#fanfic reading challenge 2023

[jandjsalmon]

2023 FFRC - September🍂

Hello friends! I hope you've had a wonderful September. We've started my daughter's senior year with her choosing to join the high school football team instead of the soccer team (to the shock of everyone - including her soccer coach). Therefore, we've been spending every Friday night at the field - and she scored a touchdown in her first game - so that's exciting.

My 2023 @fanfic-reading-challenge is nearly complete. The challenge has various completion levels - and if you're looking for something to help motivate you to read new things or expand your range - or even if you just want to challenge yourself, you should join us. You don't have to wait until the new year to start - and there are a bunch of us on the Discord server and it's a really nice and encouraging place to be.

–*–

September 2023

I read 58 new stories this month - and nearly 300 chapters. I'm closing in on 17 million words, so my year-long goal of 20 million words still isn't out of the realm of possibility. I also did a few podfic recordings... and was highly critical of all of them so I didn't post them. Maybe after I get more practise. lol.

Anyway, I’ve gathered a couple recs. I hope you enjoy them. 💖

–*–

before i knew which life was mine (3 fic series) by @smc-27 (Harry/Allie - The Society)  Summary: She’s got this weird feeling that everything with him is so natural and normal that there’s no way to imagine them not eventually ending up friends. Which is a fucked up thought, because prior to all this, all they had ever shared were barbs back and forth, or her calling him out on being a jerk to her sister. Notes: Okay - so this series is three separate fics that feel like they're unconnected - but really they are completely connected. They're like different dimensions or universes where Harry and Allie were friends (and they don't stay just friends). These are the "other worlds".

–*–

The Percy/Jenna Anon Collection by Anonymous (Percy/Jenna - RPF - All E) Fic 1 - Howlin’ For You - A night of drunken UNO leads to explicit actions between two friends who have been secretly sleeping together. Fic 2 - Lonely Boy - A surprise visit between two friends, a phone call, and a splash of angst. And sex. Fic 3 - Gold on the Ceiling - When Jenna tells Percy it’s over she’s not sure what that means for either of them. And she doesn’t even begin to understand the gravity of her choice until she’s forced to put work on hold for the actor’s strike. Has she even been living? Or merely existing.. Light angst, heavy sex? But it’s introspective? Notes: Okay - so RPF isn't for everyone. It is for me though. This series was written by the same Anon author (it's very clear that it's the same author) - I don't know who it is, but they deserve a huge cookie. I cried during the third one. And then had to fan myself. It's an odd conundrum. The writing is amazing. I would read a million more stories by this author - rpf or fandom or whatever. If I can only figure out who they are. 😉

–*–

three conversations about one thing by @imreallyloveleee (Bughead - T)  Summary: He’d known there would be consequences when he made this decision. But he hadn’t realized how quickly they might steamroll right over him. (Jughead & Veronica & Cheryl & Betty & memories of the future. Set post-7x19.) Notes: An absolutely lovely post-script on the final season of Riverdale.

[closetfascination]

I tried going to the domestic tag but got overwhelmed by the number of fics so I asked @wowthatsextra to give me a fandom to narrow it a bit and she gave me the OC, a show I'm responsible for getting her into (I think). So I went to the tag, and picked the only fic tagged with Seth and Summer (sort of hoping for a Sethmer and totally got a Ryan/Taylor future fic. Was I sad? Nope - it was so well written. It reminded me of a lot of the fics I've read in the 13 Reason Why fandom centered around Justin and the Jensens. Ryan Atwood and the Cohens did it first in the OC and this fic reminded me of that. The characterization was on-point and I laughed, and I cried, and just loved this fic from start to finish.

So for domestic, I present, start today tomorrow (right back where we started from) by Brinny

[amemipiacitu]

Doing this awesome challenge launched by @kikiatthemirror

I had to go through my history on AO3 in order to fill in some of the squares and I realized that my history is probably not mine because I couldn't recognize half of the fics in there and couldn't find lots of fics that I KNOW I've read 🤯🤯😳

Slowly but surely getting there, though.

[kikiatthemirror]

Reading Challenge Ff written for a bang

It's been a long time since I last updated my challenge. It's incredible, I keep reading ff but I can't find the time to make these posts! I'll try to fix it quickly in the next few days.

The ff I chose for a ff written for a bang is On Wayward Tracks

Title: On Wayward Tracks

Author: @follows-the-bees

Rating: Explicit

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45275794/chapters/113905093

This ff is written for a pinefest, so be careful, it hurts. But at the same time it's also super fluff.

It’s set in the old west and the writer has done a lot of research work to be accurate in many details.

The writing is rich and engaging, like everything @followsthebees writes and the story tells us how Dean works on a ranch and accidentally meets Cas, the two fall in love and say nothing to each other (obviously) and together they fight Cas’s family trying to destroy the Ranch.

here’s the summary:

“Lawrence, Kansas. 1882. Taken in by Bobby Singer almost two decades ago, Sam and Dean Winchester earn their keep on Singer Ranch, a refuge for a number of wayward souls who work for food and board but have gained a family and community in return.

Entrepreneur Gabriel Novak moves to Lawrence to open his own brothel, proposing that his brother Castiel leave the family business in Boston and work for him. It’s a tempting offer that, along with his aching attraction for a certain green-eyed cowboy, makes Castiel wonder if he could find a true home on the range.

When outside forces threaten the existence of their way of life, Dean, Castiel, and their families are brought together in ways that they never could have imagined as they race to save their loved ones — and keep their dreams of a life together alive.”

Gabriel it's beautifully written! I adore Gabriel and in this story he is perfect.

The relationship between Dean and Cas is beautiful and intense, you will suffer at the right point, and there is one thing taken from the canon but often underestimated: Dean's mutism when he’s overwhelmed by too strong emotions. Don't ask me why but this thing breaks my heart every time.

It’s 86,216 words

[str8-up-lost-in-a-dream]

I still have to read four books to hit my Goodreads reading challenge goal for the fourth year in a row. I mean, technically I’ve probably read more already because novel length fanfics, buuuut I still have to satisfy the Goodreads.

Like I can’t hit my NaNo goal but not my Goodreads goal. I psychologically cannot.

[juuls]

January 2023 Fic Rec List

This comes from my fic reading challenge (@fanfic-reading-challeng) and I figured I'd post what I liked the last months of 2023!

Bearing the will of the flower by Solshine (Geraskier)

The way Jaskier sees it, his hobby of following a witcher around was always pretty likely to get him killed.The fact that it's happening now because the witcher in question doesn't love him, he thinks as he coughs up crumpled flowers, hardly makes a difference.

Are You My Mother? by LittleSixx

Someone leaves a baby on Hermione’s doorstep. She doesn’t know who or why, but something about those grey eyes is too familiar for Hermione to let him go.

The Queen and the Kinslayer by thimbleful

After everything that's happened, Jon wants to move on from the past and live out his days as Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. After everything that's happened, Sansa still loves Jon, but does he feel the same? He never accepts her invitations to visit. Perhaps it's time she moves on. She does have to marry, after all, and have heirs. But then something brings him back to Winterfell. And he keeps returning, keeping an eye on her while also unknowingly keeping her love for him alive when he’s determined to keep his vows this time. His vow to protect her, aye, but also to remain Lord Commander, take no wife, father no children. As a kinslayer, that shouldn't be too hard. Who'd want him, anyway? A post s8 story where she’s deeply in love and desperately trying to hide it while he’s deep in denial and desperately trying to keep his distance.

The Reclamation of Black Magic by ShayaLonnie

Harry Potter's family isn't only at Number 4 Privet Drive. Unaware to even Dumbledore, an upheaval is approaching. The Ancient and Noble House of Black is reclaiming their power and changing the future of the magical world.

