#long live fandom

[saopmouth]

Fandom culture won’t go to shit until the blood line ends and all generations of rtbtd die

[queerfictionwriter]

Writing Update: July 2025

At the end of June, I tried to set reasonable goals, and I am deeply proud of myself for what I managed to accomplish, especially given how much the month of July had going on for me on a personal level. (So much nonsense. Just. Statistically improbable amounts.)

Total wordcount: 11, 372

Highlights: 

I did, in fact, manage to unbury my AO3 inbox! 

I finished one of my two in-progress Steter week pieces

I posted for Steter week! Twice even! Once for the horror day (here), and once for the fantasy day (here) prompts

I did, in fact, get July’s Patreon content prepped and scheduled, and worked on August’s batch (although I did not actually get it 100% done. Plz see “statistically improbable amounts of nonsense”)

I wrote a lot of poetry and other personal writing, in addition to the fiction pieces

This was the highest wordcount month I’ve had so far in 2025

Goals for August:

Keep writing fiction

See about finishing the other Steter week piece

Edit and post the next chapter of the BDSM AU

Wrap August’s Patreon content, and get going on September’s

[adejareve]

2025 Recap

Stealing @epiphany-jones's idea to combine all the wrap up tags into a mega-wrap, and thank you very much for the tag, along with several other people who tagged me a on at least one of these back on this one - definitely

@sorrygoldfish, @vixenofcadmea, @khayr, @gloaminghagette, @frotees-corner, maybe @blightwashedand @dags-over-caravanstoo? I am behind on tags so let’s go with this: if you tagged me, thank you! If you didn’t what the f kidding here is your tag.

2025 Fanfic Recap

Stats for 2025:

Works Posted: 12 (one is a compilation of short little drabbles and prompt responses which would bring it up to 17 if counted individually) + 1 very silly metafic

AO3 Word Count: 197,773 (...whoa.)

AO3 Hits: 7,444

I participated in: Lucanis Week, Spite Week, and Bellara Week (accidentally starring Davrin, sorry Bell), and Rook Week

most popular fic: kindred spirits, by an absolute mile: 4,180 hits, 189 kudos, 154 comment threads—and that all feels amazing. A lot more importantly, though, the fic that connected me with so many incredible people and gave me writing and the joy of participating in fandom. I was (and am) blown away by how many people read it and cared about it and MADE ART for it (if you had told me when I started writing again with really not intention to even post, at that time, that someone would paint one of the most special moments for me, I would have laughed in your face).

shortest completed fic: on this far side is the shortest standalone at 1,847 words (and depending on who you ask, that might be 1,847 too many 😂)

longest completed fic: kindred spirits, at 77,489 words. Birdwatching is going to blow past it by the next posted chapter (…help), but at the time it was finished it was the only long fic I’d ever written and it’s still the only one I’ve ever completed.

most updated fic: kindred spirits, once again! 22 chapters, all posted between April 20th and July 1st (plus a bunch of related one shots).

in progress fic i want to work on more: Birdwatching! I’m a little more than halfway done (…I think), I am truly baffled with myself by the length already, I am sometimes shaking myself for decided I needed the whole team and a whole-ass plot… but I’m really excited about it and what’s planned for the back half, and I’m looking forward to sharing more of it in 2026.

spiciest fic: strange things for sure, where I took all of my weird tangled feelings about the consent and bodily autonomy and identify and love involved in a two-people-one-weird-nonhuman-disembodied-gremlin relationship and, uh… made’m fuck about it. Idk guys, sometimes the story just demands to be written.

2025 Favorites & Not

Favorite character to write for/about: Of the game cast, I obviously just love Lucanis (& Spite) to pieces and find him a fascinating wet cat of a man. Of mine (all 2 of them!), Liv is more fun but Sara has my heart.

Least favorite character to write for/about: I love Harding, but I struggle with making her pop and keeping her voice distinct.

