#2020 reflections

[foreigndivinities]

2020 may have been shit but thank god for all the movies, series, books, and most importantly, all the fandoms, i finally got into

[owlswithfins]

Writer Interview

Thanks for the tag @bunny-bopper!

Name(s): AO3: OwlsWithFins, Tumblr: @gwen-cheers-me-up & @owlswithfins

Fandom(s): Harry Potter & BBC Merlin

Where you post: AO3 and Tumblr

Most Popular One Shot (by kudos): Wishful Thinking (Ron/Harry & Ginny/Hermione, 4k)

Most Popular Multi-Chapter (by kudos): Earning His Forgiveness (James Potter/Severus Snape, 42k)

Favourite story you wrote: Not Really Here (Severus/Remus, 53k)

Fic you were nervous to post: Hahaha when am I not nervous to post??? :))))

How do you choose your titles? They’re usually based on a relevant line from the fic

Do you outline? I mentally write random snippets of dialogue and build up to and past them, but outlining for me is the quickest way to ensure a fic never gets finished (if I’ve already done all the brainstorming, why even write it? the story is right there!!!)

Upcoming work you’re most excited about: I’m 84k words into a new Severus-centric draft that starts in Harry’s fifth year. It’ll be my first Severitus fic and I am h y p e d about it

AO3 stats (for 2020)

Amount of works posted: 6

Total word count: 71,191

Longest fic: Not Really Here (Severus/Remus, 53k)

Shortest fic: Warm Enough (Merlin & Gwen, 1k)

Fic with the most kudos: Not Really Here

Fic with the most bookmarks: Not Really Here

Fic with the most comment threads: Not Really Here

Total amount of kudos: 1947

Total amount of bookmarks: 533

Total amount of comment threads: 205

Fandoms written for: Harry Potter and BBC Merlin

Fandom events you’ve written for: SnapeBang

Pairings written for: HP - Severus/Remus, BBC Merlin - Gwaine/Merlin, Lancelot & Merlin, Gwen & Merlin, Merlin & Morgana

Favorite fic you’ve written this year: Merlin’s Favourite (4k)

Goals for next year: I’d like to finished the first draft of my Severitus fic by the end of January (and start posting soon after!) and participate in Merlin Bingo and the Camelove2021 fest

Not sure who’s done this yet but tagging: @arthurandmerlin @la-topolina @thatawfulsnapeboy @humanveil @hillnerd and anyone else who wants to!

[thehalalgirlofficial]

2020 reflections and thoughts going into 2021

2020 was the year many of us will remember as the year of the global pandemic, the whirlwind elections, and- more widely- the worst. but like with anything in life, this past year has had it’s highs and lows. don’t get me wrong; i don’t ever want to experience that gut-wrenching feeling that preys on the pits of your stomach as you drive past a massive freezer truck stationed in the street to collect dead bodies. but i think it’s important to look at every aspect of the situation. undoubtedly, 2020 saw some horrific moments, but we also saw some incredibly heroic ones. local grocery drives, teachers who showed up outside of students’ houses to help explain difficult lessons, and those who gave it their all on the front line are all reasons for us to have hope for humanity yet. so, even though this past year doesn’t feel like a bag of mixed apples, we really do have a lot to be grateful for. and so, without further ado, here are my 2020 reflections:

Allah ﷻ is with me, regardless of whether i’m in the masjid, at home, or in the haram. He ﷻ can be found ‏أين ما كنتم

one of the greatest forms of worship is serving the creation. praying nawaafil salah is undeniably a good deed, but the positive affects seem to stop at the one praying. when you help someone else, your impact has a butterfly affect towards your whole community

sometimes things are going to be messy and imperfect and that’s ok. you might miss assignment deadlines or not keep up with your journaling routine, but that really is ok. you are allowed to make a mistake. just recognize that it was a mistake and go forward accordingly

Allah ﷻ’s plan is the best plan. simple as that. don’t stress too much about planning out the perfect route to graduation or the next steps of your career to the point where if things don’t go as you had planned, you start to spiral. instead, have an idea of what you want to do but don’t be too attached to things following your track, since Allah ﷻ will protect you from what’s bad for you and only give you what’s best for you in the long run.

be there for others without any expectation of reciprocation. just do it for the sake of Allah ﷻ. He ﷻ will reward you. expecting from the creation instead of the Creator ﷻ is like asking a baby instead of your parents; it’s bound to leave you disappointed and under appreciated.

even if you struggled to get through today, be optimistic about a better tomorrow. it’ll help you stay grateful to Allah ﷻ for what He ﷻ has given you.

lastly, no matter how hard things get and how low you fall, remember Allah ﷻ is looking at your heart. your relationship with Him ﷻ is constantly evolving, so stay focused on doing the next best thing. if you missed your salah, be sure to pray the next one. if you prayed your salah, be sure to read quran. if you read quran, be sure to implement what you recited. always focus on the next good deed you can do, because we can never do enough for the Lord ﷻ who has given us everything.

going into 2021, i have some personal goals for which i’m hoping to implement certain habits to eventually achieve them. feel free to adopt some into your own routine as well:

more punctual daily azkaar

reading daily

a healthy sleep routine

dressing for success

less procrastination, more action

i kept it real simple this year because i know that these new habits will lead to overall self improvement, rather than achieving any one major milestone. i’ve got a lot to say about why i chose the items that i did, so check back for updates inshaAllah.

