Happy Anniversary To Me! And a Meme!

[elrhiarhodan]

Five years ago today, about this time of day, I published my very first piece of fic under my own name (I'd been filling something anonymously on Collar Kink for a week or so, but that doesn't count).

That story was How Long Did You Think You Could Keep This Up (Before I Found Out)?

Over the years, I've taken a bit of heat for it, it's really meta, Hughes is OOC, Neal is OOC, Peter is OOC. And you know what, if they are, I really don't care.

I wrote this fic because one of the things that annoyed me at the time was how readily some other fan fiction writers had Peter hauling Neal back to prison without any consideration of the actual law. It still annoys me, but that trope was really a Season One thing, before Neal really did anything that might have deserved a return to orange jumpsuits.

It's been a hell of a wild ride the last five years, with more than 1.8 million words of fan fic under my belt since this first effort.

To help me celebrate this dubious achievement, I'm going to run my very own meme, which I've done a few times to mark this date.

I would like everyone on my flist to pick a two dates between February 26, 2010 (my first post on LJ) and today, March 9, 2015, and asked me about what I posted that day, and why. I am asking for two dates in case one of the days you pick (which should be at random - don't look at my calendar) was a date that I did not post anything. If you're lucky, you may pick a date with multiple postings! If both dates are empty, I'll let you know, and if both dates have postings, I'll comment on both!

You may get some DVD commentary out of it, or a reassessment on a life issue, or something altogether completely different.


Peter and Neal have SO many questions...

Comments

[riverotter1951.livejournal.com]

May 6 2011 and August 19 2013 were the days my husband and 1 turned 60. What did you post on those days and why?

[elrhiarhodan]

May 6, 2011 Picking a day in May can almost certainly give you a buzz, depending on the year - since I did the full complement of MMOM for two years running and half of May for a third year.

On this day, I posted Wet Dog, a smutty little ficlet where Peter and Neal get soaked. It's a little hard (ahem) to resist the Caffrey in wet trousers.

August 19, 2014 I haz a sad. Nothing posted.

[joy2190.livejournal.com]

I chose 10.10.10 and 11.11.11 please. If either of those are empty, then 12.12.12. Thank you!

[elrhiarhodan]

October 10, 2010: Sadly, there is nothing to say because I posted nothing on that day. :(

November 11, 2011: Oy vey... I posted something titled "Totally Not Safe For Work", with the warning "I suggest a spit guard for your computer screen".

Just watched and I nearly spat my coffee across my screen (it had been so long I completely forgot what I'd posted).



Watch at your own risk!

[sandy79.livejournal.com]

Oct 11, 2011 and March 29, 2013 (Matty's and my birthday). Wonder what you did post on that days. Happy Anniversary by the way! *throws confetti*

[elrhiarhodan]

Thank you!

October 11, 2011 On this day, I posted the eighth chapter of We Shall Come Home (Link to AO3 version).

This was a horribly sad chapter, Neal had to make a decision between Peter's survival and his own humanity. I remember worrying how this would be received when I wrote it, but the feedback was uniformly positive.

March 29, 2013 (Happy birthday!) That was a THREE POST DAY!

But don't get too excited - I was publishing signal boost banners for the third round of White Collar Pairings. I'd done so many I couldn't put them all in one post!

[ladygray99]

Sweet fuck, that's a lot of words! I've got a decade and only cracked 800k.
Wow. That is serious achievement.

Dates. February 12 2013 and May 25, 2013.

[elrhiarhodan]

{{{HUGS YOU}}} You've been my friend since almost the very beginning. I'm so happy you've stuck with me.

February 12, 2013 - Sorry, but I was a quiet little mouse that day.

May 25, 2013 - I published At Night, It's a Different World. Although this is short, and it was written in May, it's not a MMOM fic. It's a little sweet, a little schmoopy and there's ice cream involved.

Peter and Neal go for a walk and get ice cream, but because this is Peter and Neal, nothing's quite so simple. Peter has childhood memories of summertime treats and regrets that Neal doesn't. But Neal's okay, he's happy and loves and knows he's loved.

[angelita26]

Happy Anniversary!!! *HUGS*

I'll go with: February 7th, 2013 (my 30th bday) and March 21st, 2011 (Neal's something bday, lol)

ETA because I can't spell my own birth month, ha!

