#yuletide 2020

[unofficialyuletide]

Yuletide Signups \o/

CLOSE IN LIKE 16 HOURS /o\ Check the countdown for an accurate check of how much time is left.

Sign-up Form is here

Tag Set is here

Official FAQ’s are here

Tutorial is here

Good night, and good luck.

#yuletide #yuletide 2020 #yt signups #Y'ALL #FRIDAY NIGHT AND WE'RE SIGNING UP FOR YULETIDE

[naryrising]

So you like imaginary fandoms...

With the recent success of Goncharov, I thought I'd make a post to mention some of the previous times this has happened in fandom, and a brief explanation and some links on how you can find works for them. I don't claim that this is a comprehensive list, it's just ones that came to me off the top of my head based on several decades of fandom involvement.

Ghost Soup Infidel Blue. Originates from the annual Yuletide exchange, specifically a post by liviapenn in 2007 that used it as a default fandom to help explain how to write 'dear author' letters. The relevant quote (meant to illustrate the kind of letter that would be too specific) was "'Bad: "I would like a Ghost Soup story where Luke makes out with Angela's clone and Angela gets mad and seduces Moira just to make Luke mad, and then Ryan and Luke duel to the death with their lightsabers and it ends up in an Angela/Angela's clone/Moira threesome. And Ryan feels really bad and flies off to Mars forever."" Consensus is that it is a sprawling space opera anime series, something like Gundam or Macross, with many sub-parts and spin-offs. Part of the dynamic of Ghost Soup 'fandom' is people arguing in the notes and comments about the continuity or quality of these various spinoffs (e.g. Purple is reputed to be bad, but some people will staunchly defend it just to be contrary.) Deliberate wank and badfic is part of the humour. You can read the Fanlore post about Ghost Soup here and find works for it and its related fandoms here

Winterblumensaat. Again, this comes out of Yuletide, specifically a nomination in 2021 for what was strongly suspected to be a nonexistent German book. The nominator's sister found it in a flea market! It very definitely was real! They couldn't provide any evidence or a photo of the book, but they promise it was definitely a real book! Despite being rejected from Yuletide nominations as not having any basis in reality, it has nevertheless had some fics written for it. The AO3 tag is merged into Original Work, so you can find them by searching in Original Work for Winterblumensaat (results here). It seems to be a moody, dark mid-century European novel, with characters named Florientina, Mailia, Schnail, and Markus. A related non-existent fandom with the same origin story is Nur die Sonne - Maria Moßer, but this has only attracted one work so far (a crossover with Winterblumensaat).

Cordelia (Movie Poster). In 2020 a movie poster for the movie Cordelia came out that inspired fandom in ways probably not intended by the movie's creators. While the actual movie Cordelia is a contemporary horror/thriller, the poster gave people the impression that it might be about Victorian femdom with pegging. Needless to say, they were disappointed by whatever was in the actual film, and made up fic based on what they thought the poster was about instead. Currently ALL works in the Cordelia (2020) tag on AO3 are actually about the poster and not the movie.

Invisible Ficathon. In 2014 an exchange called Invisible Ficathon ran, which was based around "stories that never were". Nominated "canons" had to be nonexistent fictional works referenced in another work. Examples given included "The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes - Joan Watson" (from Elementary), "The Itchy and Scratchy Show" (from The Simpsons), the books in Lucien's library in The Sandman that only exist in dreams, and so on. The collections on AO3 contain 71 works for nonexistent fandoms. Alas that this exchange only ran once, because it was a fun concept. I think with the renewed interest in Goncharov, it would be ripe for revival.

#goncharov #fictional fandoms #ghost soup infidel blue #winterblumensaat #cordelia movie poster #invisible ficathon

[lord-aldhelm]

The Last Kingdom - Twas the Night Before Christmas

Dec 24, 2020

"To help get you in the festive spirit on Christmas Eve, we present to you our special rendition of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, with a Last Kingdom twist!"

______________________________________________________________

‘Twas the Night before Christmas and all through the land, Not a Saxon was stirring, nor Danish war band. A fire was burning in every Thane’s hall, And a jolly Christmas Kingdom was hoped for by all.

In Eoferwic, Sigtryggr kept an eye on the border, While enjoying another Yuletide with Stiorra. As she slept with her battle sword under her bed, Like a good warrior should, her father had said.

Brida was casting her runes in the wilderness, To make sure next Yuletide was definitely…Uhtred-less! A dream shared with Haesten as he gazed out to sea ‘fore striding home to his hall to finish decorating his tree.

