Writing Roundup 2021
Apr. 29th, 2022 05:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
out_thereLast year's stats (which were posted in March)
If I keep posting later every year, eventually I'm going to end up posting in December for the year before that.
February
We Should Be a Settled Argument (41909 words) by out_there
Chapters: 8/8
Fandom: Gotham (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Oswald Cobblepot/Edward Nygma
Characters: Oswald Cobblepot, Edward Nygma
Additional Tags: Nygmobblepot, POV Oswald Cobblepot, Season/Series 05, incarceration, Blackgate Penitentiary (DCU), Arkham Asylum, Offscreen Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, oblique mentions of Ed's bad childhood, ten years apart, set after 5x11
Summary:
Reflection:
In late 2020, I watched 5 seasons of Gotham and loved their version of Oswald Cobblepot / Penguin, and his infatuation with Riddler. They're both such gleeful villains, loving being the bad guys in different ways and so much fun to watch, even when they squabble like children. Essentially, I loved them so much I wanted them to have a happy ending. This is the first of two stories I wrote around that idea.
This one is 10 years of separation, but exploring how well Oswald could cope in prison and letting them grow towards each other. It was a lot of fun to write and I really enjoyed it. (Plus, I got to use a Something For Kate line as a title, which always makes me happy.)
And I loved writing around Martin. That he was a character in absence in this story. We never see him onscreen, but there are letters and concern and even a heist at the end, and it's very much a villianous little family.
April
Love Is a Four-Legged Word (10391 words) by out_there
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Gotham (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Oswald Cobblepot/Edward Nygma
Characters: Oswald Cobblepot, Edward Nygma
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, POV Edward Nygma, Established Relationship, everyone deserves a puppy, Ed is not a dog person, Oswald does not want to be called Daddy
Summary:
Reflection:
This is the second Gotham happy ending for my favourite villians. Interestingly, it does have a lot of the same themes as the story above: defining your own family, finding a concept of domesticity that allows for heists and breaking the law, Oswald and Ed being happy and in love -- and how that doesn't make them *nice* people. They still scheme and get angry and frustrated; they still lash out in immature ways. But they accept that about each other and find a way to make it work.
And in a lot of ways, the dog Jasper serves the same purpose here as Martin does in the story above -- it gives them a slightly bigger family and the chance to dote on something that relies on them.
August
Lokii (23033 words) by out_there
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Loki (TV 2021), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Loki/Mobius M. Mobius/Sylvie (Loki TV)
Characters: Loki (Marvel), Sylvie (Loki TV), Mobius M. Mobius
Additional Tags: Vaguely post series, Loki 2021 - Freeform, Sylkius, how to gut a fish, awkward confessions, the correct plural of loki, pronouns will match loki's current gender
Summary:
Reflection:
After watching Loki s1, I started two wips. I still haven't finished the first one, but I'm really pleased with this one. I love the idea of an OT3 -- I like Loki and Sylvie, and honestly I want to see both of them happy with Mobius. It requires a little overlooking the finale and assuming a settled future of running the TVA, but it was a really fun story to write. Probably more het sex than I've written in years, but so much fun. It's the snarky sarcasm and the scheming, and the way that Mobius handles them through a combination of freedom and calling them on their BS.
Trying to write a little bit of plot into it got tricky, but I had so much fun writing the various dynamics between them.
SeptemberFrogs! (4098 words) by out_there
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Clint Barton/Phil Coulson
Characters: Clint Barton, Phil Coulson, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Nick Fury, Stephen Strange, Loki (Marvel), Thor (Marvel)
Additional Tags: Magical Realism, transformation into a frog, Fairy Tale Elements
Summary:
Reflection:
I love a remix challenge in theory, but as soon as you get assigned your author, there's always that difficulty of figuring out what you'd write differently, where there's room for you to play. This was a lot of fun. I love a good fairytale type story, and then I took a fairytale and re-wrote it as a straight story. That is the fun of MCU -- magic and science and everything exists there.
It's a lovely little lighthearted piece, and there's something about Clint/Coulson that I tend to return to year after year. Possibly because it's a pairing that's mostly built on fanon -- the bits of story that I love are based on a few minutes of canon from years ago.
December
light me up with certainty (9451 words) by out_there
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Clint Barton/Phil Coulson
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Nick Fury
Additional Tags: Greek Myths, Inspired by Hades and Persephone (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore)
Summary:
Reflections
I would have sworn this was written this year and my first Untamed story was written last year, but this is why I have to check my actual AO3 account to complete this. Again, Clint/Coulson and again, it was for a challenge. This time, the challenge was based around a prompt but it was a lot of fun to write. I love a good mythic retelling and Persephone is a fascinating story to twist around.
