#I got like 19K points I was so proud of myself | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

daisylincs · 4 years ago

Text

Today is, officially, the last day of 2020 - so it's literally just in time that I'm getting to @aosrecweek's amazing challenge. But that does go to show the nature of this crazy year a little bit, right? Time has just been INSANE, and I honestly cannot believe it's so close to over.

That said, I want to put it out there that everyone - absolutely everyone - who created something in this mad year, is a SUPERHERO. Like. We could have hidden away in dark corners, curled into little balls, and lost touch with our creativity entirely - but instead, we made some of the most fantastic content I have ever seen. And, excuse the language, but that is fucking amazing, of each and every single one of us. We're bloody INCREDIBLE, you guys. We really are.

Now, the rules of this challenge dictate that I've got to start with some of my own things, then repeat with the same number of creations by other people. So I'm going to do that, and I apologise for the sheer length (and self-plug-iness) of what is about to follow - but, bloody incredible, remember? I really mean that. 💜💜💜

My Own:

you could call me babe for the weekend - 19k of Spideychelle being oblivious, mutually pining IDIOTS while being snowed in. And, you know, fake dating. (This thing was SO MUCH FUN to write and though, yeah, it got completely out of control, as evidenced by the 19k, I still really love it.)

'tis the damn season - my first attempt at writing a multi-chap, and, yeah, it only has one chapter as of now, but I really love said chapter. Basically, it's Daisy and Mackelena being friends, and honestly just the BEST friends - I adore the style I managed to achieve in this thing. Plus, the Skimmons I have planned up next is going to be da bomb.

the closest thing - Philindaisy plus fake family. Also; amusement parks. And for a fangirl like me - well, it was pretty much a dream come true to write!

oh valley of plenty - in this fic, I basically told myself, so AoS won't give us Huntingbird in the finale? Fine. I'll just do it myself then - in the fluffiest way possible. And that's exactly what I did - making them, and their kids, be best friends in Perthshire.

maybe life should be about more - a very angsty Skimmons and Daisy-centric AU, focusing on the internalised homophobia Daisy has experienced through her life, and shaking it off (and eventually, y'know, getting together with Jemma.)

and it's dark in a cold december (but i've got you to keep me warm) - Fitzsimmons just make such a supreme pairing for hurt/comfort, what with how insanely well they understand each other and care about each other, so I'm really glad for the Fitzsimmons Secret Santa giving me the chance to write this! Basically, this follows our science duo through a stressful mission on Christmas Eve (so yes, it's a mission fic!!) and realising that the two of them can do anything together.

july second - ahhh, one of my personal favourites to write! Daisy birthday surprise fluff will always be top-notch for me, especially for all the team-as-family fluff you can add in, especially especially that this is set in Staticquake times! Also, it's from Hunter's point of view, which will forever be the most insanely fun thing to write, I do think.

i just wanna be with you - man, I'm such a big royal fan, so getting the chance to write a modern royalty AU for my OTP was nothing short of amazing!! This is Princess Daisy and her fiancée Lincoln Campbell at their official engagement interview

see the line where the skye meets the sea - shameless season 1 bby Bus Kids fluff, featuring movie nights, singalongs and... so much fluff your teeth will rot. Also I'm really freaking proud of the pun in the title okay

'cause all that you are is all that i'll ever need - Huntingbird waking up together fluff (because, fight me, Huntingbird in their sweet moments is one of the sweetest things you will ever get to read or write.) This is also my, fluffy, take on the origin of the Franny's Saloon keychain.

we love you, we love you (and we hope you love we too) - aha, my first polyship fic! Also my first try at some actually fancy HTML formatting (forever thanks to Kat for explaining.) Both of these things combined to form a fic that even I think is ridiculously fluffy and funny, and kinda amazing, at that.

and man I don't know where the time goes (but it sure goes fast like that) - Another Bus Kids movie night fic, but this one set post-season 7, and reflecting on how far they've come. A little bit more hurt/comfort-y than it's pure fluff prequel, but still super fluffy and soft. And, of course, with a happy ending.

she shares my dreams, i hope that someday, i'll share her home - snowy Fitzsimmons fluff, complete with them falling in love at the Winter Olympics, as you do.

then you walked in and my heart went boom - 16k of Dekesy for the wife, and remarkable for that, because literally a month ago from this, I hated Dekesy with my entire soul. Then I started reading Kat's fics, and, well, fell in love with them... so much so that I wrote sixteen thousand words of enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, bed sharing holiday fluff for them.

a love like that - a Fitzsimmons Cinderella AU, featuring my two favourite science babies, in true science bby style, falling in love over science and how stupid the whole courting thing is. Also, Daisy makes a brief appearance, and she's the freaking best.

ever after - ah, probably the one single fic I'm proudest of. A post-season 7 Daisy character study focusing on her emotional rollercoaster re: losing her family/things never being the same again, which just achieves... an emotional level that I have never managed to replicate again. I was full-on sobbing while writing it, and, guys, it also part-holds the Closest To Making Kat Cry prize.

blue - Daisy character study spanning snapshots of seven seasons, and before - but tied together by something blue in every moment. Researching for this, and finding all the blue moments, was very interesting, and immensely satisfying, especially since all the moments where a little bit of blue was present actually combine to chronicle Daisy's journey on the show remarkably well.

who is that girl I see - the one time I decided to write straight angst, and straight angst with no happy ending. Melinda May post-Bahrain, folks.

take my hand, take my whole life too - aww, the first thing I wrote that I really and truly loved. A Staticquake and Fitzsimmons Actors AU, featuring a proposal on set and INCREDIBLE amounts of fluff and softness.

hold out your hand, 'cause friends will be friends - the wife's favourite, and, as second fics go, pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. It's a Soulmates AU for Staticquake and Mackelena, with the focus being on DaisyMack friendship, and lots of denial, angst, and guilt about finding their soulmates. (They figure it out eventually, don't worry - it's me, of course I made them happy.)

