2024 fic roundup
Jan. 1st, 2025 04:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaydeefallsTime for the annual gazing of the navel. These always feel silly in years I don't post many fic, but the habit is soothing. And I did meet my personal goal of 100k+ words posted! Just in, you know, only four fics.
Still. Better than last year. I'll take it.
This year I wrote and posted: 4 fics and 1 vid. Yay.
In order of posting:
[vid] if i were a fish - Festivid for Fire Island (2022)
and since we've no place to go - TOG Hallmark movie AU, Joe/Nicky
what dreams may come - TOG/Inception fusion, Joe/Nicky + ensemble
and we have all the time in the world (to get it right) - Heartstopper canon divergence AU, Nick/Charlie
only losers fight clean - Ocean's 11 for Yuletide, Rusty/Danny
Total wordcount: 107,347 words.
Overall Thoughts:
Another rough mental health year, as conveyed through fic. Fandom-wise, the first half-ish of this year was spent trying to convince myself I could somehow keep the flame alive for TOG fandom, and the second half was falling whole-heartedly and full-throatedly in love with the Heartstopper fandom instead. That was a significant light switch mental moment. I just badly needed a new happy place, and found it in HS. And wound up writing a 70k fic to jumpstart my entrance into a new fandom, which is the fourth-longest fic I've ever written, period.
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
I am genuinely shocked I managed to hit my 100k goal, especially after floundering so much last year. And while I'd hoped to write more fics in terms of quantity, well, one very long one will also suffice.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
I can't say that I didn't predict Heartstopper at all, since I've loved the show since its debut in 2022 and had been low-key pondering fic ideas for some time. But I didn't formally create the doc and start tinkering with an outline until this spring, and I certainly didn't expect it to become the monster it did.
This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most:
I never have a good answer for this one. I guess the way Nick just keeps trying and trying to get it right, with and for Charlie, even when it's hard and can feel hopeless, is definitely my personal theme for the year. Just...doing your best with kindness, and not giving up.
What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
I mean, definitely and we have all the time in the world (to get it right). My longest fics tend to be my personal faves, because I pour so much time and thought and energy into them. And Nick and Charlie's romance in any 'verse is just...sweet and happy-making.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Eh. I don't think so. New fandoms never feel risky to me at this point. I suppose what dreams may come could be considered the riskiest, given the very non-linear narrative and nature of writing dreamsharing - there's a fine line between purposely disorienting and just plain confusing to the reader. But it's not my first Inception fic like that, so I don't know that this one was particularly risky.
My best story of this year:
The 70k Heartstopper fic, yeah. I had a lot of fun teasing out the ramification of that canon divergence, and I really do think it works.
My most popular story of this year:
By kudos, and we have all the time in the world (to get it right), again. Heartstopper isn't a big fandom, but it's definitely more active at the moment than TOG, so no surprise there.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Like last year, it's hard for me to complain when I've got so few fics posted. I'm sad that I didn't write what dreams may come three years ago, when it probably would have hit a lot hotter instead of landing with a quiet thud, but it's not my personal fave, either. So it goes.
My least favorite story this year:
Nope. Too few fics posted to be that picky. They all served their purpose, and I am content.
Most fun story to write:
The Heartstopper fic alternated parts that were SUPER fun to write with long stretches of abject panic, so I think I'll go with and since we've no place to go. Playing around with Hallmark Christmas Movie tropes and skewering or subverting a few of them was a lot of fun, and I so rarely let myself just lean into that sort of cheesy romcom.
Story with the sweetest moment:
I mean. and we have all the time in the world (to get it right), obviously. Nick and Charlie are, like, the textbook definition of "sweet". They're just so goddamn kind and sincere, I can't with them. I don't even know what I'd consider the sweetest moment in that, it all gave me diabetes to write. I am learning to embrace the sap for sure with this fandom.
Story with the single sexiest moment:
and since we've no place to go was the only M-rated fic this year. They definitely have sex in that (though, as per my usual, not that explicitly). So, by default, yeah.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
I never really cross that particular line. But coming up with Quynh's nightmare for Nicky in what dreams may come was more disturbing than my usual, though I think it's still fairly tame as written. There were darker versions in my head, I think. I also really, really hated writing Ben Hope in the Heartstopper fic, though nothing worse happened there than in the show - just didn't like having to put my own spin on the shit he says about and does to Charlie, relatively mild though it might be.
Most overdue:
I'd been actively avoiding writing a TOG/Inception fusion for nearly four years, because I didn't want that to be My Thing like it was in X-Men fandom. And then I wrote it anyway, because nobody else would. And by then, nobody else cared, either. But at least I purged that particular plotbunny out of my system.
