#LS & my gift exchange fic keeping me busy!

[darlingpoppet]

Fic wrap-up 2024

Fic Wrap-up 2023 here

I delayed posting this until the last possible moment because I was hoping I could get a bit more writing in under the wire so I could include it in the year total word count, but alas it wasn’t meant to be :’) I filled out this post with several more questions compared to last year, since I did see that year-end writing ask meme going around but I decided to be a bit of a rebel and just go ahead to answer all of the questions I wanted to answer. Hope that’s ok!!

Fics published this year/total words:

See No ****, Hear No **** — Patrochilles (6430)

Where The Dead Forget ch 7-8 — Patrochilles (27500)

In Full Bloom — Persenyx (2838)

(Pray, Love, Remember — Mobuhan - not yet on AO3)(3966)

Liminal Spaces ch 1-5 — PZA (32026)

My Heart’s Your Future — Patrochilles (3227)

(Closest To My Heart Jp ver — PZA - not yet on AO3) (17779)

Total: 93766 (AO3 only: 72021)

(I ALMOST published 100k this year I was SO CLOSE haha)

5 fanfics with the most kudos in 2024:

Closest To My Heart (317)

Flourishing Into Greatness (229)

Strain (227)

Pressed Flowers (216)

Where The Dead Forget (216)

Did this for all-time rather than just 2024 fics since I thought it’s more interesting. Flourishing and Strain have been locked in fierce competition for the number two spot for most of the year lol. WTDF is the only one that has fallen out of the top 3 since last year but it’s still in the top 5 and might surpass Pressed Flowers soon (probably it will once I get around to updating it lol.) I also think it’s interesting that all of my top fics have at least 200 kudos now and so that really means a lot to me that new people are apparently continuing to discover and enjoy my stories! 🥹🙏

Most popular fic this year

If judging by kudos, then it’s In Full Bloom (hooray, sapphics win!) If going by comments, then definitely Liminal Spaces (hooray, erotic love triangles win!) Both are perfectly deserving, I’m good with either one =)

Least popular fic this year

If judging by kudos only it’s My Heart’s Your Future but that’s kind of understandable since it’s a side story whose broader context is in a different, longer, multi-chapter fic. Yet I was pleasantly surprised by how much feedback it still received so honestly I can’t complain AT ALL. And if judging by comments, technically I received 0 AO3 comments for See No ****, Hear No **** but tbh the only response that mattered to me was my giftee’s, so no complaints there either =)

Fic(s) you completed this year

Five of them!

See No ****, Hear No ****

In Full Bloom

Pray, Love, Remember

My Heart’s Your Future

Closest To My Heart Jp ver

The fact that Liminal Spaces is NOT on this list kind of bums me out since I spent a significant part of the year working on it… but oh well, at least it was only because it was necessary for me to complete a different cool & fun project I wanted to do before a certain deadline. Time is a construct anyway, right? 🤪

Longest/shortest completed fic you wrote this year

My only completed fics this year were one-shots 😝

Longest: See No ****, Hear No **** (6430 words)

Shortest: In Full Bloom (2838 words)

Fics you’ll continue next year

Liminal Spaces, which I can hopefully finish off by late Jan or early Feb. I tried my hardest to get chapter 6 in under the wire for the end of 2024, but as of now it’s only half edited. It’s still extremely close to being finished though, I’m hoping to have it up before my holidays are over!

And of course I’m still working on Where The Dead Forget, which after LS I’m resolving to make my priority for the time being, even if it will surely continue to be part of my New Year’s resolutions for the next couple of years 😆

Favorite character to write about this year

Always Patroclus Hadesgame!! I feel like I got to write him a lot this year and idk his voice is always in my head in a way that isn’t necessarily the case with other characters I write, so it seems easier for me to figure out what he might say in a given situation. No matter the universe he’s always a bit charming and dignified, a bit acerbic, a bit sweet, and sooooo fun!

Favorite writing song/artist/album of this year

I’m pretty sure the Hades 2 soundtrack has been on constant shuffle/repeat since May… although I also spent a lot of the summer listening to my Liminal Spaces playlist. I’m planning to curate it a bit more and then share it sometime soon… possibly when the story is finished!

