thefourthvine: Yuletide: Reveal!

Keep Hoping Machine Running (

thefourthvine) wrote,
@ 2013-01-01 11:02 am UTC

Entry tags:

yuletide

Yuletide: Reveal!

I wrote one story for Yuletide 2012, for the doughty

shrift, who gave me the best prompts in the world.

This Side of Paradise (17031 words) by thefourthvine
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Losers (2010)
Rating: Explicit
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Carlos "Cougar" Alvarez/Jake Jensen
Summary:

"I'm a good boyfriend," Cougar said.

I tell you what: in the planning stages, this story seemed like it would be fun and short, but it really only delivered on the fun front. I blame Jensen. Key lesson learned this Yuletide: If you want to write a Yuletide story that's less than 10k, don't use the motormouth's point of view. Use the PoV of the laconic guy with the sarcastic eyebrows. I mean, Cougar doesn't go into lengthy digressions about rude Canadians and the etiquette of three-ways and Star Trek.

And speaking of geeky movies, I totally salute

thehoyden and

frostfire for pointing out, during my Fucking Chris Evans Is in Fucking Everything breakdown, that he's never been in Star Trek. (And I salute

frostfire for this conversation via IM while I was deep in the middle of writing this:

Frostfire: Hi! How are you?
Me: WEEPING BECAUSE SPOCK.
Frostfire: Did you watch Wrath of Khan again?
Me: DANTE'S PRAYER.
Frostfire: Awwwwwww.

Fandom: the place where people will always understand when you're sobbing incoherently about how he TOUCHES HIS CHAIR OH GOD.)

So, anyway. This story, thanks to Why Jake Can't Shut Up Jensen, became so long that I was in the painful position of not even being able to complain on Twitter about how long it was, because that might de-anon me. But it was a barrel of fun to write, for real.

And Nestra, Norah, Queue, and thehoyden were heroes of Yuletide for beta-reading this with such aplomb. Thanks, guys! Next year, I will try for shorter, and also way fewer run-on sentences. I swear.

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	no subject kayim 2013-01-01 07:18 pm UTC (link)
	This one is on my "must-read-when-I-get-time" list. But now I know it's yours, I might just have to make time :) (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject thefourthvine 2013-01-02 05:17 am UTC (link)
	Apparently you did, and I thank you! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject sasha_feather 2013-01-01 07:29 pm UTC (link)
	OMG I loved this story! It was great! I appreciated that it had a non-angsty, funny coming-out narrative. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject thefourthvine 2013-01-02 05:18 am UTC (link)
	Thank you! I'm glad you liked that, since I tend to skew heavily towards non-angsty coming out experiences. (Partly, that's because my own coming out was approximately as angsty as your average stand-up comedy routine, and partly it's just more fun for me that way.) (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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chalcopyrite
2013-01-01 07:34 pm UTC (link)

Ooh, perfect timing! While writing and editing my exchange stories, I tripped and fell and accidentally The Losers (because what you need when writing in two related fandoms is a third, completely different, new fandom crush), and not being in the fandom, I didn't know where to look for good stuff. I look forward to this!

(I can read it when I am procrastinating from editing *another* story in no way related.... /o\)

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thefourthvine
2013-01-02 05:19 am UTC (link)

But isn't that always WHEN you get the new fandom crush, when you don't have time and seriously are like NO NO NO BACK, making the sign of the cross and waving garlic in the new fandom's face? Or maybe that's just me.

And good news: there's actually a fair amount of good Losers stories out there, which is surprising given that it's a Yuletide fandom. So, hey, there's a LOT to read while you're procrastinating. Um. Yay?

(Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	Nestra, Norah, Queue, thehoyden lemon_badgeress 2013-01-01 07:53 pm UTC (link)
	Psssssssst. Pssssssssst. Next year, I will try for [...] way fewer run-on sentences. I swear. <----this is actually a lie (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 2 comments) (Show 2 comments)

	Re: Nestra, Norah, Queue, thehoyden thefourthvine 2013-01-02 05:20 am UTC (link)
	I REALLY WILL TRY. I didn't say I'd SUCCEED. (Although I might! After years of patient editing from Q, I have really almost nearly weaned myself off my semicolon dependency.) (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Expand) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

Re: Nestra, Norah, Queue, thehoyden -

lemon_badgeress, 2013-01-02 07:41 am UTC (Expand)

	no subject umbo 2013-01-01 07:53 pm UTC (link)
	I loved that story! (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject thefourthvine 2013-01-02 05:21 am UTC (link)
	beaming face (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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paceus
2013-01-01 08:08 pm UTC (link)

Hee, I read this post and then glanced back to the headers to see how many words there were, exactly. And my eyes widened. :D

I find motormouths easier to write, though. It feels more satisfying to write hundreds of words in an hour than being in agony for an hour, only to produce twenty words. I've found that to write a story where X, Y and Z happen, a laconic character might take thousands of words less to tell it, but I'd still be writing and thinking pretty much the same time as with a verbose character.

