Author's Notes: Year in Review

[luxken27]

Well, today marks my fandom anniversary, as close as I can tell. I’m not exactly sure when I first dipped my toes into the fanfic/fanart world; I watched the Inuyasha anime and read the manga up-to-date sometime during the summer of 2007, and then started looking for fanart, which lead to fanfic, which lead to Christmas ’07 as a Tales from the House of the Moon timesink, which lead to even more reading of ‘major fandom works.’ But I *do* know that on March 11, 2008 I signed up for an account at Media Miner and posted the first three chapters of Every Heart, with no small amount of trepidation.

The rest, as they say, is history…

2008 in review | 2009 in review | 2010 in review | 2011 in review


Stats:

Story Stats:
Total words written (as accounted for in MS Word): 131,528 [105,320 published]

Total words by fandom:
• Baby-sitters Club: 27,463 [1,255 published]
• Instant Star: 878
• Inuyasha: 35,424
• Kids Incorporated: 65,038
• Sweet Valley: 2,725

Total stories written (started, WIP, completed): 15
• Total number of drabbles (100-500 words): 0
• Total number of oneshots (501+ words): 7
• Total number of completed multichapter fics: 2
• Total number of WIP multichapter fics: 2
• Total number of completed series: 2
• Total number of WIP series: 1
• Total number of unpublished fics: 1

Total number of fiction archives used: 6 [stats below]
Fanfiction.net
Media Miner
Archive of our Own
deviantART
(+ Dreamwidth, LiveJournal)

Most reviewed stories [title (FANDOM, pairing), # of reviews, compiled across all archives]
• Fleeting (IY, Sesshoumaru/Kagome): 320
• Collected Works (IY, various): 202
• The Best Friends You’ll Ever Have (BSC, various): 122
• Allegiance (IY, Sesshoumaru/Kagome): 110
• Fragments (IY, Miroku/Sango): 103


Challenges:
Challenges started/ongoing: 4 (un_love_you prompt table, babysitters100 prompt table, fandom_stocking exchange, 10_letters prompt table)

Challenges completed: 2 (fandom_stocking exchange, 10_letters prompt table)


Epics...
• Longest completed fic = Every Heart (73,171 words)
• Longest WIP fic = Stacy in Bloom (103,708 words)


2012 Goals ~ How did I do?
Here’s the list of goals I made at the end of last year’s post, as goals I wanted to accomplish this year…so: did I succeed, fail, or go off in a completely different direction?

• FINISH ALL OWED GIFTFIC OMFG.
I came *so* agonizingly close to this goal, finishing all but one owed giftfic – though I did manage to start on said fic, and get 26K words into it, so I’d say I 85% accomplished this one.
• Finish Fleeting.
Nope. I did, however, complete a fresh re-edit of the entire story, and I posted the first new chapter in three years, which is definitely something. This time last year I was looking to get out of IY completely, but it’s managed to suck me back in, LOL.
• Try out one or two “new” fandoms.
YES! Totally met this mark, with two fics in new-to-me fandoms: Sweet Valley & Instant Star.
• Finish and post Object Lesson.
Nope – I made zero headway on this, for (unfortunately) the second year in a row.
• Finish Stacy in Bloom.
It was a total pipe dream, but I am surprised at my lack of progress on this fic.


But what are your thoughts on yaoi?
This last year of fandom – my fifth, holy fuck o.O – was pretty much nothing like I expected it to be.

I remember starting the year off cautiously optimistic – but also in a weird place, as I was facing some real-life turmoil that unfortunately spilled over into my fannish activities. I was working on a story that I ultimately came to dislike, so much so that I cannot bring myself to go back and reread it.

I speak, of course, of Love Letters.

I’d started that fic with the best of intentions – another cute, fluffy Valentine’s Day fic to get me back on the wagon, so to speak – but things rather quickly went awry. It’s an AU post-series fic, which in tiny fandoms means NO audience, and because of the shit going on IRL I really needed some validation that something I was doing was right – and I didn’t get it. It was dumb of me to pin my hopes for happiness on the fickle audiences of obscure fandoms, but I pretty much had nothing else. I was on a heavy KI writing kick, and these characters from my childhood had been constant comforts through the trials and travails of life. I suppose it was only natural that they’d falter at some point.

