Reading

(no subject)

Challenge #7

The Ferris Wheel
Journaling: Life in fandom goes through ups and downs. Reminisce about the "wild ride" of your time in fandom or in other online communities.
Creative: Create an image or a photo with the theme "let's go for a ride".

If you've known me a while, you probably know a lot of this, so you can feel free to skip. But for those who haven't, here's a long boring waffle. I was first aware of the existence of fandom round about 2002, when I was in my second year at St Andrews and my then-boyfriend had some friends who were active in the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings fandoms. I wasn't really active at that point, especially once I went no contact with this friendship group (this was an "ex kept the friends" situation) and if anything I avoided it a bit so as not to bump into The Piss Artist Formerly Known as Xander (one of my ex's friends posted her fics under that name and went along with it for ages when people assumed Xander was her real name, then started a relationship with this woman in Australia letting her think she was this Xander dude as well)...yeah, there were reasons I remained no contact with that lot.

Flash forward to a couple of years after my graduation, at which point I started getting into Lost, which is the first fandom I was really active in, and is still my top one. (I'll get to my all time top five later, the other four are more recent.) I found myself wanting to expand on the backstories, especially for those characters where canon barely touched them. If you've known me a while, you probably know my "I Think This Flashback's Mostly Filler" pet peeve where it's always bugged me when too much focus is placed on the same old characters while others are pushed aside (yes, Jack's tattoos, I'm looking at you, although Once Upon a Time did flog Regina vs Snow to death a bit as well. I've had this pet peeve since I was about 13, was reading this series about a group of teens on an island off the coast of Maine, and got seriously annoyed at the amount of focus on this one character who I grew to find really irritating). And I wanted to correct certain canon cockups, such as certain character deaths. So that was how I started out in fandom.

Over time, I was active in more fandoms, Fringe, Doctor Who, Vampire Diaries-verse, Arrowverse, Supernatural, Once Upon a Time, How To Get Away with Murder, Roswell New Mexico, Riverdale-verse, Lucifer, Buffyverse, Harper's Island, Cruel Summer, The Wilds, Hunger Games, Pretty Little Liars, Teen Wolf, iZombie, Game of Thrones-verse. At this point in time, my ultimate top five are Lost, Dark, From, Yellowjackets and School Spirits (the last four being shows I got into in the last couple of years, but the ones I'm most active in right now.)

I've had my peaks and my troughs - 2013 is what I refer to as the zombie year after having basically gone through it on autopilot (bit of context for anyone who doesn't know, since Dad wasn't in my life as much after about the early 1990s, my grandad effectively took over as my father figure, and that was the year he died after a short illness), while 2019 was the year I briefly lost confidence after getting trolled. I now know this troll was someone calling themself 0 who was trolling lots of people in the Arrowverse fandom at the time, asking for very specific requests and then leaving repeated rude comments and "corrections" for anyone who didn't write them. (Corrections in inverted commas because for me, what 0 was trying to correct weren't mistakes - a character changing her name in an alternate timeline that was going to be fully explained in a later chapter, a character's reaction to something that was written and posted before that character found out about it in canon so I didn't have that to work with, but the troll was reading after it aired, did have that context, didn't spot that date and decided I was wrong - but if I was being more generous to 0 than I really felt, I could see how they wrongly assumed they were mistakes. Apart from the other one which was just a difference of opinion rather than anything being wrong in the first place.) And 2020 is pretty self explanatory.

Entry tags:

Sunshine Revival Challenge #7

One more post before vacation.

Challenge #7

The Ferris Wheel

Journaling: Life in fandom goes through ups and downs. Reminisce about the "wild ride" of your time in fandom or in other online communities.

The net wasn’t around when I was a teenager, but if it had, I’m sure I would have written fanfiction. Because even if I didn’t write them down, I did long and elaborate stories about The Lord of the Rings in my head. First merely adding a female companion to the fellowship, but after I read Silmarillion I made up more independent characters and adventures. I’m sorry I never did write them down, but I still have some of the synopsis for them.

