#whoops can’t help that I’m surrounded by amazing writers and artists.

[tornoleander]

Sssnek BOI in your Cabinet (here to steal ur gender)

Agh he’s soooo much fun. >:D from AU by @spinjitsuburst -all design credit to them!

[entrenous88]

Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 favorite works you’ve created this year (fics, art, edits, etc!) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you’ve brought into the world in 2017. tag as many writers/artists/etc as you want (fan or original!) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works.

Tagged by @acommonanomaly​ and also by @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels -- thank you both!

Oh man, I had this freeze-up moment when thought, “But did I post five fics this past year?”  Good news: I DID!  Also, you can really see when I began taking my fiction class and started focusing almost entirely on my original writing, whoops.  jsyk, I have been continuing to write fic, but wrapping up/polishing/posting hasn’t been happening lately. 

ANYWAY, ON TO THE LIST.  I actually really like all of the stories that I put up on AO3, but for the sake of the meme, consider this ordering indicative of how pleased I am with them (#1 being tops, etc.):

1.  Doubt You More (Pinto, Star Trek RPF, Explicit), 25,462 words. 

Maybe Zach has got Chris over a barrel where Chris's debt is concerned.  But sooner or later, Zach will have to see that he can't make Chris do every little thing that he wants.   The second story in the Fiction Romance series, featuring mob boss Zach and stressed-out high-achieving undergrad and reluctant rent boy Chris.

Mafia AU/Rent Boy AU!  This is the second story in my Fiction Romance series.  Doubt You More really let me tease out the dynamic between Chris and Zach and get further into Chris’s head, which is the kind of thing I love.  At times I think I should have turned FR into an original novel; I’ve probably let it take up too much of my mental landscape and spent too much time tweaking references and weaving in narrative threads.  But I’ve had really lovely interactions because of this story and so that part of the process has been a pleasure.  Heed the warnings and tags on this one if you haven’t read it and you decide to give it a look-see. 

2.  Take a Bite of My Heart Tonight (McKirk, Star Trek AOS, Teen), 26,598 words. 

Jim Kirk and Leonard McCoy get off on the wrong foot as soon as they meet.  So if Jim wants another shot with that gorgeous but grumpy veterinarian, he had better get his hands on some pets who need vet appointments, right?

Veterinarian AU!   I had a great time writing this one; I really like working in a variety of pairings in a given fandom, but for a variety of reasons I don’t branch out much in Star Trek.  So it was a ton of fun to explore McKirk, even if it was in an AU guise, and I so loved exploring Jim’s friendships with Gaila and Uhura. And Take a Bite of My Heart Tonight is one of those stories where I really sold myself on the pairing as I wrote the story; it’s always fun to fall in love with the whole concept of the two characters together as they’re falling for each other in the narrative.

3.  Susceptible (Spirk, Star Trek AOS, Teen), 8,352 words 

Spock drew himself up, clasping his hands behind his back.   "Captain Kirk, permit me to state the facts.  Your eyes have become glassy, you are not fully attuned to your surroundings, and, as I can attest because we recently touched hands, your palms have begun to perspire."  "Yikes," Jim muttered, running his fingers through his hair.  "You sure know how to make a guy feel good, Spock."

OR, Spock has a science conference to attend, Jim is a crabby patient who's apt to wander off if he's not watched like a hawk, and there's always an alien equivalent to ginger ale.   With bonus head rubs and accidental feelings!

Sick fic!  I can’t help it, frands; I love reading and writing sick fic, and for some reason Jim and Spock lend themselves so well to the trope in my imaginings.  This story is perhaps a little extended for a fluff scenario, but what the hell -- it gave me lots of chances to write feverish and goofy Jim and helplessly devoted Spock!

4.  Mix It Up (Pinto, Star Trek RPF, Mature), 5,881 words 

Whenever Zach tries to focus on the good stuff and remember this is what Chris wants, he can't ignore the whisper inside his mind that tells him, it's what he wants for now.

Angst!  Established Relationship in Crisis!   Man, I spent a TON of time thinking about this and weaving the story together just so; I think it was fairly successful as a carefully crafted narrative, and so that part of writing the story was very positive for me.  I think I got a little bit let down after posting this one though?  It sort of stalled me on Pinto, even though I felt happy with the story.  Maybe it was the subject matter, but I don’t think readers dug the scenario as much as I did.  Or maybe my fic got a bit lost in the rush of works all shared during Pinto de Mayo -- which, having a pile of fics posted was absolutely the whole point of everyone celebrating a fandom milestone together, of course!  But with a small fandom, maybe it overloaded readers and writers so that we didn’t have the energy to give all the individual works attention?  Hard to say. and I don’t totally know how other writers/readers felt about it at the time.  At any rate, I enjoyed creating little parallel moments and connecting images and writing a different sort of take on Zach and Chris, so it’s definitely a story I’m proud of overall. 

5.  Pair Up (Pinto, Star Trek RPF), Teen, 1,960 words 

If Zach had spotted this version of Chris P. at the mall back home?   He'd have trailed him down the concourse a couple of shops behind, trying to look absorbed in his phone and his smoothie while the whole time willing that super-hot guy to turn around and notice him once, just once.

Summer Camp AU!  This was part of a spate of Pinto prompt fills, but it was the only one that was long enough to qualify as “fic” rather than ficlet, so I tossed it up on AO3.  If I had a ton more time, I may have tried to spin the story out into a longer fic.  For a variety of reasons it’s going to remain a stand-alone, though I’d be happy to talk headcanons about it at some point (summer camp setting + teen Pinto =  my heart skipping a beat).

I’m going to tag @semperama, @rabidchild67, @elisa-pie, @pensive-refrain, @onedamnminuteadmiral, @plaidshirtjimkirk, @gracerene09, and absolutely any other fan creators who want to do this thing!  Tag me if you do it so I can see!