That is probably the first fic that I’ve disliked as much as I do, and yet finished it anyway. As I mentioned in the final author’s notes post, if I hadn’t posted it as a WIP, I probably never would’ve posted it at all – and that experience made me think long and hard about the idea of posting stories-in-progress, period. As much as I enjoy the feedback and accountability that comes along with WIPs, I don’t enjoy the guilt or isolation when the muses desert me, or the long hiatuses that cause readers to lose interest. I don’t like letting people down, and I don’t like leaving a project to languish for so long that I feel like it needs a thorough edit before it can be picked up again. I like watching my writing style evolve, but not necessarily over the course of the same friggin’ fic o.O

I had an inevitable hiatus with Love Letters, though mercifully it was only months instead of years. I am immensely proud that I finished it, if only to prove to myself that I could persevere through such a quagmire of a project. I learned a lot from the experience, most especially that I never care to repeat it, LOL.

March of 2012 was also the Month of Meta at month_of_meta, and I got a lot of meta-writing (and thinking) in during that month. It was fun to explore the boundaries of small fandoms, as well as the place fanfiction has in the whole art of writing. These are goalposts that are continually moving, but it was nice to take some time out and actually just META, for a change. I definitely miss it…

April of 2012 also saw the only update to Stacy in Bloom for the entire year – Chapter 24, posting on the two-year anniversary of the story. I was excited to celebrate the anniversary of the fic that saved my fannish sanity, and looking back on the year, I wish I had devoted more of my heavy KI swing to this fic. It’s one of my babies, and I feel guilty that I’ve ignored it so. Some of the urgency in exploring this world has diminished now that kidsincdaily is going strong and giving me a little bit of “free” KI cheer every day.

Also in April, I began the 100 Things Challenge, with the chosen topic of music that moves me. Music is such an integral part of my writing process that it seemed like the perfect thing to break away and get especially geeky about. This project gradually lost steam as the year progressed and my writing muses came back, but it is still on the back burner. I’ve completed 13 posts so far, and the nice thing about this challenge is that there isn’t a time limit. It will always be there when I need a writing exercise, or when I feel especially grateful about a particular song/band/music-in-general :P

In May, I managed to kill two birds with one stone by posting the second bonus/deleted scene for Secrets. This was my birthday giftfic (stone #1) for KeB, my dearest fellow KI fangirl, and it was also the last promised piece of a long-running WIP (stone #2). This was also the first story that I went back and completely re-edited, to my satisfaction, when I added the ending. It was very happily received, and I was happy to close a door of the giftfic/WIP conundrum that plagued my entire year.

Things were more or less flowing until early June, when knittingknots informed us of psyco_chick32’s death. I think we all screeched to a halt when we heard that news, and some of us are still mourning her passing. It made us all more aware of our mortality, and how we can so easily take fandom friendships for granted. She touched so many of our lives, and I was no exception. It took me a long time to get back into the groove of things…and I suppose the second annual Summer Mini Challenge happened just in time.

I was able to right my ship enough to actually participate in my own challenge this year, and I even almost finished a table – but more importantly, I was able to knock off a couple of fics that had been niggling at me. I wrote my first Sweet Valley piece, Tears of a Clown, as a birthday giftfic for snarky_imp, and the demons of Sweet Valley Confidential finally STFU (or, at least STFD :P). Two of the prompts helped me finished up the despised Love Letters, and another one helped me gather my thoughts for another long-overdue giftfic, You’re the One That I Want for gloriafan.

That was a fun story to write, and a perfect palate cleanser after Love Letters. It was my first time working with a pairing other than my OTP, and the rewatch of canon + fitting the pieces of the story together really made me fall in love with them. Mickey/Gloria is a fun ship, and the actors had lots of chemistry in the first season – I definitely understand now why it’s the second most popular KI ship ♥

That fic was posted in September, and unfortunately, it was accompanied by the continued wankery that had permeated the KI fandom for most of the year. While fun to point and laugh at, it sucked the life out of the fandom for me, and I started looking for other outlets. This is when I very slowly began to work on the edit of Fleeting – I think I even told someone that the KI wank was getting so bad, it was making me long for the days of IY! I never thought I’d ever say that, but I guess we never forget our first loves…and my IY muse was definitely coming back to me in a big way.