I ventured online for the first time in early 1999. My son was a newborn, and one sleepless night I did a search for Dorothy L. Sayers and found a mailgroup that had just decided on a read.through of all her books. It was my first online community, and we had so much fun. Now, 26 years later, I´m still in contact with some of them. At some point we decided to write a round robin to create Harriet Vane’s fictitious detective novel Death 'Twixt Wind and Water, as it has a fair amount of clues to reconstruct. It was great fun, and the first time I wrote fiction in English. This mailgroup also introduced the concept of fanfiction to me, as some members also wrote Harry Potter fic.

For a couple of years I read fanfiction now and then, but never considered writing it. That changed when I happened to see a promo shot of Jason Isaacs as Captain Hook in Peter Pan in 2003. Peter Pan was one of my childhood favourites, and this picture triggered me into writing. For about 2 years I wrote feverishly, and wrote some really dark fanfic. And wrote myself into dealing with some trauma from my teens. To cut a rather long process very short, writing fanfic helped me heal in a way I had not foreseen, and was instrumental in shedding a depression I had lived in for years.

I didn’t write much between 2005-2013, even if I did write from time to time. I divorced, and juggling work and being a single mother gave me little time and energy for it. Even when life settled down I had got out of the habit to write, but in 2013 there was a sudden death in my family. It was a terrible and traumatic experience, and it triggered me into another feverish writing spell. I had just re-watched Doctor Who, from the First Doctor and onwards, and I started writing Whofic.

Once again I found writing very therapeutic, but after the first rush of writing I realised something I never consciously realised before. I love writing. It’s good for my well=being, regardless if I write a blogpost or a fic. Up until early 2022 I wrote steadily, exploring a number of fandoms and ships. Then I had a creative freeze when the war in Ukraine happened. I couldn’t do anything creative at all for a long time, and only got back to writing on a regular basis earlier this year. It feels good to be back!

As of now I have 123 fics on AO3 in 26 fandoms. 94 of those one-shots. I mostly write het, with a preference for strong and competent female characters and morally ambiguous male ones. I just checked, the ratio looks like this, F/M (80 fics), Gen (33), F/F (7), M/M (5), Multi (5). All my fics are in a historical and/or fantastical fandom. As a history nerd I spend a lot of time researching history when I write.

My fanfics can be found here.

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Music: Bizarre Foods

Entry tags:

bingo

Comment Bingo summer edition

Since I finished my card and this is running until like October I asked for a second one. There are a few tricky ones on this

comic with no dialogue	a work by your favorite creator	a work from a horror canon	a podfic	a work from a romance canon
a work from a comedic canon	a work with multiple authors	a oneshot	a work by a stranger	a work by someone you've come across recently
a work by someone who's given you a kudos or a comment	a work from a fandom you don't normally seek out	FREE SPACE	a crossover	a fanvid
a work from an action/adventure canon	a fic that's over 5k	a work from a rec list	a work from your first fandom	a work from a book canon
a work that stayed with you in some way	a work with your favorite trope	a work with under 10 comments	a fic you reread often	a work you've already commented on

Entry tags:

Sunflower Auction

I just signed up to participate in

sunflower_auction to benefit Ukraine charities. I'm offering four fandoms:

Murder, She Wrote (tv): Jessica
Teen Wolf (tv): Peter/Chris and/or Derek/Stiles
MCU: Clint/Coulson and/or Steve/Bucky
Hawkeye (comics and/or tv): Clint/Coulson and/or Kate/Yelena

Will write: AUs and tropes (give me all the baby left on doorstep or different professions or met differently or coffee shop AUs), getting together, established relationship, kid!fic, curtain fic, fluff, crossovers . . .

Won't write: Major character death; partner betrayal; D/s; BDSM; A/B/O; bodily substances play (unless they’re a vampire); unhappy ending; explicit sex (sex is okay, but I’m less interested in writing super long sex scenes as I get older); character bashing.

I'm also willing to finish a WIP or write a sequel, so talk to me about that before you bid.

Also, for my f-list, I am willing to write in other fandoms not listed on the creator bid sheet, so talk to me about that before you bid if you might like something else!

Creator sign-ups are open through August 13; bidding opens on August 18. Check out this post if you want to participate.