I'll post more later, as I have recommendations for each month!

[doctordiscosbignaturals]

‼️🗣️fellow vampire enjoyers:🗣️‼️

today’s chapter is for YOU🫵

[bulletnotestudies]

you can also join the challenge on storygraph !

Welcome to the 2023 Fantasy Reading Challenge!

i created this one because fantasy used to be my top genre, but i kinda strayed the last couple of years and while i do love my contemporary romances and fucked up horror books, it's time to return to my roots :)

if you wanna join me as i rekindle my love for fantasy, here are the challenge rules: 🔮 REBLOG this post if you're participating! 🔮 join the challenge over on storygraph (optional) 🔮 for each of the prompts, read a book of your choice and cross the prompt out on the above template 🔮 post your updates in the form of text posts, bookish photos, or anything else you come up with under the tag #2023 fantasy reading challenge! 🔮 the challenge will last until the end of the year, but feel free to finish it at your own pace

[transcript and explanations of the prompts below the cut]

THE 9 PROMPTS IN THIS CHALLENGE ARE:

HIGH FANTASY Set in a magical environment that has its own rules and physical laws, this subgenre’s plots and themes have a grand scale and typically center on a single, well-developed hero or a band of heroes, such as Frodo Baggins and his cohorts in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (1954).

URBAN FANTASY Urban fantasy is generally understood to be a low fantasy set in a real-world, modern, urban society (or something closely resembling one). The fantastical elements are usually not known to the general population. i.e. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

FANTASY WITH A ROMANCE SUBPLOT pretty self-explanatory :)

LONG-OVERDUE SERIES Read the first book of a fantasy series you've had on your tbr for ages!

GRIMDARK FANTASY A high fantasy with a gritty or grim setting, often focussing on characters with less-than-impeccable morals, anti-heroes, or on criminal underworlds within fantasy societies. This sub-genre provides a contrast to more traditional fantasy worlds and their moral heroes, quaint medieval villages and resplendent cities. i.e. The Lies of Locke Lamora

YA FANTASY also quite obvious, but just in case: A fantasy that is primarily aimed or marketed at a young adult (teenage) readership, usually with young adult protagonists. i.e. Six of Crows

SCIENCE FANTASY A blend of science fiction and fantasy, where advanced technology and the supernatural both come into play, or tropes from both genres are used. Often fantastical and impossible things occur under a thin guise of scientific credibility. i.e. Senlin Ascends

OLD FAVOURITE Reread an old favourite fantasy book.

CHILDREN'S FANTASY

If you want to join the challenge on storygraph too, check the notes for the link xx

[asirensrage]

Fanfic Writer Wrapped - 2024 Version!

I've done one of these in 2023 and 2022, so we're bringing it back for another year! based on this original writing one: Writing Wrapped

2024 Fanfic Writing Reflections

What fic did you work on the most this year?

Did you have any fic writing goals? Did you meet them?

How many fics did you work on this year?

How many new fics did you post this year?

Did you update any old/previously posted fics this year? What were they?

Do you have a favourite fic you wrote?

What’s your favourite passage that you wrote this year?

Favourite line of dialogue this year?

Favourite POV? (or rather what POV did you use the most this year?)

Did you find yourself repeating a word or phrase in your writing this year? If so, what was it?

How did you help other writers this year? (i.e. leaving comments, reviews, beta reading, offering advice, etc)

Did you receive any advice that resonated to you this year?

What did you enjoy most about writing fic this year?

What did you enjoy the least?

Who was your favourite character to write for?

Did you have a song on repeat while writing this year?

Did you make any playlists for your fics this year? What are they?

What’s your favourite thing you made for your fic or character this year? (such as pinterest, moodboards, gifs, etc)

What was your most commonly used tag for your fics (on ao3, tumblr, etc)?

Did you participate in any fic writing challenges this year?

What was your favourite comment/review you received this year?

What was your top-rated/commented fic this year?

Were there any ideas you wanted to work on this year but you didn’t?

Were there any new fandoms or genres you explored this year?

Is there anything you want to write or try to explore in your writing next year?

Do you have a goal for next year? If so, what is it?

What are your hopes and/or desires for yourself and for other fic writers in the next year? 2024 Ao3 Specific Stats

How many people subscribed to you this year? (User subscriptions)

What were your total kudos this year?

How many comment threads were created on your fics?

How many people subscribed to your fics?

What was your word count posted on Ao3 this year?

How many hits overall on your fics this year?

What are your top 5 fics (in terms of hits) this year? Bonus

If you post fics on tumblr, using Tumblr Top! what fic has the most notes? (in total and that you posted this year)

Did you discover any new fics or fic authors this year?

What was your favourite fic to read this year?

Who was your favourite fic author this year?

What fics or authors would you recommend for others to discover and read in the next year?

What advice would you have for people who might want to try writing or sharing their writing next year? and finally...

Any regrets?

[zenkindoflove]

Tomorrow is my one-year anniversary returning to writing fanfic. This is going to be a bit of a sappy post reflecting on the last year and celebrating some of my wins/new things I've challenged myself to do.

October 17, 2023 is when I started to write the very first chapter of Burn Forever with Me. I had finished the ACOTAR series about two weeks before and had spent those two weeks reading all the Elucien fic I could. I could feel I had a story in me, so I set out to write it in a month thinking that would be it and I would get it out of my system.

It had been a while since I had written. From 2006-2012 I wrote fanfic very regularly across a few different fandoms. Most of those stories can't be found online anymore. I took a three year hiatus from my Big Bang Theory multichapter fic at the end of 2012, and didn't finish it until 2015 when I had a burst of motivation. I didn't write again until another burst of motivation hit me (Game of Thrones ending) and wrote another one-shot in 2019.

By this point in 2023, I kind of thought my fanfic writing days were behind me. I didn't expect this new resurgence in my life that came about because of this series/this ship. I've tried so many new things writing for this fandom and pushed my writing in directions I never anticipated.

Since last year I have... -published 441,592 words. -published 20 fics (a mix of multichapter and one-shots) -completed four multichapter long fics (huge for me because I used to abandon multichapter fics all the time in my first era) -Written for several ships, including rare pairs, not just my OTP which is all I did in the past -Created many OCs, including my focal OC Alexius. Up until now I thought I was kind of hopeless when it came to writing original characters. -Wrote fanfic for three appreciation weeks -Wrote MM smut for the first time, and lots of it. I have been reading MM smut for two decades, but did not have a calling to write for a specific ship until Eris x Alexius -Co-written two fics with @crazy-ache -pushed myself in what styles of writing I tackle, including writing epistolary for the first time as well as challenging myself to write action/fight scenes which always scared me in the past -world building in general also used to scare me and now I think it feels so much more approachable as I've been filling in SJM's holes. -I think my smut writing has evolved a lot too. While I wrote smut in the past and I think I established what my writing voice/style was for smut, I have really had the opportunity to solidify it and try it in different scenes and contexts. I feel a lot more confident than I did back then.

I wanted to highlight these because I think as writers, we are often too hard on ourselves, and it helps to put into context all of the ways we've improved if we are mindful of our progress. I definitely encourage you to sit down one day and remind yourself of all the new things you've done from your starting place. Making this list really put into context all the ways I've changed as a writer in just a year.

I still have a lot more I want to do and new challenges to face in the next year. I hope if you read this, it does help to show you that you can take long breaks and even if you take a step back from writing, you will always be a writer and it'll always be a hobby you can return to and improve your skills, no matter how long its been.

