That writing meme...

[anactoria]

Well, why not? :)

I currently have 101 (eep!) works archived at AO3. Pick a number from 1 (the most recent) to 101 (the first thing I posted there), and I'll tell you three things I currently like or three random tidbits about it.

FYI, number 4 is illustrations by my DBBB artist, so I probably can't comment on that one except to say 'squee!'

Comments

[frozen_delight]

I'm sure you already knew this was coming - but 12, please? :)

[anactoria.livejournal.com]

I never would've guessed. ;)

#12: Pagliacci (http://archiveofourown.org/works/3201419)

1. I heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Life seems harsh, and cruel. Says he feels all alone in threatening world. Doctor says: "Treatment is simple. The great clown - Pagliacci - is in town. Go see him. That should pick you up." Man bursts into tears. "But doctor..." he says "I am Pagliacci." Good joke. Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Curtains.

Watchmen was my first great fannish love in a very long time, and the thing that got me back into writing fic after several years' hiatus. In some ways I feel like most of my interactions with other things I'm fannish about are filtered through it, specifically its black and grey morality and merciless skewering of the notion of heroism. It's definitely often with me when I think about SPN and Team Free Will (not just because Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays a terrible father in the film version, too...), and that's why I picked the title.

2. That said, it looks like my local cinema is doing a showing of Pagliacci in October. Thanks to you, I might just end up going. ;)

3. Like you, I think, I was really surprised at people reading the New York Story in 10.09 as a retconning of John into a good dad. That moment strikes me as so rehearsed, the kind of almost-scripted conversation piece that is really entirely removed from whatever actually happened. (Particularly because Sam goes along with it.) I wish there was more fic about it -- there can never be enough!

[frozen_delight]

I rewatched that scene just now and I was once again struck by just how remarkable it is, for several reasons:
- Sam and Dean are so perfectly in sync (it's a very well-written and well-acted case of sharing a family memory that's already been told and retold countless times) and yet scarily out of sync at the same time, if that makes sense (it's so obvious from their reactions that the memory means completely different things to them). This is highlighted by the fact that Cas sits between them like he's watching a tennis match.
- Dean starts off the whole thing stating that John was always there for them. This has become a thing since S8, which I find highly interesting, because in seasons 1-7 Dean distances himself from John more and more and frequently points out his failings. I think it might have something to do with Bobby's death, that once Bobby's no longer around as a living example of someone who was always there for them and always took care of them in all the ways John never did, the memories of John gradually grew fonder for both boys, but especially for Dean. (With a very nice exception to the rule when he doesn't correct Crowley's "terrible father" comment in First Born when he's feeling at his lowest.)
- Dean's line "And he did." in response to John's mantra "It's my job to raise you right." is highly ironic in the context of this episode, where Dean's woken up from nightmares slaughtering people which he then later puts into practice. And the way Dean delivers it makes it obvious that this isn't entirely lost on him either.
There should really be more fic exploring this, dammit!

[anactoria.livejournal.com]

Sam and Dean are so perfectly in sync (it's a very well-written and well-acted case of sharing a family memory that's already been told and retold countless times) and yet scarily out of sync at the same time, if that makes sense (it's so obvious from their reactions that the memory means completely different things to them)

Yes, that makes perfect sense to me -- you've really summed up what makes that scene tick, I think. And oh, that's an interesting point about Bobby's death contributing to the (relative) idealisation of John. Very plausible, I think.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

#3 please!

[anactoria.livejournal.com]

#3: Take Me To The Bridge (http://archiveofourown.org/works/4291458/chapters/9722841)

1. I wouldn't say I'm obsessed with the Mabinogi, though I do love them, but I'm really into modern adaptations and rewritings of them. Half of what goes on in there is borderline fanficcy already, I swear. (Shapeshifting magically-genderswapped incestuous mpreg!) Quite a bit of my 'original' fiction is actually Mabinogi fanfic, so once the idea of contrasting the two sets of brothers occurred to me -- I mean, not that it's particularly original -- I jumped at the chance to write my 'RL fandom' into the SPN universe. ;)

2. The title came from the Manic Street Preachers song of the same name. I've been listening to them for years, but a lot of their lyrics make me think of the Winchesters these days.

3. One of my favourite parts to write was the epilogue. For some reason, I love the idea of Cas gradually integrating himself into the bunker by 'borrowing' bits of clothing from Sam and Dean. Of course they'd look ridiculous on him, and eventually one of them would take pity and take him to get some clothes that fit, but he wouldn't give them back. ;)

[majestic-duxk.livejournal.com]

69!

[anactoria.livejournal.com]

#69: A Million Miles (http://archiveofourown.org/works/349011). Rather tame for the number, I'm afraid. ;)

1. So, this is an oooold fic. I think I wrote it in 2007/8? It's Count D/Leon from Petshop of Horrors, which was my first ever OTP. A morally ambiguous, possibly immortal, supernatural being, who follows his filial duty regardless of the human cost until he gets to know a grouchy, burger-munching detective with dead mommy issues and a younger brother who he parents. Plus ca change, eh? ;)

2. This is a fairly happy fix-it, and PSoH is one of the few canons I've ever felt compelled to write those for. I guess because the ending (of the original run, anyway) was so frustratingly ambiguous. I stopped reading the follow-up series after a few volumes because it just didn't have the charm of the original (for me, anyway), but the idea that Leon's still fruitlessly chasing D around the world makes me very sad.

3. I'm never quite sure how I feel about the last line of this. Part of me feels like it doesn't really serve the uncertainty I was going for in the rest of the piece. On the other hand, part of me likes the idea of Leon being the one to just decide, 'I don't care if I'm human and you're some immortal nature spirit, we're gonna make this work' while D is still demurring. So yeah, I don't know. ;)