Jan. 2nd, 2020 09:43 am
All those fandom memes everyone is doing.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thrillingdetectivetalesConsidering the whole Flist has been running through all these fandom memes, I decided to steal a couple for myself and take a look at my own fannish year in review.
This was my fourth year on AO3—under this username, anyway, considering I've pulled down old ones before in fits of self-consciousness and pique— and I wrote 254,586 words. Considering that I was under 50K in two of the previous years and didn't break 100K in the other, this is some pretty major growth for me.
Meme the First
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
I don't know that I had any clear-cut expectations of the volume of fic I would write this year, but I knew that I wanted to do more writing in general and I think that I have succeeded fairly well in that goal overall.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
I didn't even know that the HBOWar fandoms existed in January and now I'm running a community, lol.
This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most:
For me, this year was about self-acceptance and personal growth, reaching for things that I've been too closeted or ashamed to reach for in years past. While I think a lot of my stories deal with that as a concept to varying degrees, the one I think is probably most demonstrative in regards to that theme is I'll Love You Well, which features a character struggling with gender identity and sexuality and their personal perception of the things they want.
What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
I really, really like Marginalia. It's a simple story, very short, but I like the way it flows and I had a really great time writing it and I think it's one of the neater, more technically elegant pieces I've produced this year.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
I don't know that I took any specific risks? I'm always trying to better myself and my skill set and I made some cognizant choices to move away from areas where I'm comfortable—purple prose, adverbs, etc.—and into a leaner form of storytelling that I'm still not entirely sure of or successful with. I've learned a lot about pacing and how to more effectively embrace the "show, don't tell" mentality, and I'm hoping that will continue into 2020.
My best story of this year:
I'm not sure what the metric of judgment for this is, but I'm going to say Matinee, for a variety of reasons—it has a fantastic bookmark to hit ratio, I've gotten a metric ton of positive feedback on it, I think it's successful as a story even though the plot is incredibly basic, and all of this despite the fact that I really, honestly didn't think it would go very far because it's so heavily saturated with original characters.
My most popular story of this year:
Far and away, my most popular story continues to be By a Thread, By a String, By a Rope, which is a red-string style soul-mate AU in The Magnificent Seven (2016) fandom. It's extra flattering because the story isn't even finished and likely never will be, unless I can get my head on straight vis-á-vis plot and not feeling like a giant hack every time I write more of it.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
That absolutely has to be Where There's Smoke. It's quality cowboy fucking, y'all, and runner-up for "single sexiest moment!" Get on it!
My least favorite story this year:
I'm going to say Entendre. It's not that I dislike the story, but it was the first thing I ever wrote in BoB fandom and I don't think my character voices for Buck and Harry are particularly accurate, which is something that irritates me as an author who generally places point of pride in capturing character voice.
Most fun story to write:
I had such a great time with Matinee. Suits fandom is pretty fun to write in overall because Harvey and Mike just snark at each other all the time to show their affection, but outsider POV stories hold a very special place in my heart and it was incredibly fun to flesh out the original characters and doubly gratifying to see that so many people enjoyed them as much as I did.
Story with the single sexiest moment:
I think that the sexy bits in Home Remedies are probably the ones I find most compelling out of all the porn I tried my hand at this year. They're certainly some of the sexy bits I'm most proud of.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
I mean it has to be That Fire Was, solely because it's an A/B/O story and I've never written A/B/O before in my life.
Most overdue:
I did add one chapter to By a Thread, By a String, By a Rope after months and months of radio silence, so I guess that's probably it, though the story remains unfinished.
Most eye roll-worthy title:
Gotta be (Don't Quit Your) Daydream, which is a very bad title for a story that I think is pretty good and really, really enjoy and just wanted to post already.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
I don't know that it necessarily shifted my perceptions because it's still fairly early in my fandom saturation for The Pacific, but Come Take Me Home Again did a lot by way of helping me pinpoint Sledge and Snafu's character voices and personalities.
Hardest story to write:
Weirdly enough, it was probably Laugh With Me, Buddy, in part because I was super nervous to participate in Yuletide for the first time and in part because I had never written iZombie before and it usually takes me a few runs at a target to get voices down.
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
I'm honestly not sure how to answer this question. The one that feels most telling, for me, is I'll Love You Well but I think that was kind of on purpose so. /shrug Most of my other stories aren't so I think it wins by default anyway.
