End of 2021 Fic and Fandom Memes
This year I wrote and posted: 53 Fics (one less than last year)
Total wordcount: 102,284
Overall Thoughts:
I see a trend with my fics - there's a lot more bookmarks than comments on many of them and I have no idea what this means. Did people just bookmark them to read later and never came back?
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Definitely wrote less than I thought this year.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
I wrote a lot of random fandoms as a result of exchanges - Stardew Valley, Silicon Valley, Friday the 13th, and Dead Space (video game).
This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most:
This year I didn't give a fuck what people thought about me. I wrote two vampire fics, watersports, underage, rare pairings... it was off the rails.
What's your own favourite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
The Fate of the Underworld's New Hellhound. This was for fic in a box, but it was so much fun! I loved trying to get into Persephone's head and I also love doing outsider POV.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Wrote an older man/teenager Cobra Kai fic, and it was interesting to get comments from such a niche part of the fandom asking for more, because there's not a lot out there. Not sure I'd write it again though, just because I had to be in such a weird mindset to make it feel realistic.
My best story of this year:
Beacon Hills' Bad Boy Might Not Be So Bad Anymore. I wrote this Theo/Liam post-canon fic for @iddyiddybangbang. I tried something new based on another fic I read, where I went back and forth between a fake article and third person POV. I loved how it turned out.
My most popular story of this year:
A Deal With a Vampire, the one where Shane Madej meets Benny from SPN. I am surprised that this crossover is my most popular by kudos!
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Love Me or Not, a Bucky/Sam fic. I wrote it for a Reverse Big Bang, but the artist never posted, so I didn't get included in the master post :(
My least favourite story this year:
Valentine's Day Sale, a Ryan/Shane lingerie PWP. Way too cliched.
Most fun story to write:
The Fate of the Underworld's New Hellhound! I even added in a mission report and some letters, so the mixed formatting was cool.
Story with the sweetest moment:
A Deal with a Vampire, maybe. It was just sweet for Shane to go find a vampire to try and help Ryan.
Story with the single sexiest moment:
Show Me Your Teeth, when Shane realizes Ryan is a vampire and he's totally into it.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
The Cobra Kai one I mentioned, Cataloguing Similarities, where Daniel is pining for Johnny and using his son as a stand-in.
Most overdue:
The fic I finished for the Fandom for Oz auction (MCU/SPN Crossover)! At least it felt overdue, 10k and 5 chapters later.
Most eye roll-worthy title:
Keeping Tahoe-Bluish (it's a watersports fic). I thought the title was very funny at the time.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
Definitely Beacon Hills' Bad Boy Might Not Be So Bad Anymore. It was such a cool thing to delve into what Liam would be like as a reporter, and what justice might actually look like if administered by Scott.
Hardest story to write:
Probably my Fandom for Oz fic, just because I wasn't sure if my recipient was enjoying it and case fic plots are sometimes a challenge for me.
Biggest Disappointment:
The fandom zine This Is Going to Hurt for Teen Wolf fandom fell apart. I submitted my fic ages ago! They got new mods and are rebranding as a tarot deck with some fic? Not sure how that's going to work but it sucks because I really liked my fic.
Biggest Surprise:
I got to Captain level at the Loose Lips Sink Ships challenge! Before it shut down :(
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
LOL probably Keeping Tahoe Blue-ish, mostly because of the summer vibes and light BDSM aspects. I sorta feel bad for my subscribers and I bet I lost some, but I didn't check.
Favourite opening line:
After Sam takes a picture with pretty much every single person at the barbecue, and the sun has started to slip down below the horizon, he takes a moment to catch his breath and take stock of how much has changed.
Favourite closing line:
If a witch was what they wanted, a witch they would get.
In conclusion:
Loved doing fic in a box, and I did participate in the exchanges I put in my goals last year. My writing was mostly constrained by exchanges, so this year I should probably do less multi-fandom exchanges and focus on things I want to write.
Fic-writing goals for 2021:
Mod a writing exchange.
@ficinabox
@iddyiddybangbang
Possibly another longfic exchange.
More words than this year.
1. Your main fandom of the year?
It's a toss-up between Band of Brothers and Merlin, based on events I participated in and fic I wrote. Feeling a little burnt out on Merlin lately, though.
2. Your favourite film you watched this year?
I watched a lot of good horror, but We Summon the Darkness really stood out.
3. Your favourite book read this year?
What to Expect When You're Expecting has been great so far.
4. Your favourite album or song to listen to this year?
If I Can't Have Love, I want Power by Halsey.
5. Your favourite TV show of the year?
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier!!
6. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
COBRA KAI!!! Wow, those old Karate Dads really know how to make my day.
7. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
Buzzfeed Unsolved ending. But now we're getting something new!!
8. Your fandom boyfriend of the year?
Sebastian Stan. Oops, guess I'm a basic bitch now.
9. Your fandom girlfriend of the year?
Hmmm...I can't think of anyone in particular.
10. Your biggest squee moment of the year?
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier - Zemo and his coat, and Sam and Bucky on the boat!!
11. The most missed of your old fandoms?
I was missing early seasons Smallville again the other day.
12. The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
Okay, I need to seriously give Sense8 a try this year. Also, I want to watch Hawkeye, not sure if that counts as a new fandom. And I never watched Demi Lovato's youtube series.
13. Your biggest fan anticipations for the coming year?
The Expanse s6! The new season of Letterkenny! And the new season of Cobra Kai. THE TEEN WOLF MOVIE.
