#one of my 2019 fandom goals is to participate in things like this
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Jordan @arthureames is our highlighted artist for today! Read on for her thoughts on art, and you can find all of her wonderful artwork here!
🎨 When did you start creating art for the Inception fandom, and what is your inspiration?
i first watched it in 2019, so around then, during august/september. i mostly get inspo from songs but also art, other fics i see, other people. i talk to sakshi @bruciewayne a lot about arthureames and also sometimes my own blog. I'll go back through and see what i did in the past or what other people did, etc.
🎨 Tell us about your creative process, and which part do you enjoy the most about it?
my creative process depends on the media im making. if it's writing, i honestly just have an idea and then i start writing, i am not a planner or a plotter. ill talk to sakshi some of the times, and i always show her what i create/write, so I'd say she's a pretty large part of my process. for graphics, it's a much longer more convoluted process, i hardly ever edit or change any of my writing, what you see is what you get kind of, but graphics can take me days or months to finish. i still have one from over a year ago that I'm not satisfied with. the part i enjoy the most about creating anything is feeling like i accomplished the goal that i set out to achieve. in certain graphics, it's an aesthetic, in certain fics i have maybe a line of dialogue i want, that kind of thing.
🎨 Link us to your first and latest artwork, and how your style has evolved since then?
First artwork
Latest artwork
neither of these are what I'd consider high effort edits and i have made much better ones, but i would say that my style has stayed pretty constant. I'm a really big words+pictures person, kinda simple, so that's this.
🎨 What is your absolute favorite piece of art that you've made, and why?
this one, just because i think it encapsulates them so perfectly and it came together so easily.
🎨 What is something about Inception that you really want to make art for someday, and why?
it's a beautiful movie, for starters. the aesthetics and the concepts are gorgeous, and as someone who also makes gifs, the frames and cinematography are gorgeous. but also, they're really interesting characters and stories. I'm mainly an arthureames creator, and their contrasting styles/aesthetics makes for a really great visual.
🎨 Give a shoutout to your favorite Inception artists here!
there's so many, this fandom is incredible, but these are just a few off the top of my head.
@darlingandmreames, @birdlawco, @blusargcnt. and there's so so so many other incredible creators, this is just a very small few.
🎨 Anything else you'd like to talk about art and the Inception fandom in general ❤
im just very grateful for everyone keeping this fandom alive. this is by far one of my favorite fandoms I've ever participated in, and the quality is unparalleled. i really love being a small part of this community and I'm so grateful for the people who run these kinds of events, as well as the people who interact with my own+sakshi's events as well.
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Going through the stats page on our ao3 account by year and it's kinda wild like
2015: 1,367 words
2016: 2,420 words
2017: 3,671 words
2018: 317 words
2019: 19,650 words
2020: 102,341 words
2021: 55,062 words
2022: 24,875 words
2023: 3,375 words (so far)
It's funny, cause 2018 is the year we dropped out of college, got top surgery, dropped out of college again, and launched into burnout for over a year. But in July 2019 we decided to participate in a month-long fandom event. We didn't write something for every day, I think we ended up doing more art and edits than fics, but it gave us a reason to write. By March 2020 our burnout was finally ending, but then covid happened and everything got turned upside-down again, but because of the year and change of burnout not much actually changed in our day-to-day life. For that year, at least, we were actually feeling okay
You can tell that 2021 is when we got sick. It started in April, with hives that we've still never been able to explain. Then, in early June, pain shot through our body and just never went away. Things have been getting worse and worse since then, health-wise. Every year since 2020 the number has dropped by roughly half. I don't wanna end this year with only 10k published
But how amazing is that? Look at where we started. One fic, less than 2k words, the first year we had this account. The first four years combined make up less than the number I'm scared of getting. But if I finish my wip (and I think I really might), it'll be the first novel-length piece we've written. It's already nearly 23k and based on where I plan on taking it, I'm not even halfway done. I can get it to 40k, I know I can
I want more than 55k this year. I wanna prove to myself that I can still do this. That it's not over for me just because I'm sick and tired and everything hurts. I want some kind of evidence that I haven't lost the ability to do everything I love
This is long and rambly and idk if anyone's gonna read it, but I guess I have my goal for this year. Wish me luck
-Oliver (it/its)
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Prompt: Chris and Miyuki decide to go camping. Miyuki reads the map [wrong] and they both become terribly lost.
Fandom: Daiya no Ace
Pairing: ChrisMiyu
Rating: General - Just a fluffy thing.
Notes: A @chrismiyuday fic thingy. (More at the end.)
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“I swear the trail is right up ahead.”
Chris stopped, adjusted his backpack and sighed. “You’ve been saying that for the last two miles. I could help if you’d let me see the map.”
Kazuya turned. “Ah, but that would ruin my master plan.” He grinned. “Come on! We’re almost there!”
Chris couldn’t help the smile that came over his face. Kazuya had planned a camping getaway for their anniversary and insisted on doing almost everything from packing, driving to the campsite, pitching the tent...everything. It was sweet...and a bit frustrating, but Chris just let it be. Kazuya could be stubborn about things and Chris knew when to pick his battles.
They left early in the afternoon on a hike and were heading back. Or, they were supposed to be heading back. Chris was pretty sure they were lost. And it was starting to get dark.
“Ah-ha! See!” Kazuya exclaimed. “Told you we were fine, he of little faith.”
Chris stood next to his boyfriend on the path that went to the left and right. “Nice work.” he said and kissed his cheek.
“We’ll be back before you know it.” Kazuya began walking the left path.
“Not going that way.” Chris said. “We need to go right.”
Kazuya considered the map in his hand. “Nope. This way.”
Chris crossed his arms. “Are you sure?”
“Yes!”
“Remember last time?”
It was Kazuya’s turn to sigh. “No fair! That was Sawamura’s fault! He of all people should have known where we were going.”
Chris laughed. The last time they’d been camping it had been with a group of their Seido teammates in Nagano near Sawamura’s home. In a similar situation, they had gotten lost on a hike; Kazyua had been holding the map, but Sawamura assured everyone they were going the right way. They weren’t.
Chris held up his hands in surrender. “All right then. Lead the way.”
***
They walked on for awhile, Kazuya consulting the map every now and then. It had gotten darker, the sun almost gone through the trees.
“We should be close, right?” Chris asked. They were both in good shape, but the hike plus the extra detour was starting to take its toll on him.
Kazuya nodded, looking a bit exhausted himself. “Yeah, we should be right around…” he let the rest of his sentence hang in the air and stopped. Ahead, where their campsite should have been, instead was an empty and unfamiliar campsite. Kazuya swore. “This should have been it!” He opened the map again.
Chris took in the campsite and noticed the wooden number plaque near the fire pit. This particular campground had each site numbered so it would be easy to locate on the map should campers wander and get lost. They were at campsite 21 and looking for 22, so they were close. Behind him, he heard Kazuya swear again and throw the map to the ground. Retrieving it, he found their location and which way they needed to go.
“We’re not that far off.” He said reassuringly, hoping to relieve some of Kazuya’s frustration. “Just a bit further north along the river, no problem.”
Kazuya huffed and crossed his arms. “Yeah, not that it matters. The rest of the night is ruined.”
“Ruined? How?” Chris asked.
“Doesn’t matter.” Kazuya sighed. “Let’s just go…”
Chris stared after his boyfriend for a moment, wondering what was going on in his head. He folded the map and followed.
***
The sun disappeared on the horizon as the pair silently walked along the river. All of Chris’ attempts at conversation, trying to figure what Kazuya was so upset about, were received with curt, one word responses, if he responded at all.
Out of the corner of his eye, Chris noticed streaks of light in the sky. As he turned to look out over the river, more lights appeared. It was a meteor shower.
“Surprise.” Kazuya whispered, suddenly beside him and taking his hand. “I wanted us to enjoy this more comfortably, with a nighttime picnic of sorts.” He sighed. “I had everything set back at camp, we just needed to grab it and head down here but we hiked a little longer then I got us lost and I was sure we’d miss it and we’re both tired and--”
Chris cut him off with a kiss. Kazuya liked having things planned out and prepared for most situations. He could usually roll with the punches, except when Chris was involved. Things like birthdays, anniversaries, holidays...Kazuya could get annoyed if something interfered with important plans.
Breaking the kiss, Chris looked into Kazuya’s eyes and smiled. “It’s perfect. You’re perfect.”
“Hardly.” Kazuya laughed and gently pulled Chris to sit on the riverbank. “But I’m happy you love me anyway.”
Chris chuckled softly as Kazuya leaned on his shoulder. “I do.”
“Happy anniversary Chris.”
“Happy anniversary Kazuya.”