Favorite pairing: I meaaaan—Rookanis has me in a chokehold and there’s no sign of it letting up any time soon.

Least favorite pairing: Everyone’s gotta follow their fandom bliss, and I wish you all the kudos, hits, and comments in the world, but Lucanis/Illario as a duo or part of a poly anything is not my jam.

Favorite POV and Tense: I find myself naturally gravitating to a very-close-third person present, but I’m committed to dusting off the third person past in 2026. I’ve never written in first or second and feel like I’d really struggle with it.

Something new you did this year: Write fanfic (or anything) for the first time in about 10 years and post anything for the first time in almost 20.

Something other people have told you that you're good at: People have had such kind things to say about my characterization, especially with bigger team scenes.

Something you think you're good at: I think I’m generally pretty good with dialogue and writing things that sound like something someone would actually say out loud.

Something you want to improve on: Expanding worlds, casts, and stories beyond the main character or main two. I tend to pull in pretty closely and will bring in side/supporting characters here and there but do lose track of them sometimes.

Favorite thing you read this year: One of these days I'm gonna get myself together and get a rec master post because I have just read so many incredible things since rejoining fandom, but some of my favs are linked here and I can't rec them enough. But I'm gonna make a wild one and say Skies Both Bright and Dark from @epiphany-jones even though it's not a fandom I'm active in, because it is GOR.GE.OUS. It's like reading a painting. It is so goddamn beautiful I'm angry about it, and I had a behind the scenes view into the absolutely insane level of work and craftsmanship that went into it.

On and on the fields rippled to a vastly distant horizon, and from that far line some unnameable longing called out to him like the land itself urged him onward: if only he could stretch his arms broad enough—could breathe deeply enough—could open his eyes wide enough—

I mean, for absolute fuck's sake.

Favorite event you did this year: Just by virtue of being most pleased with the result and it being the most personally meaningful and satisfying, —Inexplicably, Command for Rook Week 2025.

Favorite song to listen to while you write/get you in the writing mood: For my two long fics, I have playlists of songs that go with the vibes or the characters for me, but for general in the zone writing music, I really like the Horizon Zero Dawn OST.

Favorite type of fic to write (crack, fluff, angst, smut, etc): Oh boy, I don't know how to answer this! I don't think I tend to write within really clear types. Most of my stories have a little bit of angst, a little bit of fluff, a lot of dumb jokes, and at least one scene where a bunch of people are talking over each other and I start flinging em dashes by the handful and seeing where they land. It's a genre smoothie over here.

Fandom New Year's Resolutions

Finish Birdwatching. I just wanna know if it works out for Gerald, gys.

Revisit the kindred spirits world - especially maybe some of the bits and pieces I've written that are much more about Rook & Davrin (and even a bit of Lucanis & Davrin).

Tackle my absurd TBR. I will be honest I am really bad at switching between reading more and writing mode and I have been in tunnel vision writing mode for months, so the list is longer and longer and longer. I have SO MUCH I wanna read.

Get out there a little more. I am, honestly, a little bit of an over-thinker about reaching out to interact with people which is kind of ridiculous but a big part of me is still very much the new kid in the middle school lunch room standing around awkwardly with their tray. I am hoping to kick myself in the pants and not be such a dork-ass lurker.

More Tell Me Tuesdays! I wanna peel back the curtains on all of your stories aaaallll year long. Give me the deets!

Happy 2026, everybody... couldn't be more pleased to have met the moots, read the stories, written the words, and hung out here with you all.

[thatsmysecretduh]

i'm so happy to share that thanks to the kind & generous efforts of fandom pals @pooslie & @fsbc-librarian of the @fsbc-stucky-library , my podfic library will still be avail on ao3! it will take a bit to coordinate but i'll post again when it's done & dusted. long live fandom!!!

➡️ in the meantime you can access everything hosted by @pooslie :

TMS podfics - Google Drive

[thatannoyingbitch]

OFMD isn’t truly gone because we’re all still going to be talking about it in 50 years!