Favorite opening line:
It starts, as these things so often do, with a glass of single malt scotch.
from Neat
Favorite closing line:
Okay I've spent forever deliberating over this and I'm tied between two of them—
Andy better be in the mood to kneel tonight, because Donna has earned a little worship.
from Projection Booth
and
"After," Dick agreed, closing his eyes and tracking the moon where it sang in Lew's pulse.
from Shake Off Your Flesh
Fic-writing goals for 2020:
This was my fourth year on AO3—under this username, anyway, considering I've pulled down old ones before in fits of self-consciousness and pique— and I wrote 254,586 words. Considering that I was under 50K in two of the previous years and didn't break 100K in the other, this is some pretty major growth for me.
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
I don't know that I had any clear-cut expectations of the volume of fic I would write this year, but I knew that I wanted to do more writing in general and I think that I have succeeded fairly well in that goal overall.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
I didn't even know that the HBOWar fandoms existed in January and now I'm running a community, lol.
This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most:
For me, this year was about self-acceptance and personal growth, reaching for things that I've been too closeted or ashamed to reach for in years past. While I think a lot of my stories deal with that as a concept to varying degrees, the one I think is probably most demonstrative in regards to that theme is I'll Love You Well, which features a character struggling with gender identity and sexuality and their personal perception of the things they want.
What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
I really, really like Marginalia. It's a simple story, very short, but I like the way it flows and I had a really great time writing it and I think it's one of the neater, more technically elegant pieces I've produced this year.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
I don't know that I took any specific risks? I'm always trying to better myself and my skill set and I made some cognizant choices to move away from areas where I'm comfortable—purple prose, adverbs, etc.—and into a leaner form of storytelling that I'm still not entirely sure of or successful with. I've learned a lot about pacing and how to more effectively embrace the "show, don't tell" mentality, and I'm hoping that will continue into 2020.
My best story of this year:
I'm not sure what the metric of judgment for this is, but I'm going to say Matinee, for a variety of reasons—it has a fantastic bookmark to hit ratio, I've gotten a metric ton of positive feedback on it, I think it's successful as a story even though the plot is incredibly basic, and all of this despite the fact that I really, honestly didn't think it would go very far because it's so heavily saturated with original characters.
My most popular story of this year:
Far and away, my most popular story continues to be By a Thread, By a String, By a Rope, which is a red-string style soul-mate AU in The Magnificent Seven (2016) fandom. It's extra flattering because the story isn't even finished and likely never will be, unless I can get my head on straight vis-á-vis plot and not feeling like a giant hack every time I write more of it.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
That absolutely has to be Where There's Smoke. It's quality cowboy fucking, y'all, and runner-up for "single sexiest moment!" Get on it!
My least favorite story this year:
I'm going to say Entendre. It's not that I dislike the story, but it was the first thing I ever wrote in BoB fandom and I don't think my character voices for Buck and Harry are particularly accurate, which is something that irritates me as an author who generally places point of pride in capturing character voice.
Most fun story to write:
I had such a great time with Matinee. Suits fandom is pretty fun to write in overall because Harvey and Mike just snark at each other all the time to show their affection, but outsider POV stories hold a very special place in my heart and it was incredibly fun to flesh out the original characters and doubly gratifying to see that so many people enjoyed them as much as I did.
Story with the single sexiest moment:
I think that the sexy bits in Home Remedies are probably the ones I find most compelling out of all the porn I tried my hand at this year. They're certainly some of the sexy bits I'm most proud of.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
I mean it has to be That Fire Was, solely because it's an A/B/O story and I've never written A/B/O before in my life.
Most overdue:
I did add one chapter to By a Thread, By a String, By a Rope after months and months of radio silence, so I guess that's probably it, though the story remains unfinished.
Most eye roll-worthy title:
Gotta be (Don't Quit Your) Daydream, which is a very bad title for a story that I think is pretty good and really, really enjoy and just wanted to post already.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
I don't know that it necessarily shifted my perceptions because it's still fairly early in my fandom saturation for The Pacific, but Come Take Me Home Again did a lot by way of helping me pinpoint Sledge and Snafu's character voices and personalities.
Hardest story to write:
Weirdly enough, it was probably Laugh With Me, Buddy, in part because I was super nervous to participate in Yuletide for the first time and in part because I had never written iZombie before and it usually takes me a few runs at a target to get voices down.