Hello friends! Happy ChrisMiyu Day! :) I hope you enjoyed this small contribution. I got the prompt from an RP generator and I think it’s something coherent. They might be a bit ooc, now that I’m rereading it...Sorry. I’m not used to writing fic thingys (yet). But I hope it was enjoyable! Feel free to drop in my inbox with your thoughts, helpful writing tips, or just to chat. :)
#daiya no ace#ace of diamond#chrismiyu#takigawa chris yuu#miyuki kazuya#chrismiyu day 2019#whoot! i wrote a thing!#:D#one of my 2019 fandom goals is to participate in things like this#soooo....here goes nothing!#xD#thanks again for reading!#hope you enjoyed!#let me know your thoughts if you want#:)
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As we said in our closing message at the end of this year’s auction, 2020 has been a year of tremendous change—change that we had no control over and change that we made with our own hands. Many times this year—and the past four years under the Trump administration for those of us in the U.S.—we’ve felt helpless in the face of terrible upheaval. But rather than forcing us to give up, the calamities we’ve witnessed and experienced galvanized us. We’ve seen people volunteer to drop off groceries for immunocompromised neighbors during the pandemic. We’ve seen people donate generously during the worst global economic crisis in modern history. We’ve seen people become more politically active, taking to the streets to protest and voting in record numbers like they are tonight.
And we’ve seen that same passion, that same desire to make change and help people, fuel all the MTH participants this year.
We weren’t sure what the turnout would be like. Would people have the time or energy to sign up as creators? Would people be willing to donate, and would they have the means to do so?
Our worries proved to be baseless.
This year, 273 “Marvel”-ous creators came forward to offer 416 auctions.
And this year, we raised…
That’s just over $11,000 more than the MTH 2019 total. 😮💖🎉
We’re going to channel Beast here and exclaim, “Oh my stars and garters!”
The race started off with a bang, with bids racking up quickly on the first day. Even so, we were shocked when we matched last year’s total, which we weren’t sure we could do ($27,193.91 was beyond our wildest expectations), and then just ran right past it before the auction even ended!
It’s been an incredible journey, with the mod chat pinging at all hours with excited gifs, effusive heart emojis, and inarticulate keyboard smashes as we expressed our love for the wonderful people in our fandom. It’s been very hard not blurting out the milestones as we reached them when we desperately wanted to share these amazing results with you all.
Creators, we couldn’t have started this auction without you. We loved seeing so many veteran creators sign up again and were pleasantly surprised by how many new faces showed up to the party.
Bidders, as crazy as it sounds, most donations were small ones (including some of those crazily high winning bids—several were the result of people pooling their five dollars together!). This has been consistently the case since MTH began. It just goes to show how much of an impact you can have when you’re part of something bigger than yourself. Each donation has a ripple effect, and enough ripples can cause a wave. You matter, and you can make a difference.
We also owe our success to our amazing signal boosters. There can’t be an auction without any participants, so to every fandom community Tumblr that agreed to reblog our posts, every Discord server mod who let us post announcements, and every person who shared our posts and encouraged their fandom friends to sign up and/or bid, thank you so much! Together, we reached hundreds of fantastic creators and bidders from all corners of the Marvel fandom, many of whom we didn’t know and some who were hearing about us for the first time.
Thank you all. We’re so touched by the massive number of people who donated above and beyond their pledged amount, creators who took on multiple auctions and offered multiple winner slots, and bidders who accepted their second-place wins with such eagerness! We also had people make donations in the spirit of MTH even though they didn’t win an auction, which was beyond generous.
We’ve already seen how our donations are changing the world for the better. To name a few examples:
Partners In Health is on the ground testing, providing care, assisting local government response, and mobilizing community health workers in countries where the mortality rate for COVID-19 is expected to be much more severe than those with well-resourced health systems
The Southern Poverty Law Center raised $10 million to fight voter suppression in the South, with some great successes in Florida
World Central Kitchen has purchased over 10 million meals from small, independent restaurants in 400 cities, putting $105 million and counting directly back into the economy and helping both struggling businesses and people who need food the most during the pandemic
We’re sure that in the months and years to come, we’ll see even more wonderful results.
In addition to the astounding amount of money we were able to raise for charity, MTH was successful in other ways. We strove to be as inclusive as possible, determined to make this event a fandom-wide effort. Considering that the auctions covered over 369 unique platonic and romantic relationships (if we include “all ships/gen”-inclusive relationships, this number is even higher) across 31 universes within the Marvel multiverse, we can safely say that we accomplished our goal.
This spirit of inclusion also applies to our auctions and charities. Every one of 416 auctions was bid on, and every one of our 30 supported charities received donations. We’re in awe of your commitment to supporting all our creators and charities and thrilled that you spread all the love around, bidders!
Here’s our breakdown of the donations (click to enlarge the image and hover to see the donation amount per charity):
We’ve also listed the amount raised per charity on our 2020 auction results page.
From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for helping us turn our third Marvel Trumps Hate auction into such a fantastic experience. We cherish every single message of love and support that we received and continue to receive on our Discord server and through DMs, Tumblr messages, emails, tweets, etc. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
To remember or learn why we created this auction in the first place, please check out our 2018 “thank you” post to all of our creators, bidders, signal boosters, and supporters.
If you’d like to stay updated on all of the 2020 Marvel Trumps Hate fills, follow us and/or check out the “mth 2020” tag on our Tumblr. You’ll also be able to find works posted on AO3 in our Marvel Trumps Hate 2020 collection and links to fills in our Discord server, which you can join to brainstorm prompts, chat about fills, and find out about other fandom events.
Thank you once again to everyone who volunteered their services, time, money, and platforms to spread the word. Though we may sometimes wonder how much of a difference we can make, it’s moments like this that show that every bit helps, no matter the size of our contribution. With that in mind, we’d like everyone to keep the following quote close to their hearts as we move forward and find ways to make the world a better place, to remember these words when they’re feeling lost or small.
“Purpose is the essential element of you. It is the reason you are on the planet at this particular time in history. Your very existence is wrapped up in the things you are here to fulfill.”
— Chadwick Boseman
Think about your purpose. Think about what you can do while you’re here. Know that you matter.
And with that, MTH 2020 has officially come to a close. We’re so beyond grateful to you all, and we can’t wait to see all of your fanworks over the coming year!
Lots of love and gratitude,
Your 2020 MTH mods
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2021 Fic Year in Review
Tagged by @hellfre - thank u fren 💙
Total Number Of Completed Works:
A little less than eighty this year?
Total Word Count:
Around 200k or something.
Fandoms I’ve Written In:
Atonement (the movie, not the book), Captain Marvel (2019), X-Men Comicverse & Movieverse, Shame (2011), Filth (2013), Captain America (Movies), Alien (Prequels), Wanted (2008), The Gifted (TV 2017), It (again the Muschietti Movies, not the book).
Looking Back, Did You Write More Fic Than You Thought You Would This Year, Less, Or About What You’d Expected?
I don't remember having any expectations at the start of this year, but I was certainly surprised that I powered through Flufftober like I did (I didn't even intend to participate and then suddenly I was writing fics daily). Otherwise, I'm a bit sad that multi-chapter fics appear to be just too difficult for me. Maintaining motivation for one story over a longer time span isn't easy.
What’s Your Own Favorite Story Of The Year?
No idea. I really liked writing for some X-Men rare pairs though - especially the sapphic ones.
Did You Take Any Writing Risks This Year?
For the X-Men Rare Pair Fest, I wrote a trans!woman x enby pairing, and it made me sweat so hard skdfjkaljdkh because I was so scared of doing something wrong.
Do You Have Any Fanfic Or Profic Goals For The New Year?
Attempt to write a multi-chapter fic? Also give less of a shit about comments or writing and posting regularly or reading other people's works when I'm just not interested in it. None of the mentioned things helped my mental health this year.
Most Popular Story Of The Year?
For that I'd have to consult my statistics and I'm too lazy to do that.
Story Of Mine Most Under-Appreciated By The Universe, In My Opinion:
All rare pairs!! Seriously, especially in the X-Men fandom, if you read a rare pair fic and like it, comment. Do something to keep the authors motivated, or else you'll soon have no content anymore (of which there is already precious little).
Most Fun Story To Write:
Anything I didn't have to grind out for a deadline (: And I really liked that Witcher Joseph x Erik AU from Flufftober!!
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
No. Do Not Perceive Me.
Biggest Disappointment:
Oh there were some but they're more linked to people's general I-don't-see-how-I-need-to-comment-even-though-I-consume attitude than to any specific fic.
Biggest Surprise:
My sudden energy surge for Flufftober - and my slowly drifting away from reading Cherik works that don't tick all my boxes.
My Favorite Part Of Fandom This Year:
Dragneto. Any post with them is a blessing, and I thank every artist who puts their talents to drawing them in all their glory.
Tagging: @midrashic @slashergirl @lindstrom2020 @nextraordinaire @camillechaoswritter
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I am going to ramble a bit but I will hide it under a cut because it's a bit long. It will be about the previous fandom I was active in around two years ago and how it affects me to this day. It's also about popularity and putting others on a pedestal.
If this sort of ramble isn't up your alley then feel very free to skip over this post! I don't mind. If you want to read more about it, just check under the cut.
The Franchise And Its Creators
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THE FRANCHISE AND ITS CREATORS
Around mid-2014, I joined the Wakfu and Dofus fandoms, a small-ish fandom as a whole but popular in certain circles.
For those who don't know, Wakfu and Dofus are (online, console, mobile, figurine, card and board) games, comics, animated series, specials and movies created by a French studio named Ankama. These two franchises are intertwined with each other as they play out in the same universe but in different timelines. I myself dabbled around in the animated part of the fandom; I was a huge fan of the two series and the Dofus movie.
