dbskyler

I have signed up for the btfchallenge writing challenge, which stands for "Be the First," and I am going to write the very first fic for Quark!

I still can't believe that there is no fic for this fandom at all, but I haven't been able to find any. I don't consider it that obscure of a TV show, but apparently it is? Anyway, I'm really looking forward to writing for it! I even have prompts from when I requested it for Yuletide a few years ago.

Of course, I'm probably the only one who will ever read it until that day when the other lonely Quark fan who must surely be out there somewhere in the world stumbles across my fic and it makes her/his day merely by existing in the first place.

Public Call has started posting stories, and I am discovering the benefit of a low number of participants: there is an almost 50% chance that the story for me will be revealed next week! There is also an almost 50% chance that the story I wrote will be revealed next week. There is around a 75% chance that at least one of these two will be revealed next week. And, there is almost a 25% chance that both will be revealed next week.

I can't even decide which one I'm looking forward to more. My favorite thing about writing fic is getting the feedback, and I want the feedback! But then, someone wrote a story just for ME, and after shamelessly shaking tags, I am tremendously excited to read it.

In the meantime, I have started writing a Yuletide treat. Not sure yet if it will be long enough to go in the main collection or if it's going into Madness, but it's very liberating to not have to care about the word count. Also, I can laugh at the default deadline, muah-ha-ha-ha! In fact, I can miss the whole thing and still put my fic into NYR when it's finished, although obviously I would like to get it in by the 25th if I can.

So I didn't sign up for Yuletide, but instead decided to do Public Call, which is a relationship-based exchange for Doctor Who. I just got my assignment, and I had the exact same Yuletide-type thrill when I opened it, followed by the exact same "Wait, did I really say I would write this?" reaction which always seems to happen no matter how careful I am in my sign-up. I think it's the difference between the hypothetical vs. reality ("I can write this!" vs. "This is what I have to write!") But having gone through it before, I know that the nervousness will fade, and I will soon settle down to writing.

There are already a few things in Public Call that feel very different from Yuletide, though. First, it's a much smaller exchange -- according to the profile, only 15 people signed up! I mean, wow. With so few participants, I'm surprised I was even matchable, especially given the huge range of relationships in the tag set. I think most people must request and offer more than I did (I was pretty close to the minimum for both). Second, it's due a lot earlier than Yuletide, which is worrying me a little, although I think it will be good to have no excuse for procrastination. Third, the requests involve relationships, not just characters. The relationship doesn't have to be romantic, but it's dawning on me that it's not enough to write a story that simply features the requested characters; their relationship has to be centered somehow. This will be a new type of challenge for me. Finally, there's the fact that the whole exchange is based on Doctor Who. There I was, staring at my assignment, doing my usual "That's what I matched on? I know I said I can write it, but can I really write it?" when it suddenly occurred to me that look, there are a bunch of other relationships also requested, and OMG, I know those characters, too! That means if something doesn't come together for what I matched on, it's actually possible for me to switch and write one of my recipient's other requests. This is mind-blowing. In Yuletide, I have never, ever known any of my recipient's other fandoms well enough to write a request other than what I matched on. In fact, usually the other fandoms are things I've never even heard of.

Anyway, so far I am feeling pleasantly excited, nervous, and challenged. And, I'm not missing a Yuletide assignment. I think I needed a break from it this year, although once my Public Call assignment is finished, I'll definitely poke around Yuletide to see if I'm inspired to write a treat or two.

Title: Until We Meet Again
Rating: All ages
Character: Fourth Doctor
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction, offered freely. Doctor Who and all characters belong to the BBC.
Summary: After "Deadly Assassin," the Doctor considers going back for Sarah.
A/N: Written to fulfill 1976 for dw_50ficathon.

( Story here )

Title: How to Save the Planet, with Tea and Cows
Rating: All ages
Characters: Sixth Doctor, Gita Chandra
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction, offered freely. Doctor Who, Sarah Jane Adventures and all characters belong to the BBC.
Summary: The Sixth Doctor wants to save the planet. Gita Chandra just wants to chat.
A/N: Written to fulfill 2003 for dw_50ficathon.

