#will have to do the final stats roundup!!

[nametakensff]

I am still alive 😭

[monbons]

Stitches and Sentences Roundup 2024

Thanks for the tags on your writing round ups @run-for-chamo-miles, @drowninginships, and @emeryhall! I just got back from a weeklong trip and instead of doing laundry, I'm joining in on the roundup fun.

FIC I moved from lurker to active fandom participant this year with a bang. I posted my first fic ever for EGF and have basically been writing or posting non-stop since then. I wrote/co-wrote 5 fics this year and clocked in at 101, 725 words.

Kill Em With Kindness - rated T, 6.5k, Watford-Era, getting together fic

When no one seems to care that Baz is sad, Simon steps in to help. The only reasonable explanation for all Simon's kindness is that he's trying to kill Baz, right? (My most popular fic as measured by kudos.)

Knock Your Socks Off - rated T, 4k, Watford-Era, 7th year fic

Baz steals Simon's socks. Simon blames the sock monster. Chaos ensues.

The Eternal Life of Baz Pitch - rated M, 42k, Addie LaRue AU, a truly epic romance

Told in two alternating timelines that span from 1700s Hampshire all the way to early 2000's Washington, DC, this fic follows Baz as he spends centuries searching for the love of all his lives. (This was the fic that convinced me I could write long and holds a very special place in my heart. Is it angsty? Yes. Is it some of the most beautiful prose I've ever written? Also yes.)

The Boy Next Door - rated M, 47k, and they were neighbors AU, a coming of age romance

When Simon moves in with his gran, he decides to befriend the mysterious boy next door. He changes both their lives in the process. (My most popular fic by literally every other measure.)

The Reason for The Season - rated T, 1.6k, text fic, co-written with @thewholelemon

Dev and Niall make a list. Holiday hijinks abound. (A bday gift for @mooncello)

ART I do not currently have a great way to track my dolls and searched my Instagram to do the math, only to realize I hadn't posted every doll I made either! (If anyone has a good art tracking system, I'm open to ideas.) If my count is correct, I clocked in at a grand total of 35 dolls this year, including:

10 Simons

15 Bazzes

2 Pennys

2 Nialls

2 Devs

1 Mage

1 Fiona

1 Agatha

1 Shep

The picture below shows my earliest dolls, where I was still experimenting with style and form. As you can see, many of them are quite flat. (Fun fact: All of these dolls--including their clothing--were made before I owned a sewing machine.)

Going 3D was actually an accident, but we have the Watford Baz and Simon below to thank for it! After committing to 3D dolls, I kept evolving my pattern---improving joints, proportions, and adding details like ears!---until we reached my most current iterations.

Now every doll has their own special pattern that takes into account their canon proportions, where available. Notice Baz is tall and slender where Simon is extra fluffy!

I did not include any of the dolls I created for COC 2024 since I assume everyone has seen them already, but I linked the master post in case you missed a day.

Finally, in addition to dolls, I also created 2 plushies (a merwolf and a bunbaz) plus 12 finger puppets this year.

It's hard to quantify dolls like fics, especially since almost every doll before COC did not have a dedicated tumblr post. However, here are some fun art stats:

Most Popular Art Post: The Watford Map

Most Popular Doll: FIONA!

Second Most Popular Doll: Felt Smut (Look @emeryhall! Dragonboy Simon is indeed the sexiest given that this is my duplicate of your doll!)

I also had three art collaborations this year:

Baz and The Prophecy - Doll and Tapestry, a COTTA collaboration with @iamamythologicalcreature

Ballet Baz and Disco Simon - a CORB collaboration with @melodysmash (Read the fic she wrote--Body Language. It is as adorable as these dolls!)

Watford Advent Map - a tapestry made for COC 2024 with help from @rimeswithpurple

While it has definitely been a fabulously productive year, I think my greatest achievement has been all the new friendships I've fostered because of fandom. Y'all bring me so much joy, and I am so happy I found this little corner of the internet.

I am currently drained of all creative energy (I can't imagine why!), so you may not hear from me for a while. However, I promise I am still around---likely catching up on all the fic and art I've missed while being a literal word and doll factory. With all that said, if you have an idea and wanna collab in the new year, I'm all ears and tons of fun!

Hellos and high-fives for the last time in 2024! @alexalexinii, @argumentativeantitheticalg, @aristocratic-otter, @arthurkko, @artsyunderstudy

@best--dress, @blackberrysummerblog, @brilla-brilla-estrellita, @bookish-bogwitch, @confused-bi-queer

@cutestkilla, @emeryhall, @facewithoutheart, @harrie-leithillustration, @hushed-chorus

@ic3que3n, @ileadacharmedlife, @katatsumuli, @larkral, @letraspal

@martsonmars, @messofthejess, @mooncello, @noblecorgi, @orange-peony

@raenestee, @rbkzz, @roomwithanopenfire, @shrekgogurt, @skeedelvee

@stitchyqueer, @supercutedinosaurs, @talentpiper11, @twinkle-twinkle-up-above, @theimpossibledemon

@valeffelees, @whatevertheweather, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @youarenevertooold

[bestanimal]

I can’t believe it. We’re finally here. Round 3 starts tomorrow (2/1), with our first poll dropping at 8 am EST.

Some notes:

Round 3 will be our biggest round yet, and I have 227 polls scheduled. That’s almost a year’s worth of polls. It should be obvious that not every Order is going to make it to Round 4. So you’re going to need to be more choosy this round. Be honest. Come here with a plan. Do a bit of research. Know your favs. This next round is covering Animal Orders. If your favorite animal is a Great White Shark you need to know that it’s a Lamniform. So you should make sure you’re only voting fav in the Lamniformes poll and not fav in the other shark polls. You can still vote love or like in those polls; that’s what those options are there for. But this round is going to require a bit more focus if we want a diverse roundup next year! If you’re someone who votes favorite in every poll, try to pick just one or two favorites from each class we’re covering. I would actually love if we could have at least one representative from each class moving forward. (That being said, don’t be afraid to reflect it in your vote if the descriptions and propaganda have you discovering new favorites! I’m kinda hoping for that here too!)

I can not state enough that this tournament relies on numbers. If you want your fav to move forward you have to make sure people see it. Reblog, post propaganda, etc. If you don’t have a large following, reblog the poll anyway, add some GOOD propaganda onto it, and then chances are I’ll reblog it which increases the chances of it getting seen again. Get your friends involved. If you know someone that only blogs about squids, tag them! This tournament is all about PASSION.

I had some complaints last round about missing some polls. These polls are all pre-scheduled. They post once a day, at 8am EST, and they’re open for 7 days. If you click on the tag #/Animal Polls while within my blog, you can see every poll in one place. I recommend doing that every so often so you don’t miss any of them! You can also turn on notifications or follow the blog via rss (but that also means your gonna be seeing asks, extra propaganda, and poll results as well.) On top of that, I will post a schedule of every single poll at the bottom of this post, under the read more. If there are polls you absolutely do not want to miss, put them in your calendar!

That being said, there is ONE BIG CHANGE this round. I am removing the hate option. I put the dislike and hate options there as a fun little mechanic to strategize and steal points from other people but uh… I’m ngl, it’s starting to Hurt My Feelings. Whoopsie. The dislike option will remain but I feel like hate is a bit too strong of an option to include. The fact that dislike, neutral, and simply not voting already detract points from the total seems like enough. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Still, as always, this is just a silly Tumblr tournament that doesn’t really matter in the long run. Nothing’s going to happen to the animals that make it to the next round and nothing’s going to happen to the animals that don’t, we’re just trying to figure out the most popular animal on Tumblr. If your favorite doesn’t make it, that’s okay! If anything, that just makes it, and you, all the more unique! And if it does? Welcome! You’ve found your people!

Poll Schedule under the read more

(Warning: It Big)

Polls will post once a day at 8am US EST.