[flightfoot]

ML Fanfic Recs for 2023: 5K - 10K words

So I’ve been going through and adding particularly good fics I’ve read throughout the year. Only Complete fics, of course. Enjoy!

Plagg eats Destruction while Tikki eats Creation. They choose not to tell their Holders exactly what that means.

Ladybug’s partner joins with Hawk Moth and she can’t figure out why. Not at first, anyway.

Adrien had started expecting the family breakfasts. He had NOT been expecting his father to collapse in the middle of one.

Adrien and Marinette both vaguely remember young playmates from when they were kids. Their first friend. Shame they didn’t remember each other’s names.

Marinette’s itching to win a prize for beating a merfolk in a race. Thankfully, a merman, Chat Noir, decides to challenge her. Pity that Adrien was busy that day.

Adrien finds a tiny, mousy guest in his new home, and makes a new friend.

Marinette helps lead a revolution to overthrow King Adrien with the help of her most trusted ally, Chat Noir. 

Ladybug and Chat Noir find a toddler wandering around during an akuma attack. Who could her parents be?

Chat Noir wrote a tweet mocking himself as Adrien. This totally does not come back to bite him in any way.

An akuma swapped Marinette’s and Chat Noir’s bodies. Marinette AS Marinette, not as Ladybug. This causes some problems.

All this and more below the break!

---

you don’t even know me at all (but I was made for loving you) by @ladyofthenoodle

They didn’t remember each other. The hospital told them there’d been an accident—brain damage—but Alya had told them the truth, later. Who’d they’d been to each other. What they’d given up, and why.

But even with their memories of each other gone, Adrien and Marinette are still inextricably tied together—by law, by their social circles, and by their hearts.

And in the apartment they share, there's only one bed.

Yep, it’s the “there was only one bed” trope XD! I especially love how it was used here, how Adrien and Marinette are strangers now but they had a whole life together, and they pine for each other even without remembering, and how Marinette just can’t believe how in love with her Adrien is even though he doesn’t remember her. I loved the emotional turmoil the two of them went through together in the fic, and the resolution, it’s great!

---

Experimental Feeding by Machina_Fun_T

Plagg eats Destruction*. Tikki eats Creation*.

They don't explain that to their holders.

*Warning - This diet has side effects.

I just found the whole idea here fascinating. Basically, Plagg and Tikki prefer to eat things that align with their concept somehow, and even get boosts from them. They decide not to explain the details to their Holders though (just to mess with them I think) which prompts Adrien and Marinette to both do a lot of experimentation to figure out what their kwami likes to eat the most.

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Until I Found You by @linnieluna

Working their way up to a settled adulthood, Marinette and Adrien, now 23, gain a reason to believe that they are expecting—way earlier than they ever planned. Still unwed, it evokes a revelation on Adrien’s behalf.

Was it time to take the next step forward?

I loved the emotions here, how Adrien and Marinette reacted to the results of the pregnancy test, how complicated their feelings about it were - and how it prompted Adrien to take action. It’s a really sweet fic!

---

From school bells to wedding bells by @linnieluna

When the superhero duo takes on another exhausting fight against an akuma, Chat Noir does what he never hesitates to do and takes a hit for his partner. The problem being: neither of them knew what power the akuma possessed.

That is... until he is transported into the future. More specifically, to his friend Marinette's wedding.

Ah I love time travel fics! Older!Marinette’s surprised, Younger!Adrien’s bewildered, and Older!Adrien is off knowing exactly what happened and giving his younger self some subtle heads-up. 

It gives Adrien something to look forward to, to cling onto, through bad days in the future at least!

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u + me = love by @xiueryn

Marinette has a massive crush on Adrien. He has a crush on the superhero, Ladybug. When he says the only person he'll invite as his plus one to an event is Ladybug, Marinette takes her chance to romance him for the night. AU.

(a fanboy and fangirl start to date.)

This is just a fun Ladrien story. Ladybug is happy to oblige in Adrien’s fantasies, and no one else believes that he’s actually dating Ladybug.

---

Disintegrated Pancakes by @scribeofrhapsody

Adrien had started expecting the family breakfasts. He had NOT been expecting his father to collapse in the middle of one.

I’m shocked I haven’t seen more of this sort of thing, with Adrien finding out his father’s Monarch via seeing the Cataclysm wound. I love that Alya gets involved in this, being the person Adrien runs into after fleeing the room, and then Adrien getting to talk things out with Gabriel and Nathalie. Thankfully Gabriel is at least not completely incapable of being reasoned with here, or things could have gone worse than they did. It’s a nice little read, though with an ambiguous ending (at least at the time when I write this).

---

Like Smoke From A Furnace by @wackus-bonkus-maximus

Marinette and Adrien give up their Miraculous. Ladybug and Chat Noir never meet again.

This one’s an angsty fic with a happy ending (though there is a little fluff in there as well.) Adrien and Marinette get together and have a family together, while Scarabella and Kitty Noire continue to fight Monarch for the next decade. But it still eats at Marinette that she never found out what happened to Chat Noir, that he never said anything before they both vanished, and Chat reappearing during an akuma attack when Kitty Noire was taken out of commission doesn’t help with that - especially since he won’t leave her head and she needs to commit herself to her family, doesn’t want to be torn by his presence. She cares about her family too much. 

Ladybug and Chat Noir never meet again... but there are other ways for them to meet up and talk things out.

---

with this ring by @thelibraryloser

She thought “you and me against the world” had sounded like lopsided odds before, when she hadn’t even dreamed “you against me” was a possibility. Or maybe she had dreamed it, but at least in those dreams he’d had cold blue eyes and a stark white mask.

The villain she’d fought today had looked at her through her partner’s own bright green eyes.

It wasn’t meant to be this way.

Short and sweet Sentiadrien enemies canon divergence fic here! I adored Marinette finding out why her kitty seemed to have “betrayed” her, and the righteous anger on his behalf once she figured out that it wasn’t of his own free will. Her comforting Adrien about it was just... really good. It’s a Hawkmoth Defeat fic too, so the immediate aftermath gets covered as well. Adrien needs a hug.

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Miracoffee by @pauliestorylover

Ever since the last Mr Pigeon attack over nine months ago, Hawkmoth has fallen off the face of the earth, seemingly for good. There’s never been a better chance for an identity reveal—but after keeping her identity a secret for so many years, Marinette feels incredibly nervous about one.

When Chat Noir accidentally finds Ladybug working at a caf��, Alya comes up with a brilliant idea. If Ladybug and Chat Noir interact regularly in a civilian setting, surely they’ll move towards an identity reveal without outside interference?

Adrien Never Goes To Public School Coffee Shop AU here! It’s funny how he clocks Marinette as being Ladybug IMMEDIATELY. And then after discussing it for awhile, decide to make a bit of a game of the identity reveal, having Chat come in on pre-determined days and seeing whether Ladybug can figure out who she is, all while they get to know each other, even if in passing. 

Love the other Miraculous heroes making cameos as well, Marinette seems annoyed that Nino cosplaying as Carapace actually doesn’t tip anyone off XD.

---

Nothing Else Matters by LiquefiedStars

Marinette couldn’t figure out Chat Noir. He was supposed to be her partner, but instead ended up working for Hawk Moth. Still, her heart betrayed her and when a strong connection forms between them, Ladybug goes to Chat looking for answers, finding out more than she bargained for.

Sentiadrien enemies AU fic! He never wanted to fight against her, but Gabriel caught him before he could transform for the first time, and with his father using his Amoks against him, he had no choice. 

I like that there’s a solid explanation for why Fu let Adrien keep his Miraculous even though he’s been working against Ladybug, I don’t often see explanations for that that I’m satisfied with.

