#end of year round up

[hockeyspiral23]

2024 fic writer end of year round up!

I was in theory tagged by both @siobhanbooks and @softodettes so let's go.

(if you see this and want to participate ... this is your tag)

1. How many words did you publish on AO3 in 2024?

... a whole lot. 179,849.

2. How many fics did you complete this year?

Officially it's 9, although ttios is like 98% done (despite being only about a quarter published).

3. How many in progress or ongoing fics did you start this year?

Two. the truth in our scars and agony brings no reward ... the first which will finish up in ... March, I believe? And the second which is essentially finished but am leaving open-ended just in case inspiration strikes for more.

4. What was your favourite thing you wrote?

Oh, this is a good question. Knee jerk reaction is to say victory is all you need because it is my BABY and the first long-form piece I've ever finished, but in terms of a piece that I still reread often, it might have to be The Backup Plan.

5. What piece was your most experimental or different from your usual style?

... I actually enjoy playing around with different styles, but I have to mention three in particular:

The Backup Backup Plan because it is solely dialogue

karma is a cat (purring in my lap 'cause it loves me) because it has NO dialogue

unrequited which is probably the truest answer to this because it is angsty and I do not consider myself a Writer of Angst.

6. Did any fics surprise you - either while writing or their reception?

The Backup Plan blew up more than I ever expected it to. And learning that I wrote a fictional proposal that people are hoping their real life significant others live up to? I'm still not sure how I feel about that ...

I'm also a touch surprised to the reception to the truth in our scars even though I shouldn't be - I've noticed that people in the Empyrean fandom tend to prefer in-canon works as opposed to (more modern) AUs, but it's still a little jarring experiencing it.

7. Do you have a fic you wrote and loved that went under the radar? (This is your sign to reblog/repost it!)

... I don't know if it's one that I *love* per se, but I really feel like In the Cordyn Aerie is extremely underrated ... probably because it deals with a very underrepresented/underexplained aspect of the series (the gryphons).

8. Who is an artist that inspired you?

@essjaywrites and her cat!Xaden drawing prompted me to finally finish karma is a cat.

In general, I adore @jmoonjones's sassy Andarna.

9. Who is an author that inspired you?

So many, but I still have to do my OG shoutouts to @skyfallscotland and @justallihere for inspiring me to start writing in the first place. And Amy's The State of Rider-Flier Relations is how ttios even came about because I couldn't get the idea of scar mates out of my damn head.

10. Who is a new author you discovered?

... I don't even know. Most of the fandom, probably. So many other wonderful Empyrean authors have been mentioned, but I'm going to tag a couple of the more underrated ones in @lizardsrunfast, @lovemedarkly29, and @thoughtsaboutshows.

11. Did you do any collaborations? How did it start?

I did not. I ... don't know if I could let myself collab due to my own particular writing neuroses, tbh ...

12. What accomplishments are you proudest of?

That I even started writing and posting to begin with. That I not only was able to write a whole bunch of fun little drabbles, but that I wrote not one, but TWO full-length fics (because ttios is like 99% done). That I put myself out there.

13. What did you learn about writing or creating this year?

That shitty first drafts are actually helpful. That there's no one way to write. That it's really good to stick to your instincts, and it's okay to sit on something for a few days. That cooking is surprisingly great for coming up with ideas.

14. Any advice you’d like to share with new or aspiring writers?

... first and foremost, write for you. It's something that I still need to yell at myself for. Kudos and comments are wonderful (and I live for them), but ultimately, they don't define worth.

To just start writing. That it doesn't have to be anything good - just write. That there's no one way to write. That we all have our own wonderful writing voices and you just have to find yours. Also, that you don't have to just stick to one voice. I have so much fun playing in different styles. It's also a great way to grow.

15. What are your creative goals for 2025?

... somehow manage to adapt IF for the second soul-scarred work. It's currently a terrifying proposition (even though I do have a few scribbled thoughts). Get way out of my comfort zone by working on the These Cursed Ships project. Finally wring out the song parody idea I have out of my brain.

If we're not talking writing ... paint something. Seriously get back into drawing. Finish a few of my never-ending sewing projects.