Chondrichthyes:

Carcharhiniformes - Feb 1

Lamniformes - Feb 2

Orectolobiformes - Feb 3

Heterodontiformes - Feb 4

Squaliformes - Feb 5

Squatiniformes - Feb 6

Pristiophoriformes - Feb 7

Hexanchiformes - Feb 8

Myliobatiformes - Feb 9

Rajiformes - Feb 10

Rhinopristiformes - Feb 11

Torpediniformes - Feb 12

Chimaeriformes - Feb 13

Chondrichthyes Round-up and Mini Stat Post - Feb 20

Mammalia:

Monotremata - Feb 21

Didelphimorphia - Feb 22

Paucituberculata - Feb 23

Microbiotheria - Feb 24

Dasyuromorphia - Feb 25

Peramelemorphia - Feb 26

Notoryctemorphia - Feb 27

Diprotodontia - Feb 28

Macroscelidea - Mar 1

Afrosoricida - Mar 2

Tubulidentata - Mar 3

Proboscidea - Mar 4

Hyracoidea - Mar 5

Sirenia - Mar 6

Cingulata - Mar 7

Pilosa - Mar 8

Scandentia - Mar 9

Dermoptera - Mar 10

Primates - Mar 11

Lagomorpha - Mar 12

Rodentia - Mar 13

Eulipotyphla - Mar 14

Chiroptera - Mar 15

Pholidota - Mar 16

Carnivora - Mar 17

Perissodactyla - Mar 18

Artiodactyla - Mar 19

Mammalia Round-up and Mini Stat Post - Mar 26

Reptilia:

(I just want to give a heads up that there’s going to be an explosion of birds within the reptile polls and that’s not my fault; birds are just a lot more diverse than the other reptiles and you can blame how they’re classified)

Rhynchocephalia - Mar 27

Squamata - Mar 28

Testudines - Mar 29

Crocodylia - Mar 30

Struthioniformes - Mar 31

Tinamiformes - Apr 1

Rheiformes - Apr 2

Apterygiformes - Apr 3

Casuariiformes - Apr 4

Galliformes - Apr 5

Anseriformes - Apr 6

Phoenicopteriformes - Apr 7

Podicipediformes - Apr 8

Columbiformes - Apr 9

Mesitornithiformes - Apr 10

Pterocliformes - Apr 11

Cuculiformes - Apr 12

Otidiformes - Apr 13

Musophagiformes - Apr 14

Opisthocomiformes - Apr 15

Gruiformes - Apr 16

Charadriiformes - Apr 17

Caprimulgiformes - Apr 18

Nyctibiiformes - Apr 19

Steatornithiformes - Apr 20

Podargiformes - Apr 21

Aegotheliformes - Apr 22

Apodiformes - Apr 23

Phaethontiformes - Apr 24

Eurypygiformes - Apr 25

Gaviiformes - Apr 26

Procellariiformes - Apr 27

Sphenisciformes - Apr 28

Ciconiiformes - Apr 29

Suliformes - Apr 30

Pelecaniformes - May 1

Strigiformes - May 2

Accipitriformes - May 3

Coliiformes - May 4

Leptosomiformes - May 5

Trogoniformes - May 6

Bucerotiformes - May 7

Coraciiformes - May 8

Piciformes - May 9

Cariamiformes - May 10

Falconiformes - May 11

Psittaciformes - May 12

Passeriformes - May 13

Reptilia Round-up and Mini Stat Post - May 20

Cephalopoda:

Nautilida - May 21

Bathyteuthida - May 22

Idiosepida - May 23

Myopsida - May 24

Oegopsida - May 25

Sepiida - May 26

Spirulida - May 27

Vampyromorphida - May 28

Octopoda - May 29

Lissamphibia:

Anura - May 30

Urodela - May 31

Gymnophiona - Jun 1

Cephalopoda and Lissamphibia Round-up and Mini Stat Post - Jun 8

Actinopterygii:

Polypteriformes - Jun 9

Acipenseriformes - Jun 10

Amiiformes - Jun 11

Lepisosteiformes - Jun 12

Elopiformes - Jun 13

Albuliformes - Jun 14

Notacanthiformes - Jun 15

Anguilliformes - Jun 16

Hiodontiformes - Jun 17

Osteoglossiformes - Jun 18

Clupeiformes - Jun 19

Alepocephaliformes - Jun 20

Gonorynchiformes - Jun 21

Cypriniformes - Jun 22

Gymnotiformes - Jun 23

Siluriformes - Jun 24

Characiformes - Jun 25

Lepidogalaxiiformes - Jun 26

Argentiniformes - Jun 27

Esociformes - Jun 28

Salmoniformes - Jun 29

Osmeriformes - Jun 30

Stomiiformes - Jul 1

Galaxiiformes - Jul 2

Ateleopodiformes - Jul 3

Aulopiformes - Jul 4

Myctophiformes - Jul 5

Lampriformes - Jul 6

Percopsiformes - Jul 7

Polymixiiformes - Jul 8

Zeiformes - Jul 9

Gadiformes - Jul 10

Stylephoriformes - Jul 11

Trachichthyiformes - Jul 12

Stephanoberyciformes - Jul 13

Beryciformes - Jul 14

Cetomimiformes - Jul 15

Ophidiiformes - Jul 16

Batrachoidiformes - Jul 17

Gobiiformes - Jul 18

Kurtiformes - Jul 19

Scombriformes - Jul 20

Syngnathiformes - Jul 21

Ovalentaria (note: includes Cichliformes, Blenniiformes, Gobiesociformes, Cyprinodontiformes, and many others. If you don’t see your fav on the list it’s probably in this clade. I had to use Ovalentaria as it includes some families with uncertain order) - Jul 22

Anabantiformes - Jul 23

Carangiformes - Jul 24

Synbranchiformes - Jul 25

Scorpaeniformes - Jul 26

Perciformes - Jul 27

Priacanthiformes - Jul 28

Pleuronectiformes - Jul 29

Centrarchiformes - Jul 30

Labriformes - Jul 31

Acropomatiformes - Aug 1

Acanthuriformes - Aug 2

Lophiiformes - Aug 3

Tetraodontiformes - Aug 4

Actinopterygii Round-up and “Mini” Stat Post - Aug 11

Malacostraca:

Anaspidacea - Aug 12

Bathynellacea - Aug 13

Amphipoda - Aug 14

Mictacea - Aug 15

Cumacea - Aug 16

Isopoda - Aug 17

Lophogastrida - Aug 18

Mysida - Aug 19

Spelaeogriphacea - Aug 20

Stygiomysida - Aug 21

Tanaidacea - Aug 22

Thermosbaenacea - Aug 23

Decapoda - Aug 24

Euphausiacea - Aug 25

Stomatopoda - Aug 26

Leptostraca - Aug 27

Malacostraca Round-up and Mini Stat Post - Sep 3

Arachnida:

Ricinulei - Sep 4

Xiphosura - Sep 5

Opiliones - Sep 6

Solifugae - Sep 7

Sarcoptiformes - Sep 8

Oribatida - Sep 9

Trombidiformes - Sep 10

Eriophyoidea - Sep 11

Endeostigmata - Sep 12

Ixodida - Sep 13

Holothyrida - Sep 14

Opilioacarida - Sep 15

Mesostigmata - Sep 16

Palpigradi - Sep 17

Scorpiones - Sep 18

Pseudoscorpiones - Sep 19

Amblypygi - Sep 20

Schizomida - Sep 21

Uropygi - Sep 22

Araneae - Sep 23

Arachnida Round-up and Mini Stat Post - Sep 30

Insecta:

Archaeognatha - Oct 1

Zygentoma - Oct 2

Ephemeroptera - Oct 3

Odonata - Oct 4

Zoraptera - Oct 5

Dermaptera - Oct 6

Plecoptera - Oct 7

Orthoptera - Oct 8

Grylloblattodea - Oct 9

Mantophasmatodea - Oct 10

Phasmatodea - Oct 11

Embioptera - Oct 12

Mantodea - Oct 13

Blattodea - Oct 14

Psocodea - Oct 15

Hemiptera - Oct 16

Thysanoptera - Oct 17

Hymenoptera - Oct 18

Strepsiptera - Oct 19

Coleoptera - Oct 20

Raphidioptera - Oct 21

Neuroptera - Oct 22

Megaloptera - Oct 23

Lepidoptera - Oct 24

Trichoptera - Oct 25

Diptera - Oct 26

Mecoptera - Oct 27

Siphonaptera - Oct 28

Insecta Round-up and Mini Stat Post - Nov 4

Actinistia:

Coelacanthiformes - Nov 5

Scyphozoa:

Coronatae - Nov 6

Rhizostomeae - Nov 7

Semaeostomeae - Nov 8

Eutardigrada:

Apochela - Nov 9

Parachela - Nov 10

Final Stat Post - Nov 18(ish)

[e-rated-beardo]

2024 fic roundup

@cheeseplants created this ask/tag game, and I've been tagged by @addledmongoose and @harlotofupdog, here we gooo

What fandoms do you write in?

