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Jan. 2nd, 2026 07:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lakeeffectgirlYuletide reveals: REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD!!!
I wrote this Carts/Richie and this Carts/Richie because I am nothing if not a parody of myself.
This year I wrote and posted: 25 fics across 8 fandoms.
Total posted word count: 97,579
Overall Thoughts: My goals for last year, per this same questionnaire, were - "I would like to cross 100k again, finish at least three of my outstanding in-progress things, and cross one item off my "write someday" list." I didn't quite make 100k but got close enough, I finished three of 2024's WIPs (the MTH Stucky, the second chapter of "a secret is something...", and the Nate/Mike), and I finally wrote a Thunderheart piece after wanting to for years. Not too bad at all given my complete lack of desire to write from basically September onwards!!
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?: Honestly, making 100k/year my goal has felt overly optimistic the last few years. Given everything, I think I did pretty good in 2025. I started out the year without a ride-or-die fandom yet again, and I had two Marvel WIPs I needed to work on - one got finished and the other got caught in the stupid writer's block so it's going on 2026's to-do list. Per my tracker, I wrote about 128k this year - most of this overage is a bunch of Pitt WIPs I haven't finished yet.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?: Well, I knew The Pitt was starting on HBO, and figured I'd watch it eventually, but I definitely didn't think I'd be spending all summer writing a bunch of out of character porn for it.
What's your own favorite story of the year?: I think maybe borderline, since I really love the last scene with the baby.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?: Do I ever really take a writing risk? Probably not. I wrote more het this year than usual, if that counts.
My most popular story of this year: feels better biting down, which I wrote for fandom5k and has been one of my best performing exchange fics (even though my recipient never commented, which was a bummer). Obviously it hit the sweet spot of being a longer-ish work for an active fandom.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: I thought the Mel/Langdon would get more readers - but I suppose it's not really the sort of Mel/Langdon those shippers are into.
Most fun story to write: Ooh, this Mav/Rooster I did for the discord server exchange was quite fun to do, as it's just a lot of drinking and playing slot machines in Vegas.
Hardest story to write: Hmm... I guess I have to go with "feels better biting down", mostly because it was wrangling 30k worth of things happening, which is not always my strong suit. Plus I do struggle with writing from the POV of a medical professional, as I am NOT a medical professional. I could bullshit my way through writing a hockey game, but it's a lot more difficult to bullshit through saving someone's life in a medical emergency.
Biggest Disappointment: The basically months-long writer's block that stymied me from September onwards. I don't know if it was just work sapping more of my energy (or just having less energy in general?), or the shitty state of the world, or the depresso - probably a combination of all this. I had a lot of things I wanted to work on and almost none of them even got opened after September. :-/
Biggest Surprise: WELL, I definitely had not seen myself returning to my Carts/Richie roots in 2025!! I matched on a different fandom but it was like the universe was telling me that it was time (as though I don't think about Mike like once a week).
Fic-writing goals for the coming year: I would like to cross 100k for real this time, finish at least three of my outstanding in-progress things, and cross another item off my "write someday" list. Hopefully the finishing a couple WIPs comes easily - I have plenty for The Pitt and the new season starts next week, so - crossing my fingers!!
Most-read fics of mine from each year since I started posting on AO3: (Changes from last year marked with an asterisk)
2009 and prior: living with the living (Wizards of Waverly Place)
2010: Après moi le deluge (Generation Kill)*
2011: been at this far too long (The Social Network)
2012: we should do it again (Generation Kill)*
2013: break something old to build something new (hockey RPF, Briere/Giroux)
2014: A Rare Device (Generation Kill)*
2015: the year I got you alone (hockey RPF, Carter/Richards)*
2016: Friday Night Bracing for Monday (Good Will Hunting) (again by an insane amount - which could mean nothing!)
2017: make this place beautiful (Generation Kill)*
2018: a place to grow, a chance to flourish (Venom)
2019: upside down from the moon (The Long Walk)* (thanks to the movie coming out)
2020: Ocean's East (Ocean's 11)*
2021: out of a million (Venom)
2022: all-time classic run (Peacemaker)* (thanks to the second season dropping)
2023: everyone seems a damn genius lately (Top Gun)
2024: the tender things we're working on (Marvel)
and this year's most read was...: feels better biting down (The Pitt)
It feels so goofy to track stats sometimes, but I started doing it during Covid so I could see if there were things people were like, comfort reading or whatever, and I kept doing it so I can see what people are reading, because there is sometimes an interesting reason! Like "upside down from the moon" was a Yuletide treat from 2019 and it had a respectable and on-brand readership for being for a novel that is a perennial Yuletide nominee but is still a small fandom - and this year there was a movie made that I haven't watched yet (because sadness!) that sounds just as queer as the novel. (I do plan to watch it eventually!)