There was very little catering to the international part of the fandom when it came to the studio's attention and interactions. There were no English dubs or subtitles; international fans had to rely on English fan subtitles on ripped/pirated episodes of the show and movie, same for the franga/comics. Merch was hard to get. A lot of articles related to the shows and whatnot were in French only, which is understandable because it is a French-made product. But there's no denying that the international fanbase felt a little neglected back then.
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MY FANDOM JOURNEY
Because I was very interested in the lore of both franchises, I had to do a lot of digging and translating to be able to fully indulge in it all. I went full in! I dug deep, created OCs, art and also tried to write fanfiction. I also shared news and info about the series and movie; I ran a fan blog dedicated to sharing things with the international part of the fandom. I was also often approached about lore, particularly for a few of the canon characters and one of the races that play a role in the Wakfu franchise; the Eliatropes. It was fun, it felt good to help other fans out, it was nice to make friends and be creative with others about similar things.
Eventually, the character and art theft began. We all know this is a 'normal' part of fandoms, so I won't hammer too long on it. My issue with it was the fact that my main OC, a female Eliatrope, gathered a lot of attention because female Eliatropes were a rarity in the Wakfu franchise. They existed but didn't get a moment in the limelight, except for one that even received her own game (Islands of Wakfu) but it was so obscure that a lot of fans didn't know about its existence.
My OC was somehow mistaken as canon by plenty of folks and many others started to use her as a template to create their own (female) Eliatrope OC. I didn't mind, as long as they weren't straight-up copies and I tried to be supportive by answering lore questions and give feedback whenever it was asked for it (which happened a lot). Of course, copying and theft happened more often than not; over the five years I was part of the fandom, I sent out almost a hundred DMCA reports for art and character theft (like true theft; I could handle some similarities or one-time occurrences). One particular case went to the extreme but I won't beat that dead horse any further; it brought me enough misery to last me half a lifetime, that's all I'll say on it.
I kept a lot of the negative experiences behind closed doors and dealt with a lot of it quietly to not bother, worry or burden anyone else with any of it. I wanted a positive and supporting environment for my followers, even if the truth wasn't as pretty.
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ANKAMA'S STRUGGLE
Over the years, studio Ankama increased attempts to cater more to the international fanbase of its animated properties (articles in English, English dubs and subtitles, etc). However, the studio's struggle to garner the attention of international supporters (aka companies and sponsors) didn't go too smoothly, and to make matters worse, they were also struggling with finding a platform in France to broadcast the Wakfu series on after wishing to take a different and more mature direction. Ankama wanted more freedom with the Wakfu show, like less censorship, a serial rather than episodic, and it not being aimed at a young audience like its previous contractor demanded Wakfu to be. Ankama even turned to crowdfunding to get certain projects (like new Wakfu seasons) off the ground and let's just say that those crowdfunding projects are best described as tiny dumpster fires; they weren't pretty to watch. The first one was a disaster with plenty of displeased backers and the following crowdfunding attempts often didn't meet the end goal due to bad past experiences or the lack of interest.
Luckily, Netflix breathed some life into the international Wakfu fandom, which was great! But it was still received badly (mostly due to the awful English dub and sound mixing of the first two seasons and special) that the third season Netflix made possible was not getting the attention it deserved. It was also a rushed product due to financial and time constraints on Ankama's part. Netflix eventually declined a fourth season and it all fell a bit apart from there. Ankama turned to crowdfunding once more to try and make season 4 a reality. Last time I checked (which was quite a while ago), it did decently enough to make season 4 a reality. (Please don't ask me about it, I don't know anything about it.)
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THE PEDESTAL
While all this was happening behind the scenes, I was starting to struggle with the reputation I built up in the Wakfu and Dofus fandom over the few years I was a part of it. The best way to describe it is that I had grown exhausted.
Aside from dealing with the theft and answering people's questions daily, I wanted to be treated as an average fan but I kept getting put on a pedestal. People went as far as to call me by titles (like lady Wish and miss Wish) more often than not. To be called and treated as such made me feel alienated, like as if I wasn't considered real. I often asked to just be called Wish, no titles/formalities required, and that I wasn't as 'popular' as they believed, but the majority of the people didn't seem to listen.
People were either afraid or refused to interact with me because they considered me 'too popular', or simply wanted nothing but my validation, feedback and/or free art. I also had my fair share of haters and people that didn't approve of my 'status' in the fandom. Join the club xD I wasn't very happy with it either.
I really started to dislike being called 'popular' because it had such a bad impact on the people around me (and my own mental wellbeing). Friends started to become jealous of the attention I garnered and it dragged me down every time. At times, it would turn toxic.
It was never my intention to make my friends feel like they meant less because they surely didn't. To learn that they believed others were only friends with them or only looked at their art/writing because they were good friends with me hurt so much. It still does. I refuse to believe that was fully true because I was (and still am!) surrounded by very creative people and they all deserved as much attention as I was getting, at times more. I wish others saw it that way too.
I was also heavily chained down thanks to the role (model) I played in the fandom. Too many people (especially young ones) looked up to me and there were a lot of expectations that I felt forced to meet. I started to lose the energy for it, but if I dared to stray a little from the path, the pitchforks and torches would come out. It was very restricting.
In the end, I felt stuck. Things started to grow toxic. There was a point where I began to dislike the franchise because of the bad feelings it brought me. I couldn't even get myself to watch the series or movie anymore. I focused less and less on the canon side of things and more on my own ideas, which was one of the only comforts I really had left in the fandom. I started to shut myself off, which upset a lot of people. I am sorry for that, I wish it didn't happen that way but I was at my wits' end.
When I realized and also accepted that I was no longer enjoying myself with canon or fanon, I knew I had to move on or stuff would end badly. It was a very tough realization and decision to accept and make; I literally dedicated five years of my life to the fandom. I spent hours a day digging for info and news to translate and share, doing 'research' for my fanfics, answering questions, and whatnot. I truly lived the fandom day in and out. It was the first fandom I ever actively participated in to this degree. What the heck was I going to do without that?
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THE NOW
Abandoning the fandom was a scary step to take but not one I regret. I left the Wakfu and Dofus fandom behind me in late 2019. I feel freer now and so much happier. I no longer have the burden of expectations, being a lore guide or be forced to portray a certain role model weighing me down. I am no longer on that f*cking pedestal. I can finally explore interests that aren't exactly child-friendly without a big part of my following pummeling me down for it. (Don't worry, I always try my best to keep it in the appropriate places.)
Do I still like Wakfu/Dofus and all the stuff I've created with it? Yes, I do but I also want nothing more to do with it. Aside from the friends I've made there and also stuck around on my new adventures, I left the fandom behind me.
I still get approached at times about how my Wakfu OC, art and writing inspired someone and ask me if I could give them feedback for their own ideas or give them advice/information on Wakfu/lore. I am extremely humbled by it every time. It's great to see someone feeling inspired and be creative. However, I've moved on. I've left interacting with the Wakfu/Dofus fandom and fan-made stuff far behind me. I haven't touched it for almost two years and it shows on all the social media I share my art and writing on.
I at times wish people could be considerate about the fact that I moved on but I also know and understand that not everyone knows my reasoning or my side of the story. I try not to be too harsh on it.
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MY ADVICE
I don't hate anyone for how things turned out; a lot of it was my own doing by not saying no or taking a stronger stand.
It did teach me a lot of things, especially about caring for my own well-being and putting others on pedestals. Please be mindful when you treat someone like others treated me before; it's not healthy, for yourself and the person you put on that high pedestal. Take everything in moderation and consideration, that's all. Everyone's human, everyone has feelings, and everyone deserves a sense of being. Even your favorite artists and content creators. Don't treat them like an otherwordly being that you have to worship.
In turn, if a fandom or something you enjoyed is making you unhappy nowadays, you owe it to yourself to make or find a change. Be good to yourself, always!
~~
Thanks to anyone who read through this ramble. I needed to get this off my chest. I am not asking for advice, neither pity or whatever else. I just wanted to share my thoughts on past experiences because I have a feeling others might be going through something similar.
Thank you again, please take care.
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Reader profile: smozark
Next up in reader profiles we have the one, the only, the incredible @smozark. I must admit to fangirling when smo agreed to be profiled; she is an incredibly supportive reader who I have seen *all* over the fandom and have been truly wowed by how engaged she is in this fandom. Without further ado, I present to you @smozark!
Location: East Coast, United States
Hogwarts House: Slytherdore
Pronouns: she/her/hers
When did you start reading Dramione? How did you originally find fics to read?
I think it was early to mid 2019-ish? I got started because I thought it was cool that Emma Watson and Tom Felton are friends. I read the word "Dramione," Googled it, and found “We Learned the Sea” and “Isolation.” I discovered AO3 shortly after and found authors like @provocative-envy and @lovesbitca8 and @indreamsink and I was hooked.
How have you gotten more involved in the Dramione community? What platforms/websites have you participated in, and which do you like?