Entry tags:

The Day in Spikedluv (Thursday, July 24)

I hit Walmart while I was downtown and got in a walk around the park. (I originally had no intention of going shopping today, but Pip needed something for the garage, so since I was already there I decided to pick up a few things I’d added to my list since Monday instead of wasting the trip.)

I folded yesterday’s load of laundry and got another load washed, dried and folded, hand-washed dishes, scooped kitty litter, and showered. I visited my mom (~10am – ~3pm); I stopped at the library to return a book (and talk to the librarian about it) on the way there and hit the bank drive-thru for mom on the way home.

(I did chuckle about the load of my clothes I folded because they reflected the weather the past few days perfectly: one pair of jeans with a long-sleeved t-shirt; two pair of capris with two t-shirts; two pair of shorts with two tank tops.)

I finished the Lily Adler book.

Temps started out at 69.8(F) (quite a difference from yesterday morning!) and reached 93.6. It was really hot out when I left mom’s.

Mom Update:

Mom was doing okay today. ( more back here )

Entry tags:

books,
reading

What I have been reading, (almost) July edition

As I'm going on my 4-week vacation tomorrow I know I won’t post much during that time. So here’s July’s books for most of the month, and the rest will be included for August. My goal this month was to actually finish some of the thirteen books I have started, but not finished. This is how it went.

The Empty Grave by Jonathan Stroud. The last of the Lockwood & Co series. I found it enjoyable, and the series ended with a satisfying conclusion. The reality of Marissa Fitts was more horrifying than I thought. But I also feel the ending opened for a sequel, with various things Lucy indicated that she had done since the grand finale, and also because we never found out Skull’s identity and why he was such a powerful ghost. But as this book was published in 2017, it doesn’t seem very likely it will come.

Det ockulta sekelskiftet (The Occult Turn of the Century) by Per Faxneld. How occultism influenced a number of Swedish artists in the late 19/early 20th century. Super interesting, and not something I knew anything about. Which is surprising as I’ve studied art history and consider myself pretty well-read on. But I think the idea that esoterism was influential to some of our more well-known artists has been seen as something embarrassing.

Of course I couldn’t abstain from not starting any new books, so I also read Stone and Sky by Ben Aaronovitch, the latest Rivers of London novel. I found it enjoyable, but not remarkable. Though I always like the inclusion of Abigail and the talking foxes.

Never Flinch by Stephen King. A return to Holly Gibney and her PI agency Finders Keepers. This time we have not one murderous person, but two. One that wants to kill a popular feminist, another who kills as revenge for a man who has been murdered in prison before it’s revealed he was wrongfully imprisoned. I like Holly as a character, but I kept putting this book down and then forgetting about it, so it’s safe to say it didn’t grab me.

And that’s it, so far for July.

Current Mood: annoyed
Current Music: Svengoolie

Entry tags:

No breaks can be caught

Today was going to be me, Mom and my Sister in law going out to Bacon Jam a new restaurant in McDonald. We get there and the power is out in the town...are you frakking kidding? We even go to another restaurant a few miles out, still out. Why? No clue, the weather is fine and it hasn't been hot enough to brown out.

And in talking to SiL about the Wheeling Italian fest and the ONLY parking for 100K in people is one parking garage, even arriving early isn't going to much help as the garage is tiny plus it's meant to be nearly 100 this weekend. Hard pass. I'll go to the Italian fest in Columbus again over Indigenous Peoples day.

So many celebrities have gone this week, Malcolm Jamal Werner, Ozzy Osbourne, Chuck Mangione and Hulk Hogan and I'll be honest I had a poster of Hulk back in the 80s but I haven't paid the least bit of attention to wrestling/wrestlers in 30 years so today I learned how much people hated him and why (yeah I see their point. Sigh, yet another one I liked turned out to be an asshole) Even read something Andre the Giant had to say about Hulk. Leave it as it was not pretty. This is why I don't invest much into celebrity.

But have an Ozzy song that seems to be where I am right now.

Watch on YouTube

And it's community rec time (all dreamwidth)

This is brand new community. I'm debating it (not sure i need another one on writing but it might be interesting. I'll at least know several of them)

fan_writers A community for meta about writing.

