Self-rec time! What are your favorite five fics that you've written and why? After replying to this ask, feel free pass on to five other writers to spread the love. 💗
Okay so I talked to quill about this on discord but this ask made me go back and read ALL my fics in chronological order and tbh I was surprised at how I felt about some of them. (Some I found out I liked better than I thought I would and then I found out one I absolutely hate lol) It was a fun journey. Thank you so much quill for asking this and giving me a new perspective on things.
Since I have art for each fic of my top 5 I'll put some pics in to help give a visual. Here are my picks:
5. The Drunk Leading the Blind
The story of Enjolras being maced at a protest and losing his sight, so Grantaire volunteers to take care of him. Most people who know about my writing know about this one, a juanjoltaire classic. I'm honestly surprised that it made the list and had I done the list without rereading, it probably would have made it. My brain was like "what about that stupid scene that's in it" and then upon rereading I find out the thing I was remembering was apparently edited out before publishing and not even in it so oops. Memory is not reliable. It turns out it's still cute, flows nicely, and I still enjoy how I wrote things in a way that limits the way we understand things, like for example the dance club scene (if you know, you know.) I like how the reader is kept in the dark with Enjolras so to speak, and I always enjoy a flustered Enj trying to overcome obstacles thrown in his way.
My take on Greek mythology, the Enjoltaire version of Pygmalion and Galatea. I've always loved What Fine Marble, and I think one of the main reasons it isn't higher is because so much of it is a Grantaire solo piece, rather than having a lot for Enj to do. Rereading it now it's main strengths are the poetic prose, which feels much different than a lot of my other pieces. I had to rely a lot on description because there is a lot less dialogue, with Enjolras spending most of the fic as a statue. Despite the fact that it isn't like...super Les Mis-y thematically, I think it's still really well done and rereading the comments I got when I first published it is really heartwarming. I'm really glad it resonated with people.
Priest Enjolras has to figure out what to do when Witch Grantaire moves into his village and starts to enchant the villagers with his chocolate. Now now now you might say that's not fair it's not finished yet, well I'm working on writing the last part now so I at least know how it ends. You also might say this is recency bias but let me just say, I reread Not So Happy Family which is the most recent fic before this one and man I'm telling you that is the worst thing I've ever written (which is what I found out upon rereading) and I am so sorry that even exists, so I don't think recency bias really factors in (I almost wish I could delete that one but I'm not a deleting kind of person.) Anyway, I really really vibe with Divine Chocolate as someone who loves the priest aesthetic, the idea of being corrupted, the struggle with religion which I certainly went through growing up (I am not religious now and haven't been for 2/3 of my life but it helps to still remember some of those feelings when writing.) I'm really excited for the ending and I really hope more people read this one because I'm really proud of it. I hope people don't judge me by my last fic lol.
This one is really special to me. The story of Grantaire losing ten years of memories due to a drunken accident and trying to break his alcohol addiction while trying to rediscover who he is. I wrote this in a haze of depression and anxiety where I felt like the only escape was writing and tbh I think it was a really good outlet for me to escape to. I had the help of a few people including my doctor brother to help me out with all the medical research. I also really like that this is a story about people in their thirties (written by someone in their thirties) and it feels like something that isn't common for Enjoltaire, I guess. In most of the fandom and my other fics it's always students and such because that's what they are in the source material but I liked seeing them a bit older and in a different stage of life.
1. The Corinthe School for Boys
This comes at absolutely no surprise to me. My goat, my heart fic. Hitting it's 10th anniversary this year. The story of Enjolras going to fancy private boarding school with new boy Grantaire as his roommate. When I starting posting the first chaps, I got hate for it. People didn't understand why I made Enjolras bratty but what they didn't get was this was going to be a long fic (longest I've ever written at 125k) and was going to be about how Enjolras came to be a good person and the person that we know him as. I don't think Enjolras needs to be a perfect person in every fic, and certainly a story without character development would be bland. I'm really proud of this one and as many found out at the time, it's the one that truly mirrors my own school experience. A lot of truth went into that fic. Plenty of it is made up, sure, but sometimes writing what you know can really make something shine. Rereading it, I was inspired to perhaps make some more art for it, because I loved it and miss that fic. Perhaps I will manage to do that. I have dreams of making a 10th anniversary illustrated version of the fic in a little pdf or something, who knows.
Anyway thank you if you read this. I hope that if you saw a fic you haven't read before you might be interested in reading it, or might return to one you did enjoy. Thank you again to quill for sending me on this journey because it was really helpful for me to see my past and inspiring me to keep going. I had been telling myself that Divine Chocolate needs to be my last one but I know that I can't really stay away. Fics are too fun.