200% Good Omens. First proper fandom experience. First thing that forced (aye, forced) me to write a fanfic. Huge obsession.

If I were to write for anything else, it might be Our Flag Means Death, or Doctor Who, or perhaps House M.D. or some flavour of Star Trek. Or a crossover between one of those and GO. I'm a completely normal amount of obsessed with Aziraphale and Crowley.

How many words have you published in 2024?

*goes to ao3 stats page*

*hits "2024"*

...220,232 words

What the whole entire fuck!?

And there's another three chapters left on Scorn to go before New Year's, so we'll comfortably surpass 231k. How in the actual fuck is that possible.

What is your greatest achievement this year?

Getting this comment:

What are your favourite top three fics you wrote this year?

Not Single Spies (the third part of Nice And Ominous, which can be read on its own or with the two preceding parts); The Co-pilot; and I'm going to say Scorn and the Saint-Maker, although that's far from finished, because it's been the entirety of my past half-year.

Not Single Spies (part III of Nice And Ominous: a reluctant eschatology of the Second Attempt) Rated E; 61k words Second Coming/post-S2 fic; plot-driven

A man with pale hair turns up in Saint Peter's Square, naked and without memory, and Crowley's old sense of Aziraphale's location snaps like a twig. Heaven is down another Supreme Archangel—but the new Christ is already on Earth (in France, to be precise) and the Second Coming is well underway. And Crowley works for Hell now, but really, he works for the good of humanity; pulling on every friend he has to stop the end of the world.

There is some smut in this, but it's only three sections and they're all skippable. The rest of the story is rated T with no major warnings.

The Co-pilot Rated E; 4k words Human-ish AU; shameless smut

An un-English heatwave, a few open shirt buttons and the demonic entity possessing an innocent Londoner conspire to make long-time friends Az and Tony finally get over themselves and bone.

Scorn and the Saint-Maker Rated E; 97k words so far (WIP) Human not-actually-AU; sorta-post-S2; plot-driven, smutty, mathsy; four plots in a trench coat

Doctor Crowley has turned truancy into an art form, lecturing only under sufferance. Doctor Fell has signed up for his undergraduate course and has no plans to let him slack off. When a faculty member is found dead, our heroes start forming uneasy suspicions. What was the occult symbol drawn next to the body? Why does it feel like they’ve known each other forever? How is Crowley supposed to tell police that he thinks the murderer is a demon he summoned 35 years ago? And what about that statue that’s the spitting image of the victim?

They've been turned human. Now they're academics in Scotland. Romance, weirdness and (skippable!) smut ensue. The fic has some warnings, so check the tags.

What was your biggest pit of despair moment?

I had a nasty week in August, when I got depressive symptoms as a side effect of a necessary medication and spent ~10 days convinced everything I did was shit.

I'm also kind of in one at the moment, but without the pharmaceutical explanation/excuse. I'm just... urgh. Things are stuck. It's. It's a thing. Idk.

What have you learned?

You're expecting me to list everything I've learnt related to writing and fandom and fandom writing in less than an entire academic essay? Are you out of your entire mind!? (❤️)

Big things: I've learnt that I do have the capacity to finish big stories; that things I write are good enough that people want to read them and look forward to reading them and give me all these amazing compliments on them and go slightly feral sometimes; and that if I'm enthusiastic enough about maths, I can trick some folks who didn't even like maths into sort of liking maths.

Smaller things: A smattering of fancy vocabulary. How to paint with watercolour. How to draw Michael Sheen's nose and David Tennant's lower lip. The fact that I have a massive praise kink. More than I knew there was to know about em-dashes and en-rules. Heaps of random facts about the Bible, angels, demonology, poetry, Scotland Yard, Shakespeare, wine, dicks, queer identities I don't have, and queer identities I do have. And a bunch about how to watch/read/consume media with my eyes open and my brain switched on.

What fic did you want to do but never made it off the ground?

I still low-key want to continue The Co-pilot into... something. And That Berry Ice Cream from last December has been sort of asking for a follow-up, which just hasn't happened.

I had this idea, shortly after that week in November that the Americans don't like to think about, for something short, snappy, and a little cathartic; a fuck the system-type deal, both to that political shitshow and to all the sad crap fucking over the GO fandom lately, and I started to write it but got stuck not even a thousand words in. Maybe it just wasn't that good of an idea.

Did you beta any fics? Any favs you want to shout out?

I did my first toe-dipping of a beta read just the other month, for Easy Access by @ModernDayKlutz. I've not dared to jump into beta:ing properly for fear that my old flakiness will resurface and make me disappoint a person I've made a promise to, but this one seemed contained enough that I felt I could contribute. Especially with Kilt Knowledge™️.

What three fics have you read this year that you love?

THREE!??!?

All right, so I'm looking through my bookmarks, and, as it turns out, That Fic I Keep Recommending Basically All The Time was one I only read - or at least, finished reading - early this year!

Mint Tea by @copperplatebeech - 31.5k words; rated E - is one of those fics that half the fandom have heard about, right? I don't know if it happened to hit me at a formative point in my fandom life or if it's simply That Good, which is also very likely, but thirsty-well-hung-Dom!Crowley lives in my head for free and will not move out, it seems. It's scorching and funny and sweet, and when I say it gave me the idea to try some... things... which I hadn't tried before, in... certain parts of my life... 🔥🫠

Fanfic, uh... changes lives, y'all! Ahem, well then, onwards:

Come as you are by hiya_angel - 4k words, rated E - this gave me some of the experience reflected in that gorgeous comment above. The angst is minimal and the smut is gorgeous and wonderfully sweet and I adore this fandom for making me feel hope again and again for all this trans stuff that's still comparatively new to me.

Submitted for Your Consideration by @zehwulf - 19k words, rated E - contains possibly the most spectacular description of subspace I've read in... ever? And when it comes to bowling me over with porn, I could probably just pick anything by ZehWulf because whatever story I pick up it ends with me sitting there absolutely sweating. And feeling fuzzy inside. And maybe also crying for joy.

HERE'S A FOURTH ACTUALLY, YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME:

Lucid by @twilightcitysky - 35k words, rated E. It's unfinished and I barely even care at this point, because something about this fic changed me. It's So. Fucking. Good. It's one of those (rare? Not in this fandom! But a little rare, probably) stories where the smut is absolutely plot-crucial. It's also excruciatingly clever and angstier than I thought I would like (I was wrong! I LIKE IT) and the characters are great. And it's written just beautifully.

What ideas are percolating for next year?

More Scorn. (Don't trust the projected chapter count. Knowing myself, there'll be more of them. Or I might be done with less. It's a completely unqualified approximation.)

More Co-pilot, maybe? (I have Ideas.)

A slightly more fantastical fic that goes into a smut genre I haven't really explored at all before. And which has made me research goats' pupils.

Plus, I want to look into making podfics more. Maybe get better at it. Maybe even try out doing voice work for money? (I'm talking to a guy, it's completely wild, but damn it might be a thing I could do)

Who do you want to thank?

@addledmongoose (quite unintentionally) brought me to Tumblr. (She wrote a review of Nice And Ominous, and it was so lovely, I wanted to go there and like it and respond to it properly, so I just had to create an account, you know? No other options.) I'm so glad I'm here.

@bakingcat made excitable comments about my linguistics-nerdery-snuck-into-sex-scene and made me realise you can actually make friends in fandom.

@klikandtuna wrote the fic which I was a completely normal amount of obsessed with this summer, and which led to (via an instance of fanwork of the fanwork) me being flooded with love from strangers one random Friday and getting put in contact with that voice work guy. We also had the most wonderfully grown-up conversation about a tricky thing, for which I am so very proud and grateful.

