#in 2020 i said 3 more years and then we meet irl now 2023 is over and i am sure i will never see you. i wouldnt want to see you

[6mayhem]

but i would give anything for just one day spent in the life i had when i was 15. it may not have been perfect but i felt like i belonged somewhere. and i didn't worry so goddamn much about the big picture

[druidx]

A Year of Writing - 2022 Writing Wrap-up

I quite liked doing the "Your Writing Year in Review" thing last year, so decided to do it again.

➼ Quick Stats

Total Written - 92,157 words Average Words/Work: 4,388 Started in 2022 - 33 works Finished in 2022 (started anytime) - 21 works Published in 2022 (started anytime) - 36 works Number of Works still in Progress (started anytime): 79 Mostly wrote in: August, October & Dec (4 works each) Longest work completed or added to in 2022: The Ruby Falls (181,884) Shortest work completed or added to in 2022: wip - elo the 'beggar' (96) Top Genres: Fantasy Top WIP(s): The Ruby Falls Top OC(s): Aderyn, Mio, Rowan, Caseswing

Below the cut: 2022's Plans, Work I'm proud of, Work that shows I'm still learning, Breakdown of 2022, Plans for 2023, ICYMI

➼ What were my writing plans for 2022?

❌ Finish The Ruby Falls by April, published by October

HAHAHAHAHAHA! 💀❌💀

✅ Finish some of the then-68 WIPs from 2021 and prior

I managed 7 - 5 Oblivion fanfics, and 2 Starbound fanfics. 7 is better than 0, so I'm counting this objective as completed.

➼ Work I'm most proud of

It's a tossup between Abecean Blue and Tales of the Starbound: The Barkeep's Tale. I'm fond of the descriptions and flashbacks in Abecean Blue, but The Barkeep's Tale shows just how much I've grown and learned as a writer.

The Barkeep's Tale was started in 2015, and while admittedly it was part of a NaNo and I knew then it wasn't perfect, I thought it was reasonably well crafted. But when I rewrote it - nearly from scratch - and read it back, I realised just how much I've improved - mostly in the last 2 years.

➼ Work that shows I'm still learning

The Need for What We Can't Have, Long Past Dawn, and Strawberry Fizz. I can't write men. I can't write gay men. I can't write romance between men! Why are men so hard? (puns not intended)

All of those pieces feel tremendously flat to me. The descriptions are fine, but when it comes to men emoting, the dialogue... I just don't feel there's the same pizzazz as if you asked me to write a feral she-goblin.

➼ Breakdown of 2022

There have been a lot of IRL things going on this year, and I just haven't felt as creative as I have the past few years. The trip to Iceland was inspiring, yet that and the trip to Denmark took huge chunks out of my year (both were nearly 2 weeks each).

That being said, when I look at my stats for complete fics over the years, I can see that 2022 was nearly on par with 2020, with 21 vs 27. And even though I finished more works in 2021, my word count was much lower. I feel like I'm now at a happy balance between word count and finished works.

I also feel like I'm finishing a lot more things recently, even if they are fanfic, where historically I was writing novels and then running out of steam on them. I'm not sure if I can apply that to the past novels I've never finished/ edited enough to publish. Honestly, I don't know what I want to do with them at all...

➼ What are my writing plans for 2023?

Post The Ruby Falls.

Finish stuff. Post more 'For Posterity' items. Study Romance? Read more.

IDK, everything beyond The Ruby Falls is flexible currently.

➼ In Case You Missed It

Here's the list of all my work posted in 2022 (including some older works), separated by universe.

Original Series - Astyria's Star

Summer Prose Challenge 1 ~ 450. At the abandoned council chambers at Gont Point, Astyria considers the perils the people of Ilma face due to the rising acid seas. Read on Tumblr

Summer Prose Challenge 2 ~ 680. A grandmother recites a folk tale to her grandchildren. Read on Tumblr

Summer Prose Challenge 3 ~ 490. Astyria’s nephew has to complete a school assignment. Read on Tumblr

Summer Prose Challenge 4 ~ 920. We join Astryia at a council meeting to hear the options for dealing with Ilma’s climate issues. Read on Tumblr

Summer Prose Challenge 5 ~ 1,120. A talk show host discusses the current climate issues on Ilma. Read on Tumblr 

Original Work - 'For Posterity' Items

The Web ~ 176. How the spider invited its web. Read on Tumblr 

Lost on the Moor ~ 206. A girl with paranormal powers is on Dartmoor. Read on Tumblr 

The Frustrated Writer ~ 853. A girl complains to the reader that she has writers' block. Read on Tumblr 

The Fox ~ 437. A girl meets a fox. Read on Tumblr 

When I am old... ~ 273. A description of a woman's old aunt. Read on Tumblr 

Hungry... ~ 546. A woman's sick husband bites her, and she becomes very hungry. Read on Tumblr 

England Expects ~ 247. An old man reminisces about people taking responsibility for their community. Read on Tumblr 

GM Mutated Cheese ~ 282. A young boy experiments with cheese. Read on Tumblr 

Closure for a Silver Shilling ~ 328. A gravedigger is having trouble digging a grave. Read on Tumblr 

Other Original Works

The Need for What we Can't Have ~ 341. A mining clerk considers his religious colleague. Read on Tumblr