(Interestingly, I only discovered Lore a few months after writing this. It's just as well or I think those ideas of greek gods would have bled over. But funny that Minth shows up in both stories -- mine from a bit of a google search on Hades.)
And again, a Something for Kate lyric. I was on a definite Something For Kate kick in 2021, but the nice thing is that I always hear the lyric when I read the title.
Conclusion
5 stories in two fandoms (because I just realised Loki is part of the MCU), which is a little lower but some of those stories were longer.
Breakdown by fandom:
2 Gotham - 52,300
3 MCU - 36,582
Total word count: 88,882
10k higher than last year, so that's something.
What's your own favourite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest: You know what? I enjoyed writing all of these when I wrote them. I've probably since come back and re-read the two Gotham stories most often -- they've got that settled domesticity that I really enjoy these days -- so they'd be my favourites.
Now your most popular:
By bookmarks: Lokii
By comments: We Should Be a Settled Argument
By kudos: We Should Be a Settled Argument/Love is a Four-Legged Word
Interesting. I would have thought MCU would have blown Gotham stories out of the water (much, much bigger fandom and it still has live canon), but I'm guessing my choice of pairing probably wasn't popular. (I like the OT3 of them, but tumblr posts definitely seem to go with Loki/Mobius or Loki/Sylvie.)
Mind you, I did release We Should Be a Settled Argument in chapters, so that probably explains the higher comments count.
The other top 4?
This question is so silly when I've only written five stories in the year, but in order of popularity (by kudos):
- Lokii
- Frogs!
- light me up with certainty
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
You know what? I'm happy enough with the numbers on these. I loved writing Lokii, and it might have a small numbers by MCU-fandom standards, but there's been wonderful enthusiasm in those comments. (Other people who were searching for OT3 stuff specifically.)
Easiest story to write:
Probably a tie between the Gotham stories -- they were so much fun and required very little research.
Most fun story to write:
Lokii was a lot of fun, even though figuring out a bit of plot was tricky.
Hardest story to write:
Ignoring the two wips I started this year and still haven't finished?
Probably Frogs! It was tricky to figure out what I wanted to remix and then how to do it without losing the charm of the original. I'm happy with the end result, but it took a big more focus.
Fic writing goals for 2022:
To finish the two stalled wips (one Sports Night, one Loki). I haven't finished either of them after nearly four months -- I started writing something new instead -- but that can be my year end goal.
Favourite opening line:
It was Fury's fault. -- Frogs!
Most years, I start with dialogue but I'm amused that all five of these start with prose. Still, there's something so short and snappy about blaming Fury for your woes.
Favourite closing line:
Resting his chin on his fist, Ed grins at him, mischievous and happy. "I've got this, Oswald. Go put the fear of the Penguin into the Triad." -- We Should Be a Settled Argument
I love the sheer amount of glee that Ed takes from Oswald's fearsome reputation.
Favourite line from anywhere:
Oh, this is always such a tricky question. (I don't remember every line I've written.)
"Did you want to be courted, Mobius? Flattered?" Loki asks, voice low and promising. He tilts his head down, a dangerous curve to his lips. "Told that we've never met anyone, god or mortal, that understands us as you do. That you see us clearly, and you still like us, even knowing what we're capable of, what we've done. That you are a steady mix of good and bad that calls to us, to the chaos in our nature, offering us balance and respite. That we desire you in every way, and we are yours in any way you want us." -- Lokii
You know what? It is hard to write aggressively charming and formal language that sounds like Loki at his most convincing and doesn't read as ridiculous on the page. But I feel like I did it there, and I'm happy with it.
Favourite title:
"We Should Be a Settled Argument" -- not only is it a great line from a great song (Something For Kate's I will Defeat You -- which I do love for this pairing) but it's so perfect for Oswald/Ed, two people who keep circling each other and arguing and fighting when it's clear that they'd be so good together. Honestly, there isn't anyone else we see who gets either of them as well as they understand each other.
If I keep posting later every year, eventually I'm going to end up posting in December for the year before that.
February
We Should Be a Settled Argument (41909 words) by out_there
Chapters: 8/8
Fandom: Gotham (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Oswald Cobblepot/Edward Nygma
Characters: Oswald Cobblepot, Edward Nygma
Additional Tags: Nygmobblepot, POV Oswald Cobblepot, Season/Series 05, incarceration, Blackgate Penitentiary (DCU), Arkham Asylum, Offscreen Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, oblique mentions of Ed's bad childhood, ten years apart, set after 5x11
Summary:
Who would have thought Blackgate Prison and No Man's Land would have so much in common? Restricted food choices, unreliable air conditioning, and surrounded by gangs that can easily be bought, albeit for cigarettes rather than bullets. It's the same posturing and negotiating, and Oswald could do it in his sleep. It's almost relaxing, if you ignore the bounty on his head from the Russians and the grumbling from the Irish.
