes from Various Missions, Chromatic Yuletide, Misses Clause Challenge, Canon Character of Color, POV Female Character
Summary:

You don't ask about someone else's form. It's not done—even when you're in a covert operations organization where your alternate skillset might come seriously in handy.

I am ridiculously proud of this fic despite the tropey premise because it just turned out so well. It wasn't by any means one of my more popular Yuletide fics, but it was focused on Jane with a hefty side-dish of Will and a betting pool! (I love betting pools) and practically wrote itself. I thought I was writing a drabble. Two scenes in I figured out I wasn't, and when it was over, I had basically 3000 words and I want to write more. I think this was my favorite of what I wrote in terms of my own reading taste, though I haven't the foggiest why.

CREDITS: My amazing wonderful usual beta came through like no tomorrow for this and the next treat. in_the_blue is awesome. Be it hereknown.

The next treat almost didn't happen and it was my dark horse. My recipient loved it and spread the word. It's my most responded to fic in Yuletide.

The Requirements of Grief (1225 words) by scribblemyname
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Divergent Series - Veronica Roth
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Tobias Eaton & Caleb Prior, Tobias Eaton & Christina, Tobias Eaton/Tris Prior
Characters: Tobias Eaton, Caleb Prior, Christina (Divergent Series)
Additional Tags: survivor's guilt, Grieving, Canonical Character Death, Aftermath, Fallout, Friendship, Enabling, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Simulation - Virtual Reality, Post canon, Canon-Compliant, Alcoholism, Yuletide Treat, Chromatic Yuletide, Canon Character of Mixed Ethnicity, Canon Character of Color
Summary:

Caleb's creation, handed over with worried eyes but steady fingers, stimulates happiness. "Deep brain stimulation used to be used to treat depression," he started to go off the first time, when he was still chasing the solution, but then paused when he realized who he was talking to.

Four isn't divergent, just aware. He doesn't have an Erudite bone in his body or the slightest interest in how this serum works, only that it does.

I wrote enough meta about this in the comments there. This fic ate my brain and wouldn't go away and in_the_blue gave it a record time beta. Love you!

One more treat and a pinch hit and a half. (The last pinch hits don't get assigned, just written for.)

Better Hoards and Lairs (or On the Exhibition of Comics and Makeup) (1136 words) by scribblemyname
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Unusual Dragon Hoards - iguanamouth
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Hoard of Comics Dragon/Hoard of Makeup Dragon
Characters: Hoard of Comics Dragon, Hoard of Makeup Dragon
Additional Tags: Curtain Fic, Domestic Fluff, casual romance, Dragons, Yuletide Treat, Hoarding
Summary:

What does a dragon who hoards comic books have in common with a dragon who hoards makeup?

A dragon-worthy, fannish love of Better Hoards and Lairs.

I knew I wanted to get into dragon's attitudes toward hoards, but I didn't know who I was writing about until they started interacting and I really wasn't expecting curtainfic and married life. I liked how it turned out though and thankfully, so did the recipient.

The Most Beautiful Girl in the World (1091 words) by scribblemyname
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Nashville (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Avery Barkley/Juliette Barnes
Characters: Juliette Barnes, Avery Barkley, Scarlett O'Connor, Cameo of Deacon Claybourne
Additional Tags: Reconciliation, Mild Romantic Angst, Romantic Fluff, Babyfic, proposal, Advice, Wedding/Marriage, Missing Scenes, Spoilers through Season 3 Winter Finale
Summary:

It's crazy. This is all crazy. But Avery's been known to do crazy things before, like date Juliette Barnes in the first place.

My last assigned pinch hit. I kept hunting the prompts that came through (despite a full plate, I hadn't finished the Endgame fic yet), and when I saw this one, I just snagged it. Avery and Juliette, I could write in my sleep and really, really wanted to. I LOVE this pairing.

Mindmate Ahoy (1035 words) by Remember When
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Hawkeye (Comics)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Clint Barton & Kate Bishop
Characters: Kate Bishop, Clint Barton, Lucky (Hawkeye)
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat, mindmeld, Loss of Privacy, Mental Interfacing with Computers, Space AU, Enemies to Friends, Platonic Bonding, Misses Clause Challenge
Summary:

The ship, Hawkeye, is an exceptional find, and Kate was looking forward to claiming it, until she bumped into someone else who already had.

My half a pinch hit. Seriously, her likes made me think of space AUs and artificial intelligence and then platonic soulbonds? Who better than Hawkeye and Hawkeye? This was shockingly easy to write and I do want to visit for more.

As for the Madness collection, I wrote a Gotham treat, then 30 drabbles in multiple fandoms. To make life easy, the drabbles are in a series.

The series:

http://archiveofourown.org/series/167951

The baby treat:

Hands Shake (373 words) by scribblemyname
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Gotham (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Barbara Kean/Renee Montoya, Jim Gordon/Barbara Kean
Characters: Barbara Kean, Jim Gordon
Additional Tags: Character Study, Yuletide Treat, Misses Clause Challenge, references to drug abuse, Art, Reflection, Estrangement from Family, Getting Back on One's Feet, Backstory, First Meeting
Summary:

Barbara buys the art gallery with what's left of her parents' money.

And that was my epic Yuletide!

Comments

[hiddencait.livejournal.com]

Man that is quite the list! I've gotta get around to reading those delightful Renner centric fics :) lol

[scribblemyname]

:grins: I might just really, really like all of his non-villainous characters! I swear, I'm picking up writing more of his non-Clint roles (how I got hooked initially).

[hiddencait.livejournal.com]

He fast is becoming one of my top 5 fave actors - its to the point that my man actually laughs and turns on one of his movies if he thinks I'm in a bad mood LOL

[scribblemyname]

That is a sure sign of fangirling. I admit to watching a fanvid including him when I want perking. Or an Unusuals episode. :grins:

[hiddencait.livejournal.com]

Fangirling at its best!!

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

You sure answered the call, then went above & beyond. I've had prolific Yuletide years, but none quite like that. Usually I run out of steam by the time Madness opens.

[scribblemyname]

Well, thank you! I couldn't have done it without help. :grins: I really don't know why I got carried away this year.