In Mercia Aethelflaed sat, thoughts fixed on her throne, And thought “how long must I listen to dull elder men moan?” While Aldhelm stared at the flames in the hearth, Hoping his gift to his lady would at least make her laugh.

Lady Aelswith was dreaming of an England united, A thought she knew would make her Alfred excited. King Edward was praying for new boots in the morning, To keep his feet warm should the Danes come a-calling.

While Aelflaed was planning a grand Christmas dinner, And hoping her son Aelfweard would turn out the winner. Lord Aethelhelm counted his coin in his chamber, And Father Pyrlig was sharpening his sword for his saviour.

But out in the wilds on a serious quest, Lord Uhtred and his men were being put to the test. For Christmas was a serious business this year, And it was their mission next morning to deliver the cheer.

Finan was wrapping up presents in haste, As this time he knew there was no time to waste. And Sihtric was readying the horses outside, So the heroes were ready for their Christmas day ride.

Would there be fighting or peace at Yuletide this year? And would Eadith return from Frankia with their order of beer? Only one thing was certain with Osferth in charge, That the burgh’s decorations were sure to be large.

But out in the snow Lord Uhtred stood stilled, Praying that Christmas would bring the thing he most willed. To return to his birthright and take back his land, So that on the ramparts of Bebbanburg as Lord he might stand.

To have his family around him on a cold Christmas night, And all of England at peace with no battle to fight. That we all soon might meet and feast in the hall, All sing Merry Christmas, and know Destiny Is All.

Channel: The Last Kingdom

#the last kingdom #video #merry christmas #Youtube #uhtred #aldhelm #aethelflaed #finan #sihtric #brida #aelswith #edward the elder #sigtryggr #stiorra #aelflaed #aethelhelm #pyrlig #eadith

[chthonic-cassandra]

Looks like I was defaulted on in Yuletide this year, which given the absurd obscurity of my requests this time around rather stands to reason and is okay. (I also got multiple stories both in 2022 and 2020, so I've rather had more than my share of good luck here.) I am feeling a little guilty for putting the moderators in the position of finding an emergency pinch hit for such obscure requests at so short notice.

#personal #fandom

[themousefromfantasyland]

The Creatures of Yuletide: The Hidden History of the Christmas Goats

How Christians allowed pagan goat symbolism into their sacred holidays

Back in 2020, I started a series of posts here called Creatures of Yuletide, diving into the strange world of the creatures and magical figures that are said to appear during the holidays. However, there were some creatures and some interesting pieces of lore that I left unexplored, so now that I’m on my break from college, I’m thinking about bringing the series back for this holiday season.

I consider this piece a companion to my posts about Krampus, the Yule Goat, and the Companions of St. Nicholas, explaining things that I got wrong or thought were left unclear.

Let's start with my biggest complaint about the portrayal of Krampus in modern media: Why is he always a villain?

Originally an obscure character of regional European traditions, Krampus exploded in popularity in the late 2010s, quickly becoming a stock villain in cheap Christmas horror films, usually portrayed as a common demon or as a demon doppelganger of Santa Claus.

The fact is, that the tradition of Santa Claus started with St. Nicholas appearing on the eve or right on the day of his feast distributing some sweets, oranges, and nuts to children. However, these treats were only for good children. The bad children received a visit from a scarier and more threatening figure that would follow the saint. Usually, this figure would be represented by someone in fur clothes, with horns, and with a mask or a painted face. Depending on the region and country the identity of this dark companion varied.

In Austria, he was our demon Krampus

In Germany, he was a scary man called Knecht Ruprecht.

In French, he was Père Fouettard, Father Whipper, a dark figure connected to a butcher that killed three children in St. Nicholas’ legends.

In the low countries he was the controversial Zwarte Piet, where instead of a demon or a creepy man covered in soot, he’s a black servant boy, represented by a white person in blackface.

If you take Krampus' depiction at face value it’s easy to see him as a villain, since his and all the other companions’ shtick is to threat bad-behaved children with physical punishment and dragging them to a worse place. But if you look at the origins of the tradition you see a more interesting and much more nuanced view.

The people of the Alpine region and central Europe, in general, had a tradition of dressing in fur clothes and wearing wooden masks with horns. That was deeply connected with Frau Perchta, another dark yuletide figure from the Alpine region that was a goddess before Christianity arrived.

Perchten is the plural of Perchta. Originally, the word referred to female masks representing her, but the name come to refer to the animal masks worn in parades and festivals in the mountainous regions of Austria.