I got involved with the community by posting comments!! It was so much fun to interact that way, so when I figured out what Discord was I joined and started chatting there. I also really love the artists in this community and enjoy commissioning works when I can. I'm only on AO3, tumblr, and Discord. I am actually not a huge social media fan, so I am fairly passive and lurker-like on tumblr. I'm much more comfortable on Discord.
Tell us about any reading preferences or practices!
I read daily on my phone. I've been known to block time on my work calendar to catch a chapter drop. [Editor’s note: GOALS] Honestly, this fandom was my refuge in 2020. I feel no shame in admitting that I escaped the dumpster fire by immersing myself in other people's creativity. I'm so grateful to authors who can make their ideas into published works so we can get some respite.
Do you like to leave comments? If so, what is your advice for leaving comments?
YES. As often as I feel moved to do so. My advice is to comment whenever you can, but don't feel bad if you don't want to. Writers aren't obligated to publish, you aren't obligated to comment. That said, I will also advise that if you comment, make it positive. Why add needless negative to the world? I have read hundreds of fics. Some are really tough to get through. Maybe the story is slow, maybe the grammar is bad, maybe there are some characterizations I'm uncomfortable with. I will NEVER make a comment about any of that. If I'm not beta-ing, it's not my place. If I can't find anything to compliment, I close the tab and move on. That's rare, because there's always something wonderful. Even a story with poor grammar and usage can have a really cool story or interesting characters. So find what you like and tell the author about it! Unless you don't feel like it.
What is your all-time favorite fic you’ve read?
Oh gosh, what a cruel question. I have no idea how to even answer. They are all so different!! Over/Under by @provocative-envy is my favorite in all of HP fandom. The entire summer camp collection, if I'm honest. My favorite Dramione ….. Gaaaahhhhhhh the pressure!!!!! Ummm. I'm going to shamelessly cheat and say my fave one-shot is My Brown-Eyed Girl by @pacific-rimbaud and my top 5 favorite finished multi-chaps right now are the Wait and Hope series by @mightbewriting (more cheating), Remain Nameless by @heyjude19-writing, A Thing With[out] Feathers by @senlinyu, and Anchors in a Storm by @inadaze22, and Protective Custody by @colubrina. I'm cutting myself off there. If I keep going or add WIPs, we'll be here all day!
What fic gave you the most feels?
What You Think Is Right by @icepower55. Hands down. Didn't even have to think. It is a raw, unflinching, brutally honest look at a broken marriage. It was incredibly authentic and helped me process some of my baggage. It's just gorgeous. @icepower55 is so talented, and she has a great beta team!! I'm writing this the day the last chapter posted, so go binge if you haven't already.
Who is your favorite side character from any Dramione fic?
Another impossible question!! How can I pick between Theo or Pansy from Wait and Hope? Grix from Love and Other Historical Accidents or Jonathan Gable from One and Done? Ginny or Sasha from Remain Nameless? Mippy or Blaise from Rights and Wrongs?? Charlie or Hamish from Universal Truths? You don't. You shamelessly cheat some more and list them all!!! (Please never make me play FMK. I'll spontaneously combust.)
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
I worked at a butcher shop for a while. I hated my first job out of college, but it was the recession so I couldn't exactly quit. I convinced a local artisan market to let me apprentice after work. They paid me in meat. It was awesome.
Thank you so much, smozark!! A true fangirl moment right here! Thanks for sharing with us, and please accept my apologies for the cruel questions.
Be like @smozark! Put a hold on your calendar when new chapters drop (I will repeat: GOALS) and also sign up for the Dramione Comment Fest! Sign-ups close ***TOMORROW*** aka Saturday, February 6, 2021. Check out the rules here and sign up here. We hope you can join us!
#dramione comment fest#dramione#dramione fanfic#dramione fest#reader profile#we heart readers#we heart commenters#we heart smozark#smozark is reader goals#calendar holds omg what genius
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2021 fic review!!
tagged by: @lifbitch @flurbejurbvondurp (Thanks!)
total number of completed works: 24
total word count: 56195*
*Technically around 35k to 39k as one of those fics (Exploring Bondage) had about 16k posted in 2019 and 2020 (total written including unposted pre-2021: about 20k), plus, a fic I posted at the end of 2020 (The Magic of Yelling at Spitelout) also gets counted by AO3 in 2021.
Still, even with those caveats... a lot.
looking back, did you write the more, less, or the expected amount of fic this year? Uh... more. Definitely more. Especially in word count.
your own favorite story of the year? I’m just gonna skip this one because I’m having too much trouble picking.
did you take any writing risks this year? I’ll count doing both Whumptober (9) and Kinktober (5), as I ended up writing and posting 14 fics over the course of... if I include September since I did write some then, two months. I wrote 11 fics for Bad Things Happen Bingo as well (note: 7 of these were also written for Whumptober).
Whumptober word count: 4554
Kinktober word count: 7422
So I wrote 11976 during those two months.
Also: I wrote for fandoms that weren’t HTTYD, which I hadn’t done in quite a while.
do you have any fanfic goals for the new year? If not complete my Bad Things Happen Bingo card, get fairly close. I have 10 more squares to go! Maybe participate in more monthly events? I’m eyeing Febuwhump and Multiamory March rn.
most popular story of the year? Going by hits and kudos, Exploring Bondage
story most under-appreciated? Going by hits, Honey’s Shoulder and kudos, The Heavy Weight of Red.
most fun story to write? Astrid Likes Knives, Suggestion, Bee Nest
most unintentionally telling story: I’m not gonna answer this one.
biggest disappointment: I would have liked to have done more fics for Whumptober/Bad Things Happen Bingo.
my favorite part of fandom this year: I think participating in Whumptober was really nice.
Not tagging anyone.
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2020 Fic Year In Review
This disaster year was my second of writing fanfic for the Star Wars fandom, focused as always on my handsome Jedi and charismatic Grand Admiral. Here’s the same thing I did last year: basically share the idea of the fic I wanted to write and the result of what came out of that idea.
Because I don’t outline or plan, it is often as much a surprise to me as to my readers as to where the story winds up. But I enjoy the magic that is surrendering to the muse / autonomous typing hands, so I doubt that will change anytime soon.
Context: 2020 began with the fic whining circle’s discussion of the sad dearth of blowjobs for Luke Skywalker in fandom. We resolved to remedy this with the creation of the Luke Deserves All The Blowjobs Challenge, our 12-month mission to provide our man with 12 blowjobs, detailed lovingly for your (and his) pleasure. We all agreed to contribute and so my first offering was:
1. Anomaly
Idea: In 2019, I participated in the Star Wars Rare Pairs Fic Exchange. Shanlyrical had requested the pairing of Guri/Luke, which I’d never considered. I didn’t get assigned that one (I got assigned Thrawn/Original Art Forger), but the idea stayed with me. The blowjob challenge was the perfect opportunity.
Result: A one-shot I am quite proud of, written from droid POV attempting to seduce our Jedi (who is quite difficult to seduce damn his perfect ass), full of technical and cyborgian terminology. Since shanlyrical had put the ship in my brain, it was gifted to her.
2. Comfortable
Idea: Write an “old married Skywalkers” smutfic for a Valentine’s Day gift to my Luke/Mara cohorts.
Result: A rather florid one-shot that is overstuffed with choice adjectives and bursting at the seams with love for my Jedi’s happy ever after.
3. The Problem With Prophecy
Idea: Write a Thrawn/Pryce fic for the Thryce Discord’s Valentine’s Day. The prompts shifted, from “blind date” to “soulmates” or maybe vice versa as a theme. I had already started it when the prompt changed so made them both work.
Result: Another “how they got together fic” (of which I seem to write many for Thryce) that was a lot of fun to write, with a little contemplation about free will vs destiny in there.
4. Proxy
Idea: The Luke Deserves All The Blowjobs Challenge needed more fic, and no one wrote that Asajj Ventress/Luke pairing I had requested for SW rarepairs 2019… *cracks knuckles* If you want something done, gotta do it yourself!
Result: This was an interesting challenge. Whilst I typically attempt to create scenarios for Luke to bang all the ladies that are SOMEWHAT realistic, I decided the only way to make this happen was to assume whatever plot was required to set this up had already occurred, so it starts *cough* right before the action, so to speak. I also sort of low-key ship Ventress/Kenobi (what is that called? Ventrobi?) so operated throughout with the idea that since she couldn’t have Obi-Wan, she was settling for another Jedi as a plaything. Since I used only pronouns for Ventress in the fic, I suppose the reader could imagine any wicked woman or Nightsister or whomever on the other end of Luke’s cock, but in my brain it’s Asajj and she is a lucky woman (and Luke is a lucky man). Anyway, it was probably one of my least popular fics this year but I still like it!
5. Thranto 400 Works Celebration Ficlet (Ch 3: Everything To Lose)
Idea: @jessko-fic asked me to contribute to this collection to commemorate the Thrawn/Vanto ship hitting 400 works on AO3. Me: Slash?!?!
Result: I don’t write slash in general because I just…don’t really enjoy it, doesn’t float my boat or melt my butter, although so often I wish that weren’t the case. I have read a lot of Thranto thanks to Jess’s evil influence though, and thought I could tackle this ship. I wanted to write something exactly 400 words for the 400 works thing, and the result was a little “missing scene” that I hope was true to the spirit of the collection while also slotting into Thrawn and Eli’s storyline.