I figure if several people on my flist aren't already members, they might be interested

paradisediner a place to chat about kpop

Along the lines of the first rec we have

writethisfanfic Helping fanfic writer hopefuls.

And for those who love writing original characters into fanon there's

fandomocweekly A weekly prompt community for fandom OCs

Entry tags:

The Nun's Story by Kathryn Hulme

The lead character of the book, Sister Luke (pre-convent name Gabrielle Van Der Mal), finds her faith tested in Africa where she finds herself at odds with headstrong Dr. Fortunati, operator of a remote Congo hospital, with whom she gradually builds respect, and again during World War II, when she is ordered not to take sides. Ultimately, Sister Luke is forced to decide whether to remain in the convent or return to the outside world.

Gabrielle/Sister Luke is stretched between her desire to be faithful to the rule of her congregation and her desire to be a nurse. As a nun she must remove all vestiges of "Gabrielle Van Der Mal" and sublimate herself into the devoted bride of Christ. As a nun there is no room for her personal desires and aspirations. Ultimately, the conflict between her devotion to the Church and the nursing profession, juxtaposed with her passionate Belgian patriotism and her love of her father (killed by Nazi fighter planes while treating wounded) bring her to an impasse, which serves as the dénouement of the novel.

It was soon after the war, while director of the Polish Displaced Persons camp, that Hulme met a Belgian nurse and former nun who would become her lifelong companion. Marie Louise Habet was a volunteer at the project. This story is a slightly fictionalized account of Habets’ life as a nun. Written more in the form of a biography, it follows Sister Luke’s life from entering the convent to her eventual leaving seventeen years later.

It was the movie based on it that first made me aware of the story. I loved the movie, so made a search for the book. I was surprised at how true to the book the movie was.

I’ve read the book several times over the years, and every time I’m drawn into the life of Gabrielle Van Del Mal, who would be known as Sister Luke. Her struggles over the years to be a “perfect” nun, yet a good nurse, too, are compellingly drawn. The story is straight forward and concise, yet the reader is given a full picture of those years. Sister Luke’s story is one of sacrifice, but also one of true grace.

( Mount TBR 2025 Book Links 1-25 )

26. Lost and Found by Marilyn Harris
27. Strange Weather: Four Short Novels by Joe Hill
28. Three Wild Dogs by Markus Zusak
29. Full Throttle by Joe Hill
30. Lost in a Good Book (Thursday Next #2) by Jasper Fforde
31. Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky
32. Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
33. Pearly Everlasting by Tammy Armstrong
34. The Women of Troy (Women of Troy #2) by Pat Barker
35. The Conjurers by Marilyn Harris
36. The Regulators by Richard Bachman (Pseudonym), Stephen King
37. Islands of Abandonment: Nature Rebounding in the Post-Human Landscape by Cal Flyn
38. The Nun's Story by Kathryn Hulme

Nun's Story, The

JUL – Sunrise, Deepen, Story, Sweet, Resort, Good, Left, Ever

The Nun’s Story by Kathryn Hulme

Entry tags:

The Day in Spikedluv (Wednesday, July 23)

I had a chiropractic appointment this morning. I hit Price Chopper and the Pharmacy while I was downtown and got in a walk around the park. I paid a short visit to mom on my way to visit my aunt. (A day early, but I am planning ahead in case I need to spend most of the day with mom tomorrow, post-procedure.)

I did a load of laundry (washed and dried), hand-washed dishes, baked chicken for the dogs’ meals, changed kitty litter, took the dogs for a walk, and paid a couple of bills online.

I took a nap and started the next Lily Adler book.

Temps started out at 49.8(F) (it was amusing to watch the temps bounce from 49.8 to 50.0 and back again, though I was not amused by such low morning temps; this is freaking fall weather) and reached 87.4. It got warm enough that we turned the AC back on in the bedroom. I do appreciate having AC when the temps get high, but I enjoyed the nights when we could just leave the windows open to sleep.