Fitzsimmons + Fake Dating moodboard - Fake dating will always be FAB, and picturing it out in a moodboard - especially for my clueless bby best friends in love - was the best, and super satisfying.

Staticquake + Orange moodboard - One of the cooler ideas I had for Trick or Treat (which I still have not finished, heaven help me) was to make a series of moodboards for my OTP plus different colours. This orange one is just so light, and cheerful, and happy, and honestly I kinda adore it.

This Philindaisy + Family Moodboard - making moodboards can be insanely frustrating when you just can't find the photo that fits exactly right. With this one, however, I found all the pics I needed pretty insanely fast, and, better, the whole thing just worked, and really nicely so, too.

This Bus Kids + Baking Cookies moodboard - there's absolutely NO faults to be found with tiny, adorable Skye, Fitz and Jemma concocting choc chip cookies - but I'm actually doing a tiny cheat here, because, cute as my moodboard here is, the accompanying fic by my love @eowima is the SWEETEST and best thing you could ever wish for!!!

This Daisy Johnson Appreciation Week Photoset - Day 3 of Daisy Johnson Appreciation Week focused on an emotion, and I picked confidence and power, because honestly, it's nothing short of amazing how confident and powerful our gorgeous girl has become.

This Daisy Johnson Appreciation Week Photoset - One of the times I wish I could gif, because this quote about struggling though never giving up just suits Daisy perfectly. The photos I found are cool, though, and I mean, it's Daisy, so that's already absolutely fabulous.

Other People's:

I managed to find twenty-six of my own things that I liked enough to put up there (because, yes, I'm that big a dork, 26 things for me being 26 is the way to go :D) Anyway, now that gives me the amazing chance to spotlight twenty-six of my favourite creations by my FANTASTIC mutuals! 😍

To start, my wife - Kat said I couldn't put everything she's ever written on here, so, ugh, I guess I'll just do my top five then. *grumbling* Everything by Kat is on here in spirit, though!!

Chasing Cars (even after the story ends) by @aleksandrachaev - the epic Dekesy roadtrip AU and incredible Daisy character study itself, which, I do believe, finishes today!! Words aren't enough to describe how freaking AMAZING this thing is, or how spectacularly well characterised. Just: if you haven't read this yet, you are missing out. You will laugh, you will groan, you will want to wrap Daisy in a very tight hug, and you will probably cry, too. This fic just has it all, really!

there goes the maddest man this town has ever seen by @aleksandrachaev - the post-season 7 Deke-crashes-the-Framework-Zoom-call fic I didn't know I needed (but spent the next two weeks rereading every single night.) It is absolutely INCREDIBLE, with all the Deke & Team feels we missed in the final outro scene, and honestly just the most fantastic writing. I cannot recommend it enough!

To Box It Up And Start Again (everything must go) by @aleksandrachaev - bloody hell, this BROKE me. Deke never really got to say goodbye in canon, but Kat gave him the chance to do it here. And, my freaking GOODNESS, she made it so incredibly bittersweet and heart-shattering. 10/10

i am a leaf on the wind by @aleksandrachaev - a little bit of a stretched-out, reflective moment in the season 7 finale. As Daisy lingers on the edge of death, she reflects on all the lives she could have had - and, man, what a study in bittersweetness!! This entire fic is utterly incredible, and something I think all Daisy fans should read.

Falling Into Place by @aleksandrachaev - here's a tiny cheat from me (sorry, babes, lmao) because technically this isn't one fic, but a series of three. Way too amazing to miss out on, though!! Set mid-season 7, this has the Chronicoms go after a young Mary Sue Poots to kill Quake before she can become a problem for them. They stop the Chronicoms, yes, but not without a TREMENDOUS dose of feels and hurt/comfort. There's also a wonderful little dose of Dekesy friendship, and then an adult adoption (!!) that honestly made my entire day to read. Actually, that's true for the entire series - I really canNOT yell about it enough!!

destroyer of worlds by @bobbimorseisbisexual - a study in incredible parallels between Jiaying's daughters. Utterly breathtakingly done, this will give you ALL the feels for this small and complex Inhuman family.

Muscle Memory by @robotgort and @bobbimorseisbisexual - a Huntingbird!! Bones!! AU!! And also a collaboration between two of the most fabulous Huntingbird authors in the fandom - honestly, what more can you ask for?! This will make you laugh, and gasp, and wince, and keep you guessing at each new plot twist (and also screaming at your screen for Hunter and Bobbi to get their acts together and TALK ABOUT IT.) In short: it's completely and utterly amazing, and I cannot, cannot recommend it enough!!

You Belong Among the Wildflowers by @libbyweasley - a freaking incredible Scis & Spies Regency AU! I only just started reading, but I was hooked all the way through, especially on the way Libby writes all four characters' complex relationships (and their attraction, and their history!) Everything about it is just completely stunning, and I for one cannot WAIT for these beautiful idiots to figure out they all belong together.

Family Snapshot by @tomatobookworm - if it's family fluff you're after, especially Staticquake family fluff, look no further! This tremendously soft and utterly amazing fic follows a day in the lives of a pregnant Daisy and her husband Lincoln, and their not-so-little family of Inhumans, both adopted and biological. There's also shopping with Grandma May, lots of feels, lots of shippiness, and just AMAZINGNESS all the way through!!