6. Creativity
Idea: For The May The Fourth fic exchange, try to hit my giftee’s likes and stuff as many MacGyver-inspired easter eggs as possible into the story.
Result: 14 “original series” MacGyver-isms crammed into this thing, including winks and nods to names and dates, and plenty of Luke and Mara banter to accompany the mission. One of my most researched fics this year and one of the most fun to write! And my giftee loved it, which is the best result possible.
7. Physical Graffiti
Idea: Agreed to a one-on-one fic exchange with @jessko-fic, since we never get matched in “regular” exchanges. She requested Luke x Sabine, which tied in perfectly to my never-ending goal of Luke x All The Ladies.
Result: A (hopefully) sexy multi-chapter that required a lot of research on timelines to get them together for this “missing scene” and Mandalorian stuff. My septuagenarian mom has proclaimed it’s her favorite of any of my stories, so I call it a success. O_O Yes, she reads my fic.
8. Strangers When We Meet
Idea: Write a reader-insert fic for @enmudecer. I love setting challenges for myself, and writing a smutty reader insert was something entirely new to tackle.
Result: I think reader inserts sometimes get a bad name but they can be a lot of fun. I avoided the (y/n) convention because I find it pulls me out of the story, tried hard to keep it gender neutral, and hopefully everyone who reads it can feel like they just banged Luke Skywalker 😉 Also I have a long-standing goal of writing songfic, and while I didn’t do it here, at least the title is from a Bowie song that seemed appropriate. So not just my first reader-insert, my first song-titled-fic!
9. Infectious
Idea: The Thryce Discord, and in particular @handsofthrawn, had been asking/lobbying me for ages about writing a quarantine fic since the world was in lockdown.
Result: Well, this is what I achieved this year, when I look back at what I accomplished. My longest fic ever, and a particularly ambitious premise of getting from an awkward, miserable (and hopefully realistic) fuck-or-die scenario to a happy ever after for my evil OTP. I unashamedly love this story and I’m so happy and grateful to the readers who loved it with me—their comments and kudos gave me life when the stress of reality made me want to curl into a defensive little ball and hide for the rest of the year.
10. Evilmousetober 2020
Idea: I couldn’t choose what X-tober prompts to use for my October drabbles this year, so I used whatever felt right that day.
Result: A compilation of my tumblr drabbles from various October prompts.
11. Dis Manibus
Idea: I am not going to write this fic. I am not going to write this fic. Crack and ridonc and no way is there any conceivable way it would work. And then I wrote it. The basic concept as my muse nagged me was to write the “nightmare comfort” trope with Luke and Pryce. WHY?! I HAVE NO IDEA I DON’T CONTROL THIS BITCH. Anyway, the idea wouldn’t go away.
Result: This fic is the perfect exhibit of how I never know what the heck is going to happen when I start writing. Everything was a surprise to me, including the Thryce element to what was SUPPOSED to be a Luke/Pryce fic. Also I didn’t get the smut I wanted. *curses* But I like it anyway and it worked, timing-wise, for Halloween-y themes.
12. Alone Time
Idea: After swearing not to write fic for the rest of the year, @contentment-of-cats put out her Merry Chissmas bingo card and my ambitious ass decided to try to knock every single prompt out with a one-shot.
Result: Thrawn jerking off in the shower and thinking verrrrrry naughty things. I apologize for nothing.
So in 2019 I wrote 26 fics and this year only got to about 12…but fanfic is for fun, and we all needed fun this year. I enjoyed writing for you and I hope you enjoyed reading my output. I look forward to providing more smexy silly and strange fic for you in 2021. <3
#luke skywalker#grand admiral thrawn#mara jade#arihnda pryce#MacGyver#sabine wren#thryce#governor pryce#thrawn#tropes#fanfic is for fun#myfic#fandom#fic exchange#the gift of smut#luke x reader#Guri#asajj ventress#luke x all the ladies#welcome to my kinks#fuck or die#romance#too many things to tag here#I love you all
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Fanfiction Year in Review
@kasienda tagged me in this and I’ve been holding off on doing it because I thought there was a chance I’d get the next chapter of 5 Years out before the end of the year...but, I am still me, so it looks like that’s gonna be a 2021 thing.
Anyway, 2020 was...2020. Sometimes I still feel like it’s the middle of the spring exchange, which I started writing for during the first week of March. Since then, I’ve gotten to know some people in the fandom better, participated in some incredibly entertaining Zoom game nights, played fandom historian (thanks again to @mesomondstein and @floraone for inviting me to Mondsteinflug, and thanks x a million to everyone who shared their experiences with me for that), got to go back to the O&D universe for my birthday courtesy of the lovely @uglygreenjacket, wrote my first smut, had to set some personal boundaries around social media for my mental health and my dissertation that affected some of the ways I participate in the fandom, and have been slowly chipping away at a story that’s been in my head since 2019 and learning to get comfortable with my own pace with it. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank my wonderful friend and beta @kasienda for all of her edits and support this year; you’re amazing, dude!
List of Fics Completed this Year (In the order they were finished)
-Belonging
-Rose Chair Writing Prompt (I see that I did not give this a title)
-Lemonade Stand: Power Play
Number of Words Written
21,237 (per ff.net). This is actually slightly more than 2019, which I’m surprised and happy about
Your Most Popular Fic
Belonging. People really are all about those multi-chapters, huh?
Your Personal Fave
5 Years. This one’s my baby.
You Fav Scene
Two contenders here:
-the Skype at the senshi meeting scene in Belonging
-Serenity and Endymion in the rose garden in 5 Years
A Fic or Scene that Challenged You
Y’all haven’t read this yet, but there are a couple of scenes in 5 Years with the shittenou that I’m struggling with. Honorable mention to the second half of Belonging for being written in March of 2020.
A Line of Writing You’re Proud Of
Sooo I technically wrote this in 2019, but since I didn’t post it until this year, it’s fair game (from 5 Years):
She hadn't counted on the kindness that radiated from his midnight blue eyes as he knelt before her and kissed her signet ring, his gentle touch triggering a waterfall of goosebumps that traveled up her arms and down her back.
She hadn't counted on the strong sculpt of his jaw, how his sooty eyelashes contrasted with his smooth ivory skin, or the way his elegant fingers reached up to push his ebony hair out of his face.
A Comment that Touched You
I opened up in one of my Belonging AN’s about how I tend to take the “Mamoru is so selfish for going to Harvard” argument personally because I was in a long-distance relationship for a few years because of my education, and a bunch of people wrote to me about their long-distance experiences with their partners or how they studied abroad and married the person they were dating at the time later and sharing that meant a lot to me! And btw, he lives here now.
Something that Inspired Your Writing
Taylor Swift’s indie-esque turn.
Your proudest accomplishment (that one scene; finally finishing that one fic; posting your first fic; etc):
Blanket answer here is just getting through 2020.
Do You Have Any Writing Goals for Next Year?
I do intend to finish a dissertation 😅. But seriously, fic-wise, I want to finish 5 Years and then we’ll see what happens after that.
Thanks for a lovely year!
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2020 Writing (Year in Review)
In 2019, I posted 3K words on AO3.
In 2020, I posted 214K words on AO3.
I have probably written more fic this year than I have in my entire life... and I didn't even start until April.
Since I feel like I'm new to writing all over again (the last time I wrote regularly was probably about a decade ago), this has been a year of experimentation. One obvious change is that I'm writing from this "alt" account, where I've been posting whatever the hell iddy, gratuitous, self-indulgent stories happened to fall out of my brain. (Perhaps as a consequence, I noticed that the ratio of public bookmarks across all my fics clocked in at around 50%. In other words, half the people who bookmarked my works chose to do so privately!)
I also experimented with:
participating in fic exchanges and prompt memes
writing for a variety of fandoms: big and small, new and dead
varying up my writing style: using present and past tenses, ranging from super florid descriptions to conversational prose
self-promotion on Tumblr, which meant attempting to learn how to use it. I'm sure I still don't have all the etiquette down, but no one's complained yet I guess.
My main project this year has been Once a Runner, the fic that got me started writing again, so I owe quite a lot to it. It's also sucked me deep into Eyeshield 21, a fandom that was active 10-15 years ago but still somehow has a few loyal fans. I am deeply grateful to these folks for... well... existing! In addition to OAR, I've written four other ES21 fics this year, each with a different pairing. In all but one fic, I managed to use a different obscure character tag that has never been used before!
This year, I've done a decent job (mostly) working on one big project at a time. I'm starting to get used to the feeling of always having an active writing project again, letting it churn away in my brain in a background process. Sometimes I'm rewarded with a scene or a plot idea that comes out of nowhere, like a plant that produces mysterious fruit - both delightful and worrying at the same time.
I wrap up this year embarking on a new project, Solid as Stone, which, as currently planned, is going to take me even further out of my comfort zone.
AO3 stats and meme responses below the cut.
My AO3 stats at the end of the year:
Meme questions:
Best title: Cloak and Dagger, Cape and Cowl
Worst title: Lightbringer Mine
Longest title: Their offers should not charm us (their evil gifts would harm us) (65 characters)
Shortest title: Talisman (8 characters)
Best first line: "Don't," the witcher's arm shot out, barring his companion mid-step, "touch."
