lavanyasix

The rules: talk about your top ten fics in term of AO3's hit count.

( Mindless Blathering Below the Cut )

This is a looooong plot bunny inspired by a thread on the Spacebattles forum. The topic was what a crossover between the Ring of Fire book series and Avatar: The Last Airbender. RoF is about a small town in West Virginia that gets transported by a plot device back to 1632 and plunked down in Germany during the Thirty Years' War. The thread discussed how that town, Grantville, might affect AtLA's story if it were transported there instead of to 1632.


( 1632/AtLA crossover )

(A little late, but here we go.)

So I read a lot of fic, and some of it is pretty awesome. My creteria for inclusion on this list is pretty simple. First, it has to be a fic I found in 2011, not necessarily that it was published. Second, it's not enough to just be good or even great, because if I counted things that way this list would extend into the hundreds. Instead, a fic has to be memorable to be included here, something I'll remember months after the fact.

In alphabetical order...

Fallout: Equestria -- (Fallout / My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) -- Fallout... with ponies! Set in an alternate future, it follows the story of Littlepip, a rather underwhelming Stable-dwelling unicorn in a post-apocalyptic Equestria. Stuck in the monotony of one of the lowest ranking jobs in the Stable, her life changes when she leaves in search of Velvet Remedy, the Stable's singer idol. Outside, she must learn to survive in a blasted, poisoned land... and possibly, with the aid of friends made along the way, bring new light into the darkness of the Equestrian Wasteland.

** The hell with alphabetical order, this is my favorite fanfic of 2011. Its premise is undeniably cracky, yet the author delivers a thumping good story with excellent characterization, a clever fusing of both mythologies, extensive use of Chekhov's gun in a way that never feels cheap, and also deconstructs a lot of Fallout's gameplay in a thoughtful way. It's a difficult fic to sell -- I myself avoided it like the plague until it reached the mid-20s in chapters -- but Fallout:Equestria is a captivating read that few fics I've ever read have managed to equal.

moves in mysterious ways -- (Twilight) -- Sometimes the prey evolves, or at least learns how to issue restraining orders.

** Despite the above summary, it's not a hatedom fic, although the text is critical of some of the original novel's thinking. Instead it's an oddly heartwarming riff on the plot of the first Twilight novel, set eighty-ish years in the future and with the gender roles reversed. By the end of the fic, even anti-fans might finds themselves feeling sympathy for Bella Cullen. 

Speech Acts -- (AtLA) -- What if, instead of martial arts, bending was based on sign language?

** Some AUs are sprawling, elaborate epics like the above-listed Fallout: Equestria, but at the opposite end of the spectrum you have  a fic like this. There's not a spare ounce of fat on this lean fic as it tackles it's basic "What if?" question to its fullest.

Unsteady Ground -- (Axis Powers Hetalia / 1984) -- Oceania likes to tell people that he knows exactly what they’re afraid of.

** I've got a few issues with the fundamental concept of Hetalia, but that doesn't prevent me from enjoying this standalone crossover. What happens to a bunch of anthropomorphized countries when they get absorbed into a totalitarian super-state that wants to erase any evidence of their existence? Nothing good. Yet despite this fic's darkness, there's still moments of hope.

Wreckage -- (NGE) -- Basically, it's an AU where Yui and Kyoko are still alive in 2015—

** Wait! Wait! Come back! It's different from the million other fics with that same premise, I swear! For one thing, it shakes up Eva's rigid Stations of the Canon by not having Shinji arrive until before the 5th Angel and by Asuka already living in Japan. Another major divergence is that Ritsuko, not Misato, becomes Shinji's guardian in Tokyo-3. In fact, Misato is pretty much a secondary character in this fic, the same way Ritsuko was in canon. Also, Yui and Kyoko? Not exactly Mother of the Year material in this story.

There are a few downsides. It's been six months since the last update. Also, the author drops the odd Star Trek joke now and then that jars with the overall Original Flavor tone of the fic. But those points aside, it's an Evangelion fic that refreshingly doesn't use it's AU nature to remake everything into a lighter and softer version of canon. Shinji starts off in-character and gradually develops into a better person; not a generic badass, but an ordinary teenager who makes an effort to reach out to people despite his fears.