I wrote this Carts/Richie and this Carts/Richie because I am nothing if not a parody of myself.
This year I wrote and posted: 25 fics across 8 fandoms.
Total posted word count: 97,579
Overall Thoughts: My goals for last year, per this same questionnaire, were - "I would like to cross 100k again, finish at least three of my outstanding in-progress things, and cross one item off my "write someday" list." I didn't quite make 100k but got close enough, I finished three of 2024's WIPs (the MTH Stucky, the second chapter of "a secret is something...", and the Nate/Mike), and I finally wrote a Thunderheart piece after wanting to for years. Not too bad at all given my complete lack of desire to write from basically September onwards!!
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?: Honestly, making 100k/year my goal has felt overly optimistic the last few years. Given everything, I think I did pretty good in 2025. I started out the year without a ride-or-die fandom yet again, and I had two Marvel WIPs I needed to work on - one got finished and the other got caught in the stupid writer's block so it's going on 2026's to-do list. Per my tracker, I wrote about 128k this year - most of this overage is a bunch of Pitt WIPs I haven't finished yet.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?: Well, I knew The Pitt was starting on HBO, and figured I'd watch it eventually, but I definitely didn't think I'd be spending all summer writing a bunch of out of character porn for it.
What's your own favorite story of the year?: I think maybe borderline, since I really love the last scene with the baby.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?: Do I ever really take a writing risk? Probably not. I wrote more het this year than usual, if that counts.
My most popular story of this year: feels better biting down, which I wrote for fandom5k and has been one of my best performing exchange fics (even though my recipient never commented, which was a bummer). Obviously it hit the sweet spot of being a longer-ish work for an active fandom.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: I thought the Mel/Langdon would get more readers - but I suppose it's not really the sort of Mel/Langdon those shippers are into.
Most fun story to write: Ooh, this Mav/Rooster I did for the discord server exchange was quite fun to do, as it's just a lot of drinking and playing slot machines in Vegas.
Hardest story to write: Hmm... I guess I have to go with "feels better biting down", mostly because it was wrangling 30k worth of things happening, which is not always my strong suit. Plus I do struggle with writing from the POV of a medical professional, as I am NOT a medical professional. I could bullshit my way through writing a hockey game, but it's a lot more difficult to bullshit through saving someone's life in a medical emergency.
Biggest Disappointment: The basically months-long writer's block that stymied me from September onwards. I don't know if it was just work sapping more of my energy (or just having less energy in general?), or the shitty state of the world, or the depresso - probably a combination of all this. I had a lot of things I wanted to work on and almost none of them even got opened after September. :-/
Biggest Surprise: WELL, I definitely had not seen myself returning to my Carts/Richie roots in 2025!! I matched on a different fandom but it was like the universe was telling me that it was time (as though I don't think about Mike like once a week).
Fic-writing goals for the coming year: I would like to cross 100k for real this time, finish at least three of my outstanding in-progress things, and cross another item off my "write someday" list. Hopefully the finishing a couple WIPs comes easily - I have plenty for The Pitt and the new season starts next week, so - crossing my fingers!!
Most-read fics of mine from each year since I started posting on AO3: (Changes from last year marked with an asterisk)
2009 and prior: living with the living (Wizards of Waverly Place)
2010: Après moi le deluge (Generation Kill)*
2011: been at this far too long (The Social Network)
2012: we should do it again (Generation Kill)*
2013: break something old to build something new (hockey RPF, Briere/Giroux)
2014: A Rare Device (Generation Kill)*
2015: the year I got you alone (hockey RPF, Carter/Richards)*
2016: Friday Night Bracing for Monday (Good Will Hunting) (again by an insane amount - which could mean nothing!)
2017: make this place beautiful (Generation Kill)*
2018: a place to grow, a chance to flourish (Venom)
2019: upside down from the moon (The Long Walk)* (thanks to the movie coming out)
2020: Ocean's East (Ocean's 11)*
2021: out of a million (Venom)
2022: all-time classic run (Peacemaker)* (thanks to the second season dropping)
2023: everyone seems a damn genius lately (Top Gun)
2024: the tender things we're working on (Marvel)
and this year's most read was...: feels better biting down (The Pitt)
It feels so goofy to track stats sometimes, but I started doing it during Covid so I could see if there were things people were like, comfort reading or whatever, and I kept doing it so I can see what people are reading, because there is sometimes an interesting reason! Like "upside down from the moon" was a Yuletide treat from 2019 and it had a respectable and on-brand readership for being for a novel that is a perennial Yuletide nominee but is still a small fandom - and this year there was a movie made that I haven't watched yet (because sadness!) that sounds just as queer as the novel. (I do plan to watch it eventually!)