‏ونسأل الله ﷻ التوفيق

[just-the-hiddles]

Tip Tuesday | Shit To Leave in 2020

So as the last Tip Tuesday of this fucking shitfest, clusterfuck, hellmouth of a year, let’s talk about some things we as a fandom as a people we should leave behind.  Like burying it in the ground with a stake through its heart behind.

1. Anon Hate.  Honestly, you shouldn’t be sending hate at all.  But if you are going to feel compelled to send hate, have the human decency to do it with your name and face attached so everyone can do exactly what kind of piece of shit you are.  It helps us figure out who to trust.  

2. All the Phobias and Ists. If there is anything 2020 should have taught us is that we should be united and not hateful.  Love not hate.  So we should accept people for who they are.  And the hate needs to stop.  People are people. 

3. Purity Culture and Shaming.  You are not the arbiter of what is “good” and what is “bad”.  Writing dark fic doesn’t mean writers endorse those activities.  And you demonizing it doesn’t make you a good person.  People write things they choose to write, for many reasons. So let them.

4. Expectations of What We “Should Do”.  There is no one way to do things.  And no one is competing with anyone else.  Things are what you make them.  If you want to post only thirst posts, do it.  If you want to write a self insert fic, do it.  If you need to take a month long break, do it.  Let everyone do your own thing.  

What do you plan to leave behind in 2020?

[nadjastudies]

Is it too late for a reflection of 2020?

[izzythehutt]

Happy New Year to my followers!

Getting personal and sincere time...but only under the cut because sharing feelings is for people willing to click through.

This was a year that was challenging for...obvious reasons. For everyone, for me particularly.

BUT—

As is so often the case, extreme circumstances force people to change and grow, and I was no exception. I had been in a period of professional complacency, having basically given up on my career and just coasting through daily life, waiting for something to change without making any effort to make it so. I started the year at a low point emotionally, basically desperate for pills to make me feel better because nothing else was working. The less said about my perceived prospects of finding love and getting married, the better.

Because of lockdown and being sent home to work remotely, I ended up connecting with my roommate (who had been standoffish and impersonal with me in the previous two years of living together.) We formed not only a routine of prayer and communal meals, but real friendship. She spent the spring preparing to shoot a feature film, the script of which had major issues, and because we were stuck in an apartment together and she had no one else to talk to about it, I ended up helping her rewrite it from top to bottom. My dormant passion for film was reignited, I felt some sense of purpose again—as though my education had not been one giant waste, which was, quite frankly, what I was feeling at the time.

When my lease was up and the option was find another place to live (a worse place) and stay in my job (which had been robbed of its few pleasures by lockdown) and a city robbed of basically everything that I liked about it apart from seeing a few friends intermittently...I had enough of my self-confidence back to be able to honestly look at my life and have the courage for a drastic and risky change. I was determined to use this time and the freedom of being able to live alone for a few months to do what I believe I am meant to do. And I did, against all my own assumptions about my capacity for self-discipline, finish the rough draft of a novel in 2020.

I face this new year with many of the same challenges I had last year (depression, bleak career and personal prospects, though there is ONE promising job opportunity) but also with a more grounded sense of optimism? And I’m very grateful to God for what I have, not least of which is the community here and people who so often reach out and tell me what my writing has meant to them or with general support.

So thank you, dear followers, and may God bless you and keep you well and happy in the coming twelve months.

[lifeinkinder]

2020 was such a strange year. Outside of the pandemic and everything that came along with that. But here are some good things: 

- I started trying for science baby - this will continue in 2021

- I recognized how much I was struggling with failed science baby attempts and despite how important that future is to me, I still prioritized present me and paused attempts for a few months. 

- I moved out and into a rental on my own.

- I stopped prioritizes my mom’s needs over my own needs/wants. I also drastically reduced contact - it’s been good for me - even though it hurts sometimes that she never reaches out. 

- I lost and gained weight - but I also learned how to cook in ways that are really good for me and I tried so many new recipes. 

- Virtual teaching - okay, there are parts of it that SUCK but also after the disaster that was last school year in general, but also whatever the hell the spring was, this year with virtual teaching has been amazing. 

- I’ve figured out a work/life balance that works for me. I procrastinate way more than I should sometimes but I’m okay with that. 

- The K team - we’re so much closer than before. I’d be lost professionally without them. And personally, I’ve actually opened up and shared so much with them and they’ve done the same and it’s just nice. 

- I stopped and started writing again. 

- My sister go married. And her husband is super lovely - like why was I was reluctant to actually like talk to him or get to know him? 

- I came out. That one feels huge. I still don’t know what exactly being ace means to/for me or what a future might look like, but y’know, I’m okay with that. 

[macabrity]

January vs december 2020

amidst the stresses that defined the year, there were a lot of big postives for me too – top surgery and graduating university! I hope that this next year is better for everyone ☆彡( ˊ̱˂˃ˋ̱ )