2023 fic roundup
Jan. 28th, 2024 08:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaydeefalls
Since these are purely navel-gazing anyway, fuck it, I'm gonna do a 2023 fic roundup for all three damn fics I wrote. Because I like being able to come back and revisit these years later, and see where I've been.
This year I wrote and posted: 3 fics and 1 vid. Which is still better than some years, to be honest.
In order of posting:
[vid] Oh Mama No - Festivid for Everything Everywhere All At Once
Carthaginians - TOG historical AU, Joe/Nicky
your love is sunlight - TOG modern AU, Joe/Nicky
Perception Check (Roll for Romance) - DnD for Yuletide, Edgin/Xenk
Total wordcount: 72,362 words.
Overall Thoughts:
WHAT a fucking rough year, in every sense. Honestly glad I managed to write even this much. And in terms of writing, Carthaginians completely ate my brain for a solid eight months of the year. It's not the longest fic I've written - though it is in my top five - but it's my longest for TOG fandom, and required a massive amount of research and worldbuilding. I'm very happy to have gotten that one fic fully written this year, and let's just cling onto that. It does feel like something substantial I can point to as an accomplishment.
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Less. Since 2019, I've set myself a goal of 100k words per year, and this is the first time I've fallen short. So it goes.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
Well, that's what Yuletide is for, right? But "Dungeons & Dragons" was such a FUN movie, so perfectly calibrated for fandom, and I'm thrilled that I offered and matched on it. After the heavy drama of Carthaginians, in particular, it was nice to just dash out that lighthearted ridiculousness.
This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most:
*jazz hands* There's gonna be a theme in this roundup, let me tell you, and it's Carthaginians. No matter how rough my year was, at least I wasn't personally experiencing the Siege of Carthage, right? But that really was a good way for me to channel and purge some of the heavier shit going on around me, and focus on the love in the midst of it to carry us through. I don't identify with either Joe or Nicky as characters very much, but the strength of their relationship is...really grounding, for me, and I do draw on my own relationship with my wife while writing them. It helps.
What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
By kudos, Carthaginians was my LEAST popular of the three fics I wrote this year. But yeah, it's my favorite, I poured way too much of myself into writing it. And I do primarily write for myself. This is one I'll be happily rereading for many years, I think. The catharsis is real.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
I've never tried to situate a story so specifically and extensively in a particular historical moment before. Well...maybe a bit, with the X-Men medieval mystery a few years back, but that was a fusion with the Cadfael books and I had a very specific source to work from. Carthaginians, in contrast, was purely historical research, and I dug DEEP into that rabbit hole. It was scary, yet satisfying.
My best story of this year:
Take a wild guess. No, really, though, I do think it's one of the best fics I've written for TOG. Too bad the fandom has gotten very quiet of late, but hey, such is life.
My most popular story of this year:
By kudos, your love is sunlight. Romantic modern AU oneshots featuring the fandom OTP are always gonna do better numbers than heavy historical slogs. That's fine, I'm fond of that fic, too.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
With only three fics to show for it, I don't really feel like I can complain. Yeah, Carthaginians was my least popular fic of the year, but that doesn't mean I didn't receive some lovely responses to it, and I'm pleased with what I got. It wasn't a dud, just not a hit. All good.
My least favorite story this year:
Again, only three, and I'm not gonna point fingers like that this year. I'm happy with all three of them.
Most fun story to write:
Definitely Perception Check (Roll for Romance), once I figured out what the fuck I was doing with it. I was in a BLIND panic two weeks before deadline with zero ideas. But once I got into it, it was a lot of fun.
Story with the sweetest moment:
Oh, I gave Yusuf and Nicolò SO many soft, sweet moments scattered throughout Carthaginians, amidst all the horror. Their actual love confession probably wins that one.
Story with the single sexiest moment:
WEIRDLY, every fic I wrote this year was M-rated. Which - I don't even know, guys, I don't like writing smut at all and yet. This was my year for it, I guess. Uh, YMMV, but I'm fond of the scene in the cove in your love is sunlight. It's not explicit, but hey, I think it's sexy.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
Writing the destruction of Carthage was...brutal. Like I had to tone it down from the historical record, and gloss over some of the worst of it. That was a tricky balance to strike. I don't like writing violence in general, and I will never describe it graphically, but...OOF. The Romans, man. Fuck those guys.