[simru-region]

This is my end-of-year round-up. 2023 has been a poor year for me personally, but for the part of me that's drawing Pokemon it has been the absolute best year ever. At the start of the year, I would never have guessed just how much I would accomplish in twelve months and how good it would make me feel along the way.

With the Pokemon I've just squeezed in at the last minute, I have made a massive 36 pieces of fakemon art this year. While some have been redraws of old designs, it still astonishes me how much my drawing ability has improved since I started this little project in 2019.

Ultimately, I have you to thank for this. Everyone who follows, likes, reblogs, or comments on any of the posts, you have done more for my confidence than anything else ever could. From the bottom of my heart...

THANK YOU.

[plague-of-insomnia]

Happy 2024…

Hey all. I’m not doing a end of year round up because I don’t feel like I accomplished much in 2023, and it’ll just remind me of how much I had hoped to do but wasn’t able to.

I still have my queue paused and am still on a kind of hiatus. Probably will restart the queue in 2024.

I do plan to continue updating In/Exhale, for the like 2 people who care about that series, getting season 2 fully posted on AO3 and beginning s3. I’m also hoping I can get the ebook for that season out this year at long last, and I’ve started working on S4, though it may be a long time until that is ready to see the light of day.

I hope to finish Synch and the Promise AU in 2024. I also will hopefully update WDH/Suicide Candy, but right now I can’t say how much or soon.

I have plenty more I hope to do in terms of writing projects and translations but that’s all I’m gonna mention for now, because I don’t wanna get hope up prematurely.

I’m still dealing with the effects of one of the worst mood episodes I’ve ever dealt with in my life, that’s been going on for ~4 months, and that on top of my physical symptoms. So I can’t make any hard and fast promises, even to myself.

I am hoping 2024 will finally be better than the last 4 years. 🤞🏻

Thanks to those of you who have continued to support me and my work and best of luck in 2024.

[yell0wsalt]

2023 Year-End Fic Round Up

Thanks @nyamadermont for the tag!

Words written (published or not, WIPs totally count too!):  Published on AO3 as of 2023, I have 128,421. But now that we've stepped a bit into 2024 and updated a few fics, that number has changed haha.

On Tumblr, there are several ficlets I did not bother to keep track of.

Smut scenes written (if applicable): I have mostly written sexually implied scenes in several of my fics. I've written 5 explicitly sexual scenes/fics.

A Lazy Winter Morning is my favorite inmyveryownopinion

New things I tried: Literally everything. Guess that's a pro to being new to writing in the year

Fic I spent the most time on: Kiss Me, Kill Me. It's not a popular fic, but it is one that I had the most fun on. It challenged me to write in ways I didn't think I could. I'm quite proud of it and has become a favorite of mine.

Fic I spent the least time on: My Hands, Your Bones. Let the mind wander off to a sad drabble and bust this one out pretty smoothly. Shy of 500 words, it's a wee baby fic.

While it may be a fic I spent the least time on, I still love and reread it frequently.

Favourite thing I wrote: Besides Kiss Me, Kill Me? Probably The Taste of Your Care and Say It.

I became such Ryu/Kuvira crack trash and I love this for me.

I'm this close to not letting go of Say It and expanding on it. Fingers crossed.

Favourite thing I read: Sooo many things! All of my moots are so talented and their stories are incredible. I love you all so much

Writing goals for next year:

Finish my WIPs. I've got that 2nd chapter of my 5+1 gathering dust in my drive I wrote months ago but have not edited

There's a fic I started on here a while back I want to see to completion. Turns out I have to write it first 😦 Now ain't that sumthin?

Push myself to writing things that are more out there. I think that's part of why I liked Kiss Me, Kill Me. It was very much out of my comfort zone and was where I could think differently.

Aside from writing for the OTPs, there are a lot of rare pairs and crack ships I want to try writing. Keeps the brain sparkly.

****

An open tag for those interested!

[ectoplasmentity]

I keep reading the Pride Month Demon meme as this I fear

Edit: For people commenting that Pride Month is over, July is Disability Pride Month! Demoman is disabled (he does not have an eye) and I, the artist, am disabled, so what I say stands✌️I also say in the tags that Pride is year long and forever 🌈💖

[silusvesuius]

stream https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncLoEunRqCc

:)

[mrs-gauche]

I hope the Lighthouse is full of weird looking magical things/artifacts/tools, that are just so old that simply no one knows what they were even made for, a bit like Howl's Moving Castle? Like, imagine there's a running gag or something where Rook and the rest come across a thing and everyone's like "Oh, better not touch that, we don't know what it does" and then they make a really big deal of how no one's allowed to ever touch. that. thing.