Reflection:
In late 2020, I watched 5 seasons of Gotham and loved their version of Oswald Cobblepot / Penguin, and his infatuation with Riddler. They're both such gleeful villains, loving being the bad guys in different ways and so much fun to watch, even when they squabble like children. Essentially, I loved them so much I wanted them to have a happy ending. This is the first of two stories I wrote around that idea.
This one is 10 years of separation, but exploring how well Oswald could cope in prison and letting them grow towards each other. It was a lot of fun to write and I really enjoyed it. (Plus, I got to use a Something For Kate line as a title, which always makes me happy.)
And I loved writing around Martin. That he was a character in absence in this story. We never see him onscreen, but there are letters and concern and even a heist at the end, and it's very much a villianous little family.
April
Love Is a Four-Legged Word (10391 words) by out_there
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Gotham (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Oswald Cobblepot/Edward Nygma
Characters: Oswald Cobblepot, Edward Nygma
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, POV Edward Nygma, Established Relationship, everyone deserves a puppy, Ed is not a dog person, Oswald does not want to be called Daddy
Summary:
"It's a Maltese Shih Tzu," Ed says. "If there's a dog in the house, it shouldn't be a breed that generates puddles of drool."
"I thought you didn't like dogs," Oswald says, still cradling the ball of fluff.
"I don't," Ed agrees. "You do."
Reflection:
This is the second Gotham happy ending for my favourite villians. Interestingly, it does have a lot of the same themes as the story above: defining your own family, finding a concept of domesticity that allows for heists and breaking the law, Oswald and Ed being happy and in love -- and how that doesn't make them *nice* people. They still scheme and get angry and frustrated; they still lash out in immature ways. But they accept that about each other and find a way to make it work.
And in a lot of ways, the dog Jasper serves the same purpose here as Martin does in the story above -- it gives them a slightly bigger family and the chance to dote on something that relies on them.
August
Lokii (23033 words) by out_there
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Loki (TV 2021), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Loki/Mobius M. Mobius/Sylvie (Loki TV)
Characters: Loki (Marvel), Sylvie (Loki TV), Mobius M. Mobius
Additional Tags: Vaguely post series, Loki 2021 - Freeform, Sylkius, how to gut a fish, awkward confessions, the correct plural of loki, pronouns will match loki's current gender
Summary:
Mobius wets his lips, taking a moment before he steps into the breach. "What are we talking about?"
They both swing to stare at him with sharp eyes and sharper smirks. "You said I was your favorite," they chorus. It's an accusation and a boast wrapped together.
"Oh, boy," Mobius sighs, wondering if he should have let them squabble this one out. "Is this worth fighting over?"
"Yes," Sylvie says.
"It's a point of pride," Loki adds. "And she's wrong. I'm your favorite."
Reflection:
After watching Loki s1, I started two wips. I still haven't finished the first one, but I'm really pleased with this one. I love the idea of an OT3 -- I like Loki and Sylvie, and honestly I want to see both of them happy with Mobius. It requires a little overlooking the finale and assuming a settled future of running the TVA, but it was a really fun story to write. Probably more het sex than I've written in years, but so much fun. It's the snarky sarcasm and the scheming, and the way that Mobius handles them through a combination of freedom and calling them on their BS.
Trying to write a little bit of plot into it got tricky, but I had so much fun writing the various dynamics between them.
SeptemberFrogs! (4098 words) by out_there
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Clint Barton/Phil Coulson
Characters: Clint Barton, Phil Coulson, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Nick Fury, Stephen Strange, Loki (Marvel), Thor (Marvel)
Additional Tags: Magical Realism, transformation into a frog, Fairy Tale Elements
Summary:
"If true love there be, find it you must with kisses three."
"Three kisses," Clint echoed. "To find true love? Don't bother putting up a Tinder profile."
Reflection:
I love a remix challenge in theory, but as soon as you get assigned your author, there's always that difficulty of figuring out what you'd write differently, where there's room for you to play. This was a lot of fun. I love a good fairytale type story, and then I took a fairytale and re-wrote it as a straight story. That is the fun of MCU -- magic and science and everything exists there.
It's a lovely little lighthearted piece, and there's something about Clint/Coulson that I tend to return to year after year. Possibly because it's a pairing that's mostly built on fanon -- the bits of story that I love are based on a few minutes of canon from years ago.