Most overdue:
Eh, nothing really qualifies this year. I have a few WIP docs that have been on the backburner since 2022, and didn't make significant progress on any of them this year. So if I manage to pull any of those out on 2024, maybe I'll have a response for this one next year.
Favorite title:
...once again, only three to choose from. But it's "Carthaginians". That was the title of the play I directed for my BA project in uni, and it was soothing to have that touchpoint as I wrote the fic. Definitely echoes some of the themes from that play, as well, though no one but me would know that.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
You know, I tapped into an element of Nicky in your love is sunlight that I hadn't fully explored before - the sense of being stuck, and telling himself he likes it better that way, until suddenly he can't keep pretending any longer - and that will likely linger in my interpretation of the character for some time.
Hardest story to write:
Yes. All of them. Carthaginians for obvious reasons, but both other fics were written for exchanges on deadlines, and both wound up being written at the last possible minute in abject panic. I was up until like 3 or 4am for four nights running to get "sunlight" finished, while traveling, and that was ROUGH.
Biggest Disappointment:
Nope, none of them. I am fond of all three and disappointment is a useless emotion.
Biggest Surprise:
Carthaginians came from the trope reversal prompt of "Alternate Universe - Antique Setting", and I don't think anyone expected where I wound up taking that. Least of all me.
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
I got nothing. All of them. None of them.
Favorite opening line:
The worst part is that Nicky knows he's too old for this shit. (your love is sunlight - IDK, none of my openers this year were particularly WOW, all three did their jobs effectively, this one's got the best vibe to it)
Favorite closing line:
He's still reluctant to shout Xenk's name in bed—it just doesn't flow naturally off the tongue under such conditions—but hey. It's early days yet. He could still be convinced. (Perception Check (Roll for Romance) - had fun with that one)
In conclusion:
Look, I survived the year, and I'm gonna call that a win.
Fic-writing goals for 2024:
I would like to ACTUALLY hit 100k words this year. And not have the vast majority of them be in one single fic. A little more diversity would be nice. We'll see.
This year I wrote and posted: 3 fics and 1 vid. Which is still better than some years, to be honest.
In order of posting:
[vid] Oh Mama No - Festivid for Everything Everywhere All At Once
Carthaginians - TOG historical AU, Joe/Nicky
your love is sunlight - TOG modern AU, Joe/Nicky
Perception Check (Roll for Romance) - DnD for Yuletide, Edgin/Xenk
Total wordcount: 72,362 words.
Overall Thoughts:
WHAT a fucking rough year, in every sense. Honestly glad I managed to write even this much. And in terms of writing, Carthaginians completely ate my brain for a solid eight months of the year. It's not the longest fic I've written - though it is in my top five - but it's my longest for TOG fandom, and required a massive amount of research and worldbuilding. I'm very happy to have gotten that one fic fully written this year, and let's just cling onto that. It does feel like something substantial I can point to as an accomplishment.
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Less. Since 2019, I've set myself a goal of 100k words per year, and this is the first time I've fallen short. So it goes.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
Well, that's what Yuletide is for, right? But "Dungeons & Dragons" was such a FUN movie, so perfectly calibrated for fandom, and I'm thrilled that I offered and matched on it. After the heavy drama of Carthaginians, in particular, it was nice to just dash out that lighthearted ridiculousness.
This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most:
*jazz hands* There's gonna be a theme in this roundup, let me tell you, and it's Carthaginians. No matter how rough my year was, at least I wasn't personally experiencing the Siege of Carthage, right? But that really was a good way for me to channel and purge some of the heavier shit going on around me, and focus on the love in the midst of it to carry us through. I don't identify with either Joe or Nicky as characters very much, but the strength of their relationship is...really grounding, for me, and I do draw on my own relationship with my wife while writing them. It helps.