[elrhiarhodan]

February 7, 2013: No entry - I was probably in Tucson that week.

March 21, 2011: I announced I was going back to Twitter. Seriously??? Seriously??? (And a well-earned WTF? tag for the entry). I think I posted maybe 15-20 tweets before giving up? I do still use it occasionally (TDK is "following" me!) but it's really a social media platform I don't have much use/time for anymore.

[sherylyn]

First of all, I just read your first fic, and I don't care if they're not all totally in-character in that, either (though I think that could be argued to some extent), and I loved it. And I'm not just saying that to blow smoke, either. I have a few Issues w/the way the law is portrayed not only in fics but in TV shows/movies (not just WC), and I'm glad for someone to actually make it evident that that's not how Neal's parole would work. So, thank you!!

And for two dates... August 15, 2011, and May 14, 2014.

And also, Happy Anniversary, and I hope you're around for many more! :-)

[elrhiarhodan]

WTF???? LJ just ate a very long comment!

Thank you so very much, I hope to be around for a long time, too.

It's funny, but one of the things that seriously hooked me into White Collar (as a lawyer) was the spot-on presentation of Exigent Circumstances in Pilot. Of course, it pretty much went downhill from there, legal-wise, but it's still one of the best "legal" moments on television, outside of the Law and Order francises.

Your two dates:

August 15, 2011: A two post day! First post - a meme. "When I post a story, what do you immediately look for?" I need to do this one again, it's awesome.

Second post was The Truth About Ourselves, which is one of my favorite H/C stories - and one where I whump Peter but good. ivorysilk had wanted a story where Peter and Neal are trapped and they reveal something about themselves. She'd asked for Neal!Whump, but I flipped it around. The scene where Peter remembers just what Neal said to him when he was injured still breaks my heart.

May 14, 2014: Another two-post day! First post: I was deep in the heart of my first go-around with the thirty-day photo meme, and I posted a picture of a horse:


Second post: Another meme! This one was about movies - the ten movies that explain everything about you. I'm looking at the list and I wouldn't change a thing on there.

[pooh-collector.livejournal.com]

November 28, 2013 or December 5, 2013.

[elrhiarhodan]

November 28, 2013: A good date! Day 2 of that year's edition of Fic-Can-Ukah, and I posted At the Candlemark Past Midnight, which is the sixth story in Gloriana'verse.

It'd delicious Peter/Neal and Neal!Whump with fevered Neal, Peter washing Neal's sweaty brow, Protective!Peter and all the love between the boys that you could ever want.

December 5, 2013: Holy multiple posts, Batman! This was a four post day.

Post One - The Eighth Night of Fic-Can-Ukah and a Wonder(ful) Years story for angelita26 - Come to the Journey's End. This fills in the backstory for Neal and Ellen's estrangement. As I wrote in the summary, it's a story without a happy ending - one of the few I've ever written (excluding the deathfics).

Post Two - A chapter of the novella I co-wrote with miri_thompson, "Sons of Obsidian".

Post Three - A ramble! (Wow, I didn't have too much to do that day). I was jazzed about the new ep of White Collar (which ultimately wasn't too much to be jazzed about), I bragged a bit about my YTD word count (371k at the time), I droned on about some beading I'd done, too (how the hell did I have the time for that?). I also mentioned that I'd signed up for Poetry Fiction, which may be one of my all-time favorite challenges.

The the only other thing worth mentioning in this post was a gift from my talented and lovely friend, kanarek13. She gifted me with cover art for the entire Paladin'verse (which you can see on my Masterlist).

Actually, that's not quite true - this is really the only thing worth mentioning:

Matt Bomer's ass:



Oh, the fourth post of the day was my Post Ep Dish for Quantico Closure. The less said about that ep, the better, right?

[tjs-whatnot.livejournal.com]

March 28, 2010 and March 28, 2014.

♥

[elrhiarhodan]

March 28, 2010: This was a fun post and one of the few from the early days that wasn't obsessing over White Collar. I'd just re-upped my membership with Magnatune and wanted to share some of the goodies I'd found. Interestingly enough, the only artist on that list that I still listen to is Brad Senne

March 28, 2014: Oooh, a rambles post. Let's see what I was nattering about?