Favorite title:
No particular standouts this year, so I guess I'll default to and we have all the time in the world (to get it right). From "People Get Ready", by the Frames, and while the overall song doesn't particularly suit Heartstopper, I do think that chorus really, really does. It got stuck in my head very early on in writing it and wouldn't quit, so it stayed.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
Writing a fic in a new fandom always means actually thinking about the characters properly in ways I hadn't before, so, yeah. Especially given how long it turned out to be. Weirdly, I feel like I now have a much stronger grasp of Harry (Heartstopper's resident bully) as a character, because I had to pick apart exactly why he acts the way he does, and how the minor shifts I made to canon for the fic would have a ripple effect and push his big blowup with Nick much later than in the show/comic. He's way more concerned with keeping Nick on his side to bolster his own status than turning on Nick (which, ultimately, is also his shitty strategy FOR keeping Nick on his side, by scaring him with the consequences of turning against him - it DOES NOT WORK, btw). I did not ever want to think that hard about that particular character, but here we are.
Hardest story to write:
Honestly, probably what dreams may come. I was already falling out of love with TOG fandom at that point, hard, and this was my last ditch effort to stay invested, while it didn't seem like anyone else around me was anymore, either. I flat out forbade myself from working on the Heartstopper fic until I'd finished this one first, because I didn't want to leave it hanging. That was what finally forced me to finish and post it.
Biggest Disappointment:
Eh. Too much disappointment in the real world this year, I'm not gonna spend that negative emotion on my escapist hobby instead.
Biggest Surprise:
That the fucking Heartstopper fic grew to 70k words. What the everloving fuck, brain.
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
There is a very specific moment in Nick and Charlie's relationship in and we have all the time in the world (to get it right) that I pulled directly from the early days of my own relationship with my wife. I mean, it's not the first or last time I'll draw on specific personal experience for a fic - that's what writers do - but it is, um. Yeah. (She reads all my fics. She cackled a LOT at that bit.)
Favorite opening line:
It will always bother Nicky a little that neither he nor Joe remember how they first met. (and since we've no place to go - no real standouts this year, but I do like the tone this one sets)
Favorite closing line:
And Rusty thinks, oh. (only losers fight clean - Yuletide fic getting its only shoutout in this whole year in review, but I always knew it needed to end with that OH moment, and it pleases me)
In conclusion:
We made it through another year. Yay, team.
Fic-writing goals for 2025:
Continuing to set myself the 100k words goal for the year, glad that I got back on track in 2024 after falling short in 2023. I already have two other Heartstopper fics in the works, and would very much like to start feeling like a part of that fandom rather than just being the new kid in the cafeteria hoping someone will pull up a seat next to me someday. But I've always struggled with that part of it. And hey, if TOG2 ever actually hits Netflix, maybe it will rekindle that particular flame, and I can revisit some of the WIP docs I'd abandoned for it (or start new ones, more likely). Or something new and unexpected will capture my fannish attention, who knows?
Still. Better than last year. I'll take it.
This year I wrote and posted: 4 fics and 1 vid. Yay.
In order of posting:
[vid] if i were a fish - Festivid for Fire Island (2022)
and since we've no place to go - TOG Hallmark movie AU, Joe/Nicky
what dreams may come - TOG/Inception fusion, Joe/Nicky + ensemble
and we have all the time in the world (to get it right) - Heartstopper canon divergence AU, Nick/Charlie
only losers fight clean - Ocean's 11 for Yuletide, Rusty/Danny
Total wordcount: 107,347 words.
Overall Thoughts:
Another rough mental health year, as conveyed through fic. Fandom-wise, the first half-ish of this year was spent trying to convince myself I could somehow keep the flame alive for TOG fandom, and the second half was falling whole-heartedly and full-throatedly in love with the Heartstopper fandom instead. That was a significant light switch mental moment. I just badly needed a new happy place, and found it in HS. And wound up writing a 70k fic to jumpstart my entrance into a new fandom, which is the fourth-longest fic I've ever written, period.
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
I am genuinely shocked I managed to hit my 100k goal, especially after floundering so much last year. And while I'd hoped to write more fics in terms of quantity, well, one very long one will also suffice.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
I can't say that I didn't predict Heartstopper at all, since I've loved the show since its debut in 2022 and had been low-key pondering fic ideas for some time. But I didn't formally create the doc and start tinkering with an outline until this spring, and I certainly didn't expect it to become the monster it did.
This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most:
I never have a good answer for this one. I guess the way Nick just keeps trying and trying to get it right, with and for Charlie, even when it's hard and can feel hopeless, is definitely my personal theme for the year. Just...doing your best with kindness, and not giving up.
What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
I mean, definitely and we have all the time in the world (to get it right). My longest fics tend to be my personal faves, because I pour so much time and thought and energy into them. And Nick and Charlie's romance in any 'verse is just...sweet and happy-making.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Eh. I don't think so. New fandoms never feel risky to me at this point. I suppose what dreams may come could be considered the riskiest, given the very non-linear narrative and nature of writing dreamsharing - there's a fine line between purposely disorienting and just plain confusing to the reader. But it's not my first Inception fic like that, so I don't know that this one was particularly risky.
My best story of this year:
The 70k Heartstopper fic, yeah. I had a lot of fun teasing out the ramification of that canon divergence, and I really do think it works.
