Five-Year Writing Anniversary
Five years and two months ago, I did something that completely changed my life. I visited FF.net for the first time ever. It feels like it was an age ago, but I still remember it quite clearly.
It all began when I was in high school. A friend of mine wouldn't stop talking about this so-called “fanfiction”. She mostly read Gundam Wing and Harry/Draco slash, though on occasion she would tell me about amusing Ranma fics she'd seen. I didn't really understand what she was talking about, but I humoured her. Then, she gave me the link to the site and insisted I visit it.
When I actually saw what FFN was all about, I was quite intrigued. At the time, I was really obsessed with Jackie Chan Adventures, so that was the first section I checked out. That was in November. To this day, I keep fond memories of the fics I found there, as well as saved files of them. Some of them might not be what I would consider “good” nowadays, but I'm still fond of them. BF 4 Her by Alaer Kino, Valmont's Guide to England and Being English by Catheros, Lotus Moon by Chibi Hime, To Us, This Is Normal by DemonQueen666, Hsi Wu's Search for the Shi Hen Ra by KND-Operative, just to name a few... and, of course, my all-time favourite, Ni Tang by VampireNaomi.
“Ni Tang” is very special to me, not only because it's such a captivating epic, but also because it inspired me to write my first fanfic ever - “What I Like About You” - and it was the origin of my cherished friendship with the author. I first sent her a message, asking if I could translate her fic into Portuguese, we started to talk... and never stopped. For that, I'm very glad!
If I remember correctly, I started writing it at the beginning of December, about two weeks after reading “Ni Tang”. Shortly afterwards, I started writing “First Love?”, inspired by “Lotus Moon”, which is still in progress. Incidentally, my other fic, “Sky Shine”, was also slightly influenced by “To Us, This Is Normal”, at least in the first few chapters featuring Valmont.
The night I registered on FF.net is so clear in my memory, it's like it happened just yesterday. It was the 15th of December, 2003. It was a particularly hot summer night, curse the Brazilian climate, but I was freezing; the air-conditioning had been on for hours and my room had become quite cold. Back then, my bedroom was the only room in the house with A/C, so my whole family was camping here. It was very late in the night, all lights were out, save for my computer screen. I was shivering from the cold and shaking from excitement and nervousness; I'd spent five hours trying to decide whether I should open an account on FF.net or not. At last, at about four in the morning, I finally did it and posted my first story. I was so happy!
Incidentally, I get sick of using the same penname all the time. My first penname was *cringe**cough*Shendu's Lover*cough*. Then, in 2004, I was Souma Kagura, which unfortunately remains as my penname on LiveJournal as well. In 2005, I was Momi-chan, and recently I've been going by Gemini Artemis.
After registering, I kept posting quite often. Oh, the joy of writing when everything was new and exciting and inspiration was fresh and abundant! January of 2004 in particular was a wonderful time for me. Then, coming 2005, my updates became progressively scarce, until I all but stopped altogether in 2006 and didn't even realise it. I'm quite cured from that massive writer's block now, but, although the quality of my old fics is sadly low, I still miss those old times.
So, now that I'm done with the story of my author-life, and if you are still alive and awake, I shall follow vampirenaomi's footsteps and post some statistics and other stuff (we should totally make this a meme), though my numbers are not as impressive as hers. Anyway, those numbers are probably wrong. FFN does have a penchant for messing them up.
General User Stats
You are on the favorites list of 33 members.
You are on the author alert list of 22 members.
You have submitted a total of 239 signed reviews.
Total words archived : 716,438 words.
Average number of words per story : 26,535
Total hits to Profile Page : 2,494
In terms of hits, my most popular fic is “What I Like About You”. That's not surprising, considering it's my oldest fic and has over 30 chapters. It is also the fic that has the highest total number of reviews (121) and faves (26).
In terms of reviews, my most popular fic seems to be... “Truth or Consequence”, with 9 reviews for just one-shot. Okay, I admit I don't really know what to make of this. My most popular WIP in terms of reviews is “Juunishi and the Talismans”, with an average of 7.34 reviews per chapter. How come my stupid fics get more reviews than the ones I put serious effort into?