December
light me up with certainty (9451 words) by out_there
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Clint Barton/Phil Coulson
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Nick Fury
Additional Tags: Greek Myths, Inspired by Hades and Persephone (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore)
Summary:
"I was helping pick pomegranates and someone offered me half. I wasn't going to eat it, but those seeds are so satisfyingly crunchy and who counts a seed?"
"The land of the dead, apparently," Natasha mutters, shaking Clint's shoulder.
Reflections
I would have sworn this was written this year and my first Untamed story was written last year, but this is why I have to check my actual AO3 account to complete this. Again, Clint/Coulson and again, it was for a challenge. This time, the challenge was based around a prompt but it was a lot of fun to write. I love a good mythic retelling and Persephone is a fascinating story to twist around.
(Interestingly, I only discovered Lore a few months after writing this. It's just as well or I think those ideas of greek gods would have bled over. But funny that Minth shows up in both stories -- mine from a bit of a google search on Hades.)
And again, a Something for Kate lyric. I was on a definite Something For Kate kick in 2021, but the nice thing is that I always hear the lyric when I read the title.
Conclusion
5 stories in two fandoms (because I just realised Loki is part of the MCU), which is a little lower but some of those stories were longer.
Breakdown by fandom:
2 Gotham - 52,300
3 MCU - 36,582
Total word count: 88,882
10k higher than last year, so that's something.
What's your own favourite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest: You know what? I enjoyed writing all of these when I wrote them. I've probably since come back and re-read the two Gotham stories most often -- they've got that settled domesticity that I really enjoy these days -- so they'd be my favourites.
Now your most popular:
By bookmarks: Lokii
By comments: We Should Be a Settled Argument
By kudos: We Should Be a Settled Argument/Love is a Four-Legged Word
Interesting. I would have thought MCU would have blown Gotham stories out of the water (much, much bigger fandom and it still has live canon), but I'm guessing my choice of pairing probably wasn't popular. (I like the OT3 of them, but tumblr posts definitely seem to go with Loki/Mobius or Loki/Sylvie.)
Mind you, I did release We Should Be a Settled Argument in chapters, so that probably explains the higher comments count.
The other top 4?
This question is so silly when I've only written five stories in the year, but in order of popularity (by kudos):
- Lokii
- Frogs!
- light me up with certainty
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
You know what? I'm happy enough with the numbers on these. I loved writing Lokii, and it might have a small numbers by MCU-fandom standards, but there's been wonderful enthusiasm in those comments. (Other people who were searching for OT3 stuff specifically.)
Easiest story to write:
Probably a tie between the Gotham stories -- they were so much fun and required very little research.
Most fun story to write:
Lokii was a lot of fun, even though figuring out a bit of plot was tricky.
Hardest story to write:
Ignoring the two wips I started this year and still haven't finished?
Probably Frogs! It was tricky to figure out what I wanted to remix and then how to do it without losing the charm of the original. I'm happy with the end result, but it took a big more focus.
Fic writing goals for 2022:
To finish the two stalled wips (one Sports Night, one Loki). I haven't finished either of them after nearly four months -- I started writing something new instead -- but that can be my year end goal.
Favourite opening line:
It was Fury's fault. -- Frogs!
Most years, I start with dialogue but I'm amused that all five of these start with prose. Still, there's something so short and snappy about blaming Fury for your woes.
Favourite closing line:
Resting his chin on his fist, Ed grins at him, mischievous and happy. "I've got this, Oswald. Go put the fear of the Penguin into the Triad." -- We Should Be a Settled Argument
I love the sheer amount of glee that Ed takes from Oswald's fearsome reputation.
Favourite line from anywhere:
Oh, this is always such a tricky question. (I don't remember every line I've written.)
"Did you want to be courted, Mobius? Flattered?" Loki asks, voice low and promising. He tilts his head down, a dangerous curve to his lips. "Told that we've never met anyone, god or mortal, that understands us as you do. That you see us clearly, and you still like us, even knowing what we're capable of, what we've done. That you are a steady mix of good and bad that calls to us, to the chaos in our nature, offering us balance and respite. That we desire you in every way, and we are yours in any way you want us." -- Lokii
You know what? It is hard to write aggressively charming and formal language that sounds like Loki at his most convincing and doesn't read as ridiculous on the page. But I feel like I did it there, and I'm happy with it.
Favourite title:
"We Should Be a Settled Argument" -- not only is it a great line from a great song (Something For Kate's I will Defeat You -- which I do love for this pairing) but it's so perfect for Oswald/Ed, two people who keep circling each other and arguing and fighting when it's clear that they'd be so good together. Honestly, there isn't anyone else we see who gets either of them as well as they understand each other.
