#i DID however read a lot of it this week after finishing nutcracker fic! and i think it's decent.

[its-all-papaya]

i have three thoughts and they are:

i finally made it long enough post-publishing the nutcracker suite to do a full read-through of the fic with some authorial distance just now (have probably read every bit of it separately at some point since then in the midst of answering comments etc) and. yeah i think this is the best fic i've ever written (including dad lando) so.... crazy that it came from a fucking trick-or-treat ask on halloween and had not a prayer of being finished until like two weeks ago when i locked in and refused to lose.

i bought a picture frame at a thrift store that's too small for any of my prints. someone talk me into or out of (don't care which) printing the landoscar champagne photo from abu dhabi and framing it on my actual bedroom wall.

i'm back in my apartment after ten days with my parents and a) i'm sad i wanna go back to them and my dog and b) my hand soap here smells critically like dad lando. i don't think i will ever be able to buy this specific kind again without triggering the highs and lows of typing 100k of kid fic.

[timesorceror]

Year of Review - Writing 2017

Decided to do this thing again, cause last year’s was pretty fun. Alright, let’s go for a ride ladies and germs!

Total number of completed stories:

Fifteen…? Many of them are oneshots or collections of fics written for month/week challenges, but who cares.

Total word count:

*whistles* Wow. 264,023 words. Last year I only had, like, 72,483, though to be fair I didn’t start writing consistently until around June. Still though, that’s a nice chunk of word change right there. 

This also includes the 12k+ word alternate ending to A Promise Kept, and my currently unfinished fic, A Beautiful Experiment.

Fandoms written in:

Dragon Age. It’s still my only fandom headspace, though I repeat I’d love to do a DA crossover with Zelda someday.

Looking back, did you expect to write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected?:

Uh… I definitely didn’t expect to write as much as I did, no. Like I expected to write some, but not quite that many words.

What’s your own favorite story of the year?:

Hmm. Excluding my collections for #Januanderstakeback, Anders Week, and Fenhanders Week… I think I gotta give this one to Once Bitten, Twice Bonded. It’s the first chaptered fic I’d done since my fic writing dry spell of about 3 years or so, and man I don’t think I’ve ever agonized so much over a fic before, like ever. I mean, I googled how snake sex worked just to write the darn thing.

…I’m also really impressed with how a lot of people in the Fenders Discord really like it, actually. I think someone even called it a masterpiece or something. Like, wow. I’m actually kind of jazzed about that.

Did you take any writing risks this year?:

The #Januanderstakeback prompts were super hard to keep up with, considering as I was just starting my final semester in college around that time, but I’m actually kind of proud how I was able to keep up with them. Seeing them all in the collection on AO3 is pretty neat, tbh.

Do you have any fanfic or profit goals for the new year?:

I always want to finish my Inquisitor’s journal entries, though not as much as before. Other than that, I want to spread the DA Weird Shit chat’s wonderfulness with the world. There can never be too much kink, really. Not where Fenders is concerned. 

Some of the projects on my current spreadsheet are of course that Fenders Nutcracker AU, the Darkest Dungeon AU that @drawsshits and I came up with, more A/B/O stuff, some sequels to My Watchword is “Tranquil” and Keep You Safe. Also I’m gonna finish A Beautiful Experiment, for sure.

Best story of the year?:

It’s not, like, an actual fic, but The Rule I Will Most Cherish Breaking is my favorite collection of stories. But if we’re going with like a straight fic here, Once Bitten, Twice Bonded probably has that spot, hands down. 

Most popular story of the year?:

Looking at AO3, Change for the Better has the most hits, but What’s Lost and Found has nearly twice as many kudos while holding the #1 spot in that category. It’s also been the fic most bookmarked by other people. Once Bitten, Twice Bonded has the most comment threads and currently the highest word count, though A Beautiful Experiment has the most subscriptions.

Overall, however, Once Bitten, Twice Bonded holds at least a top three spot in all categories, also sitting at the #2 spot on most hits and bookmarks, as well as #3 in kudos and subscriptions. 

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:

It’s a toss-up between The Absolutely True Story of a Possessed Grey Warden Corpse, or A Precious Gift. Both feature my canon Warden Amell and custom Hawke, so I’m super biased about it, though this category is about my personal opinions anyway after all. :P

Most fun story to write:

There’s two fics in my Fenhanders Week 2017 collection that I had a lot of fun with. One of them was about a Fenkhanders OT4, while the other was about a three way soulmate AU where I got to write about Anders getting loved on and DP’d by his soulmates. (Don’t kinkshame me now, lol. Kinkshaming is unjust.)

Story with the single sexiest moment:

I think Once Bitten, Twice Bonded has this category beat. I mean, interspecies sex plus egg laying and double peneration with a side of accidental bonding makes for a lot of sexy moments.

Most sweet story:

Happy Accidents and A Precious Gift definitely hold spots in the running for this one, but the one that I actually cried several times during the writing of it was A Promise Kept. Something about it was just super emotional, especially after listening to Peter Hollens’ ‘Ashland’s Song’. Seriously, read the ending while listening to it and tell me if that doesn’t just make you want to cry.

“Holy crap, that’s wrong, even for you!” story:

Despite being one of my most popular stories this year, I’m probably gonna give this one to Once Bitten, Twice Bonded as well? XD

Just because some people might not be into it once they actually google what snake “penises” look like, lol. 

Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:

Probably Reclaiming Freedom (Through Sex and Other Things). It’s an odd one for sure, but writing selfcest tends to make you really think about how a character would react if their past self just suddenly exists in the world and absolutely wants to bone down with their future self and their lover.

Most unintentionally telling story:

I dunno. Guys, you’ve read my stuff, you tell me.

Hardest story to write:

I got stuck on A Promise Kept a lot, though that one was just really long. 

The Absolutely True Story of a Possessed Grey Warden Corpse was difficult too because I wasn’t sure how my Warden would interact with all of the Kirkwall crew (especially Fenris), and Once Bitten, Twice Bonded was SO HARD since not only was I not used to writing Awakening Anders, but I had to write an Awakening Anders who was falling in love with a Fenris who never went to Kirkwall. Sing for Me got me a couple times due to its sheer ridiculousness.

I also had trouble really hurting Anders too much in What’s Lost and Found even though the prompt called for it, and the logistics of mermaid on octopus bits made me pause for the longest time during A Compatible Mate.

Biggest disappointment:

The journal entries are still not done, but that’s, eh. Not as important anymore. Most of my current disappointments have nothing to do with my fics.

Biggest surprise:

Just, like… all of your support and kudos and comments. I’ve really been going out on a limb to test so many wonderful, smutty kinks and you all just keep indulging me. Thanks guys. :D I hope to bring more kinks to the fandom in the coming year.

Alright, tagging time! I set this upon: @pikestaff, @contreparry, @tearsofwinter, @rhube, @greensphynx, @thejourneymaninn, @damnedapostate, @therealmnemo, @dovabunny, and @protect-him.

Go and do the thing! :D