teleidoplex

Reveals are up! So now I can post links to what I wrote and talk about the process, etc.

I wasn't going to do Yuletide this year, because I really wanted to finish the first draft of Chiaroscuro, but then I saw that someone had requested fic for Castle of Deception, which is an old Bard's Tale (pc game) tie-in novel by Mercedes Lackey and Josepha Sherman. It introduces one of my longstanding favorite characters (who... may have been the template for Jessmindara Duskwalker >.> ), the Dark Elf Bard, Naitachal.

Don't judge.

So I signed up, my recipient ended up asking for just about EVERYTHING I LOVED ABOUT THOSE BOOKS, and I not only ended up writing almost 9k of fic for her, but I'm working on two sequels. Yeah... I got ravaged by a rampaging horde of plotbunnies.

If you're interested in reading plotty fix-it elfporn for a fandom you've never read (but don't _really_ need to have), feel free to check it out here:

Death and the Dancing Girl
Castle of Deception - Mercedes Lackey and Josepha Sherman
Naitachal/Eliathanis, NC-17, 8.9k words

So, I'm sitting there on December 23rd, polishing up my fic and getting antsy for Yuletide to start, and I get an email from the organizer. A pinch hit had gone out in early December for Community. I had only just finished mainlining the entire three seasons on Hulu, so I offered to write for it, but someone beat me out. Turns out, that second someone had _also_ defaulted, and could I possibly still write something?

I look at the clock. I have 24 hours, give or take. I look at my to-do list. I have Allison's novel to edit, Chia to finish, a second CoD fic I've already started, and two days off from work.

Sure! I say. Because that is the crazy Yuletide spirit. Over the next day, I proceed to write in script form an entire episode of Community. I post that to beat deadline, and I spend the 24th, right up to deadline, adding dialogue tags and action descriptions. I beat the archive opening by about 5 minutes. I accidentally call Dean Pelton 'Dean Pelham' in the first line, which I don't discover for a few days, but that was my only major 'doh~!' moment.

I'm really glad I ended up doing this, because while I love what I did for my official giftfic, I knew it was a small fandom and wouldn't get many hits beyond my recipient. The last-minute Community fic I wrote ended up being a blowout hit (thanks in large part to the size of the fandom). I got hits! I got Kudos! I got enthusiastic comments! It filled that need for acknowledgement that -- I don't care how altruistic you are -- we all crave at Yuletide.

So if you want to go read that one, you can check it out here:

Survey of Medieval History
Community
Ensemble, Gen, 6.9k words