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thefourthvine
2013-01-02 05:23 am UTC (link)

My eyes spent a lot of time getting wider and wider. I passed the 10k mark! And then I passed my previous Yuletide word count record! AND I WAS STILL WRITING. It was terrifying.

And that was actually my reasoning for picking Jensen as the PoV character: that motormouths are easier to write, because any time you can't figure out what to say next you can just have them do lines from Monty Python or whatever. But THERE IS A DOWN SIDE, as I learned to my cost.

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	no subject katemonkey 2013-01-01 08:12 pm UTC (link)
	Oh heavens! It was an utterly fabulous story, and I am so glad that it exists. And, yeah, Jensen is a bit of a pain when it comes to his point of view, because good lord, boy, shut up! (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject thefourthvine 2013-01-02 05:23 am UTC (link)
	To be fair, though, I think everyone feels that way about him most of the time. "We love you, but SHUT UP." (And thank you! I'm glad you liked it.) (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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sophisted
2013-01-01 08:28 pm UTC (link)

I would beg you to write more, but I know you probably don't have the time except to do it once a year. Even when I don't know the fandom, your fics are always extremely engaging. Just the way your write the characters, they always sound so real. Also, I watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang because of your fic, and it's become one of my favorite movies. ;) If you ever thought to write original fiction, I would be all over it in a heartbeat, just so you know.

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thefourthvine
2013-01-02 05:25 am UTC (link)

Actually, this year I have written a surprising amount! Just. It's all been hockey RPF, except for Yuletide. But I did write more than 100k words of hockey RPF, 60k of which are actually posted. So - yay? Yeah, I know: hockey RPF. (BUT HOCKEY IS REALLY GREAT OKAY.)

And thank you so much! I don't know that I have the kind of writing that ports to original fiction, but it's good to know you'd be on the list of potential readers if I decided to give it a try.

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lemon_badgeress, 2013-01-02 07:45 am UTC (Expand)

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thefourthvine, 2013-01-02 04:39 pm UTC (Expand)

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lemon_badgeress, 2013-01-03 01:14 am UTC (Expand)

	no subject veronamay 2013-01-01 09:01 pm UTC (link)
	Fuck Chris Evans, seriously. I'm on the tail end of a similar breakdown and that guy is just Not Playing Fair. Looking forward to reading this! My love for Cougar/Jensen cannot be textually rendered. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 4 comments) (Show 4 comments)

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thefourthvine
2013-01-02 05:28 am UTC (link)

Originally, I had the entire date section written out with Cougar taking Jensen to see Captain America and the Avengers. I even had MEANINGFUL PARALLELS and DISCUSSION arising from that. And then I was going through the IMDb for some reason and I went: OH FUCK.

Much panicked emailing of betas ensued, and we switched it to Star Trek, which I actually think works better on every level. But for a few days there I was like, HOW CAN THERE BE ONLY ONE ACTOR IN ALL OF HOLLYWOOD? HIRE SOMEONE ELSE, YOU FUCKERS. I wanted to start a website: Reasons Not to Hire Chris Evans. (1. Seriously, we can only take so much. 2. You're setting unrealistic expectations for abs and pecs. 3. How are we supposed to write crossovers when EVERY CHARACTER is played by Chris Evans? 4. DID I MENTION WE CAN ONLY TAKE SO MUCH?)

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veronamay, 2013-01-02 09:29 am UTC (Expand)

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thefourthvine, 2013-01-02 04:43 pm UTC (Expand)

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veronamay, 2013-01-02 10:25 pm UTC (Expand)

	no subject fairestcat 2013-01-01 09:02 pm UTC (link)
	I LOVE that story. Also, of COURSE you wrote that fic. As soon as I saw the reveal I went, "really, I should have known!" (Reply to this) (Thread) (Expand) (Hide 4 comments) (Show 4 comments)

	no subject fanofall 2013-01-01 09:57 pm UTC (link)
	RIGHT?! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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thefourthvine, 2013-01-02 05:29 am UTC (Expand)

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thefourthvine, 2013-01-02 05:54 am UTC (Expand)

	no subject shrift 2013-01-01 09:43 pm UTC (link)
	OH HEY LOOK AT THAT I THINK I WON YULETIDE \o/ (Reply to this) (Thread) (Expand) (Hide 3 comments) (Show 3 comments)

	no subject nestra 2013-01-01 11:56 pm UTC (link)
	I kept the secret! And seriously, my beta help consisted of her saying "Do you think shrift would like a story where they pretend to be boyfriends on a tropical island?" and me saying "YES, YES SHE WOULD." (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Expand) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

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shrift, 2013-01-02 03:22 am UTC (Expand)