( Have some photos I took today on the walk with the dogs: )

Mom Update:

Mom had the procedure to put the port in today. ( more back here )

Current Mood: sad
Current Music: The Librarians

Entry tags:

books

That Book Thing

I had been short listed for my weird west thing but didn't make it in. I'm sad. I loved those girls. There is another weird west open call but the pay is low and I am not feeling it. Sigh. Had one for my watery colonial monster but that open call doesn't want historicals. Sigh. Sometimes it's hard to feel appreciated as an author that's for sure.

So have the book thing

What I Just Finished Reading:

Cinders of Yesterday - Buffy/Supernatural vibes, urban fantasy, lesbian partners (by a queer author) really liked this. It was set up for a second book but I don't see any yet. Maybe she'll be at the Gettysburg Steampunk con again

Zero at the Bone - an old true crime not badly written saggy in the middle

The Crossing Places - really a good mystery but my god the fat shaming in this

Victoria's Electric Coffin #3 - I had no idea this was gonna end in 3 books but in some ways I like that

What I am Currently Reading:

War Child - a Deep Space Nine Novel lackluster like most Star Trek books

The Wood - an urban fantasy I literally lost under my bed for years

Dark and Dangerous Journey - WWII mystery arc

What I Plan to Read Next:

Pantomine - an LGBT (intersexed main character) fantasy, I like it but i'm shelving it for a bit

Entry tags:

Wednesday Reading Meme & Books 70 - 72 of 2025

What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: He Shall Thunder in the Sky (An Amelia Peabody Mystery) by Elizabeth Peters, S'more Murder (Camping Girl Mysteries) by Josephine Beintema, Raspberry Chocolate Murder (Dolphin Bay Cozy Mysteries) by Leena Clover, Mozzarella Murder (A Rolling Dough Pizza Truck Mystery) by R.M. Murphy, Riddle in the Review (The Inn at Holiday Bay) by Kathi Daley, Stone and Sky (Rivers of London Series) by Ben Aaronovitch, and No Mark Upon Her (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) by Deborah Crombie.

What I am Currently Reading: I haven’t started it yet, but Death at the Manor (A Lily Adler Mystery) by Katharine Schellman.

What I Plan to Read Next: Most likely one of the other library books I have out.

Book 70 of 2025: He Shall Thunder in the Sky (An Amelia Peabody Mystery) (Elizabeth Peters)

This book was so good!!!! ( spoilers )

I enjoyed this book so much! I was smiling and tearing up at the same time as the story reached its conclusion. I want to know what happens next, but I'm also afraid it won't live up to my current expectations. (Though I have every confidence in the author.) I'm giving this book ~~ten~~ five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

Book 71 of 2025: Stone and Sky (Rivers of London Series) by Ben Aaronovitch

I really enjoyed this book!! ( spoilers )

This book was really good! I'm giving it five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

Book 72 of 2025: No Mark Upon Her (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) (Deborah Crombie)

I enjoyed this book a lot! ( spoilers )

So good! I'm giving it five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

Entry tags:

Surgery Update and Wednesday Reading Meme

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Entry tags:

The Day in Spikedluv (Tuesday, July 22)

I had a massage this morning, which was amazing! My first in a while and very much needed.

I hit Panera for breakfast (they didn’t have any souffles *sobs* but I got a breakfast sandwich on ciabatta, which elevated the sandwich) and to use their wifi. Between Panera and massage I hit Trader Joe’s, B&N, and Bath & Body, and got in a walk. (Originally I was going to walk inside the mall, but the weather had turned so nice that I was able to walk outside.) I got lunch at Applebee’s after the massage and stopped a the car wash on the way home.

I didn’t get many chores done because I was gone most of the day (left ~6am and got home ~3pm). I dried and folded the laundry, hand-washed more dishes, scooped kitty litter, and showered.

I grilled ribs for Pip’s supper, but I accidentally picked up the wrong kind (definitely ~not baby back ribs) and (according to him) they tasted awful. I felt bad and offered to chuck them, but he said he’d eat them at the garage. He had some veg and the moz cheese sticks I brought home from Applebee’s for him to round out the meal.

I finished the Duncan Kincaid book.

