Zinke's Reading Room

It’s that time of year again, and 2012’s fic roundup has given me quite a bit to think about. Mostly, this thinking consists of sadness about my lack of fannish enthusiasm these days, sprinkled with a bit of nostalgia for the fandoms in which I used to play. The reason for this? The bulk of my fannish participation has always been in the sharing of the stories I wrote, and…well, once y’all see this year’s roundup list, you’ll begin to get the idea.



Intermezzo (Castle, G, ‘Cops and Robbers’ post-episode, ficlet): Martha gives Beckett a bit of advice between courses. In which I attempted to redeem Martha for her ill-timed and terribly out of character comments about Castle’s relationship with Beckett earlier in the season.

A Killer Hypothesis Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4 (Castle, Casefile fic, multi-chapter, episodic): “Death by pillowfight?” C’mon; tell me you’re not titillated.” Fic! With plot! That I wrote! ZOMG!

Don’t Look a Gift Thief in the Mouth (Leverage, teamy goodness, humor, illustration fic): Parker, what is this?” Unfazed by Nate’s sour tone, a beaming Parker thrusts a brightly colored gift bag into his hands. “Presents.” This fic is entirely Aldis Hodge’s fault. No, really. His tweet of his feet in a pair of bear paw slippers started this whole thing. The next thing I knew, I was shopping on Amazon for the perfect pair of slippers for a grifter, a hitter, a mastermind, and a thief. The rest, as they say, was history.

Meet You on the Other Side (Castle, post-episode, romance THAT IS FINALLY, TOTALLY CANON OMG): If it weren’t for the smell of her – of them – on his sheets, Castle would have believed last night to have been a dream. As if any fic writer in the fandom wasn’t going to write their own ‘morning after’ scenario. Luckily, the show writers did it much, much better. *g*

There’s Something in the Way He Moves (Castle, post-episode, humor, bromance): “Castle brings Beckett coffee every morning, Javi.” I know that; it’s the way he’s been doing it.” Because I refused to accept the season finale’s implication that the bromance was dead. And really, they *are* detectives; how long did Beckett and Castle really think they were going to be able to keep things a secret, anyway?


And that’s it. Five stories. That is…not a lot for me. To be honest, having evidence of how little I’ve written this year laid out for me like this makes me more than a little sad. I wish I could say it’s because I don’t have the time, or because I am working on some massive, multi-fandom epic that will blow everybody’s minds and possibly land me a book deal. But the truth is, I haven’t had any stories to tell in quite a long time. In part, I think this is because it’s been a while since I’ve felt truly fannish about a show. I still love Castle, Leverage, and the other shows I sometimes discuss or write fic for. But that joyful, unadulterated squee verging on obsession that usually fuels my creative drive to write has been missing, and I’m not entirely sure how or where to find it again. This is not to say that I’m turning in my pen (so to speak); if inspiration does in fact strike, I would be happy – thrilled, even – to get back to storytelling. I miss it. I miss the outlet, the sense of escape it gave me. I hope that I’ll be able to find it again sometime soon, and will in turn be able to share it again with all of you.