Smut Swap and Chocolate Box 2019
Apr. 28th, 2019 10:57 amForgive me Dreamwidth, for I have sinned; I have participated in TWO fanwork exchanges since my last post. So here, have a recap!
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
smutswap, always one of my favorite exchanges, just had its 2019 reveals. I worked the sign-up pretty aggressively to make sure that I had multiple matches in different fandoms, because I wanted to be surprised by my assignment; my assignment ended up being in a perennial favorite fandom of mine, Person of Interest, for one of the many, many relationships I adore in that show: Zoe Morgan/John Reese. I've written them before, in another exchange, and that fic is one of my favorite ficlets I've written, so I was excited to see if I could capture that same feeling at a longer length.
(My recipient's tags and letter made it clear that they enjoyed the same dynamic in the relationship that I do, and they had kudosed my other fic, so I was pretty sure if I did manage to capture that feeling again I'd be pleasing them as well as myself.)
I wanted to engage with the ending of the show -- I couldn't quite picture setting something during the middle of the show, with that lighter-hearted dynamic, knowing how it ended; and while writing an actual fix-it seemed beyond the scope of the exchange (and my current skill-set) a handwaved fix-it and something set post-canon felt right. I had a picture of the beginning of the fic almost immediately, and got a few hundred words in; then work got busy and I let it sit for a few weeks. When the deadline started approaching I opened it back up, got to the getting naked part, and then. . . forgot how to make porn hot? And then I began to question whether I had ever known how to make porn hot! It was distressing!
I went back and reread some of my old smutty fics. They still worked for me. So I kept plugging away, hoping I'd find that sweet spot again.
Ultimately, I think I did? And thinking back, the first Zoe/John fic I wrote developed the same way -- chugging along, then sudden conviction that I had no idea what I was doing, then reaching the end and going "Oh, yes. This. This is why I love them." I suspect it's because they're both just so reluctant to admit to having any sort of tender feelings, even to themselves. So I have to build those emotions in to their actions, rather than dialogue, which runs the risk of coming across purely mechanical in a way a declaration wouldn't.
But anyway! Here's the fic:
Title: Darkness Its Own Kingdom
Author:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
phoenixfalls
Fandom: Person of Interest
Relationship: Zoe Morgan/John Reese
Word Count: 2,607
Rating: Explicit
Tags: Post-Canon, Sex Between Friends, Body Worship, Scars, Honor Bondage, Crying During Sex
Summary:
After everything, John finds his way back to Zoe.
Link: On AO3
Before that was another of my favorite exchanges:chocolateboxcomm! I’ve been really into the CBS show FBI since it debuted in the fall – it’s a solid procedural, it’s kind of endearingly leftist in a sometimes tone-deaf but always well-intentioned way, all the actors are excellent (and have really wonderfully expressive faces) – and so I nominated it and offered it with the intention of at least treating any request if I didn’t get matched on it. And then I did match on it! Win!
My recipient had a very helpful list of tropes that they enjoyed, which included a lot of different types of platonic touch, something that I always adore. Unfortunately, I was drawing a blank on what kind of scenario I wanted for the longest time, long enough that I was running up against the deadline. And so I went through the tropes list again and spotted a couple mentions of post-apocalyptic fic, and my brain went THISTHISTHIS and I was off. I was writing it while the "polar vortex" was slamming the East Coast, and I amused myself with the thought that I was pulling the same "ripped from the headlines" thing that the show does, but with apocalypse fic. (It's a Dick Wolf show, though I like it better than I've liked any of the Law & Orders.)
This fic posed its own challenges -- as with any time I try to make a normally shippy trope gen, it was really hard avoiding any hint of shippiness while still maintaining the depth of emotion! But that's precisely what I like about making shippy tropes gen -- riding that line, portraying deep bonds and outright love that is not in any way romantic.
Title: Fling Your Soul Upon the Growing Gloom
Author:phoenixfalls
Fandom: FBI
Relationship: Maggie Bell & Omar "OA" Zidan
Word Count: 1,331
Rating: General Audiences
Tags: Post-Apocalypse, Huddling For Warmth
Summary:
Omar didn't think he'd ever get used to how quiet New York was now.
Link: On AO3
But of course, writing is only one half of the exchange experience for me -- I also received two lovely gifts in my newest fandom: Stargate! For Smut Swap, despite being an initial pinch hint, and then a post-deadline pinch hit, I received a nearly 10k aliens-made-them-do-it John/Ronon fic, complete with Ronon backstory/worldbuilding and John-as-commanding-officer angst! That one is Treat it Tenderly, by Skitz_phenom. And for Chocolate box I received an even rarer Stargate relationship: Teyla & Teal'c, bonding under the Mountain when the IOA was evaluating her. That one is Invitation, by kanadka, and it's chock full of lovely character moments. (and a nicely hissable villain!)