And then later on Rook has another Fade Call with Solas and they have this very serious conversation, when Rook just casually interjects "Oh yeah btw, what is that thing?" and Solas just sighs and waves it off in passing, super annoyed "Ugh, that's just an ancient elven bottle opener. Are you even listening to what I'm saying—"

[absolutebl]

Hi!!! I'm a big fan of BLs, I really love all types, but I stopped watching and keeping up with the news ones around the summer of 2023. Do you have any recommendations of BLs that I should start with again that have come out since spring 2023. Or like a best of 2024 list? It's a bit overwhelming trying to jump back in and I'm not sure where to start again! Thanks :)

My top 2 BLs of 2023 both got 10/10s from me and they were:

I Cannot Reach You AKA Kimi ni wa Todokanai

Japan Netflix?

This classic friends-to-lovers BL is everything Japan does best. Angsty. Emo. Aching. Driven by real thirst. Yamato is deeply in love with his childhood bestie, Kakeru, and has been for ages, unable to hide his ungainly damaging high school need. He wants Kakeru in every way possible and it oozes off of the screen. Kakeru is silly and a little simple, but not frenetic or overly camp about it. He is earnest, and genuinely wants to keep Yamato in his life which means giving a romance (and gayness) a fair chance. We watch him realize his affection and what form it can take in a truly authentic way. This show was impossibly kind to both of its lead characters and I felt almost honored that I got to watch something so lovely and rare play out on my screen. Full review here.

Our Dating Sim

Korea Viki

This is a perfect short form KBL, an office set reunion romance featuring geeks that really suits 8 eps with no fluff and no chaff. Just comforting and yummy. I adored every aspect from the casting to the pristinely simple premise to the quietly smooth execution. Sure it’s low stakes, but that makes it high domesticity and extremely warm and gentle. This is a fuzzy blanket of a story - a cozy BL. It lives in my rewatch pile and you know what’s best about it? Every single episode is in that pile. There’s no skipping with this one, it might be good natured and calmly sweet but it’s tight and the pacing is excellent. Full review here.

Here are the rest of my best of 2023 round ups:

Best of 2024?

I haven't started any 2024 round ups yet but here's my current working top BLs of 2024. These are the ones I gave a 9/10 (no 10/10s from me this year, sadly):

Century of Love

Thai Gaga

This is a very pretty drama about a young man who fell in love with a nice girl 100 years ago, and when she died in his arms, he was cursed to live until he could meet her reborn self. Only this time around, she’s reborn into the body of a man. Or is she?

 Cherry Magic (Thai remake)

Thai grey

A soft charming warm hug of a show about crushes and mind reading and self worth that really worked for me. With no-fuss execution from a consummate team (at GMMTV) and an OG lead pair (proving why they remain eternal and deserve to grow up). Look, here’s the thing, Cherry Magic is a great Thai BL in its own right - not comparing it to any other iteration.

Cosmetic Playlover

Japan Gaga

I love this little show more than most. It's a classic office BL about the older workaholic who loves his job and the younger upstart who unexpectedly loves his boss.

Love For Love's Sake

Korea iQIYI

KBL isekai about a man who must win a game by convincing a reserved teen outcast to fall in love with him. Of course, that teen represents himself and his own unhappiness.

Sugar Dog Life

Japan grey

This is a phenomenally charming and adorable little romance about a forlorn university kid and the police officer who adopts him. They are relentlessly kind to each other, in fact it’s an extremely kindly show over all (everyone in it is so nice to everyone else including us) so there’s very little tension. But what it lacks in drive and complexity it makes up for in earnest acts of service and simple affection.

The Rebound

Thai iQIYI

Actually no one liked this as much as me. This was a sports romance Thai BL pulp with everything I could have asked for given this sub genre. More, actually, since MeenPing are both great basketball players and the team component really did form part of the connective tissue of the show (vital in a sports romance). Meen has his shirt off within the first two minutes which is all I needed but he's still pretty great as the sullen secret keeper against Ping's cheerful survivor - childhood sweethearts torn asunder and now reunited.