I dipped my toes in the water in late October with Rhapsody in Eight Movements, and was absolutely and totally shocked by its reception. This was not the fandom I remembered – toxic, backbiting, fastmoving, judgmental. So many people literally welcomed me back with open arms, and I was just amazed. I had no idea I’d been missed, I guess because you guys were kind enough to humor me as I dabbled elsewhere :) Rhapsody also gave me some wonderful catharsis for my ongoing depression, and turned into a story I go back and re-read whenever I feel a particularly bad spell coming on. It was something of a scary journey to take, but ultimately, it proved important – if only because my Sesshoumaru muse finally, finally, woke up.

November saw me throw in the towel and finally start a Tumblr (luxken27). It still makes me sad that fandom seems to have more or less wholesale moved onto the platform, but I find myself enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. It was really nice to find out that some of my favorite old TV shows do have other, active fans, and it was nice to find old friends I’d long thought drifted away ♥ I still consider Dreamwidth my home, but I have learned to utilize Tumblr for what it’s worth.

November/December was also fairly big in my KI world, with the first (successful!) Best of the Golden Era Celebration poll, celebrating the solo performances of the cast members from the 1985-86 “Golden Era.” This also saw the launch of kidsincdaily, which has steadily gained a small following – and has replaced the cumbersome posting from its original LJ home.

December was the month of giftfics, as I hunkered down to work on fics I owed, period, as well as fills for fandom_stocking. Perhaps my happiest accomplishment was finally posting a giftfic I’d owed for two years, A Calculated Risk for janey_p, her gift for giving me the 100th review of Fleeting on FF.net. That turned out to be a fortuitous fic, because it opened the floodgates of my SessMom headcanon leik woah. I ended up writing another SessMom-centric giftfic, this time for fellow fan paynesgrey. Stolen was born from a throwaway line in A Calculated Risk, when Sesshoumaru muses that he had not been stolen from his mother the way her mate was. Stolen was my first stab at the InuPapa/SessMom ship, and I was totally. hooked.

I couldn’t let SessMom run away with my muses completely, however – I also wrote my lone BSC fic of the year, New Parents for ozqueen; as well as a follow-up giftfic for gloriafan, All I Want for Christmas is You. fandom_stocking also allowed me to branch out into my second ‘new’ fandom of the year, with Friends Forever, an Instant Star fic for presdbtwnpges.

Instant Star is one of those shows that has so thoroughly touched my fannish life that I’m kinda shocked it took me so long to write fic directly for it. I use its soundtrack constantly (including for several of the stories I wrote as gifts last year), its first season is what I consider the perfect season of a TV show, and its characters have stupid amazing chemistry. So many stories I have planned/am writing will utilize *something* from this series that it’s ridiculous. I have a sneaking suspicion that if I ever sit down and rewatch it, I’ll start writing fic for it like crazy, LOL.

In December, I started work on the last long-overdue giftfic, a California Diaries story for lucida. This story very quickly grew out of my control – 26K+ words and counting, as it stands now; it has a fully-developed plot, subplot, and a side story. Remember all that contemplation I had earlier about whether or not I wanted to post longer works as WIPs? That’s exactly what’s kept me from posting this one. I am really hoping to finish this story before releasing it – or at least get a little closer to its ending. I’m quite excited for it, and really wish I could’ve pushed through and finished it while I still had the momentum, but alas.

January 2013 was, as so many Januaries before it had been, the month of received giftfic. I began to post the stories I’d written the month before, along with their sometimes tl;dr author’s notes :P Unfortunately, RL seriously sidetracked me from that, to the point where I was still making fandom-stocking posts in fucking February. Unfortunately, it couldn’t be helped – and, in fact, is still an ongoing situation. The fact that I’m writing at all is a testament to my medications.

Once I finished with all of my holiday projects, Sesshoumaru and his mother took up complete residence in my head. I never thought I could love a character more than I do Sesshoumaru – he has been my muse for the entire five years of my fannish career, never far from my heart, even if he was slumbering in my brain :P But then I started working with his mother, and exploring the nooks and crannies of the rather vast headcanon she conjured in me. I get really stupidly excited when I work on SessMom stuff, and I *know* it shows in my notes, LOL. I completed a third SessMom-centric piece, The Heir & the Heirloom, at the very end of February, and gathered together a loose collection devoted to this character that I’m calling “The Gilded Cage.” I’m definitely not done with SessMom yet – or maybe I should say, she’s not done with me? I have a feeling that the next piece I write is going to be InuPapa/SessMom smut – and it would be the first X-rated piece of fic I’ve written in a very long time.