And to circle back to Person of Interest again, for Chocolate Box I also received a delightful treat: Couples, byenemyofperfect, which features Reese/Shaw undercover as a couple in all their snarky/sarcastic glory. One of my favorite things about PoI fandom is how even though it's got two juggernaut ships in Finch/Reese and Root/Shaw, there's plenty of space within it (even among people who ship Finch/Reese & Root/Shaw!) for other relationships, gen and slash and things that are kind of both, like this and the one I wrote for Smut Swap, where the characters are banging but not because they're in love but for other reasons: stress relief, release, comfort/catharsis, boredom, whatever. I love that sense of possibility.
smutswap, always one of my favorite exchanges, just had its 2019 reveals. I worked the sign-up pretty aggressively to make sure that I had multiple matches in different fandoms, because I wanted to be surprised by my assignment; my assignment ended up being in a perennial favorite fandom of mine, Person of Interest, for one of the many, many relationships I adore in that show: Zoe Morgan/John Reese. I've written them before, in another exchange, and that fic is one of my favorite ficlets I've written, so I was excited to see if I could capture that same feeling at a longer length.(My recipient's tags and letter made it clear that they enjoyed the same dynamic in the relationship that I do, and they had kudosed my other fic, so I was pretty sure if I did manage to capture that feeling again I'd be pleasing them as well as myself.)
I wanted to engage with the ending of the show -- I couldn't quite picture setting something during the middle of the show, with that lighter-hearted dynamic, knowing how it ended; and while writing an actual fix-it seemed beyond the scope of the exchange (and my current skill-set) a handwaved fix-it and something set post-canon felt right. I had a picture of the beginning of the fic almost immediately, and got a few hundred words in; then work got busy and I let it sit for a few weeks. When the deadline started approaching I opened it back up, got to the getting naked part, and then. . . forgot how to make porn hot? And then I began to question whether I had ever known how to make porn hot! It was distressing!
I went back and reread some of my old smutty fics. They still worked for me. So I kept plugging away, hoping I'd find that sweet spot again.
Ultimately, I think I did? And thinking back, the first Zoe/John fic I wrote developed the same way -- chugging along, then sudden conviction that I had no idea what I was doing, then reaching the end and going "Oh, yes. This. This is why I love them." I suspect it's because they're both just so reluctant to admit to having any sort of tender feelings, even to themselves. So I have to build those emotions in to their actions, rather than dialogue, which runs the risk of coming across purely mechanical in a way a declaration wouldn't.
But anyway! Here's the fic:
Title: Darkness Its Own Kingdom
Author:
phoenixfalls Fandom: Person of Interest
Relationship: Zoe Morgan/John Reese
Word Count: 2,607
Rating: Explicit
Tags: Post-Canon, Sex Between Friends, Body Worship, Scars, Honor Bondage, Crying During Sex
Summary:
After everything, John finds his way back to Zoe.
Link: On AO3
Before that was another of my favorite exchanges:
chocolateboxcomm! I’ve been really into the CBS show FBI since it debuted in the fall – it’s a solid procedural, it’s kind of endearingly leftist in a sometimes tone-deaf but always well-intentioned way, all the actors are excellent (and have really wonderfully expressive faces) – and so I nominated it and offered it with the intention of at least treating any request if I didn’t get matched on it. And then I did match on it! Win!My recipient had a very helpful list of tropes that they enjoyed, which included a lot of different types of platonic touch, something that I always adore. Unfortunately, I was drawing a blank on what kind of scenario I wanted for the longest time, long enough that I was running up against the deadline. And so I went through the tropes list again and spotted a couple mentions of post-apocalyptic fic, and my brain went THISTHISTHIS and I was off. I was writing it while the "polar vortex" was slamming the East Coast, and I amused myself with the thought that I was pulling the same "ripped from the headlines" thing that the show does, but with apocalypse fic. (It's a Dick Wolf show, though I like it better than I've liked any of the Law & Orders.)
This fic posed its own challenges -- as with any time I try to make a normally shippy trope gen, it was really hard avoiding any hint of shippiness while still maintaining the depth of emotion! But that's precisely what I like about making shippy tropes gen -- riding that line, portraying deep bonds and outright love that is not in any way romantic.
Title: Fling Your Soul Upon the Growing Gloom
Author:
phoenixfalls Fandom: FBI
Relationship: Maggie Bell & Omar "OA" Zidan
Word Count: 1,331
Rating: General Audiences
Tags: Post-Apocalypse, Huddling For Warmth
Summary:
Omar didn't think he'd ever get used to how quiet New York was now.
Link: On AO3
But of course, writing is only one half of the exchange experience for me -- I also received two lovely gifts in my newest fandom: Stargate! For Smut Swap, despite being an initial pinch hint, and then a post-deadline pinch hit, I received a nearly 10k aliens-made-them-do-it John/Ronon fic, complete with Ronon backstory/worldbuilding and John-as-commanding-officer angst! That one is Treat it Tenderly, by Skitz_phenom. And for Chocolate box I received an even rarer Stargate relationship: Teyla & Teal'c, bonding under the Mountain when the IOA was evaluating her. That one is Invitation, by kanadka, and it's chock full of lovely character moments. (and a nicely hissable villain!)
And to circle back to Person of Interest again, for Chocolate Box I also received a delightful treat: Couples, by
enemyofperfect, which features Reese/Shaw undercover as a couple in all their snarky/sarcastic glory. One of my favorite things about PoI fandom is how even though it's got two juggernaut ships in Finch/Reese and Root/Shaw, there's plenty of space within it (even among people who ship Finch/Reese & Root/Shaw!) for other relationships, gen and slash and things that are kind of both, like this and the one I wrote for Smut Swap, where the characters are banging but not because they're in love but for other reasons: stress relief, release, comfort/catharsis, boredom, whatever. I love that sense of possibility.