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
I'm honestly not sure how to answer this question. The one that feels most telling, for me, is I'll Love You Well but I think that was kind of on purpose so. /shrug Most of my other stories aren't so I think it wins by default anyway.
Favorite opening line:
It starts, as these things so often do, with a glass of single malt scotch.
from Neat
Favorite closing line:
Okay I've spent forever deliberating over this and I'm tied between two of them—
Andy better be in the mood to kneel tonight, because Donna has earned a little worship.
from Projection Booth
and
"After," Dick agreed, closing his eyes and tracking the moon where it sang in Lew's pulse.
from Shake Off Your Flesh
Fic-writing goals for 2020:
- write more long!fic
- finish my unfinished fic, or at least one of them
- dip a toe back into my old fandoms
- try my hand at some new fandoms
- write a few pieces of original fiction
1. Your main fandom of the year?
Band of Brothers, with Suits just behind and The Pacific not long after that.
2. Your favourite film you watched this year?
I really, surprisingly enjoyed It, Chapter 2, which I have plans to someday write fic for because P. J. Ransom, but if I had to pick I think Knives Out was the most fun I had watching a film this year. I'm definitely going to be adding it to my personal collection, and not just because Chris Evans in a hefty knit sweater is smoking hot.
3. Your favourite book read this year?
I read Robert Leckie's Helmet for My Pillow like six times. It's a memoir, but it's so good and so charming and I just love the shit out of it.
4. Your favourite album or song to listen to this year?
According to Spotify, I rocked the shit out of some Matt & Kim this year, but I think as far as personal favorites go, The Rural Alberta Advantage have to get my vote. Particularly their songs "Brother," which has so many vibes for so many pairings I love, and "Alright," which I used lyrics from to title a Fury fic because it gives me insane Boyd/Don feels aside from being an absolute jam.
5. Your favourite TV show of the year?
Schitt's Creek, closely followed by Letterkenny. They're both an utter joy and I watched all of their seasons straight through multiple times, but the former in particular is a delight. Canon queer characters! Self-centered idiots trying their best! Catherine O'Hara as Moira Rose! CATHERINE O'HARA AS MOIRA ROSE!
Also, I would die for Patrick. Absolutely die. One of the best fic I read this year was a 100K or so character study that gave him a queer community outside of David and it was so, SO good.
6. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
I mean, let's be real, it was HBOWar, which has utterly changed my life in so many wonderful ways and introduced me to so many wonderful people.
7. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
Unfortunately, I also learned that some people can be needlessly cruel, which was and continues to be a hard lesson, though I maintain that the pros of being a part of the HBOWar fandom outweigh the cons by a significant margin.
8. Your fandom boyfriend of the year?
Two-way tie between Rami Malek and Joe Mazzello. It's like a sickness, y'all.
9. Your fandom girlfriend of the year?
JAMEELA MOTHERFUCKING JAMIL. She's beautiful, she's smart, she's funny, she takes no shit, she lifts other women up. I just really appreciate her energy and perspective and it's made a big difference in my own life, actually, to hear some of the things she has to say.
10. Your biggest squee moment of the year?
Making new friends in HBOWar~ Y'all are a fucking treasure trove and I love you.
11. The most missed of your old fandoms?
Probably The Magnificent Seven (2016), though I've been having a bit of nostalgia for a lot of things recently.
12. The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
It, Chapter 2. I'd also like to get more into comics fandom, where I've dipped a toe in the past but haven't really delved.
13. Your biggest fan anticipations for the coming year?
As far as television goes, I'm frothing at the mouth for additional news about Masters of the Air, even though I know the series won't be forthcoming until like, 2021 or some shit. I'm eagerly anticipating the next season of Schitt's Creek and plan to watch the shit out of Hunters. And maybe it's foolish, but as someone who's been jonesing for a Sam/Bucky buddy cop movie since CA:TWS, I'm hopeful for Falcon and Winter Soldier.
For films, I'm pretty excited for Wonder Woman: 1984 and cautiously stoked for Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). I'm also really looking forward to No Time to Die, because I do thoroughly enjoy Craig!Bond.
I hope everyone else's year has been likewise productive and (mostly) lots of fun. Can't wait to see where 2020 takes us all!
no subject
I'm really glad you found this fandom too *hugs*
no subject
because only idiots change their mind<3333