Best Day Ever by @loved-the-stars-too-fondly - Jemma and Daisy want to adopt a pet, and make a very special trip to Wisconsin to do it. Also, whether he knows who he is or not, Jemma has an important question to ask Cal - and just, AHHHH, everything about this is utterly stunning! For starters, Aubrey's writing is FANTASTIC, and the scene she sets is absolutely beautiful, and so very bittersweet. I was actually misting up a little with happy tears towards the end of this - really, I cannot recommend this enough, to any Skimmons fan.

so why don't we go somewhere only we know by @loved-the-stars-too-fondly - more Skimmons (platonic this time, though), more hurt/comfort, and, yes, again, more absolutely INCREDIBLE writing. This one is canon compliant, following a shaken Jemma struggling to sleep after Maveth, and how Daisy finds a way to help her out. Incredibly sweet, tender and BEAUTIFULLY written, this one was an instant favourite the moment I read it!

Unspoken by @anxiouslynumbme - a birthday fic for yours truly, and, honestly, one of the most STUNNING Staticquake introspectives I've read. It follows Daisy and Lincoln in a beautifully tender missing moment in season 3, with them both realising their feelings, and just... AHHHHHHHH, everything about it is utterly incredible!! I cannot, cannot recommend this gem of a fic enough

the thing about water droplets and ruffled hair by @que-mint-tea - here's another fic that proves, once and for all, how good Kat's Dekesy is, because it managed to convert T to write some Dekesy smut. And, oh my GOSH, what Dekesy smut - so goshdarn angsty, but so FANTASTICALLY characterised and written that it leaves you more than a little breathless, and gaping at your screen. The first chapter initially left us on the most HORRIFIC cliffhanger, but then T fixed it, and it's just... this thing is really a whole new level of emotional writing, raw and gripping and intensely perfect for both of these characters. My haw still drops whenever I think of this thing, and how utterly AMAZING it was, so yeah. Fic rec!!!

beautiful stranger, there you are by @justanalto - I do believe I still owe Serena a long and very gushy comment on this thing, because, MAN, does it ever deserve that!! Pipsy and fake dating, with the most HILARIOUSLY incredible writing, plot and characterisation, and honestly just a giddy "askhdfkhsfh" whenever I think back to how much I enjoyed it. Yup, it was that good.

Jumping to conclusions by @eowima - a very special one, because it marks my love Océane's first venture into writing AoS fic! It's an AU of 1x06 (the Fitzsimmons episode of s1) where Fitz does actually jump out of the plane to save Jemma. Realisations of feelings, and some of the most genuinely FANTASTIC Fitz characterisation I've read in a while, follow - and, yup, I was shouting at my screen for them just to get together already. Amazing stuff, really!!

Look into your eyes and the sky's the limit by @eowima - okay, this. This. Another gift for me, and one that I will probably treasure forEVER, because it is just?? so?? utterly?? perfect?? Just for starters, the title is a Hamilton reference - and then the theme of Hamilton references continues into the fic itself, I'm delighted to say. There's also the most BEAUTIFUL, playful Skimmons friendship, and teasing, and then of course the bet about who can make out with their crush first... Staticquake & Fitzsimmons perfection. And all rendered in Océane's delightful, best-thing-ever-to-read writing!! I'm going into a giddy keyboard smash just THINKING about this, so yeah, cannot recommend it enough.

lullabies and clear blue skies by @springmagpies and @bobbimorseisbisexual - okay, I never thought I'd catch myself shipping FitzBobbi, let alone shipping it this hard, but... wow. Maggie and Al teamed up to completely blow me away, and MELT MY WHOLE ENTIRE HEART with the sheer cuteness of this!! It features Fitz, Bobbi and adopting two daughters, and it's just the most tender, beautiful development through that little family - I love it so, so much.

We made all the wrong choices by @browneyedgenius - the winner of the AoS Angst War 2020, how could I not include this one? It is such a well-deserved win, though, whoa - I was sobbing, full-on sobbing, at least twice while reading. It follows the season 5 team through the events of the time-loop, after they failed to save the world - and, oh my gosh, it ripped my heart right out of my chest, but beautifully so. Everything about this fic just hits so hard, and it's written so well - yeah, really a most AMAZINGLY deserved win, for an utterly SHATTERINGLY incredible fic.

I threw stones at the stars (but the whole sky fell) by @nazezdha321 - this is Z showing us all how to write a backstory for a minor character, and write it so well that everyone's hearts break all over again when she dies. This one is about Victoria Hand, and it builds a stirring and profound childhood for her, also making her rise through the ranks of SHIELD and just her entire character mean so much more. Really, fic-wise, this is goals, and I take my hat off to you, Z, 1000%, for writing it.

in which the universe is put together by @besidemethewholedamntime - Rebecca's emotional writing, particularly Fitzsimmons' emotions, is incomparable, and she proves it all over again in this fic. If follows Fitz and Jemma before, after and during the bloodwork, and I just... wow, honestly. The emotion!! And the characterisation!! Absolutely stunning, and honestly all I could wish for in a we-had-time fic.

Agents of SHIELD Season 8 by @egumal - THIS. This, this, this, oh my gosh - as fix-it fics go, this has to be the most spectacular one I have ever read. What it does is find a way - a potentially canon compliant way, too - to bring back Lincoln Campbell, and reunite Staticquake. Basically: just about as season 7 finishes, the Astro Ambassadors get an unexpected visitor from another timeline, who asks them to come help out against Hive. Case in point, Daisy meets her lost love again (... but he has no idea who she is) and also has to relive the Fallen Agent drama. It all gets even more complicated when Kora restores Lincoln's memories, and Daisy meets the full team Deke has assembled around him in the 33 years (for him) that they've been apart... in short, this is one of the most thorough, well-written and downright SHOCKING plot-twist-wise fics that you will ever read, and honestly, saying "I can't recommend it enough" is an understatement. This thing is thd BEST, plain and simple!