( Story here )

My fic for dw_50ficathon may be finished. Or it may not be. I need to let it "sit" again and see what I think after I come back to it. But overall I'm happy with it, and excited to have a new fic to post soon! It's been far too long.

Speaking of dw_50ficathon, we've had prolific writers start to post and claim new years, and new people start to claim, so the list of fulfilled and claimed years is growing! Although strangely, no one has claimed the Fourth Doctor yet. All of the other eras have been covered with at least one claim, but not his. And he has the biggest era! Poor Fourth Doctor. I think I might have to go claim a year for a Four/Sarah fic, even though I have no ideas right now. But can I get something else written by the 23rd? Ack!

And speaking of getting things written by deadline, I have started the canon research for my Yuletide fic. I have a vague idea for a fic, but nothing definite yet. I really have to finish that research and just start writing.

The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Ficathon at dw_50ficathon is open for claiming! Go here to claim one of the years from 1963 to 2013! In order to "fulfill" a year, a main character in the fic must have appeared in Doctor Who media that was broadcast or published during that year. More information is in the welcome post and this post.

Ficathon fics do not have to be based on prompts, but we have prompts for those who like them, and they are open for claiming as well, right here.

Come on over and join the fun!

Hello, internet! (Well, probably my flist, but you guys are all AWESOME.)

As we know, Doctor Who is about to turn 50 years old! We've had Eleven Doctors so far, and lots of assistants/companions, and boatloads of villains, and TARDIS-loads of one-off characters. And that doesn't even count spinoffs and other media, like Sarah Jane Adventures and Big Finish. As far as fanfic goes, the Whoniverse fandom is a character extravaganza!

However, a quick look at the Teaspoon category counts shows that certain characters are written a lot more often than other characters. Well, that's natural, and there's nothing inherently wrong with it. But wouldn't it be great to have a ficathon that celebrates the upcoming 50th anniversary by encouraging fic that comes from all 50 years? (Okay, 36 years of actually being on the air . . .)

What do you all think? If I were to host such a thing, would you be interested in taking part? Also, any ideas on how best to run it? Here's what I'm thinking so far:

( click here for the details )

So not only did I write a Yuletide story, but I ended up writing a drabble-ish little thing for Yuletide Madness because the prompt was so cool and I couldn't resist. Since I have some fellow Gilbert and Sullivan fans on my flist, I've decided it's worth sharing here even though it's just a short and silly "Yuletide folly" (I like the sound of that; sounds very G&S-ish).

Title: The Pirates of Iolanthe
Fandoms: The Pirates of Penzance and Iolanthe (yes, they count as two different fandoms for Yuletide!)
Rating: G
Characters: Pirates, Daughters and Fairies
Summary: What if the pirates from Pirates of Penzance, having resumed their ranks and legislative duties, were in the House of Lords during Iolanthe? (Note -- this was El Staplador's brilliant prompt; I was just inspired by it.)
A/N: Written for El Staplador in the 2009 Yuletide Madness challenge. It's not quite drabble-length, but it rhymes!
Disclaimer: No disclaimer needed because public domain, baby!!!!

( fic here )

Time to post the story I wrote for Yuletide, and the fandom was . . . Red Dwarf!!!!

(Yes, you read that correctly. I made the huge genre leap from writing for Doctor Who, a British science fiction television show, to writing for Red Dwarf, a different British science fiction television show! My range is so impressive, isn't it?)

Thanks go to my recipient, xparrot, who went easy on me for my first Yuletide by giving me a great prompt, and gave me an excuse to pull out all my old videotapes and fall in love with this show again. I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing it.

Title: Upgrade
Fandom: Red Dwarf
Rating: Teen (for general Red Dwarfiness)
Characters: Lister, Rimmer, the Cat, Kryten
Beta: Eledhwen
Summary: The crew want to give Rimmer's hologram program an upgrade.
A/N: Written for Xparrot in the 2009 Yuletide challenge.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction, offered freely. Red Dwarf and all characters belong to, um, some entity that's not me. It's probably Grant Naylor Productions, or the BBC, or the Jupiter Mining Corporation, but I don't really know. Sorry I can't be more helpful, and would you like some toast?

( (STORY HERE) )