The first review I received was for WILAY, from vampirenaomi:
Huaa! Interesting! What demon pairings will there be? I'm so excited. ^ ^
Don't worry about your English, it's good. English is not my first language either, so I know how you feel.
Continue! :)
She was just humouring me, of course. :) But I love that review, not only because it was my first, and positive, but also because it was written by someone I admired so much - and still do!
Coincidentally, the last review I've received was very nearly hers, as well. Now, it's actually from Hel-Goddess-of-the-Underworld, for my most recent fic, “New Waves” (Matantei Loki Ragnarok):
*_* So far I'm loving this story.
The start of this chapter confused me a bit- what with the mention of Hel anyway... Kind of the same questions as VampireNaomi I guess.
And when ever Yamino thought he was alone- I absolutely adore how you compared it to the ocean. There aren't a lot of stories that look into Yamino like this and well- You're just amazing for doing it. :)
The broken cup thing made me re-read the last few lines xD I thought that was a nice touch.
Can't wait for the next chapter! ^-^
The review history doesn't go far back enough to show the first review I submitted. I think it might have been to “Heing Meh”, the sequel to “Ni Tang”, but I'm not sure. So, here's the oldest one in the history list. It dates back to March, 2005, and it was written for “An Enforcer Christmas”, a JCA fic by Rebecca Hb.:
Whoa, sorry it took me so long to review. I couldn't reply to your message, either... Anyway, you know I really liked this fic. Stories about the Enforcers are always amusing, and this one is great! I'm glad I could help as well. I hope you write more JCA fics soon.
To be honest, I don't want to post the latest review I submitted, because I'm not very proud of it and sort of regret having sent it. And no, it wasn't a flame or anything like that. It was actually 100% praise. Therein lies the problem.
Therefore, I'll post the second most recent review I've submitted. It was for “From the Past to Ragnarok”, a MLR fic by Koizumi Tsukiyo:
I'm really enjoying this story. There were a few grammar mistakes, typos, tense switches, etc, but you more than made up for it with excellent characterization. I especially like your characterization of Sigyn; it's very true to the original myths. It was really touching when she said that her tears were shed because of Jormungand's loneliness and suffering rather than because of her own pain or jealousy, and when she said that Loki and Angrboda's children were her children also.
I'd love to read more, and I truly hope you'll update soon. It'd be a shame if we had to wait another year for a new chapter.
You said that English is your third language. Out of curiosity, what are your first and second languages?
I have 53 stories on my favourites list. The oldest one is:
Sonic 3 and Knuckles by NetRaptor
A trip to the Floating Island by Sonic and Tails takes a turn for the worst when Knuckles shows himself to be hostile. And they end up in every place from a desert to a lava mine to a ancient city built on the clouds ... and eventually the Death Egg, itse
Sonic the Hedgehog - Fiction Rated: K - English - Action/Adventure - Chapters: 2 - Words: 96,787 - Reviews: 43 - Updated: 2-10-01 - Published: 11-21-99
And the most recently updated is:
The Moment It Began by Sindie
Deathly Hallows spoilers ensue. This story is being written as a response to JKR's comment in an interview where she said if Snape could choose to live his life over, he would choose Lily over the Death Eaters. So, that said, this is obviously AU.
Harry Potter - Fiction Rated: T - English - Romance/Drama - Chapters: 117 - Words: 283,840 - Reviews: 4810 - Updated: 12-6-08 - Published: 8-20-07
So far, I've had readers (or at least “visitors”) from the following countries, in alphabetical order: Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Brazil, Brunei, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Guam, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Stated of America, Venezuela, and Vietnam.
Most Brazilians and Portuguese read my Portuguese fics, naturally, and most of those from Asia read my MLR fics, since the manga is only fully available in Japanese and Chinese. Those from Arabic-speaking countries are also all readers of my MLR fics, which I find interesting. I'm always glad to have visitors from all those obscure places.
