firstlight: (Yukimura - Blossom)
firstlight ([personal profile] firstlight) wrote2008-07-16 07:39 pm

IT IS DONE. Celebratory dance time!

Reveals are up on [livejournal.com profile] rikkai_exchange! It's totally done, wrapped up, posts have been edited to include author's names, etc. And I'm so relieved.



Reveal time having arrived means I can own up to the fact that I wrote Moments of Grace (Sanada/Yukimura, Niou/Yukimura, NC-17), though I think everyone who actually read it and some people who didn't probably figured that one out anyway.

I had a really difficult time writing this one and the whole way through I was pretty convinced it wasn't worth writing, which I'm sure will make people facepalm and tell me I always think that... ah, well. I did make it through. The overwhelming hate is fading away. I'm really glad I actually made it through the story, and I'm glad that at least a few people seemed to really enjoy it! It does make the uphill struggle to write seem a bit more worthwhile, though I think my view of the thing is still pretty wonky...

There were some things I considered putting in footnotes but decided to leave until after the reveal, also. The title, for a start, is from a poem; the poem is Moments of Grace by Carol Ann Duffy, and I think there are bits of the poem which are quite appropriate to the story. Overall the story is also sort of influenced by Duffy's poetry in general, particularly those from her book [Mean Time] which are often... hm... full of nostalgia and longing and pain. And little moments of hope. I won't go on too much about What I Wuz Aiming At because either I succeeded in getting it across or I didn't but yeah, that's kind of the angle I was coming at this from.

And Chaco, I really really hope this wasn't too much of a leap off on a tangent. Obviously I was working with your request in a bit of an odd way. *laugh* There were tons of other thoughts and plans, but... ah, well. Maybe they'll get written one day.

And and and everyone who had to deal with my writing angst this time around - and there are a few of you - probably deserves a sainthood or something.



Things I especially enjoyed from this round, by the way, include...

Fic:

Perfidia by [livejournal.com profile] yuki_scorpio (Yagyuu/Niou, NC-17) -- spectacular AU full of mind games and all the good stuff... I love these characters, I love that I can believe in the ways they act, and I love reading a story that can draw me in like this.

The Beautiful Letdown by [livejournal.com profile] illuminations (Niou/Yagyuu, NC-17) -- really hurty futurefic. Mmm. It actually does hurt so good. *g*

Sought and Found by [livejournal.com profile] vacivity (Yagyuu/Niou, R) -- Sci-fi AU written for me. Okay, so I would totally not object to this story being far, far longer. It makes me want to know more. Really enjoyed reading it.

A Change of Perception by [livejournal.com profile] crystalusagi (Sanada/Yanagi, NC-17) -- okay, this is a cute story for a pairing which doesn't get written enough. Everyone together now: awwwwwww, Renji.


Art:

...well okay. To be honest, I actually do love pretty much all the art, and linking all of it would slightly defeat the purpose of a rec list, I guess. So I'll just link a couple and assure you that you should hop over to the comm and check out the rest.

My Pain <-> My Pleasure by [livejournal.com profile] kedi_kedi (Yagyuu/Niou, PG-13) -- again, this is pretty much on the cute side of things. I flag this one up in particular because wow, so much time and effort must have gone into it, and [livejournal.com profile] kedi_kedi has every right to be proud of the result. It's a many-page doujinshi and... yeah.

Dramamine by [livejournal.com profile] meganezilla (Yagyuu/Yanagi, PG) -- I really like the sequence of images here, and the colours, and the expressions. I'm not sure what else to say. It really intrigues me.



I promise there's plenty of stuff I didn't mention here which is worth reading or staring at! :)



Incidentally, on a quick count-up, it seems as though Yagyuu and Niou pretty much ruled the exchange between them -- just counting stories/art where they were the main characters they accounted for almost half the submissions this time around. Last year Yanagi/Kirihara was second most popular but this year it's pretty much gone, and Sanada/Yukimura/Yanagi (which was somewhere around the same popularity as Yanagi/Kirihara) has more or less vanished too. Everything else is sort of ambling along at about the same levels. *laugh* A bit less AU.

And we're done.