Temps started out at 48.0(F) and reached 75.0. There was sun and a breeze. Another perfect day, imo.

Mom Update:

I did not see mom today, but I called her a couple of times. She sat on the porch a couple times (see above re: beautiful weather), walked to the mailbox on her own, and had a visit from her BFF. We didn’t talk about what she ate.

Mom has her port put in tomorrow aternoon (which is now today, Wednesday). All good thoughts welcomed and appreciated.

Current Mood: hot
Current Music: The Equalizer

Entry tags:

fannish 50,
picspam

Finally made it there

And since I love flowers this counts as fannish 50. So today it was like 70 outside so I hurried on to the Pittburgh Botanical Gardens and if not for the lone handicapped spot I wouldn't have gone because every other spot was taken. On a Tuesday morning! Guess all of Pittsburgh and every tourist had the same idea.

As for the Pittsburgh Botanical Garden it's a misnomer all around. It's about 20 miles outside of Pittsburgh in Oakdale where my Great grandfather and great aunts/uncles are buried. It's also WAY more an arboretum than a garden. Very little of it is actual garden. Much of it is trees and a lot of it I can do in my own backyard but I like to go. It had a new art installation I wanted to see and the last time (which was the first) I was still too early in my recover to do more than the lower loop.

What I DO love about the path to the Lotus pond is they have several mailboxes set up, in each is a laminated 'newspaper' about a tree it's in front of, year sprouted and other things that happened that year. It's engaging.

I rather wish they'd stop calling the Asian Woodlands that since it lacks a lot of what would be IN those but it's a nice pond (and they have a nice write up about how they mitigated the nasty water that was once there) The art installation is simple but pretty especially when viewed as intended (reflected in the water).

This time I headed into 'the european woodlands' to see the whimsical follies they put up there. There is a giant nest, a dogwood meadow, the hermit's hut, the bookworm glen and the apiary (closed path). I made it through those and then went back to the garden side of things but not all of it (I did that last time and it was getting hot)

I did go to the garden of five senses, really more designed with kids in mind such as the water fountains and little rocks to feel. I much preferred the sound and sight. Sound were metal flowers with mallets to make music one, a drum and a xylophone and sight was a big pot of flowers with kalideoscopes over it using the flowers as the swirly bits. The sense of smell and taste were veggies and herbs that I touched (as if I don't have chocolate mint, lemon balm and oregano at home)

They had seeds on sale. Since I have a greenhouse at my disposal I picked up greek oregano (could always use more) and blue lake snap beans.

My knee did okay, the leg went numb. It started to recede the longer I pushed it. It's a bit swollen now and gave out a bit ago.

And you get a little extra Fannish 50 from me. I love history. Have you been watching Hazardous History with Henry Winkler. Yeah almost no one on the show is a historian and a lot of it is played for levity but OMG the stuff that was common place especially in the early 20th century. Heck some of the stuff I remember (especially in the toy episode) is scary enough (lawn darts, anyone?) It's a fun show and from what I know accurate (no depth but breadth) I know for instance that yes Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup was 65 mg/Oz of morphine and also, yes lithium was one of the 7 ingredients of 7 Up. Check it out. You might have fun with it.

( Welcome to the Garden )

(no subject)

Challenge #6

Journaling prompt: What games do you play, if any? Are you a solo-gamer or do you view games as a social activity?
Creative prompt: Write a story/fic around the theme "game night".

I would tend to think of family occasions here, such as the Christmas just gone where a lot of time was spent playing card games (and trying to figure out why, exactly, someone had scrawled all the Cluedo names over the playing cards. That was eventually traced back to my cousin's soon to be ex husband, although no one ever did remember why he'd done it). It's inevitable that it ends up in laughter when someone muddles the rules (see: my cousin's attempts to teach Mum Exploding Kittens, or the accusations of reneging at cards which my grandad renamed "running the egg" back in the 70s and it's stuck as a family expression ever since).

And here's a Dark drabble:

When Ines presents Mikkel with a 1980s computer, Mikkel finds himself thinking back to the times he’d sneak in when Magnus had his game nights with Jonas and Bartosz. One time when Magnus had refused to let him play, Mikkel had pulled the plug, and Bartosz got pretty angry at him because he’d been winning. Jonas had been nice about it, though, and had offered to teach him some of the basics so that one day, Mikkel would be able to join in with them.

