(no subject)

[the_rck]

I have no idea if anyone will care about any of this, but why not ask?

For wipbigbang, I’m considering the following WIP. The minimum length for the challenge is 7500 words. These are the stories I’ve started that I think could go that long without getting so very long that I can’t finish them by the deadline. They’re all things I’m happy to think about writing and have enjoyed so far.

I’m willing to share the bits I’ve written of these stories if anyone’s interested. There’s a Narnia story (darkfic, child abuse issues), a DCU story (mangling of canon, darkfic, consent issues, moral compromises), a Chronicles of Amber story (mangling of canon, possible consent issues, serious opportunities for me to muck up gender identity and non-identity issues), and three Weiss Kreuz stories (one darkfic and two PWP).

I’m not sure that I’ll act on whatever feedback (if any) I get. I’ve already talked to a couple of friends who… Well, the story one liked, the other loathed. The story the second one liked most, the first one loathed. So, yeah. Scott has declined to offer an opinion. He doesn’t read darkfic or smutty fic, so none of this appeals to him.

Sign ups close on the 3rd, so I’m running out of time, and I was having trouble deciding even before stress started making my brain dribble out my ears.

Chronicles of Amber:
Nothing False and Possible. Shapeshifters are not innately gendered but can be any version of whatever species they’ve chosen to be at the moment. This will change Merlin to the point of seeming OOC because, 90% of the time, Zelazny seems to have forgotten Merlin’s a shapeshifter at all and because Zelazny’s Merlin comes across as a white, upper middle class, male human from the 1980s US most of the time. Luke/Merlin (in various forms), possibly some Jasra/Merlin. M to E but more likely E. May be issues of consent since it starts with Merlin trapped in the Blue Cave? I don’t know. 1703 words. Started in January. This is the most amorphous option on the list.


DC Universe:
Rooms of Falling Rain. Darkfic with AU backstory for Clark/Superman with Krypton tending toward empire building. Clark/Lex drawing on bits and pieces of lots of different Superman canons (but definitely using parts of the Smallville backstory and set about fifteen years after Clark and Lex first met there) but with a very different Krypton and thus some big differences for Clark in spite of the Kents. Gray to dark Clark (and even darker Kal-El) while still keeping Superman a hero and a member of the Justice League (using cartoon version since I don’t know the comics at all). It’s not that they’re separate personalities, more that Clark thinks it would be easier if they were and if he could blame Kal-El for everything bad. I expect appearances from a lot of the JL founders (I’m interested in how they deal with this situation) but haven’t decided how large the JL is at this point. E. Huge consent issues. Violence. 2910 words. Started mid-March. There’s a reason my working title for this is "WTF? I don’t even know this fandom!" so I can’t guarantee that I won’t wander far, far from canon even apart from the AU aspects. I’m particularly concerned about my ability to write Lex given that I want him as POV character.


Narnia:
Dark and Deep. Darkfic in which Jadis captures all four Pevensies, and winter doesn’t end. Being bored, Jadis decides to see if she can turn the Pevensies into minions. Jadis POV because I can’t write it any other way. Using Jadis from Faded Colors. M for violence and terrible things happening to children. No sex. Will probably end with Jadis dying, but that won’t help Narnia much. 4273 words. Started in January. From a prompt made by retsuko. I have to write this in small bits because Jadis is so awful.


Weiss Kreuz:
One More Folded Sunset. Darkfic. Schuldig/Crawford with them trapped in a very bad place in another universe after the end of Kapital. M to E. Most dark stuff should be off screen, but it will be talked about. Possible background Manx/Crawford. Any on screen sex will be consensual. 1031 words. Might be too short but is high on my list of things I want to finish. Started in January. This is the most tightly planned thing on the list (which isn’t very since I have no idea how it ends). Promised to indelicateink.

Gathered from the Gales. Adult Nagi domming Crawford and Schuldig at Crawford’s request. Consensual but not safe or sane. E. 6552 words. Started several years ago. Largely PWP. Vaguely Gluhenish or post-Gluhenish.

Shatter Like a Cry. Weiss/Schuldig. Role playing a prisoner scenario with BDSM elements. Renegotiation and emotional elements a focus. Probably in the same universe as Rituals and Observances. Consensual, arguably safe and sane. E. 3920 words. Started several years ago. Largely PWP. Maybe.

Comments

[edenfalling]

For what it's worth, and going purely by these descriptions, I'd vote for the Amber fic, with the Narnia one as a second choice.

[maramcreates]

All of these WIPs sound interesting to me and I can see why you'd have trouble picking one for wipbigbang. Is there a way to look at this choice from a 'which of these stories will be the most emotionally satisfying to write' perspective? I'm a big believer in writing the stories that we need to tell, so that's how I usually make these kinds of decisions.