@harlotofupdog came straight over to read Scorn almost right when I started posting it - I can't quite remember now, but the timing isn't the important bit - and wrote some absolutely glorious comments. D'you know you're the first writer whose work I'd already been painfully obsessed with, who's also expressed obsession with mine? D'you know how bloody cool that is??

And finally the unhinged smutgoblins of The Beta Fishes The Big Fucks server - idk who to thank anymore because I can't recall who invited me (it was past 3am and I'd just watched Michael Sheen shirtless for an hour, you'll have to forgive a guy) but all of y'all are weirdos and I love to hang out with yous and draw dicks and discuss writing and scream about Rivals and definitely not put mustaches on anyone.

No-pressure tags (in addition to everyone tagged above - please feel free to consider yourselves tagged-tagged if you like) without checking who's already been tagged in this before, because that's A Lot of Work that I don't want to do:

@wiblywoblytimeywimey754 @brenna @majnoonathelibrarian annnnd @kiratastic, pretty sure this could be modified to work for an art perspective too? Right? (If you want)

[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

[pokepollsters]

Little Cup Stats- January 2025

So the first month of the Little Cup Polls comes to an end, and I've loved seeing you all talk about your own Pokémon experiences when it comes to Starters, shiny hunting, the National Dex, and all the takes on Mythicals vs Legendaries!

As promised, here's a quick roundup of all the polls and some stats for each of them! For future reference, polls that span across two months will be included with the month that the majority of it took place in. All below the cut-

Week #1 (Grass, Fire, or Water)

The first week was a simple choice of which starter group is the best! Grass was the victor, though with strong support for all three types. 1,424 votes were cast, with the distribution being as follows:

Grass- 36.5%, 520 votes

Fire- 27.3%, 389 votes

Water- 32.2%, 459 votes

See Results- 3.9%, 56 votes

When we remove the people who couldn't choose, the final percentages come to:

Grass- 38%

Fire- 28.4%

Water- 33.5%

So while there is a clear favourite, Game Freak has done a good job of balancing all the types with each one having their own fans!

Week #2 (Shiny Hunting)

Our first submitted question was a simple one! Have you shiny hunted? And a clear majority have- at least once anyway! There were 986 votes cast, and the results were:

Yes- 70.7%, 697 votes

No- 28.5%, 281 votes

See Results- 0.8%, 8 votes

Since so few of you couldn't remember if you'd done so or not, the adjusted percentages are very similar.

Yes- 71.3%

No- 28.7%

So more than 7 in 10 players have tried it! A popular pastime indeed.

Week #3 (Mythicals and Legendaries)

Are they one and the same? Well, our second submission this month was asking just that. Mythicals and Legendaries are closely related, but according to the Pokémon Company, they are indeed different! Do you disagree? 526 people voted on if they considered Mythicals to be Legendaries as well, and they had this to say:

Yes- 77.8%, 409 votes

No- 18.4%, 97 votes

See Results- 3.8%, 20 votes

When we remove those that didn't have strong feelings on the matter, the adjusted percentages are:

Yes- 80.8%

No- 19.2%

Perhaps I needn't have split up the tournaments after all then?

Week #4 (National Dex)

Our final Little Cup of the month was about the National Dex! Over 5 years on from the infamous Dexit, it seems opinions have cooled about it, but most do still miss it! Of the 418 people that voted, these are the people who miss the National Dex:

Yes- 60.3%, 252 votes

No- 29.2%, 122 votes

See Results- 10.5%, 44 votes

This time, more than a tenth of you couldn't make up your mind one way or the other! When we remove those numbers from the equation, it looks like this:

Yes- 67.3%

No- 32.6%

It seems that a two thirds majority miss the National Dex after all! Will we ever see it again in a main series game?

Final Stats

With exactly 3,354 votes cast this month, I'd say the Little Cup Polls have been off to a good start! This means an average of 839 votes on each poll, well above any tournament, but we'll see how this average looks as the weeks continue. From next month onwards, I'll be including both the month's average, and the overall average too.

Unfortunately, each poll has been less popular than the last, but there's bound to be variation in vote numbers when each poll presents a very different question from the last! The graph looks like this:

But with all that said, that's all for January! I hope you've enjoyed the Little Cup Polls so far, and I've got many good questions from you folks queued up! Right now the queue goes into April, but submissions are always open for more. We'll be back with more stats in a month's time!

[brinefathomcaves]

What's Next for Brinefathom Caves

Happy new year, me hearties!

2024 is over, and Brinefathom Caves is done...ish. The content is there, but it's not really playable in its current state, both because the information is scattered across 366+ Tumblr posts and because I deliberately avoided putting hard stats on anything to avoid getting bogged down. My goal for 2025 is to edit this beast into a playable state, with eventual (e)publication in mind. The finished project will be PWYW--it's nice if someone wants to kick a couple bucks my way, but I'd rather get played than get paid, y'know?

As a proof of concept for this, I've rewritten all the level 1 rooms to a more user-friendly format with stated DCs for checks and saves. Below is a link to a Mega folder with the resulting PDF. It's still very much a work in progress--I haven't done an editing pass beyond spellcheck, for instance.

→ → GET LEVEL 1 HERE �� ←

The list of specific things I want to do this year include:

Rewrite the rest of the dungeon rooms in this format

Create clean digital copies of all maps

Write faction and NPC information for levels 2-6

Expand the minidungeons in the level 4 wavecrawl with playable rooms

Create a small hexcrawl for the surface of the island

Detail the island's port town and some NPCs who live there

Create stats for unique monsters and NPCs

Write procedures for the megadungeon play elements that 5e lacks, like dungeon turns

Probably some other stuff I haven't even thought of yet

So that's, uh, a lot! We'll see how my work ethic holds up without the day-to-day pace of dungeon24, but finishing made me pretty confident in my ability to handle the kind of workload that comes with a large dungeon.

One thing I'm not sure I'll do is go back and do full-map roundups of the lower levels. I really fell off doing that at some point, sorry. Right now, I want to move forward trying to get everything shipshape for publishing rather than spend time on more intermediate content. However, if anyone really missed having those roundups, please let me know. If there's demand for it, I'll happily do the extra work.

If anybody uses material from Brinefathom (especially from the PDF above, but also just in general), I'd love to hear your feedback! I lack the time and resources to playtest a megadungeon, so while I'm doing my best in editing--I swear past me forgot the difference between 4e and 5e encounter balance half the time--having outside perspectives is a huge help.

Finally, thanks again to everyone who followed along for the past year of dungeoncraft. Whether you started reading in January or December, you all made doing this so much more rewarding.

[anincompletelist]

2023 writing roundup :D

hi all! thank you to @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @rockyroadkylers @songliili @littlemisskittentoes for the tags on this! I loved getting to go back through all of the works you guys have shared with us this year (and hearing about some of your upcoming projects as well!)

I realized that I did do a year in review post, but that was mostly stats, so I figured I'd participate in this one as well since it'd be nice to have all of my fics linked in one place for organizational purposes!

thank you guys for everything this year, I can't wait for all that's coming in the next one! <3

sarah / anincompletelist xx

Sure As The Stars in the Sky | E | 20k

It shouldn't matter that Alex has been present for each and every one of Henry's most important life milestones, sometimes the singular catalyst for them. It shouldn't be important that he's grown to be more familiar to Henry than even some of his own family members, that part of him is burrowed so deeply into Henry's subconscious that he can taste it sometimes, that even when Alex crashes in, spirited and passionate, it feels like an easy exhale; like coming home. It shouldn't matter, but it does.

praying our bridges don't make waves | E | 82k

When June gets sick, Alex knows he'll do whatever it takes to make sure she gets the care that she needs. Even if that means convincing his nemesis/sexuality-crisis-inducing/clandestine hook-up partner/somewhat of an actual friend to pretend to be his soulmate in order to pull it off. It's both more and less complicated than it sounds.

kiss me like you've got nowhere to be | M | 3k

In the three years they’ve lived together, he thinks it’s safe to say that he and Alex have gotten… close. The kind of close that other people like to point out sometimes when they’re in public, and not just their overinvolved older sisters and overly suggestive friends. A few of Alex’s colleagues have made comments when Henry shows up at the holiday parties or after a stressful work day to make sure Alex is eating and staying hydrated, just the same as Henry’s clients each know little bits of odd Alex-facts that he lets slip sometimes in his sessions. Regardless, it’s all terribly domestic, and the twinge of satisfaction Henry gets when Alex’s dates don’t go well is most definitely not appropriate, even if they are kind of in a weird, probably mostly platonic, very codependent relationship. If he’s not careful, Henry’s going to get himself so, so hurt one of these days.

