i wanna toast tonight

[terabient]

i am postponing the Animu Boston: Chinese Porno Cartoon Tragedy writeup for a few days, mostly because my brain is still a pile of slush swimming in beer and liquor, and also i forgot my camera so i am hoping other people will upload pictures of some of the fab things i saw/did over the weekend.

I BET YOU ARE ALL TERRIBLY DISAPPOINTED.

so i am going to shower you all with sparkles and confetti and cupcakes!!! fanfic praise with this meme taken from bri_ecrit:

We can all feel a little sucky about our writing ability sometimes. So this is the meme to try and deal with that. Comment here and I'll give you detailed love for as many of your fics as I can. Afterwards, post this in your own LJ and spread the love.

I EXPECT MANY COMMENTS FROM MY MORE WRITER-LY EL-JAY FRIENDS. EVEN IF YOU'VE ALREADY RESPONDED TO SOMEONE ELSE'S. EVEN IF YOU ONLY HAVE ONE FIC TO YOUR NAME. THERE IS LOVE AND TENTACLE HUGS TO BE HAD AND YOU CANNOT ESCAPE!!!

Comments

[terabient]

so yeah it only took a month for me to reply to this, because every time i opened this little reply box my mind would go as blank as my screen, because seriously: you are one of the best unpublished writers i have read.

Country Fried has a level of sophistication and development that I have only seen from, literally, two other fic writers. (both who, I believe, were working on doctorates in English, fwiw) The dialog reads like things people would actually say, while the internal narration is consistently hilarious without being over-the-top or forced. I swear, the moment in Chapter 3 when Ellis blows up at Nick is one of the funniest things I've read in ages and it's one of the few times I could genuinely hear something written being 'said' by a character. (And really, your fic is full of those moments but that one was the first to come to mind.)

What else, what else...I am so impressed with the way you make the expected feel unexpected. In terms of plot progression, Country Fried is fairly standard but what makes it great is the fact that all of these developments feel natural; the drama and the angst and the sex and cuddly bits are all earned. There are lots of fics where Nick is reluctant and Nick and Ellis have a big gay fight after hot sex and then Ellis gets -gasp- HURT and Nick saves him in dramatic and violent fashion. Yours is the only one where these tropes don't feel forced. I am always surprised or touched or horrified or whatever it is i am supposed to feel reading your fic, instead of "Oh well okay then, get to the money shot now pls"

in short, your writing is amazing and you are amazing and tbh, the sheer quality of your work intimidates me a lot little. XD that last part is no one's fault but my own, though.

ANYWAY i hope you can finish chapter 6 soon~

I will see your dissertations and raise you a GED, other fanfic writers. Burn. lol. /douche

[snapcakes.livejournal.com]

I am not going to admit to you how many times I reread this comment. Because I can't. Because I lost count. :{ I had totally let you off the hook and then you whip this out and I am at a bit of a loss, my goodness. D:

I've tried my best to come up with a way to express my feelings regarding this comment without sounding like an asshole, but as I think we're the last ones here, I'm not going to bother:

For all of the other amazing things you said, I am inexpressibly thrilled with your comments about the plot progression. You've described with shocking precision the goals I hoped to meet with Country Fried. Like, down to the fucking letter. When I decided to write a fic for Jae's Christmas present, I set out to write what I most wanted to read, but could never find: A story that works Nick/Ellis organically into the narrative of the game itself, utilizing all those beloved tropes, but with believable adult characters and emotionally realistic development. I didn't want an experimental couture gown, I wanted a nicely tailored, classic little black dress. To be honest, I've never been certain that I could pull it off. While the feedback I've received has been immensely flattering, my dearest secret wish was for someone to really see the formula behind it, but praise the tailoring and construction. Now that someone has, I want to frame it and hang it on my wall forever.

Of course, I never meant for the fic to break 15,000 words or ever see the other side of New Orleans. Now that I've broken into post-game territory, my original goal is quickly becoming redundant and I may well crash and burn. 8D;; Having my dearest secret wish fulfilled is both exciting and horrible, because I can't not bring it to the ending I have in mind and the pressure is enormous. On the other hand, it provides even more motivation to carefully examine what I'm doing with the story out on my own. So! That's two favors I owe you, Ms Jaenea.

BTW: Once I have a full rough of chapter six, I'm going to post it in a flocked Dreamwidth entry, since only you, Anna, and Jae are on the list. When I do, please feel free to offer any criticism you want. -O- I will need it.