It is December 29th and now that I've posted my Secret Santa 2024 fic, I wanted to do a retrospective on all I wrote this year.
Outside of fanfiction, this year was pretty hard for me. I had a study abroad and experienced the most isolation I've ever felt in my life. Despite my efforts, I failed to make a single friend and that shook me to the core. Making the decision to delete discord friends or phone numbers after months of ghosting was abolutely brutalizing. I graduated and found myself at the end of the college experience without anything to show for it. I joined discords to make friends through fandom and burned out on that. But even if these outreaches didn't have the outcomes I hoped for, I did make some writing friends and beta'd for some amazing writers. I even got a gift fic from an author I deeply respect. If you got @'ed in this post, I just want to thank you for your part in my writing journey this year!
Statistics
I have a hard time praising myself but I am PROUD OF MYSELF for how much I wrote this year! It's so rewarding to look back on a year and actually feel that. These statistics all come from my Archive of Our Own's User Statistics page, so if you are curious about your own, thats where to find them!
Here's all the numbers:
112k Words?! I'm so proud of myself! That's a novel and some change! My all-time word count since 2016 is 252k, so for me? 112k is a lot!
Thank you to everyone who subscribed to me, my works, to those who gave kudos, to those who commented, and of course, those of you who read my work! I really appreciate it!
These were my top 5 fics, 4 of which are One Piece, the rare Conflicted being Dungeon Meshi. I started/updated 18 fics for 6 fandoms this year, but it's no surprise OP is the one with the biggest showing here; 13/18 are One Piece! Other fandoms included Darkest Dungeon, Baldur's Gate (shouts out to @heph for inspiring this fic with this art), The Stormlight Archives, and Hunter x Hunter.
Works
I'll only be covering One Piece bc this already is such a long post lol. Assume everything is for mature audiences...
(May)
Take Me to Your Heart
(ZS) One of my favorites from this year. The episodic nature of this fic was really satisfying to write, and as much as I write it for the smut, the slice of life contents are almost more satisfying!
~
(Jun)
It Was Simple, It Was Sweetness for AgnesClementine (@the-four-blue )
This was a great oneshot with room for a sequel! I love ZSZ because there are a thousand ways to interpret these characters, their sexual dynamic, and their romantic feelings for one another! Both characters have queer and queerphobic undertones that I could dig into all day.
~
(Aug)
Our Child
(ZS) This is a fic I really love the concept for, because I personally am not a huge fan of Mpreg and prefer to explore more realistic means of child acquisition (this isn't discluding trans experiences I just think the exploration of surrogate births is way more interesting than Zoro or Sanji being pregnant, personally!)
~
(Sep)
Welcome to the Family (update, Ch.2)
(Sanji / Charlottes) Chapter 1 came out in 2019 and then I never updated it. LOL. But Chapter 2 was fun to write and maybe in another 5 years I'll give it a Chapter 3!
~
(Oct)
A Broken Promise (Illustrated by A)
(ZS*) waaah. this one is crazy haha. I need to get back to it but honestly it's draining, and I don't think it would be right to give it anything but a bad ending, which is even more draining! still, I'm happy with how it has been received.
~
Trick or Treat
(ZS) This was a single-sitting write up, and I really like how it turned out.
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Let's Pretend
(Sanlaw) While not a ship I typically explore, I liked exploring their dynamic just a bit. I think the themes were very fitting for October, haha. I originally wrote this in 2019 I believe, but finally polished it and posted it this year.
~
(Nov)
Shark Infested Waters
(Crossguild + Shanks) This fic is so much fun to write! I want to come back to it, I have a lot of ideas for Crocodile, Mihawk, Daz Bones and Doffy ;)
~
Rest on the Sea Bed, Little Fish (with Illustration by @little-lucky-angel)
(Gen, Zoro & Strawhats) This was a long-term project (ZSZ Big Bang) and a huge challenge for me! I wanted to challenge myself to write something Gen, and while it's gen in the romantic sense the contents are pretty heavy, so I wouldn't necessarily say i succeeded HAHA. It remains unfinished but I'd love to get back to it soon.
~
Being With You
(Frobin) This fic was part of a smut week I unfortunately didn't finish, and I have ideas for future chapters. However, I got distracted by how freaking cute Frobin are!!!
~
No One is Happy (inspired by @abilusanji's Raise a Glass to Freedom)
(Garp x Pudding) This fic was a FEVER DREAM. I read Abbi's fic and fell in love, and then my A Broken Promise brain kicked in, I guess. Don't read this one unless you really wanna set it down and stare at a wall for an hour, I won't be offended XD
~
(Dec)
Bells Come in Pairs for February_Blossoms (@snowlynxdraws)
(ZS) My last fic for the year! Some nice fluff was a good refresher after some of the crazy from this year. I challenged myself to try and write an island that had as much nonsensicality to it as canon islands; I don't know that I succeeded, but as long as snowlynx enjoyed it I'm happy!
~
If you read this, I appreciate you. If you read my fics, I look forward to writing for you in the next year. Here's to 2025!
Rules: Make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.
~
1. Strawberrydile
2. Stitched up (dofsan)
3. Feet pics
4. Usozosan
5. Reunion
6. The Only Candy Zoro Wants
7. Shark Infested Waters ch. 4
8. Zeff Body Hair
I definitely have more than this 😂 but let's stop here. I'm on a little bit of a road trip today so asks r appreciated!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: One Piece (Anime & Manga)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sanji/Trafalgar D. Water Law, Donquixote "Corazon" Rosinante/Trafalgar D. Water Law
Characters: Trafalgar D. Water Law, Donquixote "Corazon" Rosinante, Sanji (One Piece)
Additional Tags: POV Trafalgar D. Water Law, During Canon, Pining, Flirting, Making Out, One Night Stands, Fade to Black, Post-Punk Hazard Arc
Summary:
While on the way to Dressrossa, Law is caught by the Mugiwara cook. Once he's caught the cook's attention, he can't escape it. But Law's not so sure he needs to once he realizes what Sanji is willing to do for him.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: One Piece (Anime & Manga)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro & Sanji
Characters: Roronoa Zoro, Sanji (One Piece)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, POV Sanji (One Piece), Sanji is Not a Vinsmoke, Pining, Holidays, Halloween, Fluff, Pre-Relationship, Shippy Gen, First Meetings
Summary:
Sure, he’d knocked a customer’s teeth out. But taking away one of the most rewarding dinner services of the year? Even after Sanji had worked his ass off scooping the flesh out of pumpkins for soup prep?
Zeff had some fucking nerve.
Sanji hands out candy at home and meets Zoro trick or treating for his sick brother.
I'm participating in the ZSZBang this year with artist @little-lucky-angel!
Working with them has been a fantastic time. If a modern au with supernatural elements exploring themes of grief, healing, and friendship sounds like a good time to you, I encourage you to check it out!
ZSZBang week starts November 2nd so keep an eye out for all the amazing works coming soon!
preview rewritten in plain text below:
“Why would they hide this unless something bad happened?” Nami asked, and no one had an answer.
Eventually, Zoro sobered. Some fucked up scientist had hidden one of his own children from the public— there were too many terrible things his paranoid friends could be imagining. “Guy probably just had a bastard around the same time as the triplets. Mom killed herself over it, the kid died and the family moved out. Nothing evil had to happen, the guy was just hiding his adultery.”
Zoro said it as if he were confident. He ignored the shiver that ran down his spine as he said it.
“This is worse than ghosts,” Nami gritted out. “A dead kid? Is that what we’re looking for at this point?”