2014: The Good, the Bad, and the Fic
So I made the mistake of looking at my wordcount for the year (273,807, some choices were made), and after seeing that....pretty hefty number I figured why not do one of these to commemorate my (well, half my, thanks miz!) obsession for the year. This is definitely the most I've written in years, so why not?
wanna be your left hand man :: (Zayn/Niall, 24K) American College AU, Artist/English Major Zayn and Scenester Musician Niall. This is the only thing I wrote myself this year, and it was a weird fugue state - written in one weekend when I was originally planning on working on a Niall/Tswift/Haylor fic (which is sadly still languishing in my gdocs). It's one of those stories that are weirdly personal, so I can't really look back on it objectively. I do wish I could go back and add in a little more though - the whole thing is so insular so I feel like I didn't get enough of a chance to explore Harry, Louis, and Liam within this universe.
nevada's fault :: (Zayn/Niall, 34K) written with my other monster head, irishmizzy. This fic - hilariously, this was meant to be a short one-off we were going to do before working on what has now become our Big Bang - 34K, a long weekend due to snow, and one Friends reference later, this truth or dare accidental marriage fic happened. It was so much fun to write, and the reception for it has been so amazing! I just wish we had known ahead of time that while in Vegas, Zayn's likes include DJing and finger banging the air.
emotional knapsack :: (Harry/Niall, 64K) another irishmizzy co-write! (just...assume everything is from this point) There are no words to explain this fic...I think it might be my favorite fic writing experience of the year? I'm incredibly lucky that Miz took me saying one day "I'd be so into Narry postal servicing an album" and ran with it fully along with me in this Narry going solo together adventure - this really contains some of our favorite things, and just plotting everything out, arcing it over a few months and trying to create a fully realized universe we were so into (Lilo as business partners, Zerrie all babied up, etc) was so much fun it's honestly a highlight of my year. This really was a labor of love we did for ourselves, so the overwhelming reception we've received just means so, so, so much and is incredibly surprising. We have some of the things people have done inspired by the fic in the end notes, but I would be remiss to not mention at least a couple, such as what niallold did here, or the seriously mind-blowing video niallar did here - they deserve all the likes in the world for their talent! <3
just hit record :: (Zayn/Harry, 21K) by Me. With Irishmizzy. The original idea of this fic is...very far from where it ended up. Harry convinces Zayn to make a sex tape. That's it, that's the fic. Bangfest 2014. Lol, I feel like I'm discrediting it but that is not my intention, because writing a Zarry canon fic is incredibly delicate (and prone to angst), and I hope we did it at least some semblance of justice. Also, there was a lot of banging.
delivery entrance to narnia :: (Zayn/Niall, 46K) w/ that Irishmizzy. Do you ever think: what if Zayn was struck by lightning during the WWA show in Bern and developed super powers specific to each band member? If the answer is yes, then this is the fic for you! To be honest, I think that if Emo Knap hadn't happened, this would be my fave collab with Miz for the year - above all else, this is an OT5 fic - each member gets their own POV and it's really about their bond, not just relative to Zayn but with each other as well. Idk, idk, it just made me feel a lot of emotions at the time. Remember feelings? (I have them every day.) Augh, this band has ruined my life.
sting's pen :: (Harry/Niall, 7K) yep, irishmizzy again. Haha, I feel like I should have grouped all of the Emotional Knapsack universe together but this is in chronological order, so. This...this was literally a "haha, what if Harry met Sting and wanted to try 'tantric sex'?, oh wait this doesn't fit within the emo knap sequel, let's write it anyway!" At the time, we were about to start actually writing the sequel, and this was a super fun way to get back into that universe. Also: STYNGLAN. I don't know, it made us laugh.
the mad ones (pool party remix) :: (Harry/Niall, 19K) uh huh, her. Written for the 1D minibang! I cannot even begin to describe the journey this fic went on, but I'm really glad it turned out how it did - it's quiet, and I like that. This is another that's more OT5 - what if they took a last hurrah road trip together before starting off on the next phase of their lives? (The amount of tears I cried over Liam proposing to Sophia in this is untoward and I should be ashamed of myself, tbh.) Also, I'm ngl, beautiful Harry Styles reading On the Road on a road trip makes me a really happy person, because that's how I am and no, I do not want to be adopted out of the wretch orphanage, thank you very much.
way, no way :: (Harry/Niall, 57K) along with my counsel, irishmizzy, esq. The actual sequel to Emotional Knapsack. The way the first one ended, it was always meant to continue; at least, as far as we were concerned. Of anything this year, I think this is the fic I worried over/worry over the most, and I continue to hope that we were able to create a satisfying continuation of something we both really love and have so much fun with. I don't think anything else I say would be remotely coherent.
...I'm quite worried for what 2015 will bring.