The Sign

Thai YouTube

This show is literally everything (except straight) all at once. It's BL, queer, band of brothers, romcom, erotica, PNR, fated mates, police procedural, fantasy, mystery, suspense, and slasher. It’s the king of genre mash-up chaos. Sure, it's madness but there is genius in it.

Unknown

Taiwan YouTube & elsewhere

Unknown is a wonderful BL with a pitch perfect portrayal of long term pining, age gap, and the stepbrothers trope. The acting and chemistry are ON POINT (especially from the leads) which made the resulting characters very believable.

Wandee Goodday

Thai YouTube

A charming quintessentially modern Thai BL about a doctor and a boxer who start as a one night stand and then fall in love. Great rep for everything from Muay Thai, to safe sex, to FUN sex, to ace, to bisexuality, to smiley kisses, to the first legal gay wedding in a Thai BL.

For me this was GMMTV's best of the year.

We Are

Thai iQIYI

I unabashedly loved show. It was slow to find its stride (I didn’t get into it until ep 6) but I’m so glad I gave it a chance. It’s a soft ensemble piece with multiple couples and very little plot, but I didn’t care because it’s not trying to be anything more substantial.

There you go. Hope these hold you over until the end of year round ups.

Welcome back!

And HAVE FUN!!!

It's been a good year for BL.

[whenthewallfell]

Something fishy's afoot!

For anyone that's made the Halibut jumper before, feel free to share advice on the whole yoke situation. I hoped it wouldn't be too long, but there's still so much fish left to knit... and also how tf does someone split for sleeves in the middle of colourwork anyway???

[justaz]

oh fuck merlin following after arthur for five seasons, at his heel following him into every battle, every fight, every quest without regard for his own safety. arthur dying on the shore of that damn lake and merlin dying with him but his body remains. arthur goes to avalon and merlin is forced to stay on earth. merlin can’t follow arthur this time. this is one journey merlin and arthur can’t take together. two halves split and kept apart for over fifteen hundred years. goddamn it. these fucking assholes never fail to make me cry. i hate them i hate them i hate them i hate them

[gingerrhd]

Inktober 2024 day 10

Been listening to the jello dubs and tbh they're right.

One thing about the postal service, is it's taught me that a lot of adhd and autistic adults have found their home in running the same routes every day and I think that'd suit mae

[lynaiss]

Have some of my Rooks plus a random Lucanis ✨

[cybernomads]

i took this back when i made this lore post, but i didn't have the chance to edit it until now

bonus: zoomed out version that messed up the lighting again

[autisticaradiamegido]

day 5

ok tbh i was not pleased with how my last several marcilles have turned out so i felt like it was time to sit down and do some damn studying on this gal. i think it helped!

[gallawitchxx]

day thirty-one • @gallavichthings kinktober 2024

↳ 31 days of kinks & cards in 3 sentences

WAX PLAY x THREE OF WANDS

By the end of the night, you’re dripping with come and covered in the tri-colored candle Ian insisted on buying at the new sex shop down the block. You’ve survived hours of sensory overload like you’ve never before experienced: the hot sting of the wax, the cool caress of breath blowing it dry, the ache in your balls, the pulse of your prostate, the fullness of Ian’s cock buried so deep your belly bulges, the warm splatter of spunk—yours, a relief, a reward; his, a benefit, a brand. Later, you’ll breathe and bathe, cleaning yourself of all but your filthy memories, but now, you blink and beam, soaking up what you can of Ian’s attention, his praise, and his unconditional, unrelenting love.

[netherfeildren]

✨fellow fic writers!!!✨

i’ve been thinking it’d be so fun to do a year end round up with some of our favorite lines or snippets of our own writing of this year as 2023 comes to a close. i was so proud of myself for finally taking the leap and posting my first piece of fic, and i’m so proud of the body of work i’ve amassed this year, and i’m so so proud of everyone else who’s written their little hearts out this year too!

so please, if you’re so inclined, drop your most favorite quotes and lines from your own work of the year in the reblogs!!! i’m so keen to see everyone give themselves a dandy little pat on the back, i think we all deserve it! 🥰🤩💗