Black Roses aren't real (but you and I are) by @ohwriteiforgot - ahhhh, a fic that will always have an incredibly special place in my heart, because it introduced me to one of my best fandom friends. The main focus is on Clintasha, it's true, but it's also a crossover with AoS in the sense that Clint was adopted by Coulson and May. Also, Daisy is his little sister, and their bond is gold. Also - there's Staticquake!! And flower shops!! And rivals to friends to lovers!! All I'm going to say is, what more can you ask for?!

A book to shield my story by @maybebrilliant - Staticquake High School AU, ahhhhhhhh!! There are only two chapters out so far, but the way this is shaping up is making my DAY - with Daisy as the new girl who meets Lincoln and his group of friends, and, though her foster parents are absolutely shit, starts to find actual happiness in a school for the first time in her life. Also - THE REFERENCES. Guys. I'm crazy for those, and in this book, so are my favourite dorks, Daisy and Lincoln - and let me tell you, it's nothing short of the best thing ever.

This AoS Finale Gif Edit by @heysteverogers - AoS really has been the most INCREDIBLE journey through the years, but what's really made it special is the company - and that's summed up perfectly in this gorgeous gifset. Also, the graphics on this are just, ahhhh, stunning - I'm in awe, and I've spent very long periods of time just looking at this thing in a state of heart-eyes.

This AoS Finale Gif Edit by @jemannesimms - combining Auld Lang Syne and the final scenes of my favourite show was a raw emotional - but utterly brilliant experience - for me. It's just so absolutely beautiful, and perfectly suited to the team, and their goodbyes!! Breathtaking editing work here, too.

This Daisy as Peter Parker and May as Tony Stark moodboard by @agentsofcomedyandchaos - ahhhh, a crossover of two of my favourite fandoms!! And what a lovely one, too - the colour scheme, quotes, and just the whole FEEL of this is absolutely genius, and I am guilty of being inspired by way too many fic ideas by it. Stunning stuff!!

And... whoa, that was long, but I really do feel that we deserve a bit of a proper pat on the back after creating such magical content in such a messed up year. So that's the note I'm going to leave you with for 2020, my friends: hell-year or no, look at the absolute beauty we were still able to create!! We really are freaking amazing, guys.

#aos best of 2020 #fic rec #massive fic rec list #and honestly; WHAT a list!!#despite this utter hellstorm of a year #we as a fandom have still been nothing short of INCREDIBLE #and honestly; I am SO proud of us #💜💜💜

33 notes · View notes

alcego-writes · 4 years ago

Note

Hi! I saw your post about your writing accomplishments for July and that you somehow wrote like 20,000 words in one day!!??? And I am a Very Inexperienced Writer (actually more of a STEM person who writes just because it's fun 😅) who counts herself lucky if she can write 1,000 words in one sitting. I was wondering if you had any advice for how to write consistently and efficiently? Thanks!

Hi there! It’s nice to see another STEM writer out and about! 😊 And yeah lol that 19k day was,, a lot to deal with (and was largely due to me having perfectionism issues the night before I needed to be done with a project). Definitely don’t recommend doing what I did there LMAO

And tbh? 1k isn’t anything to scoff at! That’s a thousand whole words you put to paper, a thousand words of your own creation! Seriously, though, it’s easy to see big word counts and think that 1k isn’t that much when it really really is.

As for writing consistently and efficiently… the biggest thing is practice. Make writing a habit, get into the rhythm of writing on a regular basis. When I was working early morning shifts, I would wake up a bit earlier to get some words in before work, which was really helpful for me, as I both reinforced my habit and got used to writing a solid chunk in one sitting before moving on for the day.

Here’s some more advice, organized in no particular order:

Pace yourself.

Writing is a long distance effort; you need to build up stamina. I can only write 19k in a day (not in one sitting, lol) because I’ve worked up to that point.

Take breaks.

Pomodoro timers are great for this. If I’m planning to write for an extended period of time (or need to hit a higher word count) I’ll usually work with a Pomodoro timer so that I don’t burn myself out too early in the day.

Drink water. Eat snacks. Stretch.

Taking care of yourself makes it easier to think and create. Also, it’s just a good thing to do.

Discipline is key!

While writing is a lot of fun, there are times when it’s like pulling teeth. Getting good at sitting yourself down and writing is a really good thing.

This isn’t to say that you should write every day, but the spirit of that advice stands; work writing into your routine, and over time it will become much easier to write efficiently. (My only requirement of myself is that I write at least once a week. Obviously I have other goals and word counts to hit, but if I’m just writing for myself, once a week is enough to keep my gears greased.)

Practice typing.

There’s a lot of free-use websites out there designed to test and, in some cases, improve your typing speed and accuracy. I’m able to write more because of my ability to type quickly and accurately. (The last time I took one of those tests I averaged at 98wpm with 99% accuracy.)

Make it a habit.

I know I said this already, but I really can’t emphasize this enough. If you only write when inspiration hits, you’re not going to get very much done at all—and you’re definitely not going to build up much stamina! Every writing session is worthwhile.

Reward yourself for your hard work.

I keep track of how much I’ve written because it makes me really happy/proud to see how much I’ve gotten done. For me, that’s enough reward to get stuff done.