Worst first line: Yeah, in hindsight, Sena shouldn't have answered that doorbell.
Best last line: "It will be done," he agrees, and presses the lilies into her hands. "My promise is solid as stone."
Worst last line: "I can't win or lose until you bring your strain to market. All I ask is that you hurry up and regrow, so we can really compete."
Conclusion: I need to work on endings.
Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted? I wrote more than I could have imagined in my wildest dreams.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year? Everything. I wasn't into any of these fandoms last year.
What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest. OAR, for sure. It got me back into writing, and I devoted an enormous amount of mental energy to it. Runners up (pun intended) were any ES21 rarepair fics where I lamented the lack of content for a pairing I loved, tried to explain everything I loved about them in fic form, and basically turned into my ship manifesto/soapbox. In fic form.
Okay, NOW your most popular story. Solid as Stone. OAR comes close by sole virtue of being a long, multichaptered work posted over 8 months, but with a single chapter of under 3K words, and having been up for under two weeks, SAS is already beating OAR in some statistics. I never realized Genshin Impact was such a hot fandom, even for a rarepair like this.
Story most underappreciated by the universe? All my stories got quite a bit more attention than I expected (thank you, everyone, sincerely), but I'd say Cloak and Dagger, Cape and Cowl. It's original, it was written in an exchange, and it has a decent plot (if I do say so myself) and even a bit of smut. Perhaps F/F work is not so popular?
Story that could have been better? I could probably list multiple things I'd want to improve about each story, but let me just limit myself to one. Lightbringer Mine had more story in it that I didn't get around to telling, and the ending felt a little abrupt. I feel a little awkward extending it now, though, as it was a gift fic.
Saddest story? Hmm, I think just about every story I wrote had a happy-ish ending. I suppose I'll go with C&D,C&C.
Most fun? TBH, the same? There are several lighthearted moments and a heist scene.
Most fucked-up story? Stars and Stripes Forever (lack of link intentional)
Hardest story to write? Once a Runner
Easiest/most fun story to write? Always Knew I'd Fall. I went skeet shooting once, and as soon as I had the idea that Kid and Hiruma might be good at it, the story basically wrote itself. I also thought the song from the title was too perfect of a Kid song to pass up.
Top five scenes you would like to see illustrated: I would die happy to see any scene from OAR illustrated. Off the top of my head, the Hiruma and Sena bathtub scene, haircutting scene, or Hiruma taunting Monta in the car when we first meet Monta. From other fics, Kid walking around the course with Hiruma and making him carrying his gun properly in "Always Thought I'd Fall", and Sara Spectacular blocking the shadow bolts in "Cloak and Dagger, Cape and Cowl".
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them? I experimented with posting explicit works, and as it turns out, sex sells. I also really put my kinks out there (sexual and otherwise) and was surprised and gratified to find others who appreciated it. Conclusion: it's okay to write the fic that you've always wanted to write. Even if it's embarrassing, or if some will judge you for it, writing for likeminded souls makes more sense than writing to avoid critics.
What are your fic writing goals for next year? I have a lot more ideas for SAS, so I'd like to make that my next big project. I'm also signed up for Five Figure Fic Exchange, so that means I have a 10k fic due by the end of the month that I need to... start... Beyond that, I'd like to write more original works, perhaps something that I can even publish under my real name?? Is that crazy, brain??
Some specific things I've struggled with this year that I'd like to improve: titles and character names, physical descriptions, making my endings less abrupt
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2020 fic year in review
Thanks for the tag, @discordantwords !
Total number of completed stories: 4 (technically 6, 2 aren’t posted on AO3…yet)
Total word count: 145,587 (4 posted fics)
Fandoms written in: BBC Sherlock
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected? This was my first year writing fic! I started reading fanfic in this fandom in late 2019 and told myself that I would never write fic myself. That lasted…3 months. As such, I have written WAY more fic than I ever thought I would!
What’s your own favorite story of the year? My actual favorite is one that hasn’t been posted yet (it’s called “Winning the Goat,” and I can’t wait for everyone to be confused as hell by it in, like, a month). Of the ones I’ve posted, Swallow the Night is probably my favorite. I wrote the first chapter with zero intentions of the thing being anything other than a one-shot PWP, and then my brain projectile-vomited up the rest of the plot onto a Google Doc and…the thing turned into what it is now. I love the damn thing, each chapter allowed me to be creative in a new and fun way, and the ending has me grinning like a goddamn madman every time I read back over it. Getting to see everyone’s reactions to this fic as I post it has been a lot of fun (and also a bit anxiety-provoking at times).
Did you take any writing risks this year? Writing fic in general and then posting it on the internet for (eek) PEOPLE to see is a big enough risk for me! Writing-wise, my first fic—Origin of a New Species—was a bit different; talking about evolution for 4,000 words when you promised a PWP might put some folks off. Kind of risky for a first fic, in hindsight. Still, *I* like it, and isn’t that what really matters in the end? (*fairy dust*)
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the new year? BOY DO I!
Okay guys. Accountability time. I have a fic I finished in October—”Indefinite Lines”—that is a 100,000k+ BEAST that I spent the better part of 2020 writing and editing and revising and re-revising and right now I am tinkering and second-guessing the whole thing and I think what it comes down to is that I am t e r r i f i e d to post it. So. I need to get over myself and post the damn thing. If I haven’t made any moves to slap some chapters on AO3 by…let’s say April…I’mma need y’all to yell at me.
I also have a WIP (as of yet untitled, but set in Ireland) that has been shoved to the back burner for THREE different fics now that I. Am. Going. To. Finish. Goddamnit.
Regarding profic, I would very very VERY much love if I could land an agent for a horror novel I wrote earlier this year. I have a second novel I’m working on at the moment that I hope to finish and revise in 2021.
Most popular story of the year? Swallow the Night wins that title by far! I seriously owe my soul to all the wonderful people who come back and read each chapter and then go on to rec it on Tumblr/Twitter despite how angry I’ve made them at John. Motherfucking heroes, is what they are.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Honestly, I’m not sure I would consider anything of mine severely under-appreciated…I’m still a baby fic-writer and am beyond stoked for any level of appreciation I can get. I guess I wish my Christmas slash fic (Such a Clatter) got a little more love, but I did post it just two weeks ago, so time will tell on the level of appreciation.
Most fun story to write: GAH I can’t wait until “Winning the Goat” is posted because the answer is “Winning the Goat.” GOD that was a fun fic. There is a chance that no one else will appreciate this fic but me, but I sure appreciate the hell out of it. One month, guys.
You Might Just as Well be Blind was also fun, in a creative, frantic kind of way. This was my first fic exchange piece, and I was sent a prompt that was hella enjoyable to flesh out. The plot was fun and light-hearted (by my standards, anyway) and I got to play with a few tropes that I really love. I also managed to write and revise the whole thing in under a month, which really calls my inability to finish my NaNoWriMo goal into question.
Most unintentionally telling story: Interpreting this to mean instances where I put more of myself into a story than I’d like - John in You Might Just as Well be Blind reacts to conflict in a very similar manner to me, to the extent that I went back during revisions and added in some extra John-typical salt.
Biggest disappointment: No disappointments that aren’t brought on by myself and my own maladaptive thought patterns. You know, helpful and healthy thoughts such as, I posted this fic five minutes ago why doesn’t it have all the kudos yet everyone must hate it oh noooo. That kind of thing.
Biggest surprise: Hands-down, the responses to the fics I’ve posted. Any comment or kudo I get makes me unspeakably happy, and the folks who go out of their way to comment on each chapter, find me on Tumblr or Twitter, and/or reblog or rec my fic cause me day-making, task-halting, cat-scaring levels of joy. The fact that any person enjoys these silly little things I write is unbelievable and I seriously cannot underemphasize how grateful it makes me.
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I am not good at the tagging of the people and I think a lot of the writers I follow on here have already done one of these bad boys recently. Anyone who would like to participate is welcome!
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getting an early start on this whole "end of year fic review" thing
Okay, I found my "2019 Year in Fandom Review" post with my goals for 2020 after some frantic tumblr-archaeology. It was fun to see my guesses for what I would accomplish this year, especially given how weird this year has been on so many levels. It’s only early December, but I figure I might as well write this now since the numbers are unlikely to shift too much in the next three weeks.
One of my goals was to finish Through a Glass Darkly, my Star Wars Legends/ST fix-it--that did not happen, lol! However, I did write 6 chapters (about 40K) with possibly one more on the way before the end of the month, so that's certainly an achievement! Glass is now 81K, which is the longest fic I have posted to A03 to date! Yeah!!
[To put it in perspective, I have more or less covered all the events of TLJ (with a few more appearing in flashbacks) and now I just have one more movie's worth of events to cover...]
Long fics are hard, and Glass is extremely challenging for me, because of the rapidly expanding cast, the crappy world-building of the sequel trilogy, and the fact that researching for it is hella depressing. Still, it's been extremely cathartic to write, and I can feel myself growing as a writer, which is why I've stuck with it (also I've been snickering over certain plot points for MONTHS now and I want to share them with the world but they really only make sense in context).