People would masquerade as these devilish figures and march in processions known as Perchtenlaufs. The Church didn’t like these creatures and tried many times to ban these practices, but due to the sparse population and the rugged environments within the region, the ban was useless.

Now depicted as a simple Christmas ornament in Scandinavian countries, the Yule Goat and similar other figures were probably offsprings of this tradition.

When the Christians showed up, small bits of these traditions remained, as an act of resistance, but little by little these people started adding Christian contexts to them, and Christians begrudgingly accepted them.

St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children. His saint day falls in early December, which helped strengthen his association with the Yuletide season. A seasonal play that spread throughout the Alpine regions was known as the Nikolausspiel, "Nicholas play". In these plays, St. Nick would make questions about morality and reward children for their scholarly efforts. Eventually the Perchtenlauf, in an attempt to pacify the Church, introduced Saint Nicholas and his set of good morals.

During the 17th century, in Sweden, it was the costume that during Christmas or the Epiphany (The Three King’s Day), young men in costumes would walk between houses singing songs, enacting plays, and performing pranks. The Yule Goat would often appear in these pranks, usually as a scary figure demanding gifts.

Eventually, these animal costumes soon became boogeyman figures that would follow St. Nicholas in punishing bad children. From place to place, the shape and identity of the companion changed, in some places staying a demon-like creature like Krampus, in others becoming fully human, like Zwarte Piet and Knecht Ruprecht.

It’s also important to point out that in some places, the goat creature absorbed St. Nicholas completely and became the gift-bringer himself. That’s the case with the Yule Goat. During the 19th century, men would often dress as goats to give gifts to their families. In Finland, to this day, the word for Santa, Joulupukki, translates to "Christmas goat" or "Yule Goat".

So why did all of these people dressed like goat monsters during wintertime?

Protection of course!

Thanks to electricity and heating we tend to forget how unforgiven winters in Northern Europe were. Winter was considered a time of darkness and death, and similar to Halloween, there was this belief that during winter the barrier between the worlds weakened. It was believed that ghosts and other evil spirits and entities could come to our world. There were several stories about entire spectral legions bewitching and spiriting away people in the dead of night. People dressed in these masks and costumes to scare these evil spirits.

In the 16th century, the Perchten took two main forms: Schönperchten, "beautiful Perchten", or the Schiachperchten, "ugly Perchten”. The beautiful Perchten came during the twelve nights of Christmas and festivals to bring luck and wealth to the people. The ugly Perchten had fangs, tusks, and horse tails that were used to drive out demons and ghosts. Men dressed as the ugly Perchten during this time and went from house to house driving out bad spirits.

The Norwegian had the tradition of “Julebukking” or more correctly, “to go julebukk” (Gå julebukk). One man or many men from the community would dress in a goat mask and fur cape to represent the ghosts of a winter night. After that, they would go “trick or treating” from door-to-door receiving gifts from the towns folk to thank them for protection and keeping the winter ghosts at bay

Today, in some parts of Finland, the custom persists of people performing in goat costumes in return for leftover Christmas food.

From the Smithsonian Magazine: A man dressed in a traditional Perchten costume and mask performs during a Perchten festival in the western Austrian village of Kappl, November 13, 2015. Each year in November and January, people in the western Austria regions dress up in Perchten (also known in some regions as Krampus or Tuifl) costumes and parade through the streets to perform a 1,500 year-old pagan ritual to disperse the ghosts of winter. (DOMINIC EBENBICHLER/Reuters/Corbis)

Krampus and all the other Christmas goats aren’t evil. They are wild, but not evil. They aren’t even demons, that’s part of the Christianization and the demonization of them. In the proper context of their cultures, they are defenders of people, having their origins in a tradition that consists of scaring away malevolent winter spirits.

The idea of Krampus as the last remnant of a pagan world, protecting people from evil spirits that the modern world forgot existed, to me, sounds much more original than another cheap Christmas horror movie where Krampus is the bad guy.

@ariel-seagull-wings @thealmightyemprex @amalthea9 @tamisdava2

#The Creatures of Yuletide #christmas #holiday season #krampus #Yule Goat

[sophia-helix]

Yuletide 2023 recs

Got these in under the reveals wire on Twitter, so I’ll put them here as well.