Anyway that was probably a bit more than you were looking to chew on, but I hope it helps!

#aj's advice

58 notes · View notes

firebrands · 5 years ago

Text

Five Favorite Works from the past year

tagged by @iam93percentstardust @crownofstardustandbone @omg-just-peachy thanks friends!!!

The rules of this circulating challenge are as follows: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you’ve brought into the world. tag as many writers/artists/etc as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

a catalog of non-definitive acts (19k)

Tony's seen the way Steve watches him, trails after him just for a moment, then catches himself. Let it never be said that Tony Stark doesn’t pay attention. At least, when it matters.

Or, Steve, Tony, and the emotional fallout of keeping secrets. (Set in some nebulous time pre-AoU.)

i poured my whole heart into writing this fic - there’s so much yearning and self-doubt and denial that made writing it feel, in a strange way, confessional. in the sense that we’ve all felt that, at some point: second-guessed what we were doing and wanted nothing more to crack someone’s brain open just to see what they were really thinking because words fail us.

this was also the first long fic that i wrote from Tony’s POV that was canon-compliant and also included a lot more introspection. anyway. i’m really, really proud of this fic and i honestly think it’s one of my best written ones!

finally, then once more (7k)

a college au and the four times tony asks steve to fuck him, and the one time steve finally does

awhjkdhks this fic was so much fun to write, but i also did NOT expect it to end up this long. looking back at it i think this fic is shows a lot about my thought process, which is: it has to be believable. LMAO. like, it felt like cheating, to jump straight to steve “taking” tony’s virginity, without going into how tony was like before it. especially because this isn’t a trope that’s usually explored in mcu fandom. so, yeah?? i write myself into corners and scream YEAH BUT WHY DID THIS HAPPEN and then i yell and write some more

(also this is my first “five times” fic, which was, surprisingly, a LOT of fun.)

accidents never happen when a room is empty (remix) (5k)

Remix of @navaan’s Love Me (Not) - Steve and Tony fall into a friends with benefits relationship and Tony is completely okay with that. Right?

This is my take, with Steve's POV.

y’all. Y’ALL. when i saw that i was assigned to remix navaan’s fic i yelled, because !!!!! THEY HAVE SUCH GOOD FICS LMAO anyway this was a really interesting fic to remix because it was very much in tony’s head, and him just falling into this pattern with steve of sleeping together and not talking about it. i liked the idea of steve thinking he has a read on tony, and also of steve just being the kind of person who, despite everything, is afraid.

also i think writing this fic was partially what led to me writing “a catalog of non-definitive acts.” or maybe i was just going through a phase of misunderstanding and miscommunication IRL. who knows!

your pillow feels so soft now (but still you must advance) (5k)

When Bruce is 13, he decides to go to boarding school. It's an opportunity for him to learn about other people, and how to interact with them.

Bruce has the misfortune of meeting Tony Stark upon his arrival in Roxbury. Bruce is moving into his room, and Tony opens the door of his room to watch. He looks a bit younger than Bruce, hair wild and eyes bright. Bruce has never seen a boy like him before—handsome and confident.

Bruce doesn’t like it.

this fic was so SELF-INDULGENT AND FUN AND I LOVE BRUCE WAYNE AND TONY STARK SO GOD DAMN MUCH. i think this fic also took root as i was writing “a catalog of non-definitive acts” (um? holy shit??). while i was writing that fic i was trying to think of who the interloper could be--i didn’t think Ty (aka the universal villain of stony fandom lmao) would be a good choice, because i didn’t want to make tony feel worse, and then... i remembered... bruce. not that i could ever forget bruce wayne, my favorite comic book superhero of all time (OF ALL TIME!!!), but i was also a bit hesitant to write him just because i know so much about him and i was afraid to get the characterization wrong. but people liked him (and some people wanted more of him & tony), and well. a few months later this fic (and its sequel) were born.

the mind-body problem (14k, WIP)

Steve is a reporter for the New York Bulletin, and one day he's assigned a story that might be just above his pay grade. To find out the truth, he's got to speak to the man implicated: Tony Stark.

A canon-divergent fic where Steve is not captain america, but Tony is still Tony Stark. Set around the same time as Iron Man 1.

I’M PROUD OF THIS FIC EVEN IF IT ISN’T DONE because i experimented with new formats (texts! emails! switching POVs!) and was really happy with the result. i’m... still trying to write it. i don’t know. eep. someone help. (jk!!! half!!!)

Tagging @hundredthousands @blossomsinthemist @lazywriter7 @nostalgicatsea @ishipallthings @nethandrake @starksnack @talktonytome and whoever else wants to do it! (just say i tagged you!!)

#tag memes #things i write #also can anyone fucking believe may is almost over? jeez

39 notes · View notes

adventures-in-a-world-of-fiction · 5 years ago

Text

YouTube video views

I've been thinking about my YouTube videos. I actually have two YouTube channels which I've been keeping very separate. One of them is for videos about books and writing, which includes serious writing advice, interviews with other authors, and things like that. I've only had this channel for about a year and it’s still small, with only a handful of videos and subscribers. The other is a channel I've had for years where I post fan videos of stuff. I used to post loads more videos but my creations have become a lot more sporadic over recent years because Real Life.

On that fan video channel, I've been trying to work out a pattern for the videos that do best, because the videos with the most views are not my best videos. So here is me taking a critical look at my videos to try and get to the bottom of why some YouTube videos are more successful than others.