Sesshoumaru is not one to be thrown over easily, however, especially not for his mother, LOL :P The last thing I managed to post in this year was the newest chapter of Fleeting. The reception I’ve received for this fic has just been mind-boggling. It’s always been the most popular thing I’ve ever written, but somehow, it weathered the three-year hiatus. If anything, it’s gotten more popular o.O which just totally astounds me. I don’t know how many people who started reading this fic in 2008 still are, but the fact that new people are finding it/commenting on it just…wow. I don’t even know what to say. This fic has always been my IY fandom opus, and I’m so happy that I’m finally, actively working on it again.

Somehow, I guess it’s truly fitting that – five years after jumping feet-first into it – I have come full-circle back to IY fandom. This time last year, I was ready to be done with it for good – but now it’s a completely different story. Finding “new” characters to love (like SessMom) + returning to old comforts (like Sesshoumaru himself) has made me actually think about breaking out some of those stories I’d long ago shelved. I never thought I’d say this, but damn am I happy to be actively writing for IY again! :D


Personal favorite stories (listed in chronological order)
• Rhapsody in Eight Movements (October 30, 2012 – November 6, 2012)
• The Heir & the Heirloom (February 28, 2013)


Goals for the next 12 months:
I’m going to attempt to give myself realistic goals this year – having used Getting Shit Done lists for the last few years, I’ve found that I really enjoy being able to cross things off my list :)
• Finish Fleeting. I’m five chapters away – this is my #1 goal this year.
• Finish lucida’s giftfic. My #2 goal of the year, if only so I can be completely free of my fic obligations – this sort of guilt eats at me, because I hate making people wait for something I promised them.
• Continue working on my SessMom collection. Sesshoumaru’s mother has just completely enraptured me over these last couple of months, and I’d love to see where she’s going to take me next. I hope to post up one or two pieces by March of 2014.
• Have another successful Summer Mini Challenge. These have been very enjoyable, at least for me – and I like running a challenge. It gives me a great excuse to get out of my comfort zone, and to brush up on my commenting/feedback skills, hehe :D

Comments

[gloriafan]

I think we all screeched to a halt when we heard that news, and some of us are still mourning her passing. It made us all more aware of our mortality, and how we can so easily take fandom friendships for granted.

Definitely. It's still just so hard to wrap my head around the fact that she's gone...I didn't know her for very long and we only had one fandom in common, but she was a wonderful person and I'm incredibly thankful for the time I knew her.

It was my first time working with a pairing other than my OTP, and the rewatch of canon + fitting the pieces of the story together really made me fall in love with them.

Guh, I can't tell you how many time I've reread those M/G pieces. They were. Just. So. Perfect.

I still consider Dreamwidth my home, but I have learned to utilize Tumblr for what it’s worth.

I'm really loving tumblr right now...it's the perfect way to make use of a hiatus. :P

Have another successful Summer Mini Challenge.

And I hope to participate properly this year! The SMC is always fun, even if I didn't get the chance to write anything last year.

[luxken27]

psyco_chick32 was my best IY fandom friend - we were two sides of the same coin for a good two years. I still can't believe that she's gone, and I'll always miss her even if we weren't as close there at the end. In some weird, twisted way, losing her actually brought me back into the fandom that united us in the first place. *sigh*

I can't tell you how many time I've reread those M/G pieces. They were. Just. So. Perfect.

D'aww ♥ And I can tell you how happy it makes me to hear this! I'm so pleased that I was able to give you gift(s) you truly enjoyed =) I aim to please!

I'm really loving tumblr right now...it's the perfect way to make use of a hiatus. :P

I'm happy to have "remade" so many friends I'd lost touch with, but I really hate not being able to talk or interact with them due to Tumblr's passive nature :-/ Oh, well. I guess I should just take what I can get, no? Plus sometimes gifs are the only way to express what you're feeling in the moment, LOL :P

And I hope to participate properly this year! The SMC is always fun, even if I didn't get the chance to write anything last year.

Yay! We've still got a couple of months, maybe your mojo will be back by then, hehe :P

[knittingknots]

Oh Gods, Tumblr. Yes. It's allowed me to wallow in fandom land, which I need cause working on the climate change issues (my current major activism) is absolutely, horribly, incredibly depressing and I had to back off some, and tumblr gives me the safe haven I need.


And yes about psyco_chick's death. Such an intense, wonderful person, and I still miss her. Sigh.