Ganked from attackfish, who took it from avocadolove:

I think it would be fun to talk about stories, but the usual memes are like, "What happens next?" "Tell me about Character A?" Which isn't so much talking about stories as it is writing more of a story. But you know how sometimes you read something and you're like, "I got ___ out of this story, I wonder if I have that right?" or "What on earth was ____ supposed to be?" and it's too awkward to ask the author? Now you could totally ask!

I've heard people say that writing is hard because you have to make decisions, but we never really talk about the decisions we make with stories or why we make them. We talk about plot bunnies, but not about how we actually turn them into a story.

And it seems like a lot more fun to do that than to do working.

So, if you wanted, ask me questions! (Or use this to ask your flist to ask you questions).

What were you trying to do [here]? Why did you decide to ____? This is what I thought about xyz, is that what you were going for? What made you write ____? Why did you decide to do this? And so on.

 So I'm running a Suzuki Week this week, only I ended up busier than expected because of the holidays. Poor planning on my part. Next year I'll organize this during a less busy time of year. Worse, I've been hit by a case of writer's block. In the meanwhile I need some help coming up with Suzuki fics for this week. That's where you come in.
RULES:
* Each person can have one-to-three prompts. I'll try to fill at least one. No guarantees, though. 
* Doesn't need to be romantic. You can have enemy stuff, friendship stuff, and so on. Just has to revolve around Suki and Zuko.
* The prompts can range from one word to a whole situation BUT must be based on one of the following themes:
     * Metal    
     * Adulthood
     * Tradition
     * Sisters
     * Avatar
     * Peasant & Noble
     * Duty
     * Scars
     * Foreigner
     * Ba Sing Se

* In your comment, include the theme and then your prompt. Like so: [Metal: Blah blah blah]
* Pretty much anything goes, but if it doesn't, I'll let you know and you can prompt something else. No smut, though.

This post will have ten slots, with 5/10 filled. Each prompt will be written in the comments. Once the post is finished, there will be a complete list of each filled prompt in an upcoming post.

Go nuts.

Ganked from attackfish , who took it from rabidchild67 and coffeethyme4me, who themselves took it from hoosierbitch .


The first five people to comment on this post get to request that I write a drabble/ficlet of any character/pairing of their choosing in either the Avatar: the Last Airbender or My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandoms, except for anything involving Princess Yue. However, if you request in one of my established AUs, pease keep to the parings in that universe. In return, they have to post this in their journal, regardless of their ability level. (sketch and drawble memes can be substituted for writing memes, though!)

If you want to play the meme but NOT repost and play on your own LJ, you can absolutely still make a request, but please make a note to that effect in your comment so that I can prioritize/encourage the folks playing along at home. And you know, request fics on their memes XD.


Closed at ranchoth, although I still owe clockworkchaos a slot from last time, so feel free to prompt me, CWC.

I've spent most of the last two weeks dealing with visiting family, leaving me too tired each night to do much creative writing, so I could use something to get the juices flowing again on my Help_Japan Commissions. So it's time for a fanfic meme...


What's a character swap? Well, it's a trope that occasionally pops up in fanfic. Basically you take two characters and swap them, so that each takes the place of the other person. The most famous AtLA example of this would be "Reconstructed Destinies", where Aang and Zuko swap places, so Aang is a Fire Nation prince and Zuko is an airbending Avatar who was frozen for a hundred years. Swapping allows you to explore characters in situations and relationships, romantic or otherwise, they would otherwise not find themselves in, and explores the interplay between nature and nurture.


RULES:
* Each person can have one to three prompts. I may only pick one out of three given, or do all three. It depends on how they strike me.
* The prompts can range from one word to a whole situation. However, please try not to get overly complex.
* It has to be a character swap involving only two people. Everything & everyone remains as per canon. Time, place, or situation is all up to you.
* Pretty much anything goes, but if it doesn't, I'll let you know and you can prompt something else.