1st Place: Once a Ranger, Always a Ranger, 378,002

The video that has the most views at 378,002 last time I checked is a Power Rangers video called Once a Ranger, Always a Ranger. The song is When Your A Jet from the musical West Side Story, which is a little... odd as a choice. As videos go, it's okay. The video clips fit the lyrics and there are no obvious slip ups like stray frames being left in. There's a slightly clunky bit of dialogue in the middle that doesn't transition well to the rest of the video and the title at the end is a touch crude, but I can look back at this and smile instead of cringe. It doesn't do anything particularly clever but it's fine. I made it in 2007 so it's had 13 years to gain viewers, which would make sense, and at the time I posted it I was very active on a Power Rangers forum so I probably posted links on there and got some viewers that way.

I think the main reason this video has done so well though is because a Power Rangers anniversary episode came out later with the same name, so I suspect a lot of the views are people who were looking for that episode and clicked my silly, little video instead. I expect the 23 dislikes were a result of this. The average view time according to the analytics is 35 seconds, which combined with the general lack of interaction suggests that people click on it, realise it isn't what they want, and click away.

2nd Place: Trailer: Am I Perfect Yet? 211,239

My next highest view count video is Trailer: Am I Perfect Yet? This is a trailer I made for an original story I was working on. I took clips from a bunch of different films and TV shows and stuck them together in a way that formed a trailer for my own story. In terms of quality, the biggest thing I notice rewatching it is that it jumps between different aspect ratios. Some of the film clips are generally in widescreen, but the made from TV films and TV show clips aren't, so it jumps constantly between them. There are also cuts between scenes from different things that are supposed to be in the same place, but the lighting is so clearly different. But on the other hand, it does what I intended it to do. It gets across the points for the story the way a trailer should. Looking at this, it makes me want to dig out the half-written first draft of the novel and see if it's worth continuing to write the thing.

In terms of why this video has so many views, I think it's because this was the pinned video on my channel for a long time. I pinned it while I was actively working on the story and then I just didn't change it for ages, probably years. So anyone going to my channel would have seen this video first.

3rd Place: Trailer: The Forgotten Power, 165,144

The next videos are a bit more of a mystery. Coming in third is a trailer for a Power Rangers fanfic I wrote. The fanfic is probably still up on fanfiction.net if anyone cares enough to hunt for it and I did include links to the trailer videos when I posted the fic, so I guess that would have brought people to it.

As far as videos go, it's not good. Some of the clips are badly cut out so there's a random frame from another scene that sneaks in. I put audio clips over video clips in a way that's really obvious and bad. The audio is jumpy.

I'm ashamed that this is my third most viewed video because it is definitely not a great example of my video editing skill. I know that it's over 13 years old, so I should cut myself some slack, but if someone sorts my videos by views to look for the best ones they'll find this instead of any of the much, much better ones I made later.

4th Place: Blood on my Hands - Jayden/Deker 150,740

Another Power Rangers video, this one a little bit more recent. This one I published in June 2011. My skills obviously came a long way in those 4 years. It's just a lot less clunky. The clips flow together a bit more smoothly. I have included some dialogue but these sections are during instrumental-only parts of the song and I've layered the audio a lot better than in the previous video. It gets a little bit repetitive because there were only a limited amount of scenes with these two characters together but I don't think I reused any exact shots.

Overall, it's a decent little video but I'm not sure why it's so high on the list. I don't have any explanation for why this one has done so much better than other videos I've made.

5th Place: Teaser Trailer: The Deal, 115,548

This was another fanfic trailer but for a fanfic I never actually posted anywhere. It's a short video, only a minute and a half long, teasing a story I never got far enough into to start putting online. I posted this video near the end of 2011 and like the one above, the years between it and some of the earlier ones of this list were clearly filled with a lot of improvement, but the success of this little video is baffling to me. It's fine as a piece of video editing but it's not great as a trailer because it doesn't give much of an indication about the fic. It's clearly meant to tease people and get them excited about the story I was working on... and never did anything with.

But why does this one have more than a hundred thousand views? It's not that it was linked to a fic because the fic was never posted anywhere to link back to it. I do not understand why this video has done so much better than others.

Videos 6 - 10

That was the last video with more than a hundred thousand views. The next view range between 60k and 90k. Two more general Power Rangers videos, one more Power Rangers fanfic trailer, A Perfect Body fan video, and a Firefly/Serenity fan video. The most recent of these was the Firefly video posted in 2009.

Is there a pattern?

It's obvious that most of my highest viewed videos are older ones. I can only assume that this is because the older videos have had more time to build up views. If I look for videos I've posted in the last five years, the first one I find is I Choose You a Class fanvid featuring the Charlie and Matteusz ship published in 2017. This has a respectable 39k views putting it in 17th place on my list but it's surrounded in the list by videos posted between 2007 and 2011.

The next one published in the last 5 years is a Teen Wolf video Heroes published in May 2015, with 19k views, in 25th place.

If I sort by date, most of the videos at the top of the list have a few hundred views, but there's an interesting pattern here. Videos for White Collar, Class, and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency do better than my Marvel videos. A lot better. Is it to do with the size of the fandom? There are loads of people making videos for Marvel movies so my poor Stucky video is down at 157 views unable to get noticed while not many people are making Dirk Gently videos so my Panto/Silas one has 3055.

But that can't be the only thing. I published a bunch of Voltron videos within a few weeks of each other in October 2016. The Shiro video I Will Remain has 847 views while Make a Man Out of You has 17k, and the Pidge video Robbed of Her Innocence that I was really proud of only has 953 views. So published time and fandom can't be the answers to the mystery because these are all the same fandom published within weeks of each other.

Conclusion

I have no friggin' clue why some of my videos do so much better than others. This makes no sense whatsoever. I give up. I'm just going to post whatever random stuff I come up with and some will magically do better than others with no pattern or logic.

