Fic year in review.
Dec. 31st, 2014 08:54 pmOf the three fics I posted this year, one was new, one was a cross-posting of an old fic originally written some time ago, and the third was a clean-up of a chat with me listed as a co-author. As such, I don't feel like I should count the latter two. And answering the usual year-in-review meme is tricky, when there's only one fic to draw from - I have to toss out the usual questions, because so many of them are answered by this one as the default. Therefor, it seems a better idea to ask a series of more specific ones.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Stubborn Mouths: Humans In Translation, 62938 words. Julian Bashir/Elim Garak, ensemble cast, a "Julian Bashir is autistic and has always been autistic" AU.
Summary: If you’re sending yourself out to the edge of civilization, people expect it to be done for fame and glory – but then, Julian Bashir has never been what’s expected of him. He’s quite happy to agree with the reasons other people provide, because he isn’t sharing the private whys and wherefores when people are more than happy to fill in the gaps themselves. There are other, better things to worry about, work to be done and friends to be made – possibly even a lover, if he’s lucky…
...all while fighting to maintain his worth, and remain exactly who he’s always been.
What was my inspiration for this fic? How did it come to me? Julian Bashir himself, and the desire to steal him back from the DS9 writers. I'd been reading about him on the TV Tropes entry during a slow day in my internship, and when I got to the mention of him growing up with learning disabilities and being unable to tell cats from dogs, I sat up straight and slammed my hands down, are you kidding me, that's exactly what Temple Grandin said, does that mean - YES IT DOES, and at that YES IT DOES, I knew there was something going on I had to get to.
First I checked to make sure nobody had written it first, in case I could sit back and enjoy. When everything I looked for came up empty, despite twenty years of steady fandom activity, I knew what I needed to do. I needed to fill another fandom void.
What’s my favorite part of the fic? The London scene in chapter 22, and all the fictional books. I really want to read Beverly Road.
What’s the part of the fic I’m most proud of? Chapter 20. I wrote the first draft of the major scene in one go, and it came remarkably close to the final version.
What part of the fic was the hardest for me to write? Most anything with Odo, because having a character who's solid-state liquid means really having to play around with how the body is perceived in space - no toes, no feet, no bones, no hair, just Odo. Balancing actions and reactions when the character in question is operating on incomplete information and isn't aware of the lacunae. Also, the argument scenes, because arguments where everyone involved is right are one of the hardest things to write, next to party scenes.
What part of the fic am I still dissatisfied with? Jadzia's dinner with Julian and Garak. That could have used a little more banter between Jadzia and Julian.
Who’s my favorite character in the fic? Julian, of course.
Were there any major decisions I made about the fic that could have made it go a whole different direction? No. I knew from the start it had to avoid a lot of common fandom tropes and also flat-out ignore a lot of what the show itself did as well, so I had a good idea of what I had to avoid. That helped a lot in the planning stages, such as knowing Julian wouldn't ever forgive his parents.
Was there anything I only learned about the fic after I had finished it? (themes, motifs, symbolism, etc) No, not really. I think I'm too close to it - if anyone noticed anything like this, I'd love to hear it.
Did anyone in the fic surprise me by doing anything? If so, what? Keiko showed up and quietly kicked ass when I hadn't thought she'd appear. Garak knew from practically the moment Garak and Julian laid eyes on each other and thought everyone else knew, too.
If I had to sum up this fic in a sentence, what would it be? Either "There are a lot of different ways to be a person, and autism is one of them" or "I've got so many things I could tell you/If my stubborn mouth doesn't let me down."
If I were to rewrite this fic, what would I change? The bit about the dinner. Some words here and there. Not a whole lot, though I'd be sure to give Julian a mezuzah for his quarters.
Did any thing about this fic’s reception surprise me? I hadn't been the only person who'd desperately wanted to see this particular story told; I was just the first one who'd told it. People told me it broke their heart, that they laughed and cried, that it was a rare time for them to read about themselves.
What were my beta’s major comments about the first draft of this fic? As I said to someone earlier...I had three beta readers who had access to it at different points in the drafting phase, and the initial major comment from all of them was basically “this is a really good idea you’ve got here,” followed by their comments on how to make that idea better. The comments varied depending on when they got it: “When will you address more of the AU elements?” “You should pull the emotion back in this scene.” “Needs more Odo.”
If I were to write a sequel to this fic, what would it be about? I'm currently working on a prequel/sidestory about Julian's aunt Innogen, which almost counts. But, as I said to someone earlier... if I did a sequel, unless I rewrote a couple of bits from the original, it’d have to gloss and/or skirt over some canon noncompliance (how could Garak not notice Bashir was replaced by a Founder when they were living together?). As to what it’d be about, I’d like to write something addressing how the Federation treats its disabled and handicapped on a larger scale, from Enterprise through Voyager, the way the show treats consent as a flexible issue, and how unaddressed questions and concerns from the past continue to reverberate through time.