This post will have 5 requester slots, with 5/5 filled. Each prompt will be written in the comments. Once the post is finished, there will be a complete list of each filled prompt in an upcoming post.

Go nuts. 

I've transcribed the Korra panel from the 2011 San Diego Comic Con, using the recording provided by TheYumchunks on YouTube. Since it's too long to post here on livejournal, I've added it to my semi-defunct Dreamwidth account.

You can read the transcript here.

Happy Fourth of July to my fellow Americans!

Nothing much to post. Just thought I'd keep this livejournal from gathering too much dust in July.

My two charity commission fics are proceeding nicely. Revisions on the June+Mai+Zuko fic's first chapter are almost complete. As usual, (re)writing the fight scenes is sucking up the most production time. I've also got part of the epilogue drafted. Work on the AtLA/Haruhi Suzumiya fusion is really taking off now that I've solved the narrator/POV issue and ironed out the lingering plot problems. No guesstimates on when either fic will be done, but the Haruhi Suzumiya fic will probably get finished first. There's only one narrator and plot line; much less complex than the June+Mai+Zuko fic's three interweaving ones. The lack of detailed fight scenes in the fusion fic will also count for a lot.

I've been reposting some old drabbles here and there, but I'm holding off on participating in the Avatar Spirit Forum's DDD contest again until both my commissions are done. 

So it's been about a month since I last updated this journal. Aside from some drabbling to blow off steam, I'm still working hard on my two Help_Japan commission fics. They both star Mai, oddly enough, and it's been enlightening to dig into her character and situation in new ways.

I've spent the last week rewriting the first chapter of my June+Mai+Zuko fic, as I realized the current draft really needed them to meet earlier in the story than I'd had them doing so. Learning about June's character has been a lot of fun and, as I revise her dialogue in the new draft, I feel like I've finally gotten a hold on her personality and what sets her apart from Mai. I'm really excited for this project because, while it's ballooned into something more epic than I imagined, it's pretty much bad people doing bad things to worse people. Haven't done a story like that before, so it's fun. My other Mai commission fic, the spiritual fusion with The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, is quickly becoming very meta in strange ways.

As I declared in an earlier post, I wouldn't be joining the Avatar Big Bang unless I achieved certain goals by the end of May. Since I didn't, I won't be in this year's Bang. And I gotta say... it's liberating. It's nice not to have a deadline for another community fanfic exchange thingy. It's just me and the two commission fics in my queue. After that, I gotta finish Full Metal Bitch, and then... anything.

Found this in an old WiP folder. I think it was a plot bunny for... something. Probably a thread on the Spacebattles forum. To sum it up, it was a stab at creating a "mirror universe" without the usual morality swaps of a good Fire Nation, evil Water Tribe, and goateed Spock. Everything in the Avatar universe gets inverted. I dusted it off, gave it a once-over, and finished it to post here. 


( AtLA: Opposite World )

I recently ran a prompt meme for genderswap fics. Here's the result:

yukinoomoni - Rule 63'd Canon Couples (Kataang, Sukka, Maiko)
yukinoomoni - Girl!Zuko/Mai, your take on it
floranna - Girl!Zuko and Boy!Azula, the royal succession favors males
faxandu - Dude Ty Lee
gamiel - Mao/Zuan; their second date
loopy777 - Sailor Moon Spirit
* Ranchoth - "Your 'bull' sky-bison is pregnant."
attackfish - Girl!Pakku, ambitions
attackfish - Girl!Zuko and still-a-Girl!Azula, sisters
ketrus - Male!Toph is a shameless, relentless flirt
clockwerkchaos - Katara, manly men doing manly things

 The DrabbleDrabbleDrabble contest on the Avatar Spirit forum is celebrating it's 50th Round this week. This round's theme is Language Barriers and it's being run by Loopy. If you're interested, submit a fic. If you win, you get to pick the theme for Round 51 and judge who's the winner! Joining the forum is quick and easy. The criteria for this round is below the cut:

( Read more... )