And if you’re going to look at my fan videos, don’t sort by views because the most viewed videos are far from my best work.

#videos #youtube #I don't understand youtube #fan videos

1 note · View note

stevethehairington · 6 years ago

Text

Fanfic Meme

I was tagged by the lovely @gracie137blogs thank you bb 😘😘

Your favorite fic you’ve written:

I Have Hella Feelings For You E 19k

I actually have a lot of fics I’ve written that I really love, but this one ranks just a bit higher than the others for a few reasons. It was the first chaptered fic I ever posted so it holds a special place in my heart because of that. But also, when I first started writing it I only was planning on having 3 chapters but it ended up being 8 in the end and I wrote a chapter a day and posted it as I wrote like that. So I’m pretty proud of how well it turned out. And it got a really really good response which makes me even happier and makes me love it even more.

Your least favorite fic you’ve written:

Stjerner Lyser Skinnede GA 2k

Okay so it was a tossup between this fic and my Queer Eye au but this one won out because I at least liked the beginning of my Queer Eye au lmao. But this was written in desperation. I hadn’t posted anything in a while and was just beginning to get out of a really bad writers block and I whipped this up and I kind of hated it but posted it anyways. But yeah, I feel like this one has no substance so I don’t really like it that much tbh. But I don’t delete fics so it stays up there.

Your most popular fic:

I Have Hella Feelings For You E 19k

Ayeee this one again haha. This is my most popular fic and tbh I’m pretty damn proud of that! Like I said before, this one’s special to me so I’m glad it’s my most popular.

The fic you wish more people would read:

Lily White, Hold Me Tight GA 4.3k OR Quality of Convictions GA 3.6k

Okay this one’s a tie because I couldn’t pick between these two. Lily White is one of my favorite things I’ve written and I feel like it’s underappreciated lol. I have Strong Feelings about Bucky being drafted instead of enlisting and that’s what that fic is basically about; in it Steve finds his draft notice. I’d say it’s minor angst bc Bucky and Steve both get emotional about it but it’s resolved quickly. Quality of Convictions is another one I really love that gets like no attention. It’s a Harry Potter au, which I understand isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but idk I just really love how this one turned out so I wish more people would give it a chance.

The fic you most enjoyed writing:

Lies As Sweet As Chocolate GA 3.7k

Ahh okay so I’ve enjoyed writing a lot of the fics I’ve posted but this one in particular came to me so easily which made it that much more enjoyable of a process to write. It was written for Spierfeld week, in which I wrote a fic a day for a whole week skljgd it was Busy but So Fun, and I ended up writing at least two of my favorite fics for it and this was one of them! I just loved getting into Bram’s head in this one and writing his panic when it comes to all things coffee haha.

The fic you found hardest to write:

All Things (Just Keep Getting Better) GA 12.5k

This was the easiest one of these to pick for lmaoo. This fic. *sigh* It was just. so. damn. hard. to. write. This was my entry for the Skam Reverse Bang 2018 and at this point, I had signed up for the reverse bang hoping it would help me re-find my inspiration for writing Skam, but it didn’t end up working out like that lol. The first like 1k or 2k (basically the whole car scene in the beginning) came so easily to me, I wrote it before I even knew I had this particular art to write for lol. But as time went on it got harder and harder to write for this and I ended up leaving it for last minute... oops... and I had to rush through it to finish which made me hate how it turned out. So yeah. This one is probably my least favorite thing I’ve written after Stjerner Lyser Skinnede. Which sucks because I really wanted to do it justice because I love the heck out of Queer Eye. But. Circumstances, I guess.

Your funniest fic:

I Just Had Sex M 2k

Haha this fic. Oh man, okay so a pal brought up the thomas the tank engine version of my neck, my back (don’t ask) which started a conversation of wack ass sex songs lol and I Just Had Sex by The Lonely Island was brought up and I suggested a fic idea based on it and got coerced into writing it lmao thus this fic was born. It’s not a crack fic or anything but it’s the closest I’ve gotten to writing a crack fic and I think it’s pretty amusing so.

Your saddest fic:

Lily White, Hold Me Tight GA 4.3k

I actually don’t have like any angsty or sad fics, which is honestly kind of a shame because I would love to have more of those, they can be kind of fun to write sometimes sfljdf. But this would definitely be my saddest. Like I explained earlier it’s Steve finding Bucky’s draft notice and confronting Bucky about it and Bucky like kind of breaks down when explaining why he didn’t tell Steve about it and told him he enlisted instead. It has a nicer ending, but yeah, it gets pretty emotional. But honestly, it’s one of my favorite things I’ve written. (Honorable mention to the p much finished skam divorce fic in my drafts that I’ll probably never post. That one was hella sad, especially if I didn’t go with the happy ending bits I had in mind. It would have easier taken this spot if I ever posted it but I didn’t and never will)

The fic you’d like to be remembered for:

I Have Hella Feelings For You E 12k OR If You Love Me, If You Hate Me E 44.3k+

Ideally, I would love to be remembered by a different fic for each fandom I’m in lmaoo but that’s definitely unlikely. Actually, once I finish my Stucky AU Big Bang fic (and tbh the other rom com au I’m working on) that’s probably going to be the fic I’m most proud of and would most like to be remembered for but since that’s not finished or posted yet I’ll go with these two lol. Both of these fics are very special to me, for reasons previously stated for Hella Feelings but not IYLMIYHM. That one was a gift for one of my pals for the Skam Intl Secret Admirer Exchange we did and that fic honestly was a blast to write. I complained about it a whole helluva lot lol but I really did enjoy myself writing it and some of the chapters have some of my favorite things I’ve written (i.e. the sex scene in like chapter 7 i think it is?? love that shit srgldfdg can you say that about your own smut? lmao). But yeah, these are my two chaptered fics so far (even though the second one is still unfinished ripppp) and I’m insanely proud of both of them and I think they’d be pretty bomb things to be remembered by. (Also they’re my most popular fics so if anything these would be the ones I’m known for lmao)