Emma (2020), Hip Hop RPF, D&D movie, The Diplomat, Mad Men, Sports Night, Poker Face, A Room of One’s Own, and Barbie (2023) under the cut

My Queen Bee my wonderful main gift, Emma/George for the 2020 Emma movie, had all the sneaking around and restrained passion I hoped for, and some lovely witty banter

fine dancing I also received a delicious treat for the same pairing/prompt, which was truly a two cakes situation (more hot sneaking around!! my fave)

(My Name) Always in That Mouth this story was like a third gift for me, since I also requested Megan/CardiB fic, and WOW it’s so hot and creative (werewolf and vampire AU! pole dancing and public sex!)

Perception Check (Roll for Romance) tons of great D&D movie stories this year and I honestly recommend reading through them all. This one had the most kudos for good reason.

Dungeons and Dragons (Honor Among Muppets) I also enjoyed this one where the characters are Muppets gaming and Stephen Colbert is DMing

I also loved all 3 Jarnathan-centric fics one two three

Catch Fire loved this one for The Diplomat (a great short show on Netflix with Keri Russell, if you haven’t seen it)

nostalgia inversus a Pete and Peggy future fic for Mad Men

First Chill of Fall Dan and Casey! Dan/Casey!

ways to disappear love this Poker Face fic that gives Charlie a girlfriend and a place to settle

and finally two clever, interesting, feminist stories

An Invigorating Life this made me check out A Room of One’s Own from the library to reread for the first time in 25 years

The Picture of Barbara Handler this does way more with the Barbie concept than the actual movie did

#yuletide #yuletide recs

[averyqueerchristmas]

I've been putting together this list of Queer Holiday films for a while now and I'm honestly surprised at the amount I have found. Now I haven't seen most of these, a lot of these have Queer side characters and not main characters (I'll be sure to mention which ones are which). I currently have over 40 Holiday films that feature a Queer character, I'll obviously not be watching all of them this year but I'll watch a good bit of them and post my thoughts about the representation and how much said Queer character is actually shown in the movie and whether or not it should be on this list. (Apologies if any of these are wrong, again I haven't seen most of these). I’ll add to this list if I find more. Obviously the ones you don't want to pay for you can probably find *ahem* elsewhere..

Some Of My Best Friends Are... - 1971 (I believe this can be found on Youtube) - Gay, Lesbian (Main).

Home For The Holidays - 1995 (Redbox, Amazon , you have to pay) - Gay (Main).

What's Cooking - 2000 (Tubi) - Lesbian, Gay (Main).

Holiday Heart - 2000 (Tubi) - Gay (Main).

8 Women - 2002 (DVD) - Lesbian, Bisexual (Main).

Tokyo Godfathers - 2003 (Tubi) - Trans (Main). (There is Transphobia in this but that doesn't put Hana down, she's great. In the Dubbed version she is voiced by a Trans Actress).

Rent - 2005 (HBO Max) - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual (Main).

Imagine Me & You - 2005 (AppleTV, Redbox , you have to pay) - Lesbian, Bisexual (Main).

The Family Stone - 2005 (Starz Subscription, Hulu Premium, Amazon Premium) - Gay (Main).

Regarding Billy - 2005 (Amazon , you have to pay) - Gay (Main).

Breakfast With Scot - 2007 (Vudu, SlingTV , you have to pay) - Gay (Main).

Make The Yuletide Gay - 2009 (Amazon Premium) - Gay (Main).

Everybody’s Fine - 2009 (PlutoTV) - Bisexual (Main).

Scrooge & Marley - 2012 (Vudu, Amazon , you have to pay) - Gay (Main).

Red Lodge - 2013 (Amazon , you have to pay) - Gay (Main).

Carol - 2015 (Tubi) - Lesbian (Main).

Tangerine - 2015 (Paramount+, Showtime Subscription) - Trans (Main).

Shared Rooms - 2016 (Tubi) - Gay (Main).

Anna And The Apocalypse - 2017 (Tubi) - Sapphic (Main-ish).

We Need A Little Christmas - 2017 (Youtube) - Lesbian (Main).

Lez Bomb - 2018 (Tubi) - Lesbian (Main).

Christmas Around The Corner - 2018 (Vudu, Amazon , you have to pay) - Gay (Side/Background).

Holiday Help Desk - 2018 (Amazon , you have to pay) - Lesbian (Main).

Season Of Love - 2019 (Tellofilms , you have to pay) - Lesbian (Main).

Let It Snow - 2019 (Netflix) - Lesbian (Main-ish).

Turkey Drop - 2019 (Youtube) - Lesbian (Main-ish).

The Postie - 2019 (Amazon , you have to pay) - Lesbian (Main).