My most popular story of this year:
By kudos, and we have all the time in the world (to get it right), again. Heartstopper isn't a big fandom, but it's definitely more active at the moment than TOG, so no surprise there.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Like last year, it's hard for me to complain when I've got so few fics posted. I'm sad that I didn't write what dreams may come three years ago, when it probably would have hit a lot hotter instead of landing with a quiet thud, but it's not my personal fave, either. So it goes.
My least favorite story this year:
Nope. Too few fics posted to be that picky. They all served their purpose, and I am content.
Most fun story to write:
The Heartstopper fic alternated parts that were SUPER fun to write with long stretches of abject panic, so I think I'll go with and since we've no place to go. Playing around with Hallmark Christmas Movie tropes and skewering or subverting a few of them was a lot of fun, and I so rarely let myself just lean into that sort of cheesy romcom.
Story with the sweetest moment:
I mean. and we have all the time in the world (to get it right), obviously. Nick and Charlie are, like, the textbook definition of "sweet". They're just so goddamn kind and sincere, I can't with them. I don't even know what I'd consider the sweetest moment in that, it all gave me diabetes to write. I am learning to embrace the sap for sure with this fandom.
Story with the single sexiest moment:
and since we've no place to go was the only M-rated fic this year. They definitely have sex in that (though, as per my usual, not that explicitly). So, by default, yeah.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
I never really cross that particular line. But coming up with Quynh's nightmare for Nicky in what dreams may come was more disturbing than my usual, though I think it's still fairly tame as written. There were darker versions in my head, I think. I also really, really hated writing Ben Hope in the Heartstopper fic, though nothing worse happened there than in the show - just didn't like having to put my own spin on the shit he says about and does to Charlie, relatively mild though it might be.
Most overdue:
I'd been actively avoiding writing a TOG/Inception fusion for nearly four years, because I didn't want that to be My Thing like it was in X-Men fandom. And then I wrote it anyway, because nobody else would. And by then, nobody else cared, either. But at least I purged that particular plotbunny out of my system.
Favorite title:
No particular standouts this year, so I guess I'll default to and we have all the time in the world (to get it right). From "People Get Ready", by the Frames, and while the overall song doesn't particularly suit Heartstopper, I do think that chorus really, really does. It got stuck in my head very early on in writing it and wouldn't quit, so it stayed.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
Writing a fic in a new fandom always means actually thinking about the characters properly in ways I hadn't before, so, yeah. Especially given how long it turned out to be. Weirdly, I feel like I now have a much stronger grasp of Harry (Heartstopper's resident bully) as a character, because I had to pick apart exactly why he acts the way he does, and how the minor shifts I made to canon for the fic would have a ripple effect and push his big blowup with Nick much later than in the show/comic. He's way more concerned with keeping Nick on his side to bolster his own status than turning on Nick (which, ultimately, is also his shitty strategy FOR keeping Nick on his side, by scaring him with the consequences of turning against him - it DOES NOT WORK, btw). I did not ever want to think that hard about that particular character, but here we are.
Hardest story to write:
Honestly, probably what dreams may come. I was already falling out of love with TOG fandom at that point, hard, and this was my last ditch effort to stay invested, while it didn't seem like anyone else around me was anymore, either. I flat out forbade myself from working on the Heartstopper fic until I'd finished this one first, because I didn't want to leave it hanging. That was what finally forced me to finish and post it.
Biggest Disappointment:
Eh. Too much disappointment in the real world this year, I'm not gonna spend that negative emotion on my escapist hobby instead.
Biggest Surprise:
That the fucking Heartstopper fic grew to 70k words. What the everloving fuck, brain.
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
There is a very specific moment in Nick and Charlie's relationship in and we have all the time in the world (to get it right) that I pulled directly from the early days of my own relationship with my wife. I mean, it's not the first or last time I'll draw on specific personal experience for a fic - that's what writers do - but it is, um. Yeah. (She reads all my fics. She cackled a LOT at that bit.)
Favorite opening line:
It will always bother Nicky a little that neither he nor Joe remember how they first met. (and since we've no place to go - no real standouts this year, but I do like the tone this one sets)
Favorite closing line:
And Rusty thinks, oh. (only losers fight clean - Yuletide fic getting its only shoutout in this whole year in review, but I always knew it needed to end with that OH moment, and it pleases me)
In conclusion:
We made it through another year. Yay, team.
Fic-writing goals for 2025:
Continuing to set myself the 100k words goal for the year, glad that I got back on track in 2024 after falling short in 2023. I already have two other Heartstopper fics in the works, and would very much like to start feeling like a part of that fandom rather than just being the new kid in the cafeteria hoping someone will pull up a seat next to me someday. But I've always struggled with that part of it. And hey, if TOG2 ever actually hits Netflix, maybe it will rekindle that particular flame, and I can revisit some of the WIP docs I'd abandoned for it (or start new ones, more likely). Or something new and unexpected will capture my fannish attention, who knows?