[hippolotamus]

Good Vibes Tuesday

Thank you @mostlyinthemorning for this perfect idea

I'm in the mood for some positivity this morning, so let's share something that makes you happy about fandom*. It can be anything you like-a person or blog you appreciate, a post that made you laugh, a fic you liked, anything that puts good vibes into the world.

*fandom can be whatever you want it to be

Tagged by darling wife @lizzie-bennetdarcy @rmd-writes @stereopticons @jesuisici33 💕

What makes me happy about fandom is that it is so much more than "just fandom." Certainly it is a place to yell and scream with other unhinged like minded people.

It is also a safe haven to reread a comfort fic on a bad day. A place to learn new skills and grow your creativity. It's finding a particularly hilarious, heartbreaking or mind-blowing creation and shoving it at all your fandom besties. Fandom is a way to torture your poor blorbos (again) as a way to process grief, fear, anxiety, sadness and any other number of scary (and amazing!) emotions.

Not adding anything new here, but it is Fandom Friends. Encouraging messages when you need that final push to finish something. Hi, I had this crazy stupid idea today and wrote it while I should have been working. Will you beta it for me? Exchanging birthday and holiday cards. I'm sorry yesterday sucked. Hopefully today is better. Tag games! Have a safe trip and let me know when you get there. The absolute amazement that I may not know your real name or where you're from, but I know that your favorite color is royal blue, you adore bats, love to crochet, wanted to run a seal sanctuary when you grew up, love soup as much as life itself, or nerd out on spreadsheets. What a time to be alive, besties.

Tagging @shortsighted-owl @alyxmastershipper @alysiswriting @vanillahigh00 @blackandwhiteandrose @elvensorceress @mysteriouslyyounggalaxy @littlebitofdiaz @spotsandsocks @walnuts-and-berries @apothecarose

[queerfictionwriter]

Writing Update: December 2025

This was a good wrap up to a really difficult year. December is always a sleepy month for me, so I didn’t expect to get a lot done—especially not when hosting for the holidays, with all that goes into that. But I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished, and the clear evidence of forward progress. In 2024, life got really difficult, and I only managed 58k that year. In 2025, I managed 79k—a significant difference, given that life hadn’t gotten easier. Dedication pays off, though, and I am smiling as I take that cheque to the bank.

Total wordcount: 4, 272

Highlights:

Posted chapter 6 of the BDSM AU, which is now complete!

Wrote a few short gift fics, mostly for Witcher fandom (here)

Smashed out a bunch of Patreon work, so I’m back on-track now for my preferred working & posting schedule on that

Currents, the 4th ed. of The Icarus Writing Collective, has gone live, ft. one of my pieces of original short fiction!

Put together a manuscript of poetry as a contest entry

Goals for January:

Maintain momentum on the re-established Patreon rhythm

Write some of the February prompts I’ve seen float around

Decide whether or not I’m submitting to the poetry contest

Pick some of my other, bigger projects back up

[queerfictionwriter]

Writing Update: September 2025

I had multiple goals for September, and, well. Most of them didn’t get off the ground. It turns out that migraine season still contains migraines—a completely unpredictable development! (I predicted it. I was just full of hubris and hope.) The month was not a wash, even if it wasn’t what I’d hoped for.

Total wordcount: 6, 066

Highlights:

Did, in fact, get something started for Kinktober!

Wrote some more poetry

Got a bunch of work done on Patreon things—I should be able to get back to my usual posting schedule, and also usual workflow if I can manage another week of solid work on things. This would be a massive help for both my stress levels, and ability to write across projects, so the work accomplished here was a massive success

Not technically writing, but: unburied my AO3 inbox, which means that I am free to start posting again

Goals for October:

Actually edit and post the BDSM AU chapters this time

Finish and post at least one of the started Kinktober pieces

Polish and schedule the Patreon content I worked on in September