I feel the beating of your heart, I see the shadows on your face | M | 18k

It’s certainly not what Alex would have predicted a few days prior. If someone had told him he’d be tenderly embracing his self-imposed enemy after switching bodies with him for seventy-two hours and embarking on an unintentional journey of self discovery and then finally finding their way back to each other to ask for a True Love’s Kiss that may or may not break the curse that flipped their lives upside down - Well, Alex would have told them to fuck off.

but I can count on you to tell me the truth when (I've) been drinking and you're wearing a mask | M | 8k

The room goes quiet again, Alex too focused on the sound of his own breathing. He’s already started, he figures, and the person still hasn’t left. But this next bit is a little more personal, and Alex isn’t positive what the parameters are for one-sidedly conversing with a masked stranger about your best kept secrets at a halloween party when you’re so drunk that the floor is beginning to look like it may open up and swallow you whole. Isn’t sure if that might be better anyway.

who ya gonna call? | M | 7k

Henry is a ghostwriter. Alex is a little confused on what exactly that means.

I'll bet it all on me and you, I'll bet it all you're bulletproof | M | 11k

“Let’s do this,” he says. “Let’s,” Alex agrees, pushing down on the handle until the door swings open. “After you, boyfriend.” This is most definitely not his finest idea. Henry usually practices much better self preservation skills. Much better common senseskills. He steps over the threshold of Alex’s room and it feels like sealing his fate. They’re doing this for Alex to win over their bosses in a lighthearted game with a harmless lie, but Henry can’t fight off the bitter knowledge that, regardless of how tonight goes, Alex will be fine, but Henry has so much to lose.

(+ listen to the podfic here!)

but if you could see us from a distance you'd know I've always been so close to you | E | 10k

Objectively, standing half-soaked from rainwater with a stitch in his side and an uncomfortable, raging hard-on outside his worst enemy’s door is not Henry’s finest moment. It’s not even on the list. [or, henry is afflicted with a curse-gone-wrong that stipulates that only his sworn enemy, alex claremont-diaz, can touch him.]

you make it look so easy, I know it's not | T+ | 8k

Bea’s to his left, speaking frantically on the phone with who Henry hopes is the fire brigade or someone else trained to deal with these— situations. In front of him, Pez is fumbling frustratedly with the water hose, showcasing his colorful vocabulary with a flourish of jerky hand movements and chaotic pacing. On either side of the fence, his neighbors are peaking over the sides to ask if everything’s okay, and Henry feels the resolution to make a good first impression crumbling and slipping rapidly out of his grasp. Even David watches on from inside the house, his sage eyes and patriotic bowtie appraising the scene and looking back to Henry as if to say I told you so. And the fryer — the fryer itself is up in flames, thick gray smoke swirling up into the air and soaring high above the tree line now. In the distance, the echo of sirens. Henry may faint right here, in the middle of his backyard at his new home before he's even unpacked, with all the neighbors and his family and friends watching on, on his first official American Thanksgiving. It is, by all means, not what he’d envisioned for the day.

somehow I'd get by (part one) | E | 13k

Henry should have known, probably, that accepting a job offer from Pez would have its nuances. It’s his own fault that he hadn’t asked more questions, that he hadn’t regarded it as a red flag when he’d had to sign several very thick NDA’s at the onboarding, when Pez had smiled so big and so secretively when they went out to celebrate afterward that Henry had to physically look away from it. Though he’s new to the city, he’d thought that working as an accountant wouldn’t offer all that many opportunities for any sort of overly odd, eclectic jobs. So he’d shown up on his first day at the provided address, a big, nondescript brick building in front of him with a duffel bag full of his sign-on papers, his computer, and a framed photo of his dog, David, ready to take up its rightful place on yet another boring, blank desk. He’d made it all of two steps inside the door before realizing that he’d just accepted a contract working for some kind of sex club. He’d stood his ground despite the burning flush that bloomed on his cheeks and then, miraculously, he’d stayed.

take my hand if you can take me as I am | E | 14k

It would hurt less, Alex guesses, if he wasn’t head over heels for the guy he’s supposed to be fucking through an ancient one-sided sex curse with that was partially — a lot, actually — his own fault. But. It’s not like there’s a fucking handbook. Alex has looked. 

if you take a life, do you know what you'll give? | M | 9k

It would have been one thing had Alexander’s job description been simply to stay in his hotel room and operate the funds covertly, an exceedingly safe distance away from Henry and any of Le Chiffre’s men. As it is, they’d instructed Alex to play the part of Henry’s date for the night, subsequently granting him the access he’d need to the private cardroom within the casino in order to report back to headquarters the funds needed in the precise moment Henry would need them. It's too dangerous, and he knows it. Henry's had a lot of blood on his hands in this life, but he refuses to have Alex's as well.

miles to go, but we're almost home | M | 5k

Texas is a bit of a last minute decision. As in, at the actual last minute, Henry had begged them at the station for whatever ticket they had left to get out of the city, shoved his credit card at them expeditiously, and promptly boarded the vessel just as the doors slid closed behind him. Turns out it’s the best decision he’s ever made.

something borrowed, something blue | (to begin posting jan 1!)

dom!alex part two

dom!henry

+

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE TO WITNESS ME SCREAM INTO THE VOID! this space has meant so much to me since I first read the book when it came out, but even more so once I started writing again these last few months. 2022/2023 was a very long, very lonely time in my life and I just didn't have words for a while. when the movie came out, I remembered how much I loved the book and finally opened a blank page again! I needed an outlet, and I found so much more than that <3

PLEASE consider this an open tag to brag on yourselves, but also (no pressure) --

@firenati0n @affectionatelyrs @kiwiana-writes @daisymae-12 @read-and-write- @inexplicablymine @happiness-of-the-pursuit @heybuddy-drabbles @wordsofhoneydew @nocoastposts @firstsprinces @sparklepocalypse @ninzied @getmehighonmagic @iboatedhere @magicandarchery @matherines @zwiazdziarka @raysletters @cricketnationrise @xthelastknownsurvivorx @gayrootvegetable @lizzie-bennetdarcy @eusuntgratie @whimsymanaged @priincebutt @duchessdepolignaca03 @leojfitz @user-anakin @anchoredarchangel @tinyarmedtrex @rmd-writes

cheers to a wonderful year, friends! I am so grateful for all of you and for this space that we've created to share and connect with each other and the art that inspires us. here's hoping 2024 has a lot more of that! <333

xx

[lumosatnight]

Year in Review 2023

I did this for 2022 and I couldn't pass up the opportunity for more stats. Thanks @oknowkiss (x) for the tag! Here is my year in review: 2023 edition 🥳

Stats

Word Count: 339,585 (86,974 new)

Hits: 136,378 (68,393 new)

Number of Fics started and finished: 12 over 1k and 49 under 1k

Number of WIPs started: idk... like 10? 20?

Ships I wrote this year (not including background ships): Lots and lots and lots but mostly Drarry (8), Snarry (2), Drarius (2), Fleurmione (2), Lunansy (2), and Cissamione (2)

Favorite ship(s): This year maybe Narlily, Snarry, Luther, Mollytrix

Least favorite ship(s): This year I was introduced to Marylily and Rosekiller and idk they just don't vibe with me.

AO3 Fic Writers/Artists/Creators/Readers who have inspired me and my writing this year:

@itsphantasmagoria for their incredible Drarry video game

@sleepstxtic for her incredible range of fic and nuanced depictions of canon including my fav fic of the year!

@anaxandria-writes for binding my fic!!! I am so grateful and inspired.

@givereadersahug for organizing @hprecfest and always being so joyous and enthusiastic about rare pairs (you will be very missed, my dear 💗)

Countdown

5️⃣ Top 5 works I’m most proud of from 2022 (not necessarily my most popular)

For I have Found Salvation [Snarry, E, 7.1k] — for @snarryauctoberfest with priest Severus and parishioner Harry. My very first Snarry fic!