---

For the Sake of a Ring by @rosie-b

An akuma that transfers people's consciousnesses into other universes hits Ladybug, sending her into a world where everything is the same... but instead of earrings, she's wearing a ring on one hand! She's only just arrived in this universe, but already Plagg seems to have gone missing. It's up to Marinette to figure out what happened before she's sent back home!

This fic takes place in the future, after Season 5, but it does not contain any leaks or major spoilers. Please keep the comment section spoiler-free, too!

This is really cute, Marinette gets transported into a world where she’s married to Adrien and is really confused as to why and how they got married at sixteen. Adrien’s just an adorable puppy who thinks his wife is the most amazing person in the world! 

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His Princess and Her Knight by @seas-of-silver

Adrien, Marinette, Nino and Alya have a group assignment about how the past has shaped them into the people they are today, but they’ll make a discovery that’ll send them searching for answers.

This fic is adorable, Adrien, Marinette, and Nino uncover that they all went to the same preschool together, with Adrien and Marinette immediately latching onto each other, Adrien being the knight to Marinette’s princess, and also making friends with Nino. Sadly he was pulled after two weeks, but it made quite an impression on him.

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A Friendship Not Abandoned (Just Delayed) by @nomolosk

Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste first met as tiny little kids, but then Adrien had to move away. When they finally meet again, will they even remember each other, much less become friends again?

Poor Adrien keeps on saying or doing just the wrong thing to give Marinette the impression that he’s a bully like Chloe when he’s not, and he keeps desperately trying to fix it. So a bit of an enemies au in that way, since Marinette doesn’t like him much. He does gradually manage to convince her that he’s a good person though.

---

as luck would have it by @silver-hibiscus

It's Adrien's birthday, and there's an akuma attack. Luckily, Ladybug and Chat Noir are there to save the day! Even if they're not the heroes that we're familiar with...

Not so much a kwami swap as an another au entirely.

Same title as one of my own fics, funnily enough! Though entirely different premise. This is a Gabenath fic, with Gabriel as Chat Noir and Nathalie as Ladybug, complete with a lovesquare and some unspecified other person as Hawk Moth. In this version, Gabriel and Emilie had some terrible fights and were separated, with Gabriel realizing along the way that he’d been a distant father and working to rectify that, he’s a pretty decent person here. I could actually kind of see this being a feasible path Gabriel could have gone down, if he wasn’t so desperate to revive Emilie and hadn’t gone so far to try to distance himself from who he was and where he came from back before he met Emilie and started changing to fit in with the upper class.

---

The Price by @clawsoutspotsoff  

He clutched his chest, feeling his lungs burn  as his body started to give out beneath him. No. Not now. Not this time, when he was so close.

He wrenched his arm back, striking with the other as he called his sword to his hand, fire and lightning and ice tearing through his nerves as he did, but finally, finally, the resistance gave way and he stumbled backwards.

Without looking, he turned and ran, calling a portal to appear before him. He fell through it, landing on a cold, hard floor in utter darkness. He could still hear shouting over the rushing in his ears, every part of his body failing at once, and before he could be pursued, before he could collapse any further, he forced raspy words through his torn, aching throat.

"Plagg, Tikki, unify!"

The world went blessedly, eerily silent.

---

Written for MiraculousFanworks' fanfic wars 2022

Will that be cash, credit, or memories?

This was a great look at how the Wish could potentially happen, what the kwamis might do to help mitigate the worst aspects of it on the people they care about... and what the price would be for it.

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Emotional Mountain Ranges by @liiinerle

After Zoé's attempted romantic confession to Marinette is interrupted by an incensed Chloé and Audrey Bourgeois, she's left distraught and adrift, a crying mess in an alleyway far from home. Ladybug saves her from the incoming akuma, and tries to help her back on her feet - and Zoé wonders what she could possibly have done to earn this much attention from a superhero...

Lovely Zoenette fic here! I especially like how Marinette talks to Zoe, reassures her that she’s good enough, that she (as Ladybug) isn’t as perfect and composed as she thinks, and just... tries to get Zoe to have more confidence in herself. It’s mostly from Zoe’s perspective too, which I like since there aren’t a lot of Zoe POV fics.

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The Mer-Human Race by @rosie-b

Bringing her hand closer to his lips, Adrien tried to plant a kiss on it, but Marinette pulled away before his lips could touch her.

“Save it for your girlfriend,” she said teasingly. “Or do you still not have one yet?”

Adrien smirked and crossed his arms.

“It’s a girl,” he said. “And I know her in real life. That’s all you get. Now, let’s get back to planning, shall we? We have a mermaid to beat.”

Lovely world-building here! Merfolk and humans have had a treaty for a long time, so there’s a tradition where merfolk can challenge humans to a race, and whoever wins gets to ask for a reasonable sort of reward (in Marinette’s case, she wants to be allowed to captain a ship at a younger age than is usually allowed). Alya, Nino, and Adrien are naturally very encouraging towards Marinette, and luckily for her, a nice merman going by the name of Chat Noir shows up and challenges her to a race...

Yeah you can see where this is going XD. It’s fun, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

---

Late Bloomer by @generalluxun

On what might very well be the last night of her life, Sabrina Raincomprix pulls out a very special scrapbook, pressed between the pages is the past, the past she has never shared with anyone. She relives how she got to this moment one page at a time, preparing herself for the end. A phone call interrupts her self-imposed exile and brings news that could change her life forever.

Even if it does though the question looms... change it how?

Sabrina-centric Hanahaki AU here! I love how it goes into Sabrina’s relationship with Chloe over the years, the good and the bad - and even what happens post Revolution. 

I love the description of some of the plants involved, and what they mean, what they represent. If you want a fic that delves more in Sabrina’s character and her relationship with Chloe, this is a solid choice.

---

Slowly Fading (from my misery) by @wehadabondingmoment

“You’re looking awfully deep in thought today, minou.” Ladybug’s gloved hand stroked over his hair and Chat Noir closed his eyes with an unstable breath.

He got like this sometimes. Lately, it had been getting worse.

Or: Gabriel likes using the rings to order his son around. After a while, it starts having effects on Chat Noir as well. (The more often Gabriel commands Adrien to act a certain way, the more it gets ingrained in his mentality. He suffers because of it.)

This is a gorgeous fic. Adrien’s been puppeted around, forced to obey orders for reasons he doesn’t understand, for so long, so often that a lot of times his own body doesn’t even feel like his. A lot of residual orders keep on bubbling up and stopping him from doing what he wants to do, and he just... doesn’t understand why. Considering how Adrien looked in Pretension when Gabriel forced him to go to his room so he could talk to Marinette alone, and how desperately Adrien tried to head back there but couldn’t make himself open the door, how terrified and confused he’d seemed, I think his feelings here, his mindset, is pretty close to canon.

---

Spread Your Wings by @myladynoire

Set before the Finale. Félix uses his Kwagatama to summon his father's memory and has a talk with him.

I love Colt’s characterization here, how we see his mindset, his beliefs, and even what made him the way he is. We have a limited amount of knowledge about him in canon, only having the play Felix and Kagami put on to go off of, but myladynoire made good use of it! I’m glad Felix got some closure here as well.

---

Cheating Cat by @11jj11

When Emma and Isaac Dupain-Cheng realize that Adrien is Chat Noir, that can only mean one thing... that he's cheating on Marinette with Ladybug, and they're the only ones that know!

This is really cute, with Emma and Isaac being worried about Adrien supposedly cheating on Marinette and wanting to talk to Ladybug to stop her from dating Chat Noir. That’s not all that’s going on here, though - Isaac’s actually adopted, but he and Adrien are still related, which puts an interesting twist on the tale. There’s a reason he’s especially sympathetic to the fact that Adrien being Chat Noir means he would have had to fight his own father...