Now he’s stuck in 1986, Mikkel thinks of the game night he now won’t experience.

Entry tags:

Fanfic meme

Fanfic game from kitarella_imagines

If you’ve written fics for more than one year on AO3, go to your statistics page. Click on the different years at the top to see the categories of statistics for each year.

1. Which year did you write the most words? Do you know why? e.g. you had more time; you were caught up in an exciting new fandom or pairing; you got a rush of ideas etc.

The year with the highest word count is 2015 with 137 352 words. But that is because when I signed up to AO3 in the very late 2014, I uploaded most of the fics I had written from 2003 onwards. Even if I had a writing spurt in 2015, I'm quite sure it wouldn’t be the year with the highest word count if I just checked the new fics. So the year where I can be absolutely sure is my most productive one, would be 2021 with 94497 words. I had watched The Queen’s Gambit over Christmas, and fell for Beth Harmon/Vasily Borgov. At the time there was a very active Discord for that pairing, which was very inspirational, and I wrote 6 fics for that fandom, one of them being the longest and most ambitious things I have ever written. I also started fanfics for The Mummy and All About Eve.

2. Which year did you write the least words? Why was this? e.g. lack of time, too busy, no inspiration etc.

2023 with zero words. The war in Ukraine completely killed my inspiration. So from March 2022 to March 2024 I didn’t write anything at all. I’m writing again now, but I have only worked on fics I started in 2022, I still haven’t got any ideas for new fics. The year with the least wordcount when I have actually written anything is 2024 with 2948 words.

3. Which years did you get most hits, kudos, bookmarks and fic subscriptions? Do you know why? (e.g. popular fandoms, lots of words written.) Are there years where you have the same amount of bookmarks and subscriptions?

Again 2015 racks them up, but it’s 2021 that I can be sure of. It has the most of everything. I think it’s because, completely by accident, I managed to fall for a fandom that was hot right then, The Queen’s Gambit, and I have found that The Mummy fanfic seems to have a perpetual fandom, as those fics always are among my most popular. And to my surprise my all About Eve fanfic has got a lot more attention than I ever thought, considering the pairing is so unusual I’m the only one who has written it on AO3.

4. Which years did you get least hits, kudos, bookmarks and fic subscriptions? Do you know why? (e.g. niche fandoms, not many fics written.) Do you have any other conclusions?

Apart from the nothing year of 2023, it's 2024, when I only updated with a chapter on a WIP. If I take a year when I participated actively, then it’s 2019, when I wrote 6 fanfics in as many fandoms. But 4 of those were one-shots, and only 2 in fandoms that are on the bigger side. Most of my fandoms are small, and usually I enjoy pairings that aren't the popular ones.

Entry tags:

Photos!

I took some photos the other day. Most were of the pumpkin patch. (Pip has planted pumpkins of which he says that family can take some, but no one else, because they’re for the deer, lol!)

Wide view; with bonus Ti!

( 8 more back here )

Entry tags:

The Day in Spikedluv (Monday, July 21)

I can’t believe we’re this close to the end of July already!

I hit Walmart and CVS (for mom’s potassium) while I was downtown and got in a walk around the park. I threw a load of laundry in the washer and hand-washed dishes before I headed downtown and hand-washed more dishes when I got home. I also went for another short walk with Pip and the dogs before lunch and cut up chicken for said dogs.

I visited mom after lunch and stayed until my usual time of 3pm. I stopped at Stewart’s for milk and gas on the way home. Coming home meant yet more hand-washing of dishes, tossing the laundry in the dryer and folding it, later tossing another load in the washer, scooping kitty litter, and shaving.

The other day mom suggested that I take a day off to get things done and it put a thought in my head. So today I called and scheduled a massage for tomorrow (aka, today!). It was sudden, but my thought was that I might need to spend more time with mom on Thursday, after her port procedure, and next Tuesday (my usual massage day) would probably be out because it's the day after chemo.)