Of Dreams and Death [Dronarry, T, 2.3k] — for @dronarryfest and had so much fun plopping the characters into the Sandman AU.

up here, i'm floating [Mollytrix, M, 1.2k] — for the @hpsaffics Secret Santa Exchange. This is possibly one of my fav ships. I'm glad I got the chance to write them as angsty as I wanted.

Such a Sweetheart [Fleuratrix, T, 2.4k] — for the HPFC server Untagged Fest. A horror coffeeshop AU!

Kinktober 2023 [Multiship, E, total 15.5k] — technically a series but my first time participating in Kinktober. I was worried I wasn't going to finish all the days in time.

4️⃣ Top 4 current WIPs that I’m most excited to release in 2023

Honestly no idea yet. I have a lot of ideas on the back burner but none that are MUST DO RIGHT NOW. But I will say that I'm excited for bunch of fests like @hptransfest @ladiesofhpfest @hptriadfest and @hp-rarepairs

3️⃣ Top 3 biggest improvements in my writing over the past year

Smut!! I've developed my smut writing a lot. Kinktober really opened my eyes to a lot of kinks as well 👀

Tone: I think I'm getting a lot better at matching tone in my writing for consistent characterizations and building atmosphere

Estimating word count: I've gotten so much better at looking at an idea and predicting how long the final story is going to be.

2️⃣ Top 2 resolutions (ways I wish to improve my writing/blog) for the new year

FINISH A LONGER WORK!! This was on my resolutions from last which I didn't complete lol. It's okay, I'll try again this year.

Create a more consistent writing schedule

1️⃣ Number 1 favorite line I’ve written this year!

Harry Potter has a tiny dick. It’s just a fact of life. The Chosen Microdick, the Small Saviour, the Boy with an Itty Bitty Package. And oh, how Draco loves it.

From The Chosen Microdick [Drarry, E, 500], part of my Kinktober 2023 series and I just love the play on words here. A banging start to a banging series 🤣

Not sure who has already done a stats roundup/fic review/2023 thingy, so I'll leave the tag open.

Happy 2024! 💖

[donnerpartyofone]

4, 7, 15

Thanks pal!

4. I'm looking forward to a bunch of things I guess, although also everything makes me so nervous that anticipation is never untainted! I'm looking forward to my book coming out, even though it has all sorts of little flaws that I can barely prevent myself from spontaneously defending/confessing. I'm looking forward to a blu-ray commentary I'm gonna record soon (can't announce yet) plus a bunch of writing I got assigned, all really cool things but I know how much work they are and I wonder if I'm going to survive it every time! I'm looking forward to a horror event I have to host in a couple weeks; it's insanity, I'm paying $$$ for travel and lodging to be on a stage for probably ten minutes to just sort of be the face of the event and provide "support", but that's what it means to me apparently. I think that I should try to find some longer term things to look forward to, but that will be a whole project, I've always had a lot of trouble with goal formation. I'm always doing one short-term thing at a time and feeling like I barely got away with it.

7. 2023 was really insane. My mental health was crumbling really badly in tandem with our tiny, ridiculous apartment where we had lived for ten years. There were huge ups and downs with the big TBA project I basically gave my life to, that I may never be able to "A" but hopefully some day someone will tell me if it is officially cancelled so I can at least talk about it a little. I also wrote my book and I got a chance to go to London to record my first blu-ray commentary, which was a huge adventure and it happened amidst a bunch of really complicated dramatic events I don't have the space for; it was like, we moved out of our apartment, and somebody died, and I had to get on a plane to another country immediately, and I still have this feeling like I went through a portal to another dimension and when I landed at home again it was in another universe and that's where I've been ever since. I got to do some major writing projects that kind of felt like, well OK I did THIS, maybe it will be alright if I die now. I got to be on the jury of the local horror film festival and that was really awesome...and I'm starting to realize that this roundup makes it sound like I'm an incredibly ambitious and busy professional person who is fulfilling her dreams, but none of this stuff pays the bills and I am chronically unemployed, and I seem to have a lot of cognitive and intellectual problems, and I'm just terrified that I'm going to have to starve to death eventually. Toward the end of the year I tried to go back into therapy (round 3) and the search itself was really frightening, but when I finally picked someone I had made a really bad choice and the ~3 sessions I had with her fucked up my mind so badly, I wasn't OK for like two months. I still need to figure that out though, there's a lot of stuff wrong with me.

15. Personality description, wow. Maybe it would be fun to do one of those Marvel cards with all my "stats". How do I answer this? My instinct is to list all my pathologies, but then I think I should say what I'm like socially, but then I remember that I'm pretty different from one situation to another. I have incredible anxiety and I'm always tired from a lot of heavy duty masking, but the masking is 1 part survival instinct and 1 part compassion for others I would say. Almost all of my relationships are these intense one-on-one bonds, I don't do well in groups or with people who can't sustain a long conversation about one thing. But even with people I really know and love I have trouble being spontaneous, I have to script all my phone calls just in case I suddenly lose my mind. I think a lot of people perceive me as like really tough and self-possessed and even ambitious, which blows my mind; I've had a number of relationships that fell apart because the person came up with the fantasy that I was this bad bitch and then they were disappointed that I'm actually really vulnerable and nervous and incompetent. I'm not completely sure what that's about, but I think it could be partially a "social cues" problem; like sometimes I don't realize that I'm being inappropriately harsh until it's too late, and other times I'm like daring myself to be more honest and frank because I think that I'm too meek and it's not normal and people don't like that and I should practice having more self-confidence...and then I'm mortified when I find out the hard way that I was being inappropriate. But the one thing I can probably say without reservation is that I have a great sense of humor. It's like my prized possession, an incredible survival tool, and it keeps me entertained even when I have nothing else.

[kbirbpods]

better late than never: my 2024 podfic stats round up!

things have been hectic with VTMB 2024, going back to work, and Poly*PodWeek starting up but I finally garnered the energy/attention to create my graphics! 2022 roundup | 2023 roundup

each mic = 5 podfics

One change I've already made on my 2025 spreadsheet is tracking better when I record lines for a multivoice! In 2024, if my lines weren't significant, I didn't track it. Which meant I had to search through my spreadsheet and compare it to my multivoice pseud to determine numbers & they may be a little off. This year, I am including it all!

Looking at the numbers... I podded the MOST in January [12 hours, 35 minutes, & 47 seconds]. I podded the LEAST in February [44 minutes, 35 seconds].

These trend a little bit more expected than last year's did! I definitely burnt out in February and then March/April are very busy months for me. But May is, as well, it's just that Voiceteam has me going nuts despite that. June we moved, so I didn't do much, and then July/August I'm off for break! When December rolls back around, I'm making a lot more for ITPE & VTMB.

Here are some of my "top 5" stats:

The first image shows Star Wars, DC, & Danny Phantom for my top podded fandoms but this is the further breakdown. As you can see, of my 96 Star Wars podfics, 60 were Clone Wars. Of my 93 DC podfics, 38 were DPxDC and 30 were Batman/Batfam.

@wanderingjedihistorian is once again my most podded author! Last year she tied with @blackkatmagic but blackkat fell to 4th this year. (I have already podded 8 blackkat fics in 2025, though, so I expect that to change!) @flowerparrish was 2nd this year and I was actually 3rd. I wrote a lot more this year and Perry & I collaborated to pod a lot of those. My 5th place was @theredshirtsarecoming, who is my favorite crossover author so I was surprised she wasn't higher than that!

I podded the most Teen & Up fics with General Audiences in close second. This makes sense because I by far podded the most genfic this year, as opposed to shipping fics. My M/M stat made me laugh, as I am immature. I podded 2 "other" fics, also!

I made the most fics without music but managed to use Taylor in a whopping 37 fics. My most podded for event was Voiceteam (hence the SPIKE) in May but Summer Swap (July/August) was in close second. Some of the Voiceteam fics were birthday gifts (and vice versa).

Some miscellaneous stats:

I podded 118 unique authors, with 81 of them being only podded once! I podded 55 unique fandoms, with 36 of them being only podded once. Now, in there, this does include the misc. crossovers that are tracked in the previous graphic. I used 73 different musical artists/bands - this includes "no music" and "soundtrack" - with 52 of them only being used once.