---

A Mousey guest by charliepoet13

Adrien Agreste has finally managed to break away from his father and make his way out into the world. One faithful night, after settling down in his new home, he spots a strange guest.

Adrien X Multimouse fic here! So this is inspired by the Borrowers, with little people the size of mice living amongst ordinary-sized humans, and Marinette got a little careless here XD. But soon finds that Adrien’s friendly and not a threat. It’s adorable and reminds me of the The Littles book series that I read when I was a kid!

---

Three Crazy Days by @lea-panthera

In which Marinette's mind is forced to stretch a mile.

So Bunnix drops off Marinette’s future daughter for her to take care of, who blabs that her grandfather is Hawk Moth, and then things quickly spin out of control XD.

---

all of your flaws and all of my flaws (are laid out one-by-one) by @coffeebanana

Ladybug and Marinette have both been acting strangely since Monarch's defeat, and Chat Noir would give anything to know why—to be able to help them. He just...didn't expect his answers to come when Ladybug drags him to his father's statue in the middle of the night along with a bag full of spray paint.

If you felt unsatisfied with Adrien being left in the dark about Monarch, with Ladybug lying about Gabriel being a hero, this is a great fic to read. Marinette’s breaking down keeping this secret, seeing people treat Gabriel as the hero she told people he was, until she finally snaps and has to do SOMETHING, has to tell SOMEONE the truth. 

Which Chat takes pretty well! He knows how persuasive his father could be, and he’s mostly just relieved at finally hearing someone say that Gabriel wasn’t a hero. It’s still a lot to cope with though.

---

@ ladybug by @hefoundme

Trending in Paris

1 · Trending #JusticeForPapillombre

2 · Technology · Trending Tsurugi Corp Trending with Tomoe Tsurugi

3 · Trending #LadynoirStrong

So this is a multimedia type fic showing various online conversations and things that would likely be going on in Miraculous Paris. It doesn’t really have a coherent narrative per se, and is more like a series of vignettes. It’s a lot of fun, like there’s a section going over Andre’s ice cream reviews, Alix talking with Max about how she’s worried about Alim falling down conspiracy rabbit holes, an image of the most popular google search terms for Adrien, all sorts of things! It must’ve taken a lot of work and I think it’s worth a look. 

---

Don’t be a Stranger by @wackus-bonkus-maximus

Chat Noir has been fighting Chrysalide alone for years when one day, Ladybug appears. She seems to already know him, and is a little too eager to be friends. But the more she pushes for her and Chat Noir to reveal their identities, the harder she is to trust.

Written for Ladynoir July Prompt 31 - “In Every Universe”

This is an intriguing story, with a somewhat open ending. I don’t want to spoil too much about it - the plot hook in the summary should already give you a pretty good idea of the premise. It is a little strange seeing LADYBUG pushing for an identity reveal and making jokes during akuma fights, but given what’s happened, I could see why she’d try to do things that made her think of Chat.

---

hands red series by katrinette

Summary for the first fic in the series, a serpent in these still waters:

Marinette's on her knees before her new king, preparing to swear the oath that binds her to serve him to the best of her ability.

To the man whose father had her parents killed.

Every word tastes like ash in her mouth.

Marinette’s plotting to overthrow the corrupt monarch, as the French tend to do. She doesn’t know King Adrien all that well, since he just ascended to the throne recently, but she’s certain that he’s just as bad as his father.

Of course, rebellion’s aren’t very effective without help, so after biting her tongue with the new king, she rants to her partner in crime, a man whose true name and face she does not know, but who she deeply trusts nonetheless: Chat Noir.

---

Falling (sick) with you by @chocoluckchipz

Nothing would be easier than taking a pair of earrings off an unconscious Ladybug. Doing so would bring his mother back and end their decade-long strife. He shouldn't be hesitating when a chance of a life time presented itself to him. He should not be looking for excuses and reasonings as to why spending another twenty or so years fighting this woman rather than pleasing his father and giving his mother another chance at life was not such a bad idea after all.

Ah, I love a good enemies au! Even when they’re enemies, Chat is unwilling to hurt Ladybug. Though honestly, he makes himself out to be more of a villain than he actually is, it’s pretty obvious to everyone that he’s not trying as hard as he could to get her earrings. There’s very good reason for that.

---

Lost Little Kitten by soliea0death

Monarch hasn't been seen for a while, but that doesn't mean that Ladybug and Chat Noir aren't still needed as the heroes of Paris. Also, the new holder of the rabbit miraculous may need some more practice when dealing with time travel. One-shot Ladynoir ;);)

This is adorable. Ladybug and Chat Noir find a toddler wandering around and try to find her parents, to no avail, so they decide to take care of her (well Ladybug said she was gonna leave her with Marinette, but you know what that really means). Of course Bunnix had to come to collect her since she was displaced from time, but neglected to say who her parents were...

Anyway this was adorable, and I loved the explanation for how, exactly, the little girl ended up in the wrong time period.

---

Eat, Pray, Duck by @trishacollins

Gabriel Agreste split his twin sons apart when his wife died, keeping one with him and sending one to London with his sister. Unfortunately, the Supreme was not willing to let this be.

He wanted a matched set.

Felix is a weapon, a servant of the Supreme. On a mission to retrieve the stolen Miraculous.

In a world that has outlawed kindness, sometimes the most dangerous person is the one who chooses it anyway.

I love this glimpse at what might have been going on with Felix back in Shadybug and Claw Noir’s world, I did wonder what might have been going on with him. Poor kid, he managed to have it even worse than he did in canon. I really loved seeing his interactions with Luka, the Couffaines rebel through kindness it seems!

---

Front Page News by @tiredfloridianbutverygay

Nadja couldn't sleep at night, not when there were still so many unanswered questions about the final battle. How did the Alliance rings seem to have the exact answer, to know exactly what to say?

Why did they turn everyone into a Miraculous-powered army? Why was Gabriel asking everyone to join with Monarch to help capture Ladybug and Cat Noir?

It was time to get to the bottom of this, and Paris' best investigative journalist was on the case! No stone would be left unturned and Paris would never be the same.

This one’s a pretty unique follow-up to the season 5 finale! I love Alya and Nadja investigating to try and figure out what happened with Monarch and exposing the truth, people deserve to know.

---

Friends who kiss by @kuromori4

It’s been about a week since Shadybug and Claw Noir’s goody-two shoes alternate universe counterparts convinced them to betray the Supreme and join the Resistance. And while they are determined to be better… It hasn’t been easy. While both Shadybug and Claw Noir have a lifetime of problems to untangle if they want to be good people, they realize a new look doesn’t magically make you a nice person. As if that weren’t hard enough to deal with, the two ex-Villains struggle with defining what their new relationship might be.

I love the two of them talking things out, and struggling. Shadybug in particular is still very prickly and prone to making snide comments about Adrien, even though she doesn’t really know him, and she still hasn’t totally come to terms with her own true feelings about Claw Noir. Though by the end they um. Figure that out, I guess you could say XD.

---

Dragon by @liiinerle

Tomoe keeps telling Kagami about the importance of her heritage, but refuses to tell her what that heritage is. When Kagami looks it up for herself, she finds a lot of interesting information, a lot of frustration, and a deep and burning question - which Tomoe refuses to help her answer.