Tagging: @medicineontour @chloevlntine @julian-dahl @julieseven @odette-and-odile @dottieapple @flightyrock @stevergrsno and any of my other writer friends that want to do this!! Just say I tagged you! <3

#tag game #tag thingy #this was honestly so fun #about me #my writing #mack writes #evensdramaticshenanigans fics

3 notes · View notes

onthejumbotron · 8 years ago

Text

Finally

I’m finally ready to share my Tokyo Marathon story. Time heals all wounds!

Began the Tokyo winter morning bundled up, nervous, waiting in line for an eastern-style toilet, and cold. That always gets me - the hours-long wait for the race to start and just hanging around trying to pass the time.

Anyway, I was in group A. A! I was just behind the elites as part of the Run as One group. Pretty cool! We were split, men and women on separate sides. I chatted with a few of my fellow runners. We were all out to have a good time - and PR.

And we’re off!

Without the usual pile of people in front of me, I got off to a pretty good start. A little quicker than past races but I trained like that so I was fine. 5k, 24 minutes. next 5k 23.5 minutes. Right on track.

At 10k I felt a weird twinge. I’d gotten overheated pretty quickly and threw my headband, long sleeve shirt, and gloves off early. I was sweating a little grabbed one of the Pocari Sweats - I never grab water until around the midpoint so it was weird.

15k 23 minutes. Still on track but a bit chilly from going back into the shade.

18k it hit.

JUST HOLD ON, KATE. HOLD ON.

19k I couldn’t hold on. I ran off, desperately, to one of the porta potties in an effort to puke. I was a little dizzy, overheated, and cold at the same time. I couldn’t puke so I ran back to the course. Probably added a minute to my time but I was okay with that.

I kept on for a few kilometers before realizing I couldn’t keep going that fast. So I slowed down. A kilometer later I realized my body, my stomach, was hurting so bad I needed to stop. Reluctantly, I did.

The next 10k I walked, holding my stomach, trying to run occasionally, failing, and pulling over to the side of the road when I saw a bush to either puke, dry heave, or spit up. I grabbed a few waters at stops, I puked a little more.

It was miserable. WHAT WAS HAPPENING?

I think it was 32k or so (I’d been pulling off to the side to try to puke every kilometer by that point) when, during one of my stops, a policeman came over and without a smile said something to me. AH! Sorry, sorry, I waved and skipped outta there. Tokyo doesn’t even have trash cans because people keep the city so neat. And here was the American just puking, willy nilly, on the side of the road. Whoops!

At 33k, I pulled off to a rest stop and just broke down. I didn’t know if I could carry on. Everything hurt, I hardly remember the course because I was so out of it, all I wanted was for this to be over. Medics came over and put one of those heart rate/pulse things on my finger. They said something in Japanese (???) and the woman working the area said something in broken English - all I heard was, “So?” A lifetime of running flashed through my head. And I got up immediately and ran off, “I’m going to go run” as I joined the living again.

The next bit was hard but I kept on trying to jog. Walk walk walk jog jog walk walk walk jog.

At 36k or so, two women, Finnish maybe, who I had passed walking earlier (other people were walking now) passed me. One pat me on the back and gave me a fist pump. “You can do it!” Tears streamed down my face immediately. A kilometer or so later, I was trotting and caught up to them, now walking. “We can do it!” I returned with a huge smile and fist pump back. They smiled, “Let’s run together!” So we did for a few kilometers. Slowly. One of them was sick and the other was hobbling, injured. We were doing it. I don’t know if I’ve ever been so motivated by other people. At some point, around 40k, they had to stop. I started to walk with them but they pushed me on, “Go! You’ve got this!” So I did. I sped up a little, feeling un-pukey now and not like someone was stabbing my stomach anymore.

And then I got excited that I didn’t feel like death so I sped back up to speed. I wove in and out of the crowded path, trying to forge on at a good clip. I saw another man doing the same. We were in front of each other, we were across the length of the course, and then at some point we were next to each other. I turned and smiled, and said, “WE GOT THIS!” in a really inspired voice. So we went. We pushed each other, nearly sprinting, towards the finish. We crossed together, smiling, and immediately hugged and raved to each other about our finishes. It felt amazing.

We chatted a little afterwards before our bib numbers split our finishing chutes.

I was in tears. Circumstance took away my chance to do what I set out to do - I trained for months since the summer heat had ended for this one thing. But I endured, I pushed myself and dug deeper than I thought I was capable of ever doing.

I still am split thinking about it, though now, telling the story, I lean towards pride. What a ridiculous experience. We can’t all have our day, sometimes a bad race happens. This...well this wasn’t even a bad race. This was unluck and I still managed to finish - at a 4:14 (which I know other people would be super proud of finishing at healthy), which blew me away because I thought I was at 5 or 6 hours by that point.

I tell it better in person, enthusiasm and talking with my hands and stuff. But that’s it. That’s my story. Tokyo Marathon 2017, a mess but a completed race.

And now, back to non-training running. It’s calm here. Nice. I’ll think about the next race eventually but for now, just gonna love the run.

#run #running #runner #marathon #tokyo marathon

0 notes