Uncertainty in the Weather ~322. A farmer's daughter reminisces. Read on Tumblr

Starbound

While the Sun Shines ~ 850. Mio enjoys a picnic with some of her residents. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

A Place No Good Man Should Go ~ 420. Oganesson introduces Yasahama to the Black Market. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Tales of the Starbound: The Barkeep’s Tale ~ 3,240. Just a regular night in the Desert Rose; good times with good hooch and better company. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Tales of the Starbound: The Miner’s Tale ~ 3,380. The logs of mine guard Devon Parker, detailing a year and a half of adventure. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

The Temple of the Fading Light ~ 592. Mio investigates an ancient temple and learns the dark secrets behind it. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

The ‘Shroom Witch ~ 785. Mio visits an agaran witch for help destroying the Ruin. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

TESIV: Oblivion - Modern AU

Strawberry Fizz ~ 219. Martin and Baurus take a summer holiday. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Long Past Dawn ~ 646. Martin isn't fond of parties or unwanted female attention. Baurus has a solution... Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Self Indulgent AU ~ 8,274. The Hero of Kvatch is Martin’s Biological Child. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Spiritus Alco Custodiat ~ 451. A jest from Jena turns swiftly sour. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

TESIV: Oblivion - Vanilla

The Foundling ~ 700. Comic Script. Rhiannon's origin story. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Abecean Blue ~ 514. Martin extols the virtues of the Abecean Sea; After his death, Rhiannon goes for a dip. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Rowan Hunts ~ 1,803. Jauffre has gone missing; Rowan hunts him down and brings him back Read on AO3 or Tumblr

A Restless Pillow (Begets No Rest) ~ 1,650. Rowan is an insomniac due to too many people pestering xir in sleep. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Bring the Fire; Brave the Cold ~680. On a snowy day at Cloud Ruler, Rowan discusses the theory of magical fire. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

No Knight in Shining Armour, Xe ~ 4,780. What happens to Rowan between the end of the MQ and Accepting an Invitation. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Per Necessitatem ~ 1,940. A description of Rowan performing the Dark Brotherhood's Purification Quest. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

[short-wooloo]

The Gift of No Interaction

The best thing CRWBY gave to us with V8 was the fact that Ruby and Qrow at no point got to interact with each other

Now you might be thinking: “But not having major characters interact with each other is a bad thing”

Not here

See, because Ruby and Qrow have not been in the same space as each other since late V7-irl early 2020 (and it been even longer since they talked with each other, especially one on one), we’ve gotten an entire year without “Qrow is Ruby’s dad” rearing its ugly head at EVERY.  SINGLE.  INTERACTION.  No matter how slight, innocent, or just inconsequential said interaction is

And there’s going to be much more time before they interact again

Given that CRWBY did not even show us Team RWBY + J reuniting in wherever they are, I am going to bet that by V9′s end we’ll get the team back in Remnant, but they’re not going to meet up with/run into anyone they know at the end, and this should be around early 2022, meaning it will have been a full 2 years irl since Qrow and Ruby have interacted, and since V10-the earliest point possible where the two will be able to see each other-will not premier until late 2022, that means it will have been over 2.5 years irl since we’ve had Ruby and Qrow interacting with each other, and that’s still assuming they meet at the beginning of the Volume,

Hell, its possible that V10 will be a travel season like V4/6, as its possible RWBY + Jaune will return from wherever and not end up in Vacuo, so that means that Qrow and Ruby won’t reunite till the end of V10 or beginning of V11 (3 or 3.5+ years since they last met)

In short,

It has been a year since Qrow and Ruby have interacted, which was late V7 in early 2020,

At the very least it will be 2.5 years in total between their last and next interaction, which would possibly be the beginning of V10 in late 2022,

At most it may be 3.5 years between their last and next interaction, which would be V11 in late 2023,

Even then that still assumes they meet early on in V11, so it could be more than 3.5 years between interactions

Time between last Ruby & Qrow interaction and next:

2.5 - 3.5+ years

Why is this important to the “Qrow is Ruby’s secret dad theory?”

Its important because this may be what finally kills that theory

See, this theory is not based on evidence, it’s based on interaction, not the content of Ruby and Qrow’s interactions, just the fact that they are interacting,

The sum of the proof for the theory of “Qrow is actually Ruby’s secret dad” is that Ruby is interacting with and older male who is a mentor figure to her

That’s it

The proof that this long-debunked dead theory is true is that a younger character interacts with her mentor who is and older male, and every time they would interact, there would be a flurry of posts about it citing it as proof of the secret relationship and/or presenting these moments as father/daughter moments

ugh

And That’s why the gap of interaction is so sweet, for a year we haven’t had to deal with those people using any interaction between Qrow and Ruby as proof of a secret parentage (yes there are still people who do, but we haven’t had to deal with it in large numbers, and they haven’t had any new “proof” to work with)

Yes, it is possible, and all too likely that this theory’s ugly head shall rise again upon Ruby and Qrow’s reunion, but at that point it will have been 2.5 to 3.5+ years since they’ve last interacted, and for a theory that’s built solely on the fact that these characters are interacting such a gap between interactions is a practical death sentence

It shall persist, but as an even lesser form than before