Glass also continues to be my most popular fic, although that's not the main reason I'm writing it. Comment screening continues to be a godsend - most readers are great, but every now and then I get some really weird ones and it's nice just to delete on sight and move on.
Moving forward in Glass: The events of TROS will be lampshaded, but most of the plot will be its own thing. Ideally, every character will get a full and satisfying arc (even the minor ones!). It's gonna be EPIC if I can actually get it on the page and out of my head. We shall see! Maybe 2021 will be the year this fic finally reaches its conclusion!
This year, I continued to experiment with genres and tropes: My first modern AU fics! My Star Wars daemon fic! More crossovers with different fandoms! Becoming more comfortable with present tense!
Also, I wrote my first two E-rated fics this year! Major kudos to @myevilmouse for her encouragement and enthusiastic beta skills. Smut is so challenging for me - everyone who writes it deserves a medal!
Still Water is probably my low-key favorite of the fics I wrote this year, but all my Luke/Callista fics will always have a special place in my heart. I am such a sucker for this pairing, okay? Luke/Mara is amazing and my forever OTP, but Luke/Callista is really interesting even when (BECAUSE) it is dysfunctional and doomed.
I finally posted the last chapter of my Earthsea fic, Out of the Wind, which had been languishing in my drafts for years, and also that Lady or the Tiger fic, which was just sitting there since 2018. I have been going through my files recently to see what else might be ready to post soon as well as anything I just really want to be done with.
I participated in two formal fic exchanges - Star Wars Rarepairs 2020 and Yuletide 2020. They are a lot of work to sign up for - figuring out what to write, and what I want other people to write takes a lot of time and energy - but I wrote some fics I probably wouldn't have written earlier, and got a lot of great ideas that I can refer back to later. Since “picking the right prompts” is 80% of the challenge - 10% is writing it, and 10% is making sure it meets my recipient’s criteria without violating any DNWs - this will be helpful in expediting future sign-ups. But after years of hearing people talk about these kinds of events, it’s nice to finally participate!
More informally, I posted fics for Crosstober and the Luke Deserves All the Blowjobs Challenge hosted by @myevilmouse, also a lot of fun and encouraging me to continue pushing boundaries.
Podficcing has been on the back burner after posting 4 podfics early in the year. I love recording them, but editing them was not so fun, and it was too much on top of writing. Also, I just haven't felt like it much this year, so... we'll see what happens in the future?
Posted to A03 this year: approximately 110K
WIPs: hard to say, but at LEAST 40K of various projects
...to be honest, that's not as much as 2018 or 2019, but I think it's absolutely fantastic given how batshit crazy this year has been, and how hard it's been for me to write sometimes. (This also does not include meta, tumblr rants, or other fannish writing, such as the articles I’ve written for Fanlore!)
Goals I am 90% certain I can meet in 2021:
-Continue to work on Glass and finish if possible.
-Start posting Moebius (one of my WIPs).
-continue to write more short fics and experiment with different styles, tropes, genres, fandoms, etc.
-participate in challenges and exchanges as time and energy permit.
... and of course, be open to whatever comes up!
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Fic Writer Interview
Tagged by: @irolltwenties ❤️ thank you so much my dear!
Name(s): L , lambourn on AO3, lambourngb here.
Fandom(s): Roswell New Mexico, a very long time ago, Smallville, and lost to the ages, baseball.
Where you post: AO3 is where just about everything lives. The only things that are tumblr specific at the moment are sneak peaks at future works and my Michael Week AU - the “This Hard” series that will be under one title - “This Hard Love” - once I finish it. 🤞
Most Popular One Shot (by kudos)
This year : Leave the Fire Burning , my post-season 2 sex pollen getting back together fic. This was also one of my first stories to be in Michael’s POV.
Overall: it’s still my first finished work here, truth (to the people we love) - that I posted in Nov 2019. Probably the most ideal way to enter a fandom, lots of great people warmly welcomed me in and I still get emotional thinking about it.
Most Popular Multi-Chapter (by kudos)
Overall: last year’s wishes are this year’s apologies - if I’m known by one story, it’s this one and you know what, I’m okay with it. This story changed my fandom life and honestly, my confidence level. I’m extremely harsh on myself, and often hate something once it’s done, so when I reread the epilogue just the other day, I thought “this is still good, well done L” that’s unique for me.
This year:
See above.
Favorite story you’ve written so far:
Oh I would say “Leave the Fire Burning” because I wrote it very quickly almost in a trance. 2020 has been a challenging year for writing for the most part, long battles with days of only a 100 words here or there, but that story was basically 20 K in 10 days. A runner up is you give me a good reason to be heartsick again (let me down easy) - my salty post season 2 co-write with Christi @michaels-blackhat where we made fun of the narrative surrounding Forrest and Forlex for almost 6,000 words. I haven’t done a co-write in years, and Christi was game for it and so gracious about my bossy participation ❤️...
Fic you were nervous to post: All of them, but I would say my upcoming Big Bang is giving me butterflies since it references a lot of what happened in season 2, and generally the fandom response to season 2 is pretty polarizing?
How do you choose your titles?: Song titles generally, or sometimes it’s a song lyric that I misremember? Like “Leave the Fire Burning” is related to a Noah Gunderson song “Fire Don’t Die”. I also liked to repurpose lines of dialog from the show into titles, like “truth (to the people we love)” was cannibalized from Michael’s speech to Isobel, “maybe it’s time to tell the truth to the people we love”. And “If You Regret (What You Know) was from Michael’s conversation with Alex in 1x10. Yes, I’m going to continue to abuse punctuation in my titles.
Do you outline?: Yes, absolutely. The outline is allowed to change, with inserted scenes or scenes that get blended together but every project that I’ve made some progress on has an outline that I write within. I like to use brackets, and write just above it, so I can see my goals as a go and to keep my focus.
Complete: 6 works, soon to be 7 when the Big Bang goes live.
In-Progress: *laughs uncontrollably* A LOT. I’ve somehow acquired a circle of friends who are constantly dropping soft and sad head canons on me and then it turns into a fic idea. Right now, I’m working on “This Hard Love” to finish by the end of the year. Next up after that, I want to finish my epilogue to “Last Year’s Wishes”, write the Michael POV scenes that others have requested previously, and then dive into my LYW prequel/Lost Decade epic “prettier and younger, but not any better off”. Also smaller projects in the works, some AUs - like Michael is a guitar maker and Alex is a Nashville star called “Summon Out of These Hollow Places” - @haloud , @adiwriting and @christchex are firmly to blame for that project, along with “Dress Blues (hold me lover, this ain’t an arms race) - Michael becomes Alex’s military spouse and follows him around. I also started a really dark, torture Michael story for @ninswhimsy called “Piece by Piece” where Mr. Jones basically trades Michael to be experimented on and Alex & Maria go undercover to save him. And finally, I’ve got “Why Can’t I Change” - Michael dating during season 3 with background Forlex, and my really sad epic “Grave Dancer’s Union” where Sanders is dying and Michael is his caretaker.
Coming soon/not yet started: All of the above have some words, outlines, etc. Not yet started- stuff like a coma AU, where Jesse puts Alex into a longterm care facility when he’s a teenager and Michael “meets” him because he’s visiting Isobel after the drifter’s attack. “Pressing on a bruse (we can heal)” is my sequel to “Truth” that has taken me forever but still planned, Duty of Care needs some reworking to turn it into a canon-divergent AU, same with “Gather Your Skeletons” my attempt at a soul-bond fic for Malex.
Prompts?: I’ve still got a few in my ask box that are old enough to vote, and as you all can see, I’ve got a lot of google docs in progress. So sure, you can submit, but I don’t know if I’ll get there. I’m better at answering questions about WIPs in progress- like I’ve definitely written more on some of those WIPs just from that last meme that went around. So sending me a nudge about something in progress might get you a sneak peek faster than sending me a whole prompt. With RNM there’s always a chance something will happen and turn you off of the fandom before I can fill the prompt submitted.
Upcoming work you’re most excited about: I would say my prequel to LYW. It’s looking quite long, especially the sections where Michael transitions from sneaker and jeans to jeans and cowboy boots with a big belt buckle. I’ve got a lot of horse knowledge I can’t wait to bore everyone with !
No-pressure Tags: @jule1122 , @adiwriting , @litwitlady , @aewriting , @tasyfa , @andrea-lyn @prouvaireafterdark, @el-gilliath
#meme#stuff about me#so many wips#wip whine#malex#my hamster still only runs on roswell new mexico#self-promotion#my imposter syndrome is a noisy bitch#am I writer? and meagyn has always assured me YES#thanks for the tag
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2020 Fic Year in Review
I was tagged by: @spacekrulesbians! Thank you Tee! This was so fun.
Total number of published stories: 22 (2 of which are WIPs)
Total published word count: 402, 939 (as of 7am this morning I hit my 2020 writing goal! yay!)
Fandoms written in: The 100, Julie and the Phantoms, Anne with an E, Rogue One/Star Wars, High School Musical The Musical The Series
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected?: Less. I was over 600k words last year and I assumed I’d hit around the same this year... but I am still very happy with my 400k because this year has been a drain on creative inspiration!