& the final graphic, which was the hardest to make. Originally I went with 20 but then I just was struggling too much so... My 25 favorite cover arts that I made for my own podfics only:

Now, this is already long, but I've always provided a little insight into my tracking. So, below the cut are screenshots from my spreadsheet!

Before that though, last but not least, my 2025 fandom resolutions: ★ Podfic more multichapter fics (I let my fear of updating stop me) ★ Podfic more of @wanderingjedihistorian's Here There Be Dragons ★ Podfic more Soft Wars ★ Keep writing! I wrote so much in 2024 and I don't want to lose that ★ Get back to the WWT games in the Haunting Heroes discord ★ Worry less about kudos/comments for series I love (create anyway)

SHEET 1: The years broken down (including what I've already done in 2025)

SHEET 2: Where I actually track the podfics!

The totals by month are tabulated on this sheet for ease of layout.

This is the order the columns go in. I don't track word count on this sheet (though I typically do for event planning and such). I also color code using conditional formatting for various events / podfic length but it would be hard to show that lol

SHEET 3: Where the data for the statistics is pulled!

Basically, any time one of those is mentioned, it adds up here. Fics under multiple categories will add a number to each listed category, which is why it doesn't align perfectly with number of fics made!

Every time I track a new event, it also tabulates here. That's why I don't double track events -- I can't say for certain at the beginning of the year what I'll do, so I prefer for it to add them as I go. But, I am considering changing it up and manually adding them so I can instead track for things like "I made this for Voiceteam but also for a birthday present." Unsure yet.

Authors, fandoms, and music tabulate the same way. I add them to my tracker, the table adds a new row and begins to count how many times I use them.

An additional set of tables on this sheet break down the internal fandoms for Star Wars & DC:

Some big changes from 2023 to 2024:

Started tracking music

Started tracking events

Stopped making graphs (I track too much information now and they take up too much room)

Started tables for the above SW & DC breakdowns

Started uploading to the Audiofic Archive (and became an archiver there, as well!)

NOW, some changes I've made in 2025 already, since I'm posting this so late.

I'm now tracking the exact work I put into a fic, which will help with multivoice tracking at the end of the year! It also will help with more accurate fandom & author tracking, as before if my part in a multivoice was too small, I just didn't track it. I also broke Star Wars & DC down more, since I typically pod very specific DC crossovers and wanted to track how many times I crossover my Big Two Fandoms.

And there you have it! A little late but that's okay. Not tracked includes at least one podfic I recorded but never edited (in 2024 or 2025). I don't track individual chapters for fandom/author/music stats. I don't track based on when I post, I tracked based on when it was recorded!

Have a great year! Here's to creating more and more.

[illusivesoul]

2023 Fic Roundup

Was tagged by @imakemywings Thank you :) I'll tag @alyssalenko @celemee @tungstenb @marythegizka and @quietborderline Only if you feel like doing this, of course.

I'll put the blanks here and my answers under the cut. Repeating what imakemywings said: Please note you are by no means required to follow my template or include individual fic stats at all! You can just answer the questions if you prefer .

Total Words Published at end of year: 

Fandoms:

Highest Everything (raw kudos, hits, comments): 

Hits:

Kudos: 

Comments:

New Things I Tried:

Fic I Spent the Most Time On: 

Fic I Spent the Least Time On: 

Favorite Thing I Wrote: 

Favorite Thing(s) I Read:

Writing Goals for 2023: 

.

Total Words Published at end of year: 20,727

Fandoms: Dragon Age and Mass Effect as usual. Started writing some other things for other fandoms but haven't posted them yet.

Highest Everything (raw kudos, hits, comments): 

Hits: I have a big femslash collection that I've been doing since 2022, so I'll ignore that one and use the fics that I posted this year alone. Kinktober 2023 - Day 1: "Flashing" (222)

Kudos: Kinktober 2023 - Day 1: "Flashing" (15)

Comments: Neck Massage (3)

New Things I Tried: I wrote a short fic from the perspective of Rendon Howe, which is something I never thought that I would do. But I had fun getting to delve deeper into his character. Also got to write for some new ships like Vido and Zaeed and Bela and Josie.

Fic I Spent the Most Time On: Of Paragons and Dusters. Exchange fics always take a lot of my time lol.

Fic I Spent the Least Time On: Neck Massage \ A short Kaidan\Steve fic.

Favorite Thing I Wrote: A Divine's Hand \ A Leliana\Justinia fic that I really like how it turned out.

Favorite Thing(s) I Read: "Suitable Indeed" A Leliana\Vivienne fic I got for an exchange.

"To Truly Live" a Maric\Loghain fic

"Royal Flush" a collection of Aria\Jack fics

Writing Goals for 2023: To finish some fics I started in 2020. Hoping to finally close them up and have a sort of blank slate lol.

[lucigoo]

Weekly Roundup: 1st Jan - 7th Jan 2024

Welcome all to the first weekly round up of the year. Hope you all had a good new year ❤

So, I joned the @fanfic-reading-challenge this year, so some of the recs may be out there at times becuase Im dipping my toes in unusal fandoms (for me) but Wolfstar and Bagginshield are still my heart and my beloveds!! So, this week i managed to write 8,543 words, and it doesnt seem a huge amount compared to some weeks for me, but i finished 5 wips. That includes the editing and uploading. Its been a big fiished fic week for me.

So firstly, rec's then mine uner the cut off. Hope you like at least one of all of these! The Haven Hotel - NikiAlex03 (Sirius/Remus, very smutty so mind your tags, but very well written)

Below the Belt - LordOfTheRazzles (Bilbo/Thorin, also smutty but done in such a sweet way twards an injured Dwarven King) @lordoftherazzles

The Elder's Mate - Skadi_Gemini (I dipped my toes into the Yutja/human tag, and i am not disappointed, the world building is amazing!)

kissing lessons - raggedypond (A little oneshot, perfect for looking into a new fandom, YellowJackets)

So, thats the recs and stats, now for mine. 1) We Will Find Our Own Herd, Our Own Family (Sirius/Remus, James/Regulus, Peter/Sybill) The Animal Au ive spoken about before is finally finished, whoop.

2) Lily oh Lily (Mary/Lily, unrequinted) A new sapphic mini series ive written for a friend, only another 16 to come lol

3) Sleep Paraylasis (Sirius/Remus) This was supposed to be for the @hpsnooze but i was sadly too late, but finished it anyway. 4) We Could Do It If we Tried? (Alice/Narcissa) Sad ending, also part of my sapphic mini fics.

5) Defying Death (or at least the ones in charge) (Bilbo/Thorin) this one is precious to me, but i love sassy Bilbo, so im not suprised lol. Anyway. see you next week, happy fandoming!! (PS. If anyone ever knows anymore @s for the recs let me know so i can @ them if they have tumblr 💕)

[catty-words]

finally back home from my family's and ready to put last year to rest with the

2023 fic writing roundup

Total 2023 Word Count: 95,451 published words, but 116,360 words written for the year   Total 2023 Hits: 25,513 Other 2023 AO3 Stats: Kudos: 1,272; Comment threads: 198; Bookmarks: 252; Subscriptions: 158.

Total 2022 Word Count: 36,969 published words, but 132,549 words logged for the year Total 2022 Hits: 17,797 Other 2022 AO3 Stats: Kudos: 1,910; Comment threads: 111; Bookmarks: 259; Subscriptions: 20.

links and titles to 2023 works

[cw's nancy drew] couldn't help noticing the gold mines glistening in your skin (3,966 words) - a birthday gift for bethany! what if nancy and ace hooked up pre-canon?

[never have i ever] one more last try (4,323 words) - for the girlies* who were/are incensed that the nhie writers had the audacity to make bad benvi sex canon and then UNINTERESTING. *it's me, i'm girlies

[cw's nancy drew] first contact (849 words) - nancy and ace texting can be poetry if you hold my hand and just believe!

[never have i ever] answering machines & how your voice says it’s gonna get back to me someday (3,163 words) - devi and ben's relationship through their first year at university as told by the voicemails they leave each other

[never have i ever] a lie away from getting you into the mood (77,482 words) - i mean. how could i possibly sum this one up? d/b FWB, sure, but also so much more than that. bitty spark 'verse pt 2.