Favorite closing line from a fic in 2024:

I’m sharing the whole closing scene, because the reason I like it is this narrative payoff, and I enjoy the dialogue & pacing. It’s from the end WTDF chapter 7 so SPOILERS:

“Achilles was the commander of the Myrmidons... Phthia’s own crown prince… You were his own personal companion, were you not?”

Patroclus is perhaps more surprised by this information than he thinks he ought to be. And yet, simply hearing the words spoken, there is the sense that it is true—a truth so natural and plain it would almost feel dishonest to deny it. Still, Patroclus elects to act with restraint, yearning to know more, coveting any modicum about Achilles as he can.

“What makes you say such a thing, son of Zeus?”

Sarpedon inclines his head, perhaps finding the guarded tone of his response to be unexpected.

“I apologize. Forgive me for assuming, but… is that not the son of Peleus? Just there—“ He points to Patroclus’ left shoulder. Patroclus eyes strain to follow, uncomprehending.

“Pardon?”

Sarpedon smiles gently, his kind, dark eyes filled with something akin to pity.

“On your brooch,” he says. His tone is patient, delicate; as if speaking to a beloved relative who is losing himself to dotage. Patroclus is not sure it is something he appreciates, even if it comes from a place of kindness.

“On my— what?” The angle prevents him from seeing it properly, and so he unhooks the fibula, removing it from his cloak for a better look.

“It could also be a woman,” Glaucus leans over to say to Sarpedon. There is a sly smile on his lips, the tip of his winsome canine peeking through. “Perhaps it was the symbol of their cause—the promise of Helen’s lovely visage spurring all the Greeks to battle day in and day out.”

Patroclus laughs. He cannot help it.

How did he not notice it before? The brooch is made of fine polished gold, and engraved with the profile of a beautiful youth whose striking features are framed by lovely, long curls. He can easily imagine Achilles as the same person—older and wearier, perhaps; his shade the mellowing ardency of late summer, rather than the full flush of spring—but certainly just as beautiful.

Patroclus is still staring at the image—the only thing in the world that exists—even as distracted words tumble from his mouth, barely discerned by his own ears.

“I am sorry. I must go.”

Favorite opening line from a fic in 2024:

Kind of stumped on this one again this year because I feel like the ability to write banger, attention-grabbing openings is a weakness of mine. But I think if I had to pick one, it would also be from WTDF chapter 7:

Patroclus looks up at the sound of Achilles’ approach.

Achilles stops short, a few paces away from him at the top of the stone staircase, uncertain if he ought to come any closer. He assesses Patroclus’ mood carefully. There is recognition in his face this time, but it is impassive—whether Patroclus feels joy, annoyance, or nothing at all at the sight of him, Achilles cannot say. He wonders if this is what their reunion would have been like, had none of this happened. If only he had ever tried to imagine it.

Favorite line/scene you wrote this year:

I wish I was sharing some kind of beautiful and deep prose that says something profound about my OTPs in a way that makes the muses weep but unfortunately deep down I am just a simple gooner and I’m afraid the moment from this year that brings me the most joy is this one from Liminal Spaces chapter 3:

He brings a hand between Achilles’ thighs, his upturned fingers smearing oil all over his entrance until it feels slick and wet. He then pushes in curiously, using a single digit. There is resistance at first, but as soon as he gets past it, his finger quickly slides in all the way in without any additional effort.

Achilles moans at the feeling. He sits up on his elbows to clutch at Zagreus’ wrist, controlling his hand so that he can fuck himself with Zagreus’ finger. He makes Zagreus move in and out of him at a brisk pace, rolling his hips slightly, meeting the thrusts. He bites his lip, his face taut with pleasure.

“Holy shit,” Zagreus says, mesmerized. “I need to be inside you so bad.”

Achilles pulls Zagreus’ finger out of him, and directs the hand to Zagreus’ cock, now making him stroke himself, spreading the oil around. Zagreus squeezes himself, already trying to imagine what Achilles will feel like with Zagreus full inside of him. He shakes Achilles off to regain control of his hand, and then grabs Achilles’ hips, pulling him closer. Zagreus holds onto himself as he lines them up, starting to press in.

Behind them, the kitchen door swings open.

