#otby

[stillnotapepper-blog]

Fanfic Ask Meme

I was tagged by @memorizingthedigitsofpi​, @grapehyasynth​ and @unbreakablejemmasimmons​

3 fanfics with the most comments:

A Few Tricks Up My Sleeve (AFTUMS), the Fitz-as-a-birthday-magician/Jemma-has-a-kids-science-show AU (and kitchen-sink tropefest) you really never needed                                

Oh To Be Young (OTBY), a since-canonballed version of how FitzSimmons might have become friends at the Academy, addresses their personal codes re: killing bad guys who are just doing their job, headcanons for Fitz’s dress style, love of monkeys, the DWARFs, why he was too chicken to ask Jemma out, bullying, pranks, Academy timeline, all sorts of stuff.            

And a Happy Nude Year (AAHNY), sequel to A Kiss-mas Story, 5x+1 fic where Fitz and Jemma navigate their brand-new romantic relationship while they’re apart for the holidays.

3 fanfics with the most kudos:

OTBY

A Kiss-mas Story, mistletoe-based 5x+1 fluff fest written as part of the Secret Santa exchange for @historygirlbites​                                  

AFTUMS

Your oldest fanfic:

The Note, based on the persistent plot bunny that Jemma wrote Fitz a love confession on the napkin she put in the sandwich.  You know, the sandwich that Ward threw away.                                  

Your latest fanfic:

Falling for You, a FitzSimmons Skydiving AU                                 

Your proudest fanfic:

I mean, everyone complains about having to pick, because.  Yeah.  How. But I’d have to go with

Green, because it was the first time I felt like I was doing an okay job and not just fumbling around

or Gone Soft, because it actually had a plot and I did everything I meant to do in it

Your longest fanfic:

AFTUMS, comin’ in hot at 70912 words

3 fanfics with the most hits/views:

Same as the first answer: AFTUMS, OTBY, and AAHNY

3 fanfics with the most bookmarks/follow:

OTBY, Gone Soft, and AFTUMS

Top 3 crossover fics:

Never written a crossover fic in the sense that FitzSimmons would interact with the characters from a different show or movie, but I did include several parallels and took inspiration from a movie in

Out of the Lab-yrinth, where FitzSimmons spend an adventurous night running around the city after watching Jim Henson’s Labyrinth (features thirsty!Jemma)

Your favourite character to write in a fanfic:

Fiiiiiiiitz  (no surprises there).  Obviously I adore FitzSimmons both, and I do like writing Jemma because she’s super complex and a great character, but Fitz was my first fanfic love, and I don’t see anyone taking his spot anytime soon.  

Out of the rest, I think I sound the most like Daisy in my head (not angsty Daisy, I mean sarcastic, pervy-joke Daisy, or Season 1 Skye if you want) and Hunter is always good as an outlet for irreverence.

A fic you love that is not mentioned above:

Heh, oof.  I’m tempted to be willfully obtuse and start listing other fanfickers’ works because this didn’t specify it had to be my own.  :-P

My Big Fat British Pregnancy (by Leopold Fitz), I guess, because I never expected anyone else to like it.  I mostly wrote it for me and @badscienceshenanigans​ because we would say things like BUT WHERE’S THE BODY HAIR AND FARTS WHERE’S THE POOPING-THE-BED CONCERNS (re: pregnancy fics, not just... as part of our normal conversation ok who’m I kidding we totally say this regardless of context)

Tag ten!

I rarely do memes, and the people who tagged me seem to have tagged almost everyone I know already, but @amandajoyce118, @agentverbivore, @0hcicero, @historygirlbites, @mech-bull and anyone else who hasn’t that wants to

[stillnotapepper-blog]

Fic Questions: OTBY: 8, 9, 11, 12

8. Was there anything I only learned about the fic after I had finished it? (themes, motifs, symbolism, etc)9. Did anyone in the fic surprise me by doing anything? If so, what?10. If I were to rewrite this fic, what would I change?11. Did any thing about this fic’s reception surprise me?

8. Was there anything I only learned about the fic after I had finished it? (themes, motifs, symbolism, etc)Maybe?  My beta amandajoyce118 is good at catching unintentional parallels and cool stuff like that.  So occasionally with some sections she would say “Oh, you included birds and bees in this chapter!  Cute!” and I’m like, “Huh, look at that,” or in the scene where terrible Chet and terrible Anita are breaking up, she was noting how I’d put the ending of that relationship in contrast to the dawn of FitzSimmons’ relationship, and again, that was 100% unintentional.  But outside of little things like that, I don’t think so.  I’m not very deep.