Whenever I look at this photoset all I can see is Bashir at a panel on disability at a medical conference where the audience initially assuming he doesn’t belong there, and the pictures were taken during his explanation of why he does, and I’d quite like to see what else happened at that panel. (Garak would have picked his outfit well beforehand.)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Stubborn Mouths: Humans In Translation, 62938 words. Julian Bashir/Elim Garak, ensemble cast, a "Julian Bashir is autistic and has always been autistic" AU.
Summary: If you’re sending yourself out to the edge of civilization, people expect it to be done for fame and glory – but then, Julian Bashir has never been what’s expected of him. He’s quite happy to agree with the reasons other people provide, because he isn’t sharing the private whys and wherefores when people are more than happy to fill in the gaps themselves. There are other, better things to worry about, work to be done and friends to be made – possibly even a lover, if he’s lucky…
...all while fighting to maintain his worth, and remain exactly who he’s always been.
What was my inspiration for this fic? How did it come to me? Julian Bashir himself, and the desire to steal him back from the DS9 writers. I'd been reading about him on the TV Tropes entry during a slow day in my internship, and when I got to the mention of him growing up with learning disabilities and being unable to tell cats from dogs, I sat up straight and slammed my hands down, are you kidding me, that's exactly what Temple Grandin said, does that mean - YES IT DOES, and at that YES IT DOES, I knew there was something going on I had to get to.
First I checked to make sure nobody had written it first, in case I could sit back and enjoy. When everything I looked for came up empty, despite twenty years of steady fandom activity, I knew what I needed to do. I needed to fill another fandom void.
What’s my favorite part of the fic? The London scene in chapter 22, and all the fictional books. I really want to read Beverly Road.
What’s the part of the fic I’m most proud of? Chapter 20. I wrote the first draft of the major scene in one go, and it came remarkably close to the final version.
What part of the fic was the hardest for me to write? Most anything with Odo, because having a character who's solid-state liquid means really having to play around with how the body is perceived in space - no toes, no feet, no bones, no hair, just Odo. Balancing actions and reactions when the character in question is operating on incomplete information and isn't aware of the lacunae. Also, the argument scenes, because arguments where everyone involved is right are one of the hardest things to write, next to party scenes.
What part of the fic am I still dissatisfied with? Jadzia's dinner with Julian and Garak. That could have used a little more banter between Jadzia and Julian.
Who’s my favorite character in the fic? Julian, of course.
Were there any major decisions I made about the fic that could have made it go a whole different direction? No. I knew from the start it had to avoid a lot of common fandom tropes and also flat-out ignore a lot of what the show itself did as well, so I had a good idea of what I had to avoid. That helped a lot in the planning stages, such as knowing Julian wouldn't ever forgive his parents.
Was there anything I only learned about the fic after I had finished it? (themes, motifs, symbolism, etc) No, not really. I think I'm too close to it - if anyone noticed anything like this, I'd love to hear it.
Did anyone in the fic surprise me by doing anything? If so, what? Keiko showed up and quietly kicked ass when I hadn't thought she'd appear. Garak knew from practically the moment Garak and Julian laid eyes on each other and thought everyone else knew, too.
If I had to sum up this fic in a sentence, what would it be? Either "There are a lot of different ways to be a person, and autism is one of them" or "I've got so many things I could tell you/If my stubborn mouth doesn't let me down."
If I were to rewrite this fic, what would I change? The bit about the dinner. Some words here and there. Not a whole lot, though I'd be sure to give Julian a mezuzah for his quarters.
Did any thing about this fic’s reception surprise me? I hadn't been the only person who'd desperately wanted to see this particular story told; I was just the first one who'd told it. People told me it broke their heart, that they laughed and cried, that it was a rare time for them to read about themselves.
What were my beta’s major comments about the first draft of this fic? As I said to someone earlier...I had three beta readers who had access to it at different points in the drafting phase, and the initial major comment from all of them was basically “this is a really good idea you’ve got here,” followed by their comments on how to make that idea better. The comments varied depending on when they got it: “When will you address more of the AU elements?” “You should pull the emotion back in this scene.” “Needs more Odo.”
If I were to write a sequel to this fic, what would it be about? I'm currently working on a prequel/sidestory about Julian's aunt Innogen, which almost counts. But, as I said to someone earlier... if I did a sequel, unless I rewrote a couple of bits from the original, it’d have to gloss and/or skirt over some canon noncompliance (how could Garak not notice Bashir was replaced by a Founder when they were living together?). As to what it’d be about, I’d like to write something addressing how the Federation treats its disabled and handicapped on a larger scale, from Enterprise through Voyager, the way the show treats consent as a flexible issue, and how unaddressed questions and concerns from the past continue to reverberate through time.
Whenever I look at this photoset all I can see is Bashir at a panel on disability at a medical conference where the audience initially assuming he doesn’t belong there, and the pictures were taken during his explanation of why he does, and I’d quite like to see what else happened at that panel. (Garak would have picked his outfit well beforehand.)
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