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thefourthvine, 2013-01-02 05:32 am UTC (Expand)

	no subject fanofall 2013-01-01 09:57 pm UTC (link)
	Oh my god of COURSE you wrote that. I LOVED EVERY WORD OF IT, and I cannot believe I didn't guess it was you. I knew it was someone I knew, but I was not able to narrow it down further... (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject thefourthvine 2013-01-02 05:33 am UTC (link)
	I sort of thought the INTENSE SPOCK FEELINGS would be a dead giveaway, but apparently not? I'm glad you liked it. YAY! Thank you! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject tevere 2013-01-01 10:04 pm UTC (link)
	I don't know The Losers! I should remedy that, clearly. I actually thought you'd written the Sports Night one! (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject thefourthvine 2013-01-02 05:34 am UTC (link)
	OH GOD DON'T WATCH IT WITHOUT EMAILING ME FIRST (thefourthvine at gmail). There are some spoilers you REALLY NEED, let me just say. Also: I KNEW IT. I KNEW IT. I READ YOUR STORY AND KNEW KNEW KNEW THAT YOU HAD WRITTEN IT. This is my smug forever face! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject msilverstar 2013-01-01 11:34 pm UTC (link)
	Love that fic, it was perfect Jensen! (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject thefourthvine 2013-01-02 05:34 am UTC (link)
	beaming face Yay! Thank you! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject dorinda 2013-01-02 01:13 am UTC (link)
	Frostfire: Hi! How are you? Me: WEEPING BECAUSE SPOCK. Frostfire: Did you watch Wrath of Khan again? Me: DANTE'S PRAYER. I have been on your end of that exact same conversation! I have to be careful when I watch that vid--right before leaving for work, for instance? BAD TIME. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 3 comments) (Show 3 comments)

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thefourthvine
2013-01-02 05:38 am UTC (link)

That vid should come with some kind of built-in test you have to complete in order to watch it. "Are you somewhere it's okay to cry? Are you feeling reasonably well? Are you going to have to be a functional human being any time in the next hour?" Because, yeah, it is DANGEROUS. I don't think I have another vid in my entire collection that can reduce me to a puddle of weepiness as quickly and effectively as that one.

I mean. HE TOUCHES SPOCK'S CHAIR. How am I supposed to deal with that?

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thefourthvine, 2013-01-02 04:42 pm UTC (Expand)

	no subject lorax 2013-01-02 04:18 am UTC (link)
	I have that one on my to-read list! And I am RIGHT WITH YOU on the "not being able to complain in public because it might out me" thing. I did that lengthwise on Yuletide AND another exchange this year. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject thefourthvine 2013-01-02 05:39 am UTC (link)
	I salute you! We happy few, we band of people who write way over the minimum for Yuletide! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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out_there
2013-01-03 12:06 pm UTC (link)

Dude! *high five*

Your story does deserve the awesome honour of "fandom I can't really remember but man, that plot idea sounds awesome and the first paragraph reads so well, I have to save this story to read later and eventually leave feedback".

...I haven't finished reading and so haven't left feedback, but it's still rare for me to commit to read something where I think of it as "Um, that action show that had the dad from Supernatural in it".

(Reply to this)

This Is Lovely, But...

(Anonymous)
2013-03-17 10:43 pm UTC (link)

I actually read through this story and enjoyed and now maybe want to read more fanfic of it (pretty much all of my fandoms have come through wandering onto a cool fanfic) but that isn't why I'm writing this.

I'm writing this because I think you're quite interesting (pretty cool? certainly awesome?) and being the person I am, I wanted to see if I could get you to read (or if you've already read) Closer by rainjoyswriting. It includes humour, banter, something that's mostly magic but involves a lot of science, and it is my very favourite slash romance fanfic I've ever read, even though it's incomplete and likely to stay that way. And I am not normally a romantic person. It does have one of your squicks (serious power imbalances, I did my research). That's actually one of my personal squicks as well - but I started reading Closer and loved it. It helps that the story actually addresses the issue and does it in a serious way that makes you believe that a relationship between the two characters is actually plausible.

I'd ask you to give it a chance. Just the first chapter. Which is at http://rainjoyswriting.livejournal.com/732.html I understand if you don't want to waste your time on something you can't be sure will be good, so if you don't intend to read it, please just tell me. I'll probably offer up other stories I like in an attempt to convince you I have good taste - unless you ask me to back off, in which case of course I will.

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Re: This Is Lovely, But...

thefourthvine
2013-03-31 07:05 am UTC (link)

Oh man. Okay, I tried! I did! And it's not that I distrust your taste or dislike getting random recs. (I love getting random recs!) But I just - am SERIOUSLY not into abandoned works in progress. I avoid WiPs religiously even if I'm sure they'll be finished. (I have a script that warns me for works in progress on the AO3, even, in case I accidentally click and don't check.) That's for a variety of reasons, but mostly because a) the experience of reading a WiP is pretty different than reading the same story once it's finished and b) lots of WiPs aren't finished, and it drives me nuts when I read stories that aren't finished.

And obviously abandoned WiPs are the extreme version of part b). And I tried, I totally opened the window and stared at this one, but I just couldn't go into it knowing it would never be finished. SORRY.

But thanks for the compliment to my story, and for wanting to share something you love with me!

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Re: This Is Lovely, But... - (Anonymous), 2013-04-02 01:40 am UTC (Expand)

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