9. Did anyone in the fic surprise me by doing anything? If so, what?Yes, pretty much all the way through… I updated as I went with this fic, so I was writing, proofing, and posting daily.  Which meant a lot of my decisions were being made on the spot (although I did have a vague outline planned).  For instance:

I’d originally been planning to write FitzSimmons as academic rivals who kept running into each other until they begrudgingly made friends (but then the whole “Simmons needs a project, Fitz needs a friend” angle happened).

Herrick and Jonesy were going to be actual bullies, but I’m a weenie, and I decided it’d be fun to play around with perspective.

During the haircut/bird scene, originally nothing bad was going to happen to that bird.

After Fitz has his laundry trouble, it was going to be Simmons who finds him in the laundry room and comforts him.  But, eh.  It wasn’t the right time.

Basically the entire “unexpected” chapter just came out in a big spew and is a good example of a character doing weird crazy stuff you don’t expect.

Since I still hadn’t given Fitz a “crying in Simmons’ arms” moment, he was gonna break down right after the monkey scene, and as I was writing it, it just didn’t feel right.

Pacino was gonna die, y’all.  I let the fans decide that one, and only one person said “yeah, that monkey realistically would be dead”.  So, y’all saved Fitz’s monkey.  Hooray!

10. If I were to rewrite this fic, what would I change?Well, the main thing is I think I’d reorganize the whole thing.  OTBY was trying to be too many different stories, so honestly, I’d probably keep a lot of the stuff in it, but just redo it in three or four more focused fics that might be able to stay on message.  Like, it’s them becoming friends, and it’s a makeover story, and it’s about good vs evil, and a love story, and Fitz + monkeys, and learning to trust people, and FS getting to where they understand each other’s POVs… I just think it was too much and it felt cobbled together.On a smaller scale that doesn’t require major overhaul, though, I’d say chapter 32, which was for the FitzSimmons week prompt “unexpected” — I let Fitz jump to some wild conclusions in it and let his cockiness get the better of him… I’d meant it to be / thought it was funny?  But it just seemed to hit the wrong note with quite a few readers, so I guess I’d see what I could do there.

11. Did any thing about this fic’s reception surprise me?Um, I’m surprised I didn’t get an angry mob showing up at my door after the second kiss-hanger?  Heh.I mean, I knew I was treading some pretty stomped-on ground, ‘cause I’d read several Academy fics that shared a lot of the same headcanons, and I didn’t reinvent the wheel — MIT, Cambridge, Fitz’s family’s financials, Fitz was bullied, the whole laundry thing, his bad diet, etc etc.  So I kind of knew that I was writing something that wasn’t 100% fresh and new, even though, I wanted to do a couple things (like the haircut, or having them in a philosophy class) that I hadn’t seen much of, and one was this thing with them sniping at each other in the beginning, and just Fitz being really grumpy and distrustful of Simmons until he sees that she has access to monkeys and then he’s like, “Oh, okay, she’s all right I guess.”  So I really didn’t know if having Fitz be anti-Simmons right off the bat was gonna go over well or not, because obviously that thing of them instantly clicking over their shared loneliness love of science, it makes sense, and it’s a good headcanon, and popular.

Obviously, I didn’t expect OTBY to get the views it has, or to be recommended by folks outside my “well you’re my friend so you have to say that” circle (who are a bunch of awesome ladies and I love y’all).  It updated every day for a really long time, which is nice from the reader’s side of things, and that’s probably why most people liked it.  But whatever the reason, I’m always happy (and a little surprised) when people like my stuff.  I don’t think my reaction’ll change anytime soon.

[stillnotapepper-blog]

For the fic meme: 6 for Oh To Be Young and The Shots You Don't Take (but you can't pick Fitz because I know he's usually your favorite.)

6.  Who’s my favorite character in the fic?

But— but— you know Fitz is my favorite!  Um, okay.  I’m guessing you mean not Fitz or Simmons either?  Because obviously, if it’s not Fitz, it’s Simmons, even if I still think Simmons in OTBY was a little too selfless and mature… I mean, she’s still the one that I spent the most time on besides Fitz.  But if you meant out of my OCs, Jonesy, hands down, man.  Jonesy is so much fun to write and he’s a total idiot, but I love him.

Jonesy’s not in Shots, though.  So (assuming not Simmons, because, otherwise, Simmons) my favorite OC in Shots is probably Herrick, since again, I’ve spent more time on him.  But, also, and this is gonna sound really dumb, but I like the kid in Shots named Mack who calls everyone “gang”, because he’s loosely inspired by comedian Joe Machi and I lurv him.

Ask me a thing!