[never have i ever] to nestle deep into the safe-keeping (3,440 words) - in a now time-honored tradition, i wrote rose some smut for her birthday! d/b being soft and in love their first year of university.

[cw's nancy drew] it’ll hurt like a mother when your foot comes out (2,228 words) - drew crew hike to commemorate a real life hike! fun!

Favorite Fic: 'gold mines' is a strong contender, but. you know it's 'lie away'. how could it be anything else? i spent a year and a half writing it and i finished the fuck out of it despite the tornado that stirred up my personal life this year. i don't know that i've ever been prouder of a fic. almost certainly not.

Hardest Fic: also 'a lie away'. the amount of material that i wrote and then scrapped because it wasn't right was A Lot.

Do You Plan to Take Prompts in 2024? haven't done a prompt game in a while! think it might be time to pull out that song lyric one, i've been gifted some exceptional music that way.

that said, though, when i do have all day to sit down and write, i've found myself more interested in chipping away at something longer-form. then again, it's been a while since i exercised the prompt-filling muscle in my writer brain, and i don't want that muscle to lose definition entirely. we'll see, i suppose.

What was the best thing about 2023? I FUCKING FINISHED 'A LIE AWAY' I DID IT I DID IT I DID IT

What was the worst thing about 2022? woof. i sure did split from my partner of a decade. which has actually been incredibly good for me, but living through it was a bit fucky, as you can imagine.

which makes this a great time to nod at 'answering machines' for being perfect creative fun and getting me out of my head during the worst of the breakup. looking at the title alone can make my brain stutter, though, it's a time capsule from such a tumultuous period in my life. probably doesn't help that i used a song from my unofficial breakup album to title the fic. i love you, 'answering machines'. i cannot fathom rereading you at this time.

Any last thoughts for 2023? i am content. the year was good to me, all things considered.

Goals for 2024

fuck around with devi the vampire slayer

original fiction???

fall head over heels for another show

continue writing devi/ben even if the audience for it dissipates entirely

[incandescentflower]

2023 Fic Roundup

I've been doing this for the last few years and it's been a satisfying exercise so time to take a look at my AO3 and see what I did this year for writing.

A full list of all my fic can be found here on tumblr or on my AO3. (sometimes I forget to update my tumblr list but I end up catching up eventually). I also tag posts about my fic with the incredibly creative tag "my fic."

After a few absolutely maniacal years of writing, this year slowed down. I missed it, but life and more responsibilities at work got in the way. Still, there were some satisfying accomplishments.

Words posted: 178,315

Fics posted: 14 - less than half of what I wrote last year :'(

Fics completed: 13 (still one wip nagging at me, sigh)

Fandoms written in: Cherry Magic Th, Bad Buddy, Be My Favorite, The Eclipse, My Tooth Your Love, Never Let Me Go, Our Dating Sim, Semantic Error, Word of Honor

Fandom most written in both word count and fics:

Bad Buddy with 3 fics (1 wip) and 59, 071 wc

Fic with most hits, kudos and comments: Somebody to You for Semantic Error - an arranged marriage AU

Other notable fics I wrote this year:

I finished Echoes in the Dark, a fic I started about a month after Word of Honor aired and then I was distracted by some other fandom events. It's an AU where Zhou Zishu is also kidnapped by the Ghost Valley master when he and Wen Kexing were children. There's great art for it from the wip big bang and I'm really proud of it.

I also wrote sending wishes into the sky, a fic focused on Wen Kexing's relationship with Gu Xiang and processing her death for a discord exchange that I ended up fully outlining in a few hours and finishing at warp speed because I knew exactly what I was trying to do with it.

And a few one shots for Our Dating Sim that I even feel warm and fuzzy when I read them.

Plus finally finishing the Semantic Error fic I linked above that I started in 2022.

My writing this year was dominated by thai bl shows, which is interesting since I had not written for any thai bl until Bad Buddy. But I did a few exchanges (one in bbs fandom and one in GMM fandom) so that definitely made it more likely for me to write them.

Last year I said my writing goals will be to continue to work on finding a balance between catching inspiration when it comes and keeping going when a story requires more detailed work and sustained attention. This remains a continued goal. I finally finished two long standing wips this year and I have one more to go.

Also, related, getting better at outlining longer plots. haha.

For 2024, I will finish The Triple N Project if it is the last thing I do. I would also like to write some more for Cherry Magic Thailand and go back to a reincarnation AU I started for The Devil Judge long ago.

(all stats are for fic finished in 2023 only, my 2022 and 2021 posts are here)

[smallblueandloud]

2023 fic roundup

2023 was the year of the comeback. in 2021, i wrote about 25k; in 2022, i didn't even keep track. meanwhile, my total wordcount last year was 119,226 words. while that doesn't come close to my 200k from 2020, i am arguably prouder of last year and what it represented. my writing isn't dead! my abilities haven't vanished! i can have fun making art again :D

as always, the summer was the most productive for me. you can see that i wrote more in the spring than the fall -- this roughly corresponds to how i was doing during those times, lol. i had a Much Better spring semester than the fall. september was very rough, i had a very bad time, and it meant my mental health suffered for the rest of the year. but hey, at least i was writing essays :')

some more scattered thoughts:

i was arguably pretty consistent this year? may/june/july all had about the same wordcount (roughly) and i think that's cool. my goal isn't to be doing NaNos, it's to be writing consistently, so i'm very happy with this

ao3 says i published 67k in 2023. minus the first chapter of something out of a dream, which was published in 2020, i believe that's 65k or so total. i wrote 72k of fanfic last year, meaning that there's about 8k from last year still sitting in my google drive (a rough eyeball at my WIPs folder confirms this). these numbers don't QUITE make sense to me, since i used a fair bit of old material in what i published last year, but i'm not going to think about it too hard

i published fic for a whopping fifteen fandoms in 2023. nine of those were fandoms i'd never published anything for before! i am so, so proud of this stat. i remain multifandom as all hell and seeing that represented in my work makes me really :D

two fics -- be amazed by the sky and i got your back (and you got mine) -- were crossovers! i'd only ever written one crossover before (stay all day in the sun, which i still love dearly) and it was fun to play in these playgrounds (mostly by sticking the librarians into other universes, xD)

i published 25 fics last year! and five of those fics were less than 1k, which i also really love. this year i really tried to let go of my idea that my fics Had to be more than 4k (and super polished) before they could see the light of day. i think my writing has been more fun and less stressful because of that.

i polished off 4 multi-year WIPs last year: but the verse is sweet, something out of a dream, don't wanna see you go (but it's not forever), and all we can do today. it felt so, so good to finally get those out there. the only one i have left from The Great Hiatus of 2021-2022 is éponine de bergerac. i will finish that someday, but i'm letting her take her time, because she deserves it. (i DID make good progress on that fic, which is something at least!)

most popular fic of the year was sit there in your heartache, which. is a spirk fic written right after a relevant episode, so not a surprise lol. the fic that surprised me most is actually the sisterhood of the travelling main character plotpoints -- i kinda expected that one to vanish quietly, but the hatchetfield fandom is WAY more active than i expected! which is very cool :D

the fic with the fewest hits was sidenote, which doesn't surprise me, since the librarians isn't a very active fandom and it's a rareship within the fandom anyway. the people who DID read it were very sweet, so i am very grateful for them. (i'm doing fic with the fewest hits because i feel like it's better to focus on that than What Didn't Get Kudos)

i started 2024 with 5 WIPs. i actually already finished one (and then immediately started its sequel, whoops) (shoutout to the ds9 modern au, i'll make a real post about that sometime). none of these fics are particularly progressed, but i'll keep working on them and try to find the Finishing A Project Dopamine from ficlets if i need it.

i didn't really have any Writing Goals for 2023 aside from doing any writing at all, lol. i think for 2024 i want to try to get more consistent with my writing -- instead of doing x number of words per month (which usually happen over 3-4 Big Writing Days), i'd rather try to write for 5 days out of every week, or something like that. we'll see what i can get done.

in the meantime: thank you guys for listening. i'm proud of what i did last year, and i'm excited to see what happens next year :D