femslash prompts

I've been quiet for the past few weeks because 1) I got carried away with seasonsofdrabbles and wrote a fair amount of things even beyond my assignment, so eager was I to dip my metaphorical pen into the comforting ink of drabbling; and 2) I've been toiling away at The Largest Fic I've Ever Written (And It's For A Fandom Of About Three People Altogether). Which doesn't sound like it's a happy activity given the title of this post but it is!!

Sure, sometimes I think "what the fuck possessed me to write so much about a random sistercest (!)[*] pairing and why can't I be normal and just post it already??" but also.

Friends.

It's so good.

It's everything I want in fic. It has drama and funny moments and really angsty ones and all the sisters get to be in the spotlight and there's also a fun little structure stratagem related to the title andandand--! I'm excited to share this with the two people who will care about it, I am. I'm excited about reliving these scenes and detailing them where they need a little more polish and whatnot. I'm excited about the prospect of breaking 70-80k words (knowing there are two follow-up oneshots to it that provide alternative endings; one of them I've written, the other I intend to write by the time I'm done rewriting the current longfic). I am simply EXCITED! Happiness! Hurrah! And you know what??? Yesterday I finally hit half-point! Which means there's been progress -- of course there's been progress, I have tangible 150 pages of it, a whole mass of paper I can hold in between my finger and my thumb and it FEELS. SO. GOOD.

Part of it is because this story goes beyond my usual skill level, I guess. There's a main ship, yes, and there's the suggestion of a secondary one as well, a trio, and there's also all the gen stuff that affects the other characters -- it's an ensemble, I mean, and I've never really been able to tackle an ensemble before, I'm not that kind of writer. Or I wasn't! It feels wonderful to do something different and do it successfully. At least I think it's successful. It certainly matches the kind of shit I like to read (even if I don't actually read all that much longfic, heh; with books, then yes) so that's a win.

On top of that, I'm also happy because the same tiny fandom will see an influx of my work in a near future. There's this, then the oneshot alternative ending, then the (as of yet unwritten) other oneshot alternative ending, then there's the gen oneshot that's been sitting all prim and proper and waiting to get posted when I'm done rewriting the long fic AND THEN there's also a ~10k word fic that I have to hold on to until an amnesty round comes by on femslashfete if I manage to revise and type it up in time. And!! Idk, it feels nice to be able to thrust all this Garvey-flavoured glee onto unsuspecting passers-by.

It reminds me of the joy of having some Really Fucking Cool Idea when running an RPG and holding on to it for months on end until it can finally be brought to the table for the players to enjoy. I remember discussing game-related stuff with the girls and they'd always be amazed at how I'd contain myself and stay quiet about awesome moments for ages if I had to, only to make sure their enjoyment wouldn't be ruined by any spoilers. I don't know!! There's a rush of pleasure to it, biding your time, springing on someone with Awesome craic Shit and basking in the fact that You Made It Happen. Better yet if they enjoy it -- and my players usually did :)

ANYWAY. Enthusiasm documented, hit post.


[*] Nothing wrong with sistercest! One of the reasons I'm active in fandom today is because of one such pairing. Apparently, I am very much not immune to that sort of dynamic. What's surprising here is more the breadth of the project, I suppose, as well as knowing that not many other people share the same interest in this sort of ship. Truly writing for myself, here -- and having the time of my fucking life! :)