White Collar had just been renewed for a paltry six eps (FU USANetworks).

James Rebhorn had passed.

I mentioned that I had put on a pink turtleneck instead of my usual black. (And this is hysterical, because today, I put on that same turtleneck!)

I also emphatically stated that my wonderful fandom wasn't going anywhere.

I talked about a work in progress that I was considering posting serially - which of course is Return and Rebuild the Desolate Places. And in case you are wondering what happened to it, the good news is that it's almost done. I don't want to say more and jinx it.

I also mentioned that there would be a meet-up in DC in September. Which was - as you know - a most awesome thing!

The Bonus Bomer was especially beautiful:

[algeiban.livejournal.com]

March 28, 2011 and December 10, 2011 (my nephew Reece's first birthday and the day my niece Kara was born)

[elrhiarhodan]

March 28th is a most popular day!

March 28, 2011: This year, I didn't post anything!

December 10, 2011: Awww, this is a blank day too! Give me another date!

[calis-1st.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's a lot of fic. I think I read most of it.

How about March 13, 2012 (because that was the day I posted MY first story), and July 28, 2014, the last time I saw WC being filmed in NYC ;-(

[elrhiarhodan]

Hee - it IS a lot of ficcage. Seriously, I used to do other things with my life. Now, it seems like I'm a slave to the words.

March 13, 2012 : Oooh, a two-post day! First was a meme, and one of my all time favs - the DVD Commentary!

Second post was a note that I'm managed to empty/file off all of my mail in my gmail inbox and I was a little depressed about the empty box. The funny thing about this is that I've been working on clearing out my gmail inbox this past weekend. Managed to get it down from nearly 5000 messages to around 500. Most of those were LJ-related, so it didn't take much to file them off. I don't want to go through the trauma of an empty inbox again, to when I get down to 100 or so, I'll probably just stop.

And I posted these lovely images:





July 28, 2014: This was a three-post day.

First post - Day 28 of the second round of the 30-day photo meme, a photo of something/someone special to you.

And of course, that meant a picture of House Wonderful:


Second Post - Another entry in the Bennett Family Legacy Series, and maybe my favorite picspam comic of all: Things You Don't See Every Day

Seriously, I have no clue what inspired this craziness (other than maiac and her love of Red Pandas), but it makes me giggle uncontrollably whenever I look at it.


Third Post - I wanted to know if anyone on my flist had read the All Souls Trilogy.

[theatregirl7299]

I was going to pick my birthday but decided not to....


March 17, 2012

December 7, 2011

[elrhiarhodan]

March 17, 2012: Whatever I was doing, I wasn't posting on LJ. Sad Elr is sad.

December 7, 2011: A Two-Post Day!

I posted Part III of my epic Hurt/Comfort fic, Even the Stars Are Not Safe in Heaven

This story is gen/friendship, but it hadn't started out that way - it was supposed to be a lead-in to OT3 yummy goodness, but no matter how I wrote that, it always ended up as magical healing cock, a trope I desperately wanted to (and always want to) avoid.

ETA: I was skimming through this entry and came across this:

“Believe me – if I could have, I’d have put a bullet between Matthew Keller’s eyes.

Well, that did become canon...

The second post was also the first year I offered up ficcage for the holiday season - I created Fic-Can-Ukah on this day. A friend had created the Twelve Nights of FicMas and I wanted to do something similar, with my own unique spin. Some pretty awesome ficcage came out of that first year.

[lumosed-quill.livejournal.com]

Awww, yay!!!! Congratulations, hon! :-D <3

Let's do May 31, 2011 or March 15, 2013.

[elrhiarhodan]

Thank you, sweetness!

May 31, 2011 This was the first year I did MMOM, start to finish, all 31 days. I had given myself a list of prompts and limited my stories to 300 words.

This was a two post day - and one, I know, will be a story:

We've got Full Circle, for the prompt "love". It was a continuation of the first fill of the month, Guilty Stains, and without looking at the story, I have no clue what I wrote.

Goes to read

Favorite bits: Knowing that Neal loved him aroused him - not just physically - but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It was such a strange path they had taken, and he couldn’t quite see the end yet.