It all began when I was in high school. A friend of mine wouldn't stop talking about this so-called “fanfiction”. She mostly read Gundam Wing and Harry/Draco slash, though on occasion she would tell me about amusing Ranma fics she'd seen. I didn't really understand what she was talking about, but I humoured her. Then, she gave me the link to the site and insisted I visit it.
When I actually saw what FFN was all about, I was quite intrigued. At the time, I was really obsessed with Jackie Chan Adventures, so that was the first section I checked out. That was in November. To this day, I keep fond memories of the fics I found there, as well as saved files of them. Some of them might not be what I would consider “good” nowadays, but I'm still fond of them. BF 4 Her by Alaer Kino, Valmont's Guide to England and Being English by Catheros, Lotus Moon by Chibi Hime, To Us, This Is Normal by DemonQueen666, Hsi Wu's Search for the Shi Hen Ra by KND-Operative, just to name a few... and, of course, my all-time favourite, Ni Tang by VampireNaomi.
“Ni Tang” is very special to me, not only because it's such a captivating epic, but also because it inspired me to write my first fanfic ever - “What I Like About You” - and it was the origin of my cherished friendship with the author. I first sent her a message, asking if I could translate her fic into Portuguese, we started to talk... and never stopped. For that, I'm very glad!
If I remember correctly, I started writing it at the beginning of December, about two weeks after reading “Ni Tang”. Shortly afterwards, I started writing “First Love?”, inspired by “Lotus Moon”, which is still in progress. Incidentally, my other fic, “Sky Shine”, was also slightly influenced by “To Us, This Is Normal”, at least in the first few chapters featuring Valmont.
The night I registered on FF.net is so clear in my memory, it's like it happened just yesterday. It was the 15th of December, 2003. It was a particularly hot summer night, curse the Brazilian climate, but I was freezing; the air-conditioning had been on for hours and my room had become quite cold. Back then, my bedroom was the only room in the house with A/C, so my whole family was camping here. It was very late in the night, all lights were out, save for my computer screen. I was shivering from the cold and shaking from excitement and nervousness; I'd spent five hours trying to decide whether I should open an account on FF.net or not. At last, at about four in the morning, I finally did it and posted my first story. I was so happy!
Incidentally, I get sick of using the same penname all the time. My first penname was *cringe**cough*Shendu's Lover*cough*. Then, in 2004, I was Souma Kagura, which unfortunately remains as my penname on LiveJournal as well. In 2005, I was Momi-chan, and recently I've been going by Gemini Artemis.
After registering, I kept posting quite often. Oh, the joy of writing when everything was new and exciting and inspiration was fresh and abundant! January of 2004 in particular was a wonderful time for me. Then, coming 2005, my updates became progressively scarce, until I all but stopped altogether in 2006 and didn't even realise it. I'm quite cured from that massive writer's block now, but, although the quality of my old fics is sadly low, I still miss those old times.
So, now that I'm done with the story of my author-life, and if you are still alive and awake, I shall follow vampirenaomi's footsteps and post some statistics and other stuff (we should totally make this a meme), though my numbers are not as impressive as hers. Anyway, those numbers are probably wrong. FFN does have a penchant for messing them up.
General User Stats
You are on the favorites list of 33 members.
You are on the author alert list of 22 members.
You have submitted a total of 239 signed reviews.
Total words archived : 716,438 words.
Average number of words per story : 26,535
Total hits to Profile Page : 2,494
In terms of hits, my most popular fic is “What I Like About You”. That's not surprising, considering it's my oldest fic and has over 30 chapters. It is also the fic that has the highest total number of reviews (121) and faves (26).
In terms of reviews, my most popular fic seems to be... “Truth or Consequence”, with 9 reviews for just one-shot. Okay, I admit I don't really know what to make of this. My most popular WIP in terms of reviews is “Juunishi and the Talismans”, with an average of 7.34 reviews per chapter. How come my stupid fics get more reviews than the ones I put serious effort into?