City Of Trees - 2019 (Amazon , you have to pay) - Lesbian (Main).

Moonlit Winter - 2019 (Tubi) - Lesbian (Main).

Twinkle All The Way - 2019 (Amazon Premium) - Gay (Possibly Side but idk).

Ghosting: Spirit Of Christmas - 2019 (Hulu Premium) - Sapphic (Main).

I Hate New Year's - 2020 (Vudu, Amazon , you have to pay) - Lesbian (Main?).

A New York Christmas Wedding - 2020 (Netflix) - Lesbian (Main).

Happiest Season - 2020 (Hulu) - Lesbian, Gay (Main).

Will You Merry Me? -2020 (Lesflicks , you have to pay) - Lesbian (Main).

The Christmas Lottery - 2020 (BET Subscription, Hulu Premium, Amazon Premium) - Lesbian (Main)

Dashing In December - 2020 (Amazon , you have to pay) - Gay (Main).

The Christmas House - 2020 (Prime) - Gay (Main).

The Christmas Setup - 2020 (Hulu Premium, Amazon , you have to pay, if you’re in Canada this movie if free on CTV) - Gay (Main).

Friendsgiving - 2020 (Netflix) - Several Queer characters (Main).

Christmas With The Darlings - 2021 (Philo Subscription, FuboTV Subscription) - Lesbian (Side)

Christmas At The Ranch - 2021 (Tubi, Prime, Peacock) - Lesbian (Main).

The Syd Family Xmas Eve Game Night - 2021 (Apologies I don’t know where to find this, they have a website though) - Lesbian (Main).

Silent Night - 2021 (Amazon Premium) - Lesbian (Main-ish).

Christmas ...Again? - 2021 (Disney+) - Gay (Main-ish).

An Unexpected Christmas - 2021 (AppleTV, Amazon, Vudu , you have to pay) - Lesbian (Side).

A Picture Perfect Holiday - 2021 (Lifetime) - Lesbian (Side).

Christmas Is Canceled - 2021 (Amazon Subscription) - Sapphic (Side)

You Make It Feel Like Christmas - 2021 (Peacock Subscription) - Lesbian (Side).

Every time a Bell Rings - 2021 (Amazon Premium) - Lesbian (Main-ish).

Single All The Way - 2021 (Netflix) - Gay (Main).

The Christmas House 2 - 2021 (Amazon , you have to pay) - Gay (Main).

Under The Christmas Tree - 2021 (Hulu) - Lesbian (Main).

A Jenkins Family Christmas - 2021 (BET, Hulu Premium, Amazon Premium, you have to pay) - Gay (Main).

The Bitch Who Stole Christmas - 2021 (Amazon , you have to pay) - Gay (Main).

The Holiday Sitter - 2022 (Hallmark) - Gay (Main). (Releases Dec.11)

Merry & Gay - 2022 (AppleTV) - Lesbian (Main).

Spoiler Alert - 2022 (In Theaters) - Gay (Main).

Looking For Her - 2022 (Tubi) - Lesbian (Main).

A Christmas To Treasure - 2022 (Lifetime) - Gay (Main).

The Christmas Clapback - 2022 (BET+) - Lesbian (Side-ish).

Something From Tiffany's - 2022 (Prime) - Lesbian (Side).

#christmas #xmas #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqa #gay christmas #lgbtq christmas #winter #christmas eve #lgbtq shows #lesbian #gay #bisexual #transgender #pansexual #asexual #non binary #queer christmas #queer #christmas movies #happy december #merry christmas #november #snow #christmas blog #gay couple #lesbian couple #alphabet mafia #christmas shows

[nocompromise-noregrets]

five good things

I figure it's probably time for one of these; haven't done one in a while.

The migration of our file storage to Sharepoint at job number one is finally over, HOORAY. It seems to have gone fairly well, but the whole process was much more complicated than it needed to be and the communication/instructions was pretty dire throughout. But it's done and now I can stop masterminding that and go back to cataloguing my files at last.

I'm in the process of organising my catalogue database at job number two, also at last - I started transferring my predecessor's Word lists into it in about 2016 and once everything was in I started categorising everything in about 2020; the categorising is now done, and I'm working through the categories straightening everything out and assigning them numbers so that eventually if it goes into a proper database (it's in Excel at the moment as a convenient holder for the data, but I want to get it into the database at job number one as it would be so much easier to use). And it is DEEPLY satisfying. Everything is finally starting to make sense.