And of course:

Neal smiled. “I love you, Peter Burke. Even if you steal my underpants and jack off into them.”

Post Two: Back in the day, when USANetwork had actually CARED about White Collar, they had a screening for the Season 3 opener at Pier 57 on the West Side. I can still remember just how unhappy I was about it and the whole Nazi loot storyline.

March 15, 2013: I posted the third part to one of the mega Wonder(ful) Years timestamps - It's Life That Just Sharpens the Blade. This might be one of my favorites in this 'verse - there's so much going on here. Also, the every awesome kanarek13 did unbelievable cover art and headers for the story. They still blow me away.

[hurinhouse.livejournal.com]

oh fun! happy anniversary!!

fantastic idea. I cannot fathom the amount of fic you have written - I know it's more vast than I have seen in one place. and you share it - yay us. :)

okay my dates are...

February 25, 2012
July 28, 2011

thanks!

[elrhiarhodan]

Thank you so much!

February 25, 2012: On this day, I posted All-Star. It was a story I'd written almost 2 years before that, for the very first Promptfest, back in June, 2010. It's a story about how people should NEVER underestimate Neal Caffrey.

July 28, 2011: This was a three-post day.

Post One - Day One of Thirty Days of Fanfic - A meme. The question was: "How did you first get into writing fanfic, and what was the first fandom you wrote for? What do you think it was about that fandom that pulled you in?"

My origin story for White Collar is too well known by now.

Post Two - Fanfic - A strange little entry that had been written for a very strange little 'fest I'd run. At the Borders of Our Lives, in which Peter Burke write L.A. Confidential fanfic.

Post Three - The Post Ep Dish for The Dentist of Detroit. Which remains one of my all-time favorite episodes.

[palombaggia.livejournal.com]

Fantastic idea.  April 2 2012 and december 19 2013

[elrhiarhodan]

Thank you!

April 2, 2012: Kind of a rambly post. Talked about finishing my White Collar KidFic Fest story, which became the original Wonder(ful) Years story.

Also, I had been brunchnapped by a friend in an early birthday celebration.

Also, I talked about discovering Inspector Lewis, a fandom I have occasionally dipped my toes into.

December 19, 2013: A two-post day.

First post - a chapter of Sons of Obsidian, the original fic I co-wrote with miri_thompson

Second Post - The Post-Ep Dish for No Good Deed, an ep that I'd been dreading (and rightfully so).

[pipilj.livejournal.com]

16 July 2012 my twin nieces were born and 21 sept 2012 my bday in the same year. Happy anniversary, u've treated us to some fabulous fics here's hoping for many more

[elrhiarhodan]

Thank you so very much! It's been my absolute pleasure (most of the time!)

July 16, 2012: Much sadnez...no post.

September 21, 2012: Mor sadnez...no post.

Give me another two dates if you'd like.

[sapphire2309]

YOU ARE AN AMAZING PERSON, HAS ANYONE EVER TOLD YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE.

Hmmm... 5th August 2012 and 23rd November 2014

[elrhiarhodan]

THANK YOU SO MUCH {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

You are wonderful and awesome, too!

August 5, 2012: I was very quiet for the first week of August, so no entries there. :(

November 23, 2014: Ah! One entry, and it is ficcage! I publish Collateral Damage, the episode tag for S6.03 - Uncontrolled Variables. Sadly, the end of the season did not play out as this tag (and I) had envisioned.

I still have another tag in my head for this wonderful ep, where Neal finds Amy and apologies to her. I hope to write it, eventually.

[nywcgirl]

February 8th 2011 and March 27th 2013

And congratulations! :-)

[elrhiarhodan]

Thank you so very much!

February 8, 2011: Wow, that was a four-entry day.

First post - I was signal boosting a charity auction lunch with Willie Garson. I had been tempted to bid, but ultimately I didn't. If I recall correctly, the final "donation" was well over $3000.

Second post - Oooh, one of my all-time favorite stories, A Brief History of Time, which is the absolute capstone to the Paladin'verse. It's also the only time I've ever successfully (I think) written something in second person, present tense.

Third post - Signal boosting a round of DVD commentary.

