Kate's 2025 Writing Wrapped!
We all know Spotify Wrapped where your most played songs, artists, and genres are put on a playlist, and you’re given a super cute slideshow for it…
But what about a Writing Wrapped? You're meant to give yourself a pat on the back. Don't worry about bragging! BRAG!!!
Find the link to the clean template here.
Let’s recap your year in writing…
Brought to you by Kate/baldursgatekate/mischiefangermanagement ;-) & RHOBG <3 @realhousewivesbg3
P.S. If you've stumbled across this from another fandom, feel free to use it!
Total published word count?
My published writing count for 2025 was 549,136 (379,030 was BG3 related content and the other was TLOU)! Super duper proud of that because I've definitely struggled with writing paralysis in the past, and this year was the year that I let myself take my hands off the reins!
Hint: If you go to your ‘Dashboard’ on your Archive of Our Own page, then click ‘Statistics’ under ‘Inbox’, you should be given a breakdown by year. Make sure you have 2025 selected as it defaults to all years!
2. Favorite chapter titles? (If you give your works chapter names.)
Tyche Pink or Berduskan Dark?-Skullweave
Nature Has Fangs...And Kids?-Skullweave
The Hells Hath No Fury Like Karlach Cliffgate-Skullweave
Two "I Do's" & The Promise to Choose-Skullweave
Purple Fucking Amethyst-1 1/2 Pairs of Red Eyes
How to Cheer Up a Street Urchin-1 1/2 Pairs of Red Eyes
(Definitely Not) Sommeliers-A fic oneshot with bioticsandlyrium
Then I started opting not to name my chapters, but on second thought...I might start doing that again!!!
3. Most viewed, commented, or kudoed fic?
Skullweave was most viewed, 1 1/2 Pairs of Red Eyes was most commented, and Bonne Chance was most kudoed!
4. Which chapter, one shot, or body of work did you have the most fun writing and why?
Chapter 38 (The Book Clerk's Journal) and Chapter 39 (Elowyn & Argunroth) are definitely two of my favorite from Skullweave because I poured my heart and soul into it! I spent a bunch of time writing lore about Elowyn's ancestor, Thaddeus, and her draconic counterpart's, Argunroth AKA The Stranger, past to be threaded throughout the work. I'm super duper proud of that one :-)
Chapter 14 (Welcome Home) of 1 1/2 Pairs of Red Eyes holds a special place in my heart because that's when Lo & Astarion confess their love to each other, and I found it very, very sweet.
Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 of 1 1/2 Pairs of Red Eyes: Extended Edition was a rework of something that I'd written almost a year ago. It's the story about how Lo & Astarion find a cure for Astarion to be able to walk in the sun through something called The Fissure of Tyche. But for Astarion to get that ability back, Lo must give up her draconic sorcerer magic.
Chapter 1 of Bonne Chance (My Prohibition Era/Bootlegging New Orleans Inspired BG3 AU) is another source of pride because I thought that it set up the series super nicely!
5. Which chapter, one shot, or body of work did you struggle with the most and why?
Chapter 37 of Skullweave was a tough write for me because in it, Lo struggles with past issues with drugs and alcohol as a ways to numb herself from her Black draconic counterpart, The Stranger.
Chapter 4 of Bonne Chance was an undertaking for me to because I really felt like I got into the head of Astarion and wrote some angsty stuff that ended up making me, as the writer, sad as fuck!
6. What are your top five favorite quotes or excerpts from your writing? (Don’t think too hard about it!)
a. "It’s true that the path has never been a straight and narrow one for me. I’ve been forced to take detour after detour, but despite it all, I’ve still managed to make it to my destination, even if I crawled part of the way."
Concluding paragraph on Chapter 39 (Elowyn & Argunroth) of Skullweave.
b. “You’re one of those liberated women then,” Astarion commented. "Comment dit-on?" Flapper, is it?”
Elowyn cackled before taking another drag. “Call it what you want, cher. I’m just living my life the same speed as everyone else. "Vite."
Found in Chapter 1 of Bonne Chance
c. "She wasn't with him out of obligation, habit, or a sense of duty. It was because he spoke to her in a language that only the two of them could understand. Their bond was intrinsic and instinctual. She was a mineral, warped and chipped, and instead of holding her under a microscope and citing her imperfections, he held her up to the light and mused at how her jagged facets refracted. He saw her for everything she was and was not, and still loved her anyway-tenderly and truly. So she bound herself to him in the ways of old-sacredly, loyally, and devoutly. In the ways Elowyn vowed herself to him, it couldn't be undone."
Found in Chapter 3 (Till Death Do Us Part (Well Sort Of) of 1 1/2 Pairs of Red Eyes: Extended Edition
d. "Elowyn and her husband were of the mind that if they outstretched their arms wide enough to the future, then they'd be too big for the past to swallow them whole. But it simply didn't work that way."
Found in (Definitely Not) Sommeliers
e. "Elowyn lifted the bottom of her skirt and began moving around the circle. Two women and one man joined her–stomping, spinning, and twirling to the music. She waved a hand to Astarion, but he just stood there.
Elowyn tilted her head back and laughed, dancing with this partner and the next. Their feet kicked up dust on the earthen floor, but she felt most free barefooted; children of the Bayou often did. The man spun her and let go, delivering her to move around in a figure eight pattern with the others. She held a hand out to twirl another woman who completed the motion with precision.
The Bayou native liked to dance with reckless abandon. She wasn’t concerned with being graceful or practiced. The tempo moved and so did Elowyn. That was the short and long of it. Every now and then, she’d peek at her date–his gaze unmoving from her. When the song concluded, she heaved a sigh and clapped once for her fellow dancers."
AKA an ode to my sunshine girl <3 Found in Chapter 2 of Bonne Chance.
7. What’s your most used words or phrases? (Example: One of mine is, “To put it simply”.)
Anything related to sunshine (blame Lo). So tanned, glimmering, glittering, radiant, anything of that nature.
"To put it simply" as I mentioned LOL
When writing Lo, using all the variations of the word "Fuck" is necessary.
Peculiar, mercurial, strange
"Toothy smile/grin"
Mismatched eyes (Again, blame Lo, our resident heterochromia princess).
8. In what ship did you write the most works? (Example: Tav x Astarion).
My most written ship was my F Tav Lo x Astarion and then F Tav Lo x Gale <3
9. Give some love to your fellow fic writers! Which authors and fics did you find yourself loving this year?
Moth's Wings by black_lodge on AO3/@blacklodge13 on tumblr
The Dragon and the Dark Water by Annova on AO3/@annova on tumblr
Against the Tides by lyriumandbiotics on AO3/@bioticsandlyrium on tumblr
Rotlaust Tre Fell by Cinderminx on AO3/@tinuviel-ancunin on tumblr
Astarion Ancunin, PI by Cinderminx on AO3/@tinuviel-ancunin on tumblr
Kestrel MacDuff Writes a Bad Romance by avantegarda/@funniestbitchinfaerun on tumblr
If you’re viewing/completing this on Tumblr, tag your fellow writers as you complete it to share the love!
I'd like to tag: @blacklodge13, @bioticsandlyrium, @annova, @tinuviel-ancunin, @funniestbitchinfaerun, @ghost-of-a-dream-girl, @gibdethethirteenth, @amuletspore
