You might be reading one of my stories if...

[springgreen]

Whoo! First draft of the Yuletide fic has gone in to beta, and it is well over word count.

Anyway, from vee_fic and etothey:

You might be reading one of my stories if:

1. There are loving descriptions of food, especially of Asian food. Sometimes I attempt to squeeze in characterization with the food, but sometimes it's just gratuitous food porn.

2. Very little actually happens. Even if there actually is plot, the bits that I write will be the moments right before or right after the action, or they'll be the small character moments in the cracks.

3. I will attempt to squash in as many references to Chinese culture as I possibly can. This will include but will not be limited to: poetry, holidays, food, poetry, significant landmarks, and more poetry.

4. At least one thing in there is taken from personal experience, because my imagination sucks.

5. The story will be built around themes or images intended to illuminate character. If there is actually some plot, it probably managed to sneak past me. Also, if you find it, please tell me and let me know, as I would like to capture it and enshrine it forever.

6. Aforementioned themes or images will probably only be connected together in my brain, leading to fic composed of many snippets that are linked together only by structure or imagery.

7. Everything will be very, very quiet, and very, very happy. If I cannot achieve happiness, I will at least go for peaceful joy. Or I will go right past that to the dark sucker punch.

8. I try to layer as many images as possible. I like to tell myself that this is actually crafting symbolism or constant repetition for greater effect, but part of it is because I am lazy.

Does that sound about right?

Comments

[tatterpunk.livejournal.com]

... darnit, now I'm going to be picking through Yuletide offerings just to find a story like that. That sounds really lovely, and just the kind of thing I need right now.

[springgreen.livejournal.com]

Awww thank you! Though I am not saying if my Yuletide story fits this or not ;).

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

I tend to write a lot of food into my stuff, too. Although no particular cuisine tradition. Here's one of my original fantasy fic characters getting breakfast.

It had been a long time since Sherren had been offered the chance to eat so well. The caravans she'd worked for had mostly travelled on dry rations; the inns and rooming houses she'd stayed in between jobs had offered little in the way of meals. Like a child at the Harvest Feast, she loaded her tray with fresh-baked bread and sweet sticky buns, slathered with new-churned butter; a bowl of nut-grain porridge, dotted with dried fruits, dusted with dark sugar and swimming in cream; and a large mug of kavva, strong and spicy but sweet with honey and cooled with yet more cream. She hadn't eaten like this since she'd left the College.

[springgreen.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm foooood.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

#2 and #5 made me giggle so hard, because I do that too; there's introspection, and maybe some talking, possibly with a little bit of really mundane background activity, but while there may be quiet little emotional breakthroughs of some sort there's not really anything resembling "plot" happening anywhere!

#3 also felt a bit familiar -- I don't so much write anything dealing with my own cultures, as it's not really a fit in the main worlds I play with -- although in RPG or modern-day AU settings, I do tend to default to having a lot of bi/multiracial and TCK characters. (And surprise surprise, in Saiyuki I mostly channel Gojyo.) Fanmixes, OTOH, I have not yet managed to do one without including at least one song from a Native artist (and there's a Sokka/Yue one I did that was almost half Native stuff from the US and Canada).

[springgreen.livejournal.com]

*blinky eyes*

Sokka/Yue mix with Native music?

*big blinky eyes*

[springgreen.livejournal.com]

Um, and by big blinky eyes I meant "Ooooo waaaant" not "I am confused." Eh heh. Oops.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

I live to serve! (http://smillaraaq.livejournal.com/19506.html) I just checked the download link and it's still good; the lyrics link is offline at the moment but I can dig a copy out of my archives if you're curious. There's only four different Native artists on that one -- Kashtin, Robbie Robertson, Ulali, and Joanne Shenandoah, but multiple songs by most as I tend to structure my mixes with at least one or two artists who are repeated throughout the thing to lend it a more unified feel.

(If you're looking for more music I've got two other mixes that you can find via the tags -- the other A:TLA one is for a crackship fic, but the Saiyuki mix I did a couple months ago is my most ambitious mix to date, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. Now that I'm a little less hopelessly inept with my graphics programs, I'm planning on eventually going back to the Sokka/Yue mix and tarting it up with lyrics/graphic pages like I did for the 10K/585 piece.)

[springgreen.livejournal.com]

Eeeee! Thank you so much! Will check out when I get home. Yay yay music yay!