I started the next Duncan Kincaid book.

Temps started out at 61(F) and reached 76.1.

Mom Update:

Mom was doing okay. ( more back here )

Current Mood: disappointed
Current Music: Evil Lives Here

Entry tags:

challenge,
music

Sunshine and disappointment

I've been trying to go to the Pittsburgh Botanical Garden for days but it keeps raining. Today was beautiful. The high was 75 F (24C) and no rain with enough cloud cover so the digital camera wouldn't be washed out by light. And naturally it's not open on Mondays. Sigh.

At least the writers' zoom went MUCH better this time.

Journaling prompt: What games do you play, if any? Are you a solo-gamer or do you view games as a social activity?
Creative prompt: Write a story/fic around the theme "game night".

I've got nothing for the creative prompt but games...I don't get to play as many as I'd like. As a family we play poker, blackjack and Uno when we can. Online I basically play June's Journey right now (I love hidden object games and this one is free and while you can buy stuff to get further along you can still get everything you need without having to do that so that's a bonus (I mean most of the free games you have to keep buying things to clear a level and I won't do that)

I used to play video games like a fiend. In the 80s I haunted arcades. I would have killed to get an ESports scholarship like some of my students do today. I had an Intellivision in the house and then later a Sega. Then medical school happened and I had time for nothing.

By the time I was no longer seeing patients I had a nerve damaged hand and a lot of games are out of the question as a result. It's too painful. Also I tend to get obsessive about it and it is probably better I don't play.

I started playing Dungeons and Dragons and other TTRPGs when I was 13. I would still be playing if I could. There are no local games and I don't really want to do this online since every time I've played an online group game it has ended badly. Like SO badly. I don't want to go through that again. And that makes me sad.

I did get introduced to having a 'gaming office hours' at my work con this year and I love that idea. Instead of only coming to see the professor because you aren't understanding something, you come and play games with me and then if you need to ask questions you can. Also gamification is becoming BIG in teaching and I'm hoping to work up a game or two as a teaching tool. I do love my games.

And for another love of mine music! It's music monday. I'm doing the alphabet challenge where we're sharing songs that begin with a specific letter. We're up to P. I'm only sharing songs from the lasts 5 years (but you can share whenever you'd like)

( Not a lot of Ps )

Stolen from kitarella_imagines

If you’ve written fics for more than one year on AO3, go to your statistics page. Click on the different years at the top to see the categories of statistics for each year.

1. Which year did you write the most words? Do you know why? e.g. you had more time; you were caught up in an exciting new fandom or pairing; you got a rush of ideas etc.
Apparently 2023. That was the year I got into three of my top five fandoms of all time (Dark, From and School Spirits - there was also a new season of Yellowjackets, another of the top five, so I think those would have given me inspiration). Having said that, this was the year I started the epic Dark series which I'm only now coming close to finishing, and AO3 has carried that word count over to 2025 because the most recent chapter of that was posted this year.

2. Which year did you write the least words? Why was this? e.g. lack of time, too busy, no inspiration etc.
Technically it's telling me 2012, but I don't know if I should count that because I only joined AO3 that October so would have the least words for that reason. Out of the full years, it appears to be 2020, with 2021 following. That time period is pretty self explanatory, with a combination of lots of my shows being on ice for the pandemic and therefore not providing as much inspiration, but also I was not in a good headspace during that time due to the lockdowns and not seeing any family for over a year (for anyone who doesn't know this, my extended family is rather scattered across the UK)

3. Which years did you get most hits, kudos, bookmarks and fic subscriptions? Do you know why? (e.g. popular fandoms, lots of words written.) Are there years where you have the same amount of bookmarks and subscriptions?
2015 for hits, 2017 for subscriptions and that has just reminded me of another series I need to finish. Will someone please stop me from starting series? 2023 for bookmarks (blame that one on School Spirits.) 2015 just beats 2023 for kudos.

4. Which years did you get least hits, kudos, bookmarks and fic subscriptions? Do you know why? (e.g. niche fandoms, not many fics written.) Do you have any other conclusions?
2019, looks like quite a few niche fandoms that year.