The sound of Patroclus’ footsteps stroll past, heading behind the counter. Zagreus hears the clinking of glass, and he turns to watch as Patroclus procures a wine glass from a high cabinet shelf. Patroclus emerges from the kitchen area, approaching them with the glass in one hand and the wine bottle from his room in the other. He hefts his weight onto the dining table before pouring himself a drink. He rests his elbow on a folded knee as he takes dainty sips from the glass, the other leg swinging over the edge. He looks like a king, settling in to preside over the bloodsport he loves; ready to play arbiter over the lives of wild beasts and of men.

“Don’t let me interrupt,” he says. “I just needed to retrieve my wine glass.”

“Come on,” Achilles says. “Hurry up and fuck me.”

The whole thing just cracks me up so bad!!! The mental image of Patroclus casually coming into the room and walking past where this dude is about fuck his boyfriend, taking his time to get a wine glass, and then the first thing out of his mouth is this really obvious statement about what he was just doing. Meanwhile Achilles is so impatient, because of course Zag had to stop and stare at Pat the entire time 😭 idk it is just extremely funny TO MEEE

Fic I’m most proud of in 2024:

I feel like I tried a lot of new things to challenge myself this year that I’m proud of: fics about ships I haven’t written before (Persenyx and Mobuhan), a multi-chapter fic (Liminal Spaces) with a more substantial, but still self-contained plot (and managing it to keep it pretty much within the word count I was expecting for it), and translating one of my fics based on Greek mythology into Japanese, which was really fun but also required a lot of extra reading/research so that I could do it properly… not only did I play Hades in Japanese but I also kept my Japanese translations of the Iliad and The Song Of Achilles close by and all three of them influenced my translation choices in various ways!

BUT idk, if I based my criteria on what I think is nicely composed prose as well as something I like going back to reread for myself, I actually think it’s See No ****, Hear No ****. I just enjoyed the whole concept & challenge of describing the same erotic encounter from two different perspectives which are deprived of their sight and sound respectively, and how relying on other senses affects the experience for them in different ways (but also giving a reader the complete picture when they finish reading both.) I was amused by my own little inserted Easter eggs and parallels, and if you read them side by side, the events more or less lineup (because I actually did write them physically side by side from one another!)

A fic you didn’t expect to write

My Heart’s Your Future. Its existence is definitely a case of the story evolving as I write it… I keep looking for more opportunities to insert references to classic/influential vaporwave songs as I write Liminal Spaces, and what happens in chapter 5 was always in the outline, but I wasn’t sure what music would be playing, other than the fact that it would have particular nostalgic/sentimental value for Achilles & Patroclus. And once I figured out what it would be, I wanted to explore that a bit more, especially since LS is from Zagreus’ POV so he often doesn’t understand what’s going on in A&P’s little world :) It’s just a bit of a bonus if someone read chapter 5 and was confused, or wants a bit of context going in. Or it can just be for anyone who wants a quick fix of Patrochilles banging… because I mean who doesn’t want that?? (Don’t answer that.) :3c

Fics you wanted to write but didn’t

Oh god lmao… there was this one pza fic that I was getting off the ground in a fit of inspiration and literally as I was typing in the document, Hades 2 Early Access dropped and distracted me away from it completely 😂 and then a couple of days after that I was made a group leader for an event at my kid’s kindergarten so it was a one-two punch to not only that fic but also I wouldn’t get any writing done at all for the next month afterwards 💀💀💀 Hopefully I can revisit it again sometime next year!

Something you learned this year

It’s actually ok to split up chapters more, they don’t have to be so long… it’s easier to edit and easier for people to read :)

(But will I take this to heart? Unclear.)

Current number of wips

Number of wips already published and currently being serialized: 2

Number of unpublished wips: uhhhhh I have 12 additional projects in my scrivener program… whether the docs are blank or have decent progress made on them, who can say 😂

Any new fics to start next year

I have a fic due in a couple of weeks for this year’s Hades gift exchange event that I’ve already started working on, so idk if that counts exactly but it’ll certainly be my first newly published fic of 2025!

I think once Liminal Spaces is done, my plan is to just work on WTDF for a while until inspiration compels me to either complete one of my other WIPs or start a new one completely… and as a lot of you probably already know, inspiration striking for a new story is a “suddenly, at any moment” type situation. Who knows what I’ll have done by this time next year! I sure don’t! Kind of an exciting thought, though :)