What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
By kudos, Carthaginians was my LEAST popular of the three fics I wrote this year. But yeah, it's my favorite, I poured way too much of myself into writing it. And I do primarily write for myself. This is one I'll be happily rereading for many years, I think. The catharsis is real.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
I've never tried to situate a story so specifically and extensively in a particular historical moment before. Well...maybe a bit, with the X-Men medieval mystery a few years back, but that was a fusion with the Cadfael books and I had a very specific source to work from. Carthaginians, in contrast, was purely historical research, and I dug DEEP into that rabbit hole. It was scary, yet satisfying.
My best story of this year:
Take a wild guess. No, really, though, I do think it's one of the best fics I've written for TOG. Too bad the fandom has gotten very quiet of late, but hey, such is life.
My most popular story of this year:
By kudos, your love is sunlight. Romantic modern AU oneshots featuring the fandom OTP are always gonna do better numbers than heavy historical slogs. That's fine, I'm fond of that fic, too.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
With only three fics to show for it, I don't really feel like I can complain. Yeah, Carthaginians was my least popular fic of the year, but that doesn't mean I didn't receive some lovely responses to it, and I'm pleased with what I got. It wasn't a dud, just not a hit. All good.
My least favorite story this year:
Again, only three, and I'm not gonna point fingers like that this year. I'm happy with all three of them.
Most fun story to write:
Definitely Perception Check (Roll for Romance), once I figured out what the fuck I was doing with it. I was in a BLIND panic two weeks before deadline with zero ideas. But once I got into it, it was a lot of fun.
Story with the sweetest moment:
Oh, I gave Yusuf and Nicolò SO many soft, sweet moments scattered throughout Carthaginians, amidst all the horror. Their actual love confession probably wins that one.
Story with the single sexiest moment:
WEIRDLY, every fic I wrote this year was M-rated. Which - I don't even know, guys, I don't like writing smut at all and yet. This was my year for it, I guess. Uh, YMMV, but I'm fond of the scene in the cove in your love is sunlight. It's not explicit, but hey, I think it's sexy.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
Writing the destruction of Carthage was...brutal. Like I had to tone it down from the historical record, and gloss over some of the worst of it. That was a tricky balance to strike. I don't like writing violence in general, and I will never describe it graphically, but...OOF. The Romans, man. Fuck those guys.
Most overdue:
Eh, nothing really qualifies this year. I have a few WIP docs that have been on the backburner since 2022, and didn't make significant progress on any of them this year. So if I manage to pull any of those out on 2024, maybe I'll have a response for this one next year.
Favorite title:
...once again, only three to choose from. But it's "Carthaginians". That was the title of the play I directed for my BA project in uni, and it was soothing to have that touchpoint as I wrote the fic. Definitely echoes some of the themes from that play, as well, though no one but me would know that.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
You know, I tapped into an element of Nicky in your love is sunlight that I hadn't fully explored before - the sense of being stuck, and telling himself he likes it better that way, until suddenly he can't keep pretending any longer - and that will likely linger in my interpretation of the character for some time.
Hardest story to write:
Yes. All of them. Carthaginians for obvious reasons, but both other fics were written for exchanges on deadlines, and both wound up being written at the last possible minute in abject panic. I was up until like 3 or 4am for four nights running to get "sunlight" finished, while traveling, and that was ROUGH.
Biggest Disappointment:
Nope, none of them. I am fond of all three and disappointment is a useless emotion.
Biggest Surprise:
Carthaginians came from the trope reversal prompt of "Alternate Universe - Antique Setting", and I don't think anyone expected where I wound up taking that. Least of all me.
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
I got nothing. All of them. None of them.
Favorite opening line:
The worst part is that Nicky knows he's too old for this shit. (your love is sunlight - IDK, none of my openers this year were particularly WOW, all three did their jobs effectively, this one's got the best vibe to it)
Favorite closing line:
He's still reluctant to shout Xenk's name in bed—it just doesn't flow naturally off the tongue under such conditions—but hey. It's early days yet. He could still be convinced. (Perception Check (Roll for Romance) - had fun with that one)
In conclusion:
Look, I survived the year, and I'm gonna call that a win.
Fic-writing goals for 2024:
I would like to ACTUALLY hit 100k words this year. And not have the vast majority of them be in one single fic. A little more diversity would be nice. We'll see.