[the_rck]

The problem is that this is the list after I've eliminated all of the options that I wouldn't find satisfying. These are all things I really, really want to write, and I know that, without a deadline, I may never finish any of them.

But knowing that someone is actually interested in seeing the story makes it easier for me to focus on it. I'm working from prompts from specific friends for three of these stories, the Narnia one and two of the Weiss Kreuz options. And there seem to be a fair number of other people interested in the Narnia one. I wasn't sure anyone would be because of the child abuse (which is pretty much always a dealbreaker for me as a reader).

If I do finish that one, it will have big capslock warnings all over it as it will not be something to stumble on unwarned and as my other Narnia fic might lead someone to believe that I always write happy-ish Narnia fic.

[maramcreates]

I see your dilemma....

For why it's worth, I'm interested in reading any of them (I can handle most things, but my line tends to on screen animal abuse and non-con, though the non-con is negotiable if it's sensitively done and adds to the story in a meaningful way).

[the_rck]

I normally can't handle child harm, so that's been my huge hesitation over the Narnia WIP.

I do write and occasionally read non-con. I have a bit of a kink for it, but I'm also very, very picky and mostly interested in the psychological aspects. I think that it connects to my tendency, when coming up with stories on my own, to look at canon and at characters and wonder what happens if I break that particular bit and twist this other bit and...

I want to see what compromises characters will (and won't) make under particular circumstances and how different people will (and won't) rise to the occasion.

[maramcreates]

Your non-con criteria works for me. I just generally avoid non-con that's soley there for sexual gratification and no other reason (as it often is, sadly). I don't have a problem with the sexual gratification aspect though, just the 'soley' part.

[the_rck]

My general reaction on the soley for sexual gratification side depends heavily on whether or not the story is clearly and accurately tagged so that nobody's going to click on it who isn't looking for that. There are a whole lot of things that don't appeal to me but that really powerfully appeal to a subset of not-me people. I tend to assume that readers and writers know they're dealing with fantasy unless I run into evidence otherwise. (There are other things non-con writers can do that piss me off, but most of them have more to do with attitude and treatment of other people than they do with the story. Real people are real. Fiction is less important.)

I get frustrated because I haven't figured out how to find the things I'm actually interested in without wading through a ton of stuff that really isn't that. (Why can't AO3 filter for 'stories I'll actually like' or 'stories like what I'd write but not by me'? I'd pay for that feature.)

I can make some progress by filtering by length. Twenty different tags for kinks/toys and under 1000 words? Probably not going to interest me. At that length, once I've read the tags, there's not enough room for the fic to be more than a fairly mechanical list.

[maramcreates]

I haven't figured out how to find the things I'm actually interested in

I wonder if there's a kink meme or a tumblr feed (or something like such things) that already collected similarly themed stories that fit your particular taste?

I generally have trouble finding things myself, but I've found that if I exclude certain tags, then that greatly reduces the number of undesired fics (in my case it'll be things like: -f/m; -m/m; -Solas [sorry Solas fans!]; -underage; and so on). This search style really depends on knowing the fandom in question and having a good feel for the kinds of fics people write for it, but it's something.

Twenty different tags for kinks/toys and under 1000 words? Probably not going to interest me. At that length, once I've read the tags, there's not enough room for the fic to be more than a fairly mechanical list.

Hear, hear!

I'd ask what sort of thing you're looking for, but don't want to put you on the spot or cause you discomfort in having to respond. So, if you'd be interested in sharing and possibly getting recommendations (assuming I have any), then feel free to get in touch with me (in whatever way works best for you, of course).

[the_rck]

I think that one difficulty for me in finding things is that I'm not reading in any particular fandoms. I also often don't have anything specific in mind that I'm looking for. I'm very, very picky when it comes to romance or porn, not in terms of who is paired but in terms of how the story flows/develops and how the characters react and interact (with more depth being better).

Sometimes, when I want porn, I pick a tag and then browse everything it brings up. Mainly, I find that I go for screens and screens without finding anything I want to click on (and a lot of what I click on is dreadful), so I think this is a lousy approach for me.

But I can go months without wanting porn, and I'm almost never interested in porn based on live action sources that I've actually seen (sometimes, I can, but other times, it squicks me).

On the non-sexual side, I adore time travel fix-it fics in all fandoms (but will only start completed stories at this point unless I know the author). I like convincingly developed crossovers, but my definition of 'convincingly developed' seems to differ from a lot of other people's. I prefer stories with elements of SF or fantasy but can't handle horror.

[lunabee34]

Well, the only canon I know is Narnia so I vote for the one I can read! :)

[lady-of-mists.livejournal.com]

I think that Dark and Deep might be a possibility?

[snogged.livejournal.com]

Good luck on your writing!