What’s your own favorite story of the year?: I’m so proud of Paint me in Trust.
Did you take any writing risks this year?: Yessssss. Writing fic for new fandoms always makes me nervous, and I shifted my primary fandom from The 100 to JATP during the last few months. That was terrifying, but I’m so happy I did because the community is great! (also, don’t worry, I’m still in t100 fandom!)
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the new year?: Finish my two WIPs and write all my 1.5k celebration fics!
Next up: another update to All That Remains hopefully in a few days, then I’ll be working on my Willex + dogs fic!
Most popular story of the year?: Paint me in Trust with 2322 kudos. But I also partially posted that in 2019, so if we’re just looking at what was posted in 2020, that would be... fears (don't get me started) with 1238 kudos.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: honestly... none. I’m so thankful and so happy with all the love given to all of my fics. I’m really excited about All That Remains though and would love for more people to read it even if they don’t like Star Wars so... maybe that? But like I said, I’m so blown away by the response given to my fics already!
Most fun story to write: fears (don't get me started) and dermatologists HATE them just because I had so much fun with all the meme references. AND they were both super easy to write. It took me one night per fic to get the bones down, which is basically unheard of for me haha.
Most unintentionally telling story: uh. idk!
Biggest disappointment: that When the Wolves Come Home is taking me so long to write. AND the fact that I wasn’t able to compete in Chopped Madness Round 1 back in March because I got sick and I had to pull out. I still am sad I never got to write my Game of Thrones AU. That would’ve been fun.
Biggest surprise: I COULD LIST A LOT OF THINGS.
The first thing to come to mind was how wild it was to see Paint me in Trust take off in the way it did... people live tweeted their reactions to chapters, there were book clubs in Twitter group chats?!?!?!, fan art, comments, kudos- ah, it was just so shocking and amazing and I’ll never forget how WILD and amazing and fun that was. Half of the fun with this fic was seeing the response to it.
The second thing to come to mind is the lovely community I found in the Julie and the Phantoms fandom!!! I was so unsure about what I was going to do after The 100 ended, as that was my primary fandom and I was so disappointed with the way the show ended. I’m just so thankful for JATP in general for being so light and fun, yet still having emotional depth and great characters. And the JATP fandom is great. I was so surprised by the warm welcome I got when I first started posting and participating.
Tagging: @eyessharpweaponshot @probably-voldemort @sparklyfairymira @reggiesjams @mobi-on-a-mission @queen-of-the-wallflowers15 @burninghoneyatdusk @queenemori @theobligatedklutz @meangirlsx @thelittlefanpire @icantloseyou-too @animmortalist @kinetic-elaboration & anyone else who would like to participate (feel free to say I tagged you!)
#this was typed at like 5am so good luck to anyone who tries to read it#tag game#THANKS FOR THE TAG TEE#i love this one#im gonna try to find mine from 2019#2020 writing recap#about me
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2020 Fanfic Year in Review!
@floraone and @nari20 encouraged me to participate in the Year-In-Review so okay, here we go!!
1. List of fics completed this year:
Completed (as in marked-as-completed) is only two!
Advice From Her Fairy Prince (which I actually wrote in 2019!) and
Swipe Right - A Tinder Tale
I also have two ongoing short story collections that I started this year and then two multichapters that will be carried into the new year, though Teammates Don’t Kiss is fully written and R is for Reverse is more than three quarters done.
2. Number of words written:
86,680!
Not bad considering I only started in August!
(Do note that I’m only counting words that got posted, so since I work with buffer chapters this is a little less than what I’ve technically written!!)
3. Your most popular fic this year:
R is for Reverse, for sure! I’m so thrilled that the thing I’m most excited about also seems to be resonating with people.
4. Your personal favourite this year:
Definitely R! It’s such a delight to work on. There’s a reasonable chance I’ll be a bit lost when I finish it.
5. Your favourite scene:
Oh god... the more I think about this the harder it gets to pick just one!! There were so many scenes that I feel like came out really, really well.
I love pretty much every single moment of chapter 6 of R (so much UsaMamo!) but honestly I think the bit where Minako and Ami show up at Mamoru’s apartment might be my favorite? I ADORE writing Minako, she’s such a trip and honestly writes herself most of the time, and the way she and Mamoru play off of each other gives me a lot of really fun completely non-sexual tension. Plus, she’s the WORLD’S BIGGEST UsaMamo shipper and I love that.
Second favorite...I think the bit at the end of Chapter 4 of R, where Usagi and Tuxedo Mask talk after he defeats Leshy. That was totally unplanned - per my outline, Usagi was supposed to leave the tree and be gone when the battle was over - but thankfully she refused, and instead we got some really sweet bonding moments with the two of them. AND THEN HE GETS THE NERVE TO GIVE HER THE DANGOS and you can’t tell me that isn’t hella sweet.
OH and the bit in Chapter 7 of R where Mamoru totally panics over wanting to hold Usagi’s hand. I ADORE that and was so so happy with it.
6. A fic or scene that challenged you:
Pretty much ALL of the sexting scene in Tinder was HARD to write. It’s very personal to write someone masturbating, it turns out, and this was also my first major work of smut. SO there was a lot of alcohol consumed and hand-holding needed from my beta as I made my way through it.
7. A line of writing you’re proud of:
So the bit I’m currently most proud of hasn’t been posted yet (it’s from a later chapter of TDK!), so I’m gonna pick another one!
I skimmed several chapters and found quite a few bits that I’m pleased with. The bit in Chapter 7 of R where he tries to get up the nerve to hold Usagi’s hand comes to mind, but it’s pretty text-heavy so instead I’m going to specifically highlight the bit at the end of Chapter 6 of R:
The smell of her hair lingered in the hallway, her pink slippers lined up next to his black ones, and the dishes from her breakfast still sat, unwashed, on his coffee table. Hints of her presence were everywhere, and yet all he wanted, even moments after she'd left, was to see her again. The kaleidoscope inside him was back, but rather than fragmenting his emotions, this time it zeroed in on only one with crystal clarity.
Even if that rational part of him knew that this wasn't what he was supposed to do, he wasn't strong enough to fight it anymore. For the first time, he allowed himself to consciously think his dearest wish:
Maybe he could get her to fall in love with him.
Also, this one is from Advice From Her Fairy Prince, which is a Skip Beat! fanfic, but I CRACK THE HELL UP every time I reread it:
"Morizumi-san tried to throw you off a building?"
Yeah, I dunno. It’s a gloriously delayed reaction in context and I find it wonderfully absurd, so I wanted to shout that one out, too.
8. A comment that touched you:
Oh my god, I’ve received so many nice comments this year??? I go back and reread them when I’m having a tough day and just glow. I’ve had a few people tell me things like something I wrote is one of their all-time favorites or that my writing style reminds them of another author I admire and I’m basically ready to crawl under my bed like “Who, me??”
I also LIVE FOR the long, detailed comments in which people react to specifics from the story (I have several readers who do this for me and it makes me giddy every time).
One comment in particular does stick out as being far, far too kind and praised me in ways that made me feel insanely flattered and gave me a huge bout of imposter syndrome simultaneously, where they basically performed literary criticism* on one of my chapters and found all this meaning and value in my work that honestly left me a bit embarrassed in a good way.
*Note: While I personally found this extremely flattering, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend trying this at home if you haven’t received a positive response to it before, because fic is meant to be fun, and unprompted literary critique (especially unsolicited ConCrit) can make some authors feel very hurt or defensive. YMMV of course!!
9. Something that inspired your writing this year:
So @floraone ‘adopted’ me into the fandom early this year, and spending so much time with a bunch of wonderful, creative, like-minded people not only saved my mental health in this shitstorm of a year, you all also inspired me to start writing fic again, including in several genres and events I might otherwise have shyed away from.
So, I mean, that! You all! I’m so thrilled to be here and so wonderfully delighted to have found this amazing and supportive little fandom corner to play in. Thank you for inspiring me and welcoming me <3
10. Your proudest accomplishment (that one scene; finally finishing that one fic; posting your first fic; etc)
I’d say a toss-up between Tinder (writing a whole smutpiece where they are never physically in the same room together is an accomplishment, I’m just saying) and chapter 4 of R. Chapter 4 just came out so friggin’ well, and on the occasions I’ve gone back to reread it I feel very proud of it (whereas Tinder I’m more inclined to nitpick at upon reread). So, one of those!
11. Do you have any writing goals for the next year?
Oh man. I would love to finish R before my birthday (it’s in February so eh, we’ll see). And I’d love to like, not totally lose momentum and fall out of the fandom once I finish R! I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever feel quite this inspired again, so maybe finding something else that makes me want to write like this is a good goal for the year LOL. I’d also love to see if I can top my proudest bit of writing from TDK, and I think that’s a good thing to aspire to - but if I can’t, I get to put it in my wrap-up next year!
Okay! So that’s my year in review, but I would love to see some other people do these! I’m not going to tag anyone because most of the people I would tag already have been, but if you see this and want to participate, consider yourself tapped in.
Here’s to the end of 2020, and fingers crossed that the next year runs more smoothly!!
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