Thank you all. *__*

[identity profile] lechaco.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 08:49 pm (UTC)(link)
It wasn't a tangent at all! I really like how you explored their relationship. :D I just really wanted to read an exploration of Sanada and Yukimura's relationship, something outside of just tennis/buchou + fukubuchou, and that's what it was! XD I really enjoyed reading it and the hope at the end made me really happy. :)

I was surprised at how much D1 there was lol.

[identity profile] giving-ground.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 08:51 pm (UTC)(link)
In my mind it was pretty ambiguous what was going on with D1. I guess my bias shows through. It totally wasn't meant to, sorry. >> But yeah, I'm so glad the story overall came out as the right sort of thing! :)

[identity profile] lechaco.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 09:43 pm (UTC)(link)
I didn't mean in the fic. XD I meant in the exchange lollll D1 ambiguity in the fic was lovely.

[identity profile] giving-ground.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 09:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh fine. XD Let us blame the residual effects of codeine on my brain. Even though it's all gone now, sob. But yeah, there was SO much in the exchange. I mean there was a lot last time but... XDD
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[identity profile] solaas.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 08:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Hm! I always wanted a halo of my very own. Yes. Yes, I think I'll enjoy this totally deserved sainthood.

Love,
St. Unni ♥

[identity profile] giving-ground.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 08:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, yours and Val's are revoked due to this 'Liz Torture Club' I've been hearing so much about. Sry.
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[identity profile] solaas.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 09:02 pm (UTC)(link)
You wish. This halo is MINE and I ain't giving it back. Suffer, biyatch! ♥

[identity profile] yuki-scorpio.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 09:00 pm (UTC)(link)
A saint of the Liz Torture Club. :D
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[identity profile] solaas.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 09:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah! :D St. Pez, St. Val and me. We're like the Three Saints to balance off the Three Demons! :D

[identity profile] yuki-scorpio.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
We are our very own Unholy Trinity. :D/
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[identity profile] solaas.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 09:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Yep! And with St. Crystal, we have one to balance out the Speed Demon, too, what with being Younger Than Us, and all. 8)

[identity profile] giving-ground.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 09:12 pm (UTC)(link)
|||||||||orz

*doomed*

[identity profile] yuki-scorpio.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 09:41 pm (UTC)(link)
PEOPLE, SHE IS NOT DANCING. DON'T BELIEVE THE SUBJECT OF THIS POST.

[identity profile] giving-ground.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Inside I am dancing. Deep, deep inside.

[identity profile] yuki-scorpio.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 10:04 pm (UTC)(link)
I really don't want to know what's happening deep, deep inside you. XD
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[identity profile] solaas.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 10:19 pm (UTC)(link)
I concur.

[identity profile] kedi-kedi.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 10:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Yaaay, congrats on another great exchange! ;D

I was really surprised by some of the stuffs once the reveals went up. And I'll be honest, when I said I thought I knew who wrote 'Better than the real thing' I thought it was you! X3 It just seemed like something you may write, but then again so did 'Moments of Grace' (I KNEW it was you alone from the title! LOL) So yeah, pleasantly surprised.

And I am SO not complaining about the abundance of D1 in this exchange. >D *shifty eyes* *cough* D1 exchange, CUMMON YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO, IT WOULD BE SO BADASS XDDDDD*cough*

Thanks again for letting me take part, it was so fun and I'm glad my gift pleased [livejournal.com profile] sharpie, it made me very happy ^U^!

[identity profile] giving-ground.livejournal.com 2008-07-17 07:20 am (UTC)(link)
Haha, I don't mind you thinking that, 'cuz Niou in that story was really good! *laugh* I'm clueless about art though. 8)

I want one to exist but I WOULD RATHER I DIDN'T HAVE TO RUN IT OMG. *cries* XD

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[identity profile] illuminations.livejournal.com 2008-07-16 10:55 pm (UTC)(link)
egihdkjflsjdf

Everyone likes the hurting. :(

[identity profile] yuki-scorpio.livejournal.com 2008-07-17 07:13 am (UTC)(link)
There isn't enough (good) hurting in fandom!

[identity profile] giving-ground.livejournal.com 2008-07-17 07:21 am (UTC)(link)
Evidently, we are a bunch of masochists. :D