AO3 Meme

[hils]

I know we're a week into 2022 already but I've seen a couple of fun 2021 recap memes I want to do. The first one is about AO3

Works I posted this year:

Fic:
The Unravelling of Zhu Yilong (Lost Tomb Reboot RPF, Zhu Yilong/Chen Minghao)
Hotpot Reunion (Lost Tomb Reboot RPF, Zhu Yilong/Chen Minghao)
Because the Night (Lost Tomb Reboot, Gen)
Where Love Has Been Confined (Guardian, Zhao Yunlan/Shen Wei)
Falling Too Fast to Prepare for This (Guardian, Zhao Yunlan/Shen Wei)
Talking Side By Side (Guardian RPF, Zhu Yilong/Bai Yu)
I Live For You (Lost Tomb Reboot, Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling)
Handover (Chinese Actor RPF, Zhu Yilong/Qin Hao)
The Only One On This Road (Lost Tomb Reboot, Gen)
Mine Forevermore (Lost Tomb Reboot RPF, Zhu Yilong/Chen Minghao)
Go On As Three (Lost Tomb Reboot, Wu Xie/Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling)
Sun-Soakin' Bulges in the Shade (Lost Tomb Reboot, Wu Xie/Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling)
Recast (Lost Tomb All Dramas, Wu Xie/Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling) - Co-Written with fangirlishness, achray, teyla & elenothar
Smiles Await You When You Rise (Lost Tomb Reboot, Wu Xie/Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling)
A Friend in the Dark (Lost Tomb Reboot, Gen)
Memories of You (Ultimate Note, Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling)
You, Me and a House in a Tree (Lost Tomb Reboot, Wu Xie/Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling)
Dinner For Three (Lost Tomb Reboot, Wu Xie/Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling)
Live by the Sword (Lost Tomb Reboot, Gen)
Shaken (Lost Tomb Reboot, Wu Xie/Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling)
Reach Out and Touch Me (Lost Tomb Reboot, Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling)
Sanctuary (Lost Tomb Reboot, Gen)
Stabilised (Lost Tomb Reboot, Wu Xie/Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling)



Fandoms I wouldn't have expected to write this year:

I've only really written in two fandoms this year but the Zhu Yilong/Qin Hao fic was definitely a surprise. It's still the only fic with that pairing on AO3

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?

Definitely more! When I said I wanted to try and write more this year I never imagined I'd end up churning out nearly 160k. Hell, I'd written 35k by the end of Feb alone which was already more than I wrote in the entirety of 2020.

What's your own favourite story of the year?

I'm very fond of Sun-Soakin' Bulges in the Shade. I had a lot of fun coming up with some backstory for Pangzi since the source material basically gives us nothing.

My best story of this year:

Probably Shaken but I don't know I'm not very good at judging my own fics

My most popular story of this year:

Visible to All But Me by quite a lot. I think it's the combination of it being the most popular ship in the fandom and also the only multi-chaptered work I've posted.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:

Stabilised is pretty low for hits, kudos and comments but that might be because it's one of my longer fics and I posted it right at the end of the year just after Christmas

Story of mine the universe appreciated way more than I expected it to:

I'm quite surprised Where Love Has Been Confined is my second most kudosed fic from all of last year, and the third most kudosed fic in the entire sundial_exchange. I wrote it pretty fast, and nothing really happens in it. Clearly something resonated with people (or, more likely, they just like seeing Shen Wei whumped)

Story that could have been better?

Ironically it's also Where Love Has Been Confined. The person who beta read it for me isn't someone I know and they only spent a few minutes on it. I'm quite sure there's lots that could be improved.

Most fun story to write:

Probably Recast because it's been years since I wrote something with other people. We had a blast.

Sexiest story/story with the single sexiest moment:

For some reason I went through a period towards the start of the year where I wrote a bunch of explicit fics before I remembered I'm ace and actually really bad at writing sex. I think my beta readers helped me make those fics readable because I don't think they would have been otherwise.

Hardest story to write:

I struggled with Memories of You because the prompts I got for this exchange were all for AUs which I'm not hugely comfortable writing. I eventually managed to find something that let me largely stick to canon.

Favorite title:

Titles are hard! I like Shaken because it manages to cover the plot of the fic and Wu Xie's emotional state at the same time.

Favorite opening line:

Zhu Yilong comes awake slowly, the faint sound of the waves lapping on the sand penetrating his awareness before anything else does. - Mine Forevermore

Favorite closing line:

But right now, listening to two grown men plotting to swindle a fellow antiques dealer while their best friend watches with a fond smile, he wonders if maybe this is what home and family are supposed to feel like. - The Only One on This Road

Did you take any writing risks this year? Did you learn anything from them?

I learned that writing the first fic in existence for a ship is surprisingly liberating.

Do you have any goals for 2022?

Just to keep writing I think. I'm trying not to push myself too hard or stress myself out too much. I want writing to be fun not a chore.

Leitmotif(s) of the year:

Whump and cuddles are my recurring themes I think

In the pipeline for 2022

I've already posted one short bit of fluff Soup and Snuggles. Now I'm working on stabbing Wu Xie for a theme week. After that...I've got lots of ideas written down I just need to see what grabs my interest when I'm ready to start something new.

Comments

[tinny]

So many fics!

I remember the Zhu Yilong/Qin Hao fic fondly. (And that it hinted at Zhu Yilong/Chen Minghao. :) )

before I remembered I'm ace and actually really bad at writing sex

fwiw, I never thought that at all. Far be it from me to suggest you write something you don't like writing - but you definitely weren't bad at it.


Favorite opening /closing line:

Both the opening and the closing lines are absolutely wonderful. <3 I had fun picking those answers, too. Revisiting things and looking at numbers is really fun.

I learned that writing the first fic in existence for a ship is surprisingly liberating

Ha! Yes! \o/ Figuring out the fandom tag for something nobody has written for before is also very exciting. :D

I want writing to be fun not a chore.

\o/ Yes!

[hils]

fwiw, I never thought that at all. Far be it from me to suggest you write something you don't like writing - but you definitely weren't bad at it.
Thank you! That's actually very reassuring to hear