This is a Kagami character study, with Kagami questioning her mother’s actions, but knowing that standing up to her is a no-win proposition. It doesn’t help that D’Argencourt’s mirroring some aspects of her mother’s behavior, with being upset if she doesn’t fight well, but also being upset if she beats him. There’s no right answer here, which leads her to take out her frustration on others. Luckily, Marinette’s there to calm her down, to talk things out with her.

---

adrien agreste and the consequences of tweets making fun of yourself by Anonymous

Well, Adrien thinks, what’s the worst that could come from a few poorly thought-out tweets lightly ribbing his own civilian identity?

I love the focus here on how people just assume what Adrien’s thinking and feeling and act on his behalf, without actually waiting to see what HE wants, and Adrien’s growing frustration. How they create a version of him in their heads, but don’t care to check with reality to see whether he actually wants their “defense”. 

---

Spin the Bottle by @kasienda

When the bottle cap comes to a stop dead center on Nino, Adrien’s both relieved and somehow more anxious.

His first kiss - not his actual first kiss, but still kinda his first kiss - the first kiss he will remember, will be with someone he deeply cares about.

But Adrien also cares what Nino thinks of him, so what if he’s a terrible kisser?

Nino offers him a reassuring smile, and he relaxes. Adrien glances at Alya for permission, and she just shoos him towards Nino.

Adrien turns to Nino, leaning closer. If his stomach had been squirming before, it now feels like a half dozen Kwamis have taken up residence in his gut. But Adrien doesn’t hesitate. He blocks out the presence of all of his friends watching, and instead focuses on Nino - like Nino is a stage partner in a photoshoot.

Except kissing Nino is nothing like a photoshoot.

...

Adrien kisses Nino in a game of Spin the Bottle, and then neither can stop thinking about it. Alya really likes how flustered her boyfriend is by all this. Marinette though, can't handle it and keeps running away.

This is a great Alya X Adrien X Nino X Marinette poly fic! I love them all talking out their feelings and realizing new things about themselves. Alya’s instrumental and bringing everyone together, though she, herself, is also nervous about confessing to her longstanding crush XD

---

a rose by any other name by @asukiess

Adrien's scared Loveybug only loves Catwalker.

Loveybug's scared Chat Noir only loves her, and not Ladybug.

How does the rest of the saying go again?

So obviously, this is part of the Loveybug AU, where Marinette gets stressed by her responsibilities as Ladybug and wanting to get away from that persona, and adopts a new persona as Loveybug, complete with a new transformation. This is a really good glimpse of this AU, I really love the Ladrien (Lovedrien?) especially, with her talking out her conundrum with Adrien.

---

The Two-Body Problem by @mixelation

Good news: they now knew how the akuma’s power worked, and the akuma had run off and given them time to regroup.

Bad news: the akuma’s power meant she was now in Chat Noir’s body, and Chat Noir was in her body. Her body, which was currently still Marinette.

Ah, I love a good body swap. This is set while Adrien and Marinette are dating, so he can’t help flirting with Marinette a little, even in these circumstances - which is a bit of a problem since Marinette doesn’t realize he’s her boyfriend. And also they’re in each other’s bodies, which makes it feel weird.

And then there’s the whole “someone is gonna need to use the Ladybug Miraculous” problem. It’s not as if Chat KNOWS that he currently has her Miraculous in his earlobes...

---

Windows 5 + 1 by @dadplagg-mamatikki

A bet between Kim and Alix trigger a chain reactions of events where Adrien jumps out of windows.

I love this. Adrien needs very little prompting to jump out of windows, heck he’ll do it with NO prompting, it’s hilarious XD. Heck he even asked whether Kim would prefer a normal jump or a theatrical one! It’s really not that surprising though, considering how we’ve seen Adrien dive from the top of his rock-climbing wall onto his couch.

---

I know there’s been pain this year (But it’s time to let it go) by @ninadove

“What? Nooo! Adrien doesn’t hate Christmas.”

“Are you absolutely certain? What was he like last year?”

“Well, he —”

Marinette furrowed her brow, scanning her own memories. Of course she was absolutely certain. At least, she thought she was.

Okay — she could not ignore that Adrien had run away from home that night, wandering the snow-covered streets to escape the freezing cold of his own home. Nor could she brush away the disintegrated Morris column, cataclysmed for the crime of bearing his own face.

Oh, and the shaky videos circulating on YouTube. That musical number was… Concerning, to say the least. Still, it was no smoking gun.

Right?

“Oh my god,” she squeaked, plopping down against the counter. “Adrien hates Christmas.”

I love Marinette and Felix doing their best to cheer Adrien up, it’s adorable. Especially Marinette’s attempt. It’s very Marinette, I laughed out loud XD. There’s a lot of senticousin bonding here, so if you like that, this is a good one to check out!

---

A Shadyverse Holiday by @lucid-ao3

The duo's curiosity grew after the encounter with their alternate selves from the Shadyverse. What was this other world like, and how were Shadybug and Claw Noir doing in the aftermath of their visit?

It's the polite thing to do, after all, for a superhero team to check in on their parallel universe counterparts and wish them happy holidays.

That is, if there's any happiness to find...

[In which Ladybug and Chat Noir take a holiday trip to the Shadyverse.]

I love this glimpse of the Reverse World, and how it makes Ladybug and Chat Noir question whether their own is really so different, if things could have turned out in their own world the way they did in the Reverse World - for better or worse.

---

what makes a human (am I?) by GraceM_TheStoriedLife

Adrien comes to Marinette's out of nowhere. Usually Chat is her rock. Tonight, it's her turn. (Or, in which Adrien discovers some secrets he's not prepared for and Marinette is as Marinette-y as always.

So Adrien discovers he’s a sentimonster and immediately runs to Marinette for support. It’s as cute and angsty as you’d expect. She is, of course, very supportive of him. Also some discussion of Gabriel being abusive, since both she and Nino had been trying to get Adrien to see that. Especially with how, exactly, Adrien found out he’s a sentimonster. He can relate a little better to Felix’s experiences now than is healthy, I’ll just say.

---

Caught In A Multimouse Trap by @a-flaming-idiot

Adrien was having a rather slow morning. That was until he discovered a tiny superhero trapped in his home and decides to be a bit of a hero even out of his suit.

This was adorable! Adrien does his best to care for the little miniature superhero caught in a mousetrap, bandaging her up as best as he can (thankfully only her tail got caught so it’s more of a phantom pain than an actual injury) and just... it’s really cute.

---

fine line by @bbutterflies

“Catwalker?” Loveybug asks.

“Hmm?”

“Do you remember… what happened before us?”

“What do you mean?”

“Before we were heroes. Was there someone else?”

Catwalker goes quiet for a moment. “I don’t know,” he finally says.

This is a surprisingly angsty take on the Loveybug AU. Here, since the Loveybug and Cat Walker transformations are so unnatural, they’re having negative side effects on Marinette and Adrien, causing them to be constantly exhausted and even to get amnesia the longer they continue using them.

---

You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess by @mexicancat-girl

With Team Miraculous now full-time holders, Ladybug has them patrolling in pairs like her and Chat Noir.

New partners Pigella and Purple Tigress get along phenomenally, their easy banter and similar wavelengths making working with each other a joy in and out of combat.

But sometimes Tigress is surprised just how close she is with her partner. Sometimes she tries not to feel too guilty thinking about it.

There’s some nice Julerose here! I love them kinda getting into a lovesquare with each other, though it’s not as much of a problem as it is in canon since it’s reciprocal in every relationship and they’re both down for a poly. It’s fun, and I love the “Luka attempting to woo some of his love interests” plot going on in the background XD.