Total wordcount: 102,284
Overall Thoughts:
I see a trend with my fics - there's a lot more bookmarks than comments on many of them and I have no idea what this means. Did people just bookmark them to read later and never came back?
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Definitely wrote less than I thought this year.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
I wrote a lot of random fandoms as a result of exchanges - Stardew Valley, Silicon Valley, Friday the 13th, and Dead Space (video game).
This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most:
This year I didn't give a fuck what people thought about me. I wrote two vampire fics, watersports, underage, rare pairings... it was off the rails.
What's your own favourite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
The Fate of the Underworld's New Hellhound. This was for fic in a box, but it was so much fun! I loved trying to get into Persephone's head and I also love doing outsider POV.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Wrote an older man/teenager Cobra Kai fic, and it was interesting to get comments from such a niche part of the fandom asking for more, because there's not a lot out there. Not sure I'd write it again though, just because I had to be in such a weird mindset to make it feel realistic.
My best story of this year:
Beacon Hills' Bad Boy Might Not Be So Bad Anymore. I wrote this Theo/Liam post-canon fic for @iddyiddybangbang. I tried something new based on another fic I read, where I went back and forth between a fake article and third person POV. I loved how it turned out.
My most popular story of this year:
A Deal With a Vampire, the one where Shane Madej meets Benny from SPN. I am surprised that this crossover is my most popular by kudos!
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Love Me or Not, a Bucky/Sam fic. I wrote it for a Reverse Big Bang, but the artist never posted, so I didn't get included in the master post :(
My least favourite story this year:
Valentine's Day Sale, a Ryan/Shane lingerie PWP. Way too cliched.
Most fun story to write:
The Fate of the Underworld's New Hellhound! I even added in a mission report and some letters, so the mixed formatting was cool.
Story with the sweetest moment:
A Deal with a Vampire, maybe. It was just sweet for Shane to go find a vampire to try and help Ryan.
Story with the single sexiest moment:
Show Me Your Teeth, when Shane realizes Ryan is a vampire and he's totally into it.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
The Cobra Kai one I mentioned, Cataloguing Similarities, where Daniel is pining for Johnny and using his son as a stand-in.
Most overdue:
The fic I finished for the Fandom for Oz auction (MCU/SPN Crossover)! At least it felt overdue, 10k and 5 chapters later.
Most eye roll-worthy title:
Keeping Tahoe-Bluish (it's a watersports fic). I thought the title was very funny at the time.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
Definitely Beacon Hills' Bad Boy Might Not Be So Bad Anymore. It was such a cool thing to delve into what Liam would be like as a reporter, and what justice might actually look like if administered by Scott.
Hardest story to write:
Probably my Fandom for Oz fic, just because I wasn't sure if my recipient was enjoying it and case fic plots are sometimes a challenge for me.
Biggest Disappointment:
The fandom zine This Is Going to Hurt for Teen Wolf fandom fell apart. I submitted my fic ages ago! They got new mods and are rebranding as a tarot deck with some fic? Not sure how that's going to work but it sucks because I really liked my fic.
Biggest Surprise:
I got to Captain level at the Loose Lips Sink Ships challenge! Before it shut down :(
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
LOL probably Keeping Tahoe Blue-ish, mostly because of the summer vibes and light BDSM aspects. I sorta feel bad for my subscribers and I bet I lost some, but I didn't check.
Favourite opening line:
After Sam takes a picture with pretty much every single person at the barbecue, and the sun has started to slip down below the horizon, he takes a moment to catch his breath and take stock of how much has changed.
Favourite closing line:
If a witch was what they wanted, a witch they would get.
In conclusion:
Loved doing fic in a box, and I did participate in the exchanges I put in my goals last year. My writing was mostly constrained by exchanges, so this year I should probably do less multi-fandom exchanges and focus on things I want to write.
Fic-writing goals for 2021:
Mod a writing exchange.
@ficinabox
@iddyiddybangbang
Possibly another longfic exchange.
More words than this year.
1. Your main fandom of the year?
It's a toss-up between Band of Brothers and Merlin, based on events I participated in and fic I wrote. Feeling a little burnt out on Merlin lately, though.
2. Your favourite film you watched this year?
I watched a lot of good horror, but We Summon the Darkness really stood out.
3. Your favourite book read this year?
What to Expect When You're Expecting has been great so far.
4. Your favourite album or song to listen to this year?
If I Can't Have Love, I want Power by Halsey.
5. Your favourite TV show of the year?
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier!!
6. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
COBRA KAI!!! Wow, those old Karate Dads really know how to make my day.
7. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
Buzzfeed Unsolved ending. But now we're getting something new!!
8. Your fandom boyfriend of the year?
Sebastian Stan. Oops, guess I'm a basic bitch now.
9. Your fandom girlfriend of the year?
Hmmm...I can't think of anyone in particular.
10. Your biggest squee moment of the year?
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier - Zemo and his coat, and Sam and Bucky on the boat!!
11. The most missed of your old fandoms?
I was missing early seasons Smallville again the other day.
12. The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
Okay, I need to seriously give Sense8 a try this year. Also, I want to watch Hawkeye, not sure if that counts as a new fandom. And I never watched Demi Lovato's youtube series.
13. Your biggest fan anticipations for the coming year?
The Expanse s6! The new season of Letterkenny! And the new season of Cobra Kai. THE TEEN WOLF MOVIE.