Fourth post - Ah, a Post Ep Dish, for Countermeasures! I had some concerns about the elevation of Hilary Burton to a regular cast member, mostly fearing that she'd supplant Clinton or Diana, or the Neal-Peter dynamic. My fears, in retrospect, were unfounded.

March 27, 2013: A picture of Matt with a comment about his feet and ... other things. Sadly, the picture link is broken and I can't find it in my files. :(

[sinfulslasher]

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

Okay, let's pick...March 21, 2012 and July 31, 2013!

(birthdays FTW! *g*)

[elrhiarhodan]

Thank you so much, darling!

March 21, 2012: This was a ramble day!

There were pictures of Matty from the filming of Wanted/Most Wanted.

I nattered on a bit about a beading project.

And I had this to say about The Wonder(ful) Years:

I haven't so much fallen off the face of the earth as much as fallen deep into a new story. It's my entry for rabidchild’s KidFic Fest on the White Collar Hurt/Comfort comm. I had gone into this assignment expecting to write some deaged angst, but abandoned the idea fairly quickly. Then I thought I'd write something silly, like White Collar meets Our Gang. What I ended up with is something completely different and utterly unexpected. It's pushing 14k right now and I'm sort of proud to say that it may be one of the best things I've ever written. It will be done soon, it has to be - I've got to post it on the 30th of this month.

How prophetic...

July 31, 2013: I was having a baaaad day (I even used my Black Cats Protecting Simon the Cat icon), and asked for silliness. People were most kind and gave me much joy. Especially you.

[deej1957.livejournal.com]

I love that story you mentioned-- I re-read it quite often, usually when I'm REALLY PISSED at Peter.

January 8, 2012 was my 55th birthday which enabled me to get the Senior Discount at restaurants....

March 25, 2010 was the day I got laid off.....

[elrhiarhodan]

Thank you so very much!

January 8, 2012: I must have been out, celebrating your birthday, because there's no post!

March 25, 2010: I can almost bet it's a White Collar related post. These were my early, first flush of true fandom love days.

And guess what, I was right.

I wanted to make Thursdays WC teaser days. I'm not sure what I meant by that, since the season had finished a few weeks earlier and S2 wouldn't be launching until June.

I think I wanted story teasers. Hmmm.

Ballsy of me.

[paganlowroader.livejournal.com]

One word: Gloriana. O.k. several more words: sensuous, evocative, erotic, intelligent, witty, passionate, wicked, hot. Your writing is a pleasure and a joy to read. And absolutely unforgettable.

[elrhiarhodan]

Thank you so much!

[cookiegirl]

Happy anniversary! *sends cake*

Oct 7th 2012 and Nov 5th 2013... no reason why!

[elrhiarhodan]

Thank you! Yummy virtual cake is yummy. And has no carbs!

October 7, 2012: WAH!!!!! Nothing posted.

November 5, 2013: Darnit! Nothing on that day, either.

Give me two more dates!

[ladyrose42.livejournal.com]

It's like a mini this is your life.
1/1/11
12/31/11
Just to compare the begining and the end a year.

[elrhiarhodan]

Thank you! And what a cool idea...

January 1, 2011: I posted a meta about the various legal systems that White Collar writers needed to be aware of - Federal, State and City. The take-away:

"The FBI deals with the U.S. Attorney's office in the DOJ - and the representatives of that office are Federal Prosecutors, USAs or AUSAs.

They do not work with DAs or ADAs (City prosecutors), and prosecuting attorneys involved in White Collar case fic should not be called DAs or ADAs."

And to bracket the year, December 31, 2011: Nothing! Nada! I didn't publish anything on New Year's Eve that year. How rude of me!

[ocmiss.livejournal.com]

Can I play ?!

I would pick September 7th 2010 and April 16th 2012 :)

[elrhiarhodan]

Sure! Better late than never!

September 7, 2010: A three post day!

First was a macro from one of the funniest scenes of the season (Peter placating Moz in Prisoner's Dilemma):



Second was a note that I'd just made delicious soup for Rosh Hashonna, and that it was just me and dad that year.

Third was the Post Ep Dish for Point Blank, and 56 comments. Those were the days, eh?

April 16, 2012: No entry! Boo :(