---

Plans Aren’t Everything by BeeRye

Feeling a bit fed up with constantly having her dates with Marinette cut short, Kagami sets aside some time in order to plan the perfect outing for the two of them. Despite being the holder of the Miraculous of the Black Cat, she believes one day of romance isn't too much to ask for. As long as she treats it all like she does everything else in her life, the results she wants should come to pass.

She doesn't quite know what to do if that ends up not being the case.

This was adorable and captured Kagami’s mindset well, she decided, rather optimistically that she could just brute force the date into going well. Unfortunately, that’s not gonna stop Hawk Moth. Fortunately, Marinette has her own back-up plans...

[jandjsalmon]

2023 FFRC - August ⚔️🛡️

Hello friends! Autumn is my favourite time of year because the weather is lovely and there is no snow yet - unfortunately it doesn't last long here but I'm going to enjoy it while I can. I hope you're able to find things that make you happy!

I've had quite a few new followers, so I'll explain what this is. I participate in the @fanfic-reading-challenge every year and once a month, I share my reading progress and give a few fic recs that I particularly enjoyed this month. The challenge has various completion levels - and if you're looking for something to help motivate you to read new things or expand your range - or even if you just want to challenge yourself, you should come take a look. You don't have to wait until the new year to start - and there are a bunch of us on the Discord server (none of whom read any of the pairings/fandoms that I read btw😂) and it's a really nice and encouraging place to be.

August 2023

I read lots of really great stories this month - lots of Fexi at the beginning of the month and then I slid into reading a bunch of GoT fic because we're rewatching the whole series with our daughter (she's a big Tyrion fan). I finally cracked 15 million words read and with a few months to go I'm hoping my year-long goal of 20 million won't be out of the realm of possibility - so go me!

I’ve also gathered a couple recs. I hope you enjoy them. If you have favourites that you'd like to suggest to me (or if you've written and want a guaranteed review) - please hit me with the link. 💖

–*–

Three Weeks, Ten States, and One Million Reasons to Fall for You by @leftennant (Darcy/Bucky - E 14/14)  Summary: When Darcy considers all the things she never planned to do, going on a ten state road trip with the Winter Soldier ranks right up there with jumping off the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier sans parachute. Falling for said Winter Soldier somewhere between New York and New Orleans? Never. Gonna. Happen. Probably, at least. I mean, he is pretty damn sexy when he's not glaring at her. Whatever. She's only in it for the taser batons. Notes: Who doesn't love a Road Trip fic? It felt summery. And it's funny - Steve and Natasha also feature and they are adorable.

–*–

(please) be my baby by @myztify (Fez/Lexi - E 4/4)  Summary: Wanted: California farmer(s) willing to take part in journalistic research. Looking to understand a day in the life of California’s farmers. Possible two week placement on a farm. Please contact lexihoward@ buzzfeed.com for further details. or: journalist lexi stays with farmer fezco for two weeks to write an article and maybe fall in love Notes: This was exactly the amount of fluff that I needed after last month's horrible news. Fez is a farmer! And Lexi is so cute in this. Read it right now - you won't regret it.

–*–

Though Lovers Be Lost, Love Shall Not by @middleagedresidentofriverdale (Bughead - E 1/1)  Summary: A meditation on love and the end of life as they sit in the park on the last day of Betty's life. Notes: The perfect post-finale epilogue. I don't generally consider the last three seasons canon (Riverdale ended in 4x16 with a future of Yale and pizza and mysteries to me) - but if we have to deal with the mess that they gave us - at least there are fic writers who write amazing and glorious stories for all of us. Love this - and I love all of you, friends. 💛💙

–*–

See you back here in a few weeks! Happy reading! 🖤

[closetfascination]

For multichapter fic, I will use the sequel to Notes on A Resurrection by New Leaves, The Flight Instinct. I think I love this one as much as the first story. I almost picked domestic for this one, because it is truly a domestic drama (there is definitely chat of very domestic things) but I think I'll save that square for something else.

Summary: With four parents returned to this side of the veil, Harry is no longer an orphan. It would be easier if he was the only one who found it difficult.

Rating: M

[cha-melodius]

2024 Fic Year in Review

My fifth fic year in review! It's always wild to go back and look at how far I've come. As always, feel free to grab this if you want to do your own; I've stitched it together over the years. And thank you to everyone who read my fics this year, whether it was one or all of them.

2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023

AO3 Username: chamel My Page: Link Active Fandoms: Red, White & Royal Blue: 14 works Loki: 3 works The Man from UNCLE (2015): 1 work New Fandoms: The Pairing (CMQ novel; 1 work) Total Number Of Completed Works/Word Count This Year: 23 works, 303k words All Time: 135 works, 1.57 million words

Most Popular One Shot (by kudos): This Year: Trying My Patience (Try Pink Carnations) (RWRB, Alex/Henry, E, 9.4k) All Time: Class(room) Warfare (RWRB, Alex/Henry, T, 7.8k words)

Most Popular Completed Multi-Chapter (by kudos):  This Year: False Dichotomy (RWRB, Alex/Henry, E, 62k) All Time: Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood  (RWRB, Alex/Henry, E, 20k words)

Events/Challenges: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Gift Exchange 2024, A Royally Big Bang, Lokius Reverse Bang, idk do what you want exchange

More reflections, stats, and planned fics below the cut!

Additional Random AO3 Stats

By number of fics: 79% one shots, 21% multi-chaps

By word count: 69% multi-chaps (nice), 31% one shots

Ratings by number of fics: 48% E-rated, 26% M-rated, 26% T-rated

Musical artists contributing highest number of titles: spread out this year, but Wilco, Metric & Sufjan Stevens came in with 2 each

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected?  I was wrong in my 2024 roundup post—I wrote 25k more words this year despite having 10 fewer fics. Which I did NOT expect. I figured I was trucking along to make my usual ~270k, but I forgot about The Secret Fics lol.

What’s your own favorite story of the year?  I think I have to go with Body and Soul(mate), which I'm just so so proud of. I love how it came out and I think it's really original.

Did you complete your writing goals from last year?  The Goal: My goal is to have a similar mix of fics as least year, and also to write my first collaboration with @cricketnationrise, which will be a long multichap. First part, pretty close. I wrote more multichaps (21% vs 15%) this year, which meant fewer fics in total. Second part, oops. Cricket and I have both been busy, but the hockey fic lives!! We'll get to it eventually!

Do you have any writing goals for the New Year? I can't believe I'm gonna say this but... write more original fiction. See below for more on that. Fanfic wise... finally finish some of the planned stories I've had kicking around for a while.

Did you take any writing risks this year? I submitted a pitch for an anthology, was accepted, and wrote my first original story! I had a lot of fun with it and I think I'll purse more next year. Idk if I'm ready for a whole novel and trying to get (more) published, but we'll see.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Even though it's numbers have come up since publishing, I'm still gonna go with The Impossible Soul, aka my Westworld-esque android/human AU.

Most fun story to write: Probably Body and Soul(mate). Figuring out all the body swaps and soulmate lore was a lot of fun and the whole thing just flowed so well.

Biggest disappointment: Why do I keep this question? I hate complaining publicly. 😂 My biggest disappointment is that I sometimes let fandom drama/trends/popularity make me feel bad. Being mad because a fandom loves X type of fic doesn't help anyone.

Biggest surprise: I'm not sure I really had any big surprises this year. Biggest surprise in my stats was that my percent of explicit works is way up—T used to be my most-used rating. Part of that is publishing fewer one-shots, since those tend to be T for me, whereas a long fic is more likely to be E.

Coming soon/planned for 2024: It's a little depressing how so many of these are the same as last year. Hence the resolution above, I guess.