The first review I received was for WILAY, from vampirenaomi:
Huaa! Interesting! What demon pairings will there be? I'm so excited. ^ ^
Don't worry about your English, it's good. English is not my first language either, so I know how you feel.
Continue! :)
She was just humouring me, of course. :) But I love that review, not only because it was my first, and positive, but also because it was written by someone I admired so much - and still do!
Coincidentally, the last review I've received was very nearly hers, as well. Now, it's actually from Hel-Goddess-of-the-Underworld, for my most recent fic, “New Waves” (Matantei Loki Ragnarok):
*_* So far I'm loving this story.
The start of this chapter confused me a bit- what with the mention of Hel anyway... Kind of the same questions as VampireNaomi I guess.
And when ever Yamino thought he was alone- I absolutely adore how you compared it to the ocean. There aren't a lot of stories that look into Yamino like this and well- You're just amazing for doing it. :)
The broken cup thing made me re-read the last few lines xD I thought that was a nice touch.
Can't wait for the next chapter! ^-^
The review history doesn't go far back enough to show the first review I submitted. I think it might have been to “Heing Meh”, the sequel to “Ni Tang”, but I'm not sure. So, here's the oldest one in the history list. It dates back to March, 2005, and it was written for “An Enforcer Christmas”, a JCA fic by Rebecca Hb.:
Whoa, sorry it took me so long to review. I couldn't reply to your message, either... Anyway, you know I really liked this fic. Stories about the Enforcers are always amusing, and this one is great! I'm glad I could help as well. I hope you write more JCA fics soon.
To be honest, I don't want to post the latest review I submitted, because I'm not very proud of it and sort of regret having sent it. And no, it wasn't a flame or anything like that. It was actually 100% praise. Therein lies the problem.
Therefore, I'll post the second most recent review I've submitted. It was for “From the Past to Ragnarok”, a MLR fic by Koizumi Tsukiyo:
I'm really enjoying this story. There were a few grammar mistakes, typos, tense switches, etc, but you more than made up for it with excellent characterization. I especially like your characterization of Sigyn; it's very true to the original myths. It was really touching when she said that her tears were shed because of Jormungand's loneliness and suffering rather than because of her own pain or jealousy, and when she said that Loki and Angrboda's children were her children also.
I'd love to read more, and I truly hope you'll update soon. It'd be a shame if we had to wait another year for a new chapter.
You said that English is your third language. Out of curiosity, what are your first and second languages?
I have 53 stories on my favourites list. The oldest one is:
Sonic 3 and Knuckles by NetRaptor
A trip to the Floating Island by Sonic and Tails takes a turn for the worst when Knuckles shows himself to be hostile. And they end up in every place from a desert to a lava mine to a ancient city built on the clouds ... and eventually the Death Egg, itse
Sonic the Hedgehog - Fiction Rated: K - English - Action/Adventure - Chapters: 2 - Words: 96,787 - Reviews: 43 - Updated: 2-10-01 - Published: 11-21-99
And the most recently updated is:
The Moment It Began by Sindie
Deathly Hallows spoilers ensue. This story is being written as a response to JKR's comment in an interview where she said if Snape could choose to live his life over, he would choose Lily over the Death Eaters. So, that said, this is obviously AU.
Harry Potter - Fiction Rated: T - English - Romance/Drama - Chapters: 117 - Words: 283,840 - Reviews: 4810 - Updated: 12-6-08 - Published: 8-20-07
So far, I've had readers (or at least “visitors”) from the following countries, in alphabetical order: Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Brazil, Brunei, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Guam, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Stated of America, Venezuela, and Vietnam.
Most Brazilians and Portuguese read my Portuguese fics, naturally, and most of those from Asia read my MLR fics, since the manga is only fully available in Japanese and Chinese. Those from Arabic-speaking countries are also all readers of my MLR fics, which I find interesting. I'm always glad to have visitors from all those obscure places.