Kissed Out (RWRB pro-pool players AU)

RWRB 1940s noir AU

RWRB conductor/piano soloist AU

RWRB Jurassic Park AU

RWRB rodeo rider/polo player AU

RWRB hockey AU (with cricket)

A shitload of prompts from my fandom fest

Extremely delinquent MTH fics

TMFU art thief/gallery owner AU

Thanks to folks who tagged me in their year in review posts, including @loki-is-my-kink-awakening, @kiwiana-writes, and @porcelainmortal

[rosies-writealong]

Flashfic Writealong FAQ: Feb 2025 Version

What is this thing?

It’s a writing “challenge” where you write a flash fic, ideally for MacGyver fandom. By “flash fic” I mean something <1000 words, but like most other “rules” of the writealong, it’s not set in stone. Make of it what you will!

Why are we doing this?

Look, back in 2022, I wanted to try my hand at writing some flash-sized fanfics (a big change from my 10k+ normal fic size). So I invited all the MacGyver writers to play along with me. And then we did it again in 2023. It’s like peer pressure, except everybody wins because everybody gets new fics to read. Yay!

How will it work?

There will be 10 prompts over 3 weekends starting February 20, 2025. Most prompts will be posted 2 days before the target posting date. The idea is to write a tiny story quickly, without overcomplicating it. (Overcomplication, my beloved...!)

What if I miss the target date? Can I post it later?

Heck yeah! 

Is this a whump challenge thing?

No, write whatever you want. Variety is the spice of life and one of my favorite things about this fandom. ❤️ I’ll write h/c but everybody is welcome to play along. Ship all your ships. Smut it up if you wanna. Just tag your stuff appropriately. **

** Shippers, please use the longstanding ship tags for your ship so your stories can be found/avoided by the people who want to find/avoid them:

MacRiley

MacDalton

MacDoc

MacDesi

What about AI-generated or assisted fic?

This challenge has ONE hard and fast rule: absolutely NO AI generated or AI assisted fic. Write it yourself or don’t participate.

I wrote a thing! When do I post it?

Any time on or after the day the prompts were for. For example, if you wrote a story using the June 10 prompts, post it on June 10 (your local time) or whenever you have it ready after that.

Where should it be posted? 

Tumblr or AO3 ideally. But do whatever you want with your fic! This is supposed to be fun. And maybe less stressful than other challenges? Or more, you decide. 

Is there an AO3 collection?

The collection will open on Feb 20 and will be titled February 2025 MacGyver Flashfic Writealong. Please add your story! :)

What about Tumblr tags?

Event tag: #MacGyver Flashfic Writealong

Day tag: #june 10  (for the day the prompts were “for”, regardless of when you post ‘em)

What are the prompts?

The prompts will be set to post at 9am PT PT (UTC-7) 2 days before the day they’re for. For example, the prompts for June 22 will be set to post at 9am PT on June 20. There are also a few alternate prompts in case the day’s prompts aren’t inspiring you.

Prompts list: TBD

How do I participate?

Write a thing related to the prompts and post it. :) Tag this blog if you want it reblogged. 

Who’s running this thing?

It’s meeee, @rosieblogstuff. 👋

[diana-fortyseven]

Yuletide Reading Bingo

The 2024 Yuletide collection is about to be revealed, and many of us love to read more than just our own gifts and treats.

If gamification is your thing, why not enhance your Yuletide reading experience with a fun challenge?

Yuletide Reading Bingo Yuletide Reading Bingo 2024 (permanent link to the 2024 version) Yuletide Reading Bingo 2023 (permanent link to the 2023 version)

With this bingo card generator, you can generate your own Yuletide Reading Bingo Card and try to finish it over a timespan of your choice. If you like, you can challenge yourself to not only reading the fics, but also commenting on them. Last year, I saw people making reclists based on their bingo cards, which is such a cool idea to keep track of the fics they read for each square.

There are no fanfic/fandom/Yuletide-negative or bashing items in the lists. This bingo card is meant to be a positive experience and celebrate fanfiction and fanworks in general and Yuletide in specific.

Details and screenshot of the mobile version under the cut!

Have a lovely Yuletide and a happy Hanukkah or merry Christmas if you celebrate. <3

How to Play

Generate a new bingo card until you're (mostly) happy with the results. If some fields are duplicates or contain items you don't want to have in your card, you can then re-roll every single bingo field separately by clicking/tapping on it. Once you have a card that fits your reading habits (or that takes you out of your comfort zone, if you want to challenge yourself), take a screenshot of the card to keep it.

Closing the page and reloading it will reset the card.

Cross off the bingo fields on your screenshot as you read (or read and comment on) fics that you think count for a field.

Items like "Fandom with over 500 works" mean works in the fandom tag, not in the collection. There are specific versions for the number of works in the collection. Items like "Fandom with over 1,000 works" doesn't mean qualifying works. There are specific versions for the number of qualifying works. Items like "Highest number of hits in fandom" or similar however mean in this collection, not in the fandom tag.

If a work you read has a tag that's similar but not identical to a tag on your card, let it count. There were some almost-duplicates that I trimmed.

The Lists

Canon (options like canon released this year, book fandom, etc)

Category (the AO3 categories and their platonic versions: F/F, F & F Gen, etc)

Challenge (the unofficial mini-challenges like Yuleporn, Crueltide, Wrapping Paper, etc)

Creator (only if you checked the "After Reveals" box; options like favourite author, mutuals, etc)

Discovery (various ways you could've found a fic)

Fandom (options like previously ineligible fandom, uncategorised fandom)

Length (wordcounts from drabble to 30k)

Meta (a fic's front-end and stats, also "citrus scale for rating" xD)

Reader (your relationship with the fic; is it your comfort fic, or your first fic in a fandom?)

Style (chatfic, iambic pentameter, custom workskin, stuff like that)

Tag (roughly 1,800 tags from the 2024 main collection; Madness tags to be added)

Trope (roughly 100 tropes)

What do the Checkboxes Mean?

NSFW is basically what it says on the tin. If you tick this box, the NSFW tropes will be added to the mix. If you also ticked the Tags box, NSFW tags will be added.

Tags is also what it says on the tin. It's a list with currently roughly 1,800 tags from the Yuletide 2024 main collection. Around 270 of them are currently marked NSFW and can only be generated if you ticked both the NSFW box and the Tags box.

After Reveals includes items that only make sense after creator reveals, such as "work by last year's recipient" or "creator is your Tumblr mutual".

Leaving the NSFW checkbox unchecked should remove all NSFW tags and tropes, but you could still come across content you find objectionable. Leaving the Tags checkbox unchecked removes all tags, but you could still come across tropes you find objectionable.

This bingo generator can be used to generate totally safe-for-work or family-friendly bingo cards, but it was created by an adult with an adult audience in mind.

If you run into any issues or come across any bugs, please let me know.

If you find something that should be in the NSFW category, but isn't, please also let me know. It's possible that I missed a few tags when I worked through the list of over 2,000 tags in the 2024 main collection. Please don't ask me to remove content you find objectionable.

If there's anything unclear, feel free to ask! I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible, but please understand if it takes a while; it's a busy time for all of us. :D

Just FYI, the platform I'm using, Perchance, added AI options for their generators last year. This is a regrettable decision that I don't condone, and I'd like to emphasise that this generator is 100% handcrafted chaos.

This generator is based on my Fanfiction Reading Bingo I made as a little practice piece last year. It's responsive, which means it should work on desktop and mobile. The mobile layout isn't ideal yet; I'm trying my best to make it better (but I'd also still consider myself a newbie and I'm learning by doing).

The background image is an edited version of this photo by Simon Berger on Unsplash.

I hope you'll find as much fun in using this generator as I found in making it! Happy Yuletide!