I've been after a pair of purple Doc Martens for most of the year - I got a pair of 'vegan' patent ones from ebay but they are bizarrely narrow and I can't wear them, even in one size up (I usually have no problem at all with Docs, they're always true to size for me but these are awful), and I've been keeping a saved search for the non-vegan blackcurrant 'lamper' ones from a few years ago but they seem quite rare and so far haven't come up in my size. And then last week one of my saved searches came up with a pair of 'purplish blue' glitter ones, in my size (it is a miracle) and they are the perfect shade of purple. I'm picky with my purples, I much prefer the blue-toned shades to the pink-toned ones, and these are just right. I love them so much!

I've finished both my Yuletide assignment (which went in a direction I was definitely not expecting XD ) and a treat for an old friend, so all I need to do is post them and that's that off my plate.

I'm really enjoying this year's English course - it's level 2, after I did the level 3 course first, and it's much easier, more sociolinguistics based, although I think I'm overthinking the assignments because I'm used to working at level 3 now. It's really interesting, so far we've had stuff about the history and spread of English, accents and pronunciation and how to use the Oxford English Dictionary, and for my first assignment I got - dear lord - 100%. Unheard of. I think I had 100% for one of the assignments on the beginner's German course, but I had an unfair advantage on that one because I'd retained a lot of my A-level German from thirty years ago. I actually rather struggled with this assignment (overthinking things, I think, but I found it quite complex) and wasn't expecting to have done nearly that well, so that was very satisfying.

I have one more week of work and then I'm taking three weeks off for Christmas to recharge, study, work on my WIPs with any luck, and just generally chill out. The parents are coming to us for Christmas Day, which will be nice, and they're staying at the pub (it's also a hotel) so we're going to have dinner there with them on Christmas Eve and then have them to ours for Christmas Day. Which means I'm going to have to dig out the decorations and lights, which I wasn't quite sure I was going to bother to do this year, but I think it'll do me good. Light everything as bright as possible and stick two fingers up at the darkness, is my general philosophy at this time of year. :D

I'm doing okay at the moment, I think - I don't usually do very well with winter, but this year seems to be easier than usual somehow. Let's see how I feel come January...

We're greatly enjoying the Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials - Ten and Donna were always our favourites, and it's been so great to see Fourteen being able to go back and resolve Donna's storyline. We rewatched their series and then kept going, because although we did give each new Doctor a try, we never really got on with them because we'd loved Ten so much so we've not actually watched a full series since Ten and Donna; and we're enjoying them now we've a) got a bit of distance, and b) got Ten back as Fourteen, I think XD I'm not very fond of Amy, but Rory is lovely and we've recently 'met' Mark Williams as his dad and he's just wonderful. :D

I'm knitting myself a poncho to wear for work as I bought one a few weeks ago and have been greatly enjoying swishing around in it so I thought I'd make myself another one; it's a bigger project than most of the ones I've done before but so far it's going okay and I'm having fun with it.

As always, if you like this format do feel free to take it and run with it - not compulsory to stick to five (I rarely do) but if you can manage to get up to five it's quite therapeutic, I find. The good things can be as big or as small as you like, much like that 'daily delight' thing that's been going round this year.

#five good things

[dangerously-human]

Now that a) 2023 is officially complete and b) Yuletide authorship has been revealed, I can do a little AO3 stats post!

Works (including partial - one that I started in 2020 and finished this year; a couple that I started in 2023 and hope to finish in 2024): 25

Fandoms: 6 (The Bear, Continuum, Endeavour, Fringe, Lockwood & Co, Stargate Atlantis)

Set a record for number of works; tied a record for number of fandoms (not counting cross-medium posting for the same overarching fandom). Total works is up to 84, which is just a massive jump from a couple years ago. Partly I've been writing shorter things again, but also I've just been writing more in general!

One thing about writing for Continuum again that was really fun was realizing that actually, I can go back to old favorites at any time. I did that last year with Fringe and SGA - although I'd never written fic for the latter, that was originally my special interest when it was still airing, nearly 15 years prior - and I think there's a comfort to that which makes it feel like a slightly more bearable grief when a current special interest starts to fade. In fact, of the fandoms I've written multiple works for, I think it's quite likely that I'll eventually write more for most of them (with the exception of Supernatural and probably Covert Affairs, although who knows).

Past years for comparison:

2009: 1

2010: 0

2011: 13

2012: 2

2013: 0

2014: 0

2015: 1

2016: 1

2017: 4

2018: 1

2019: 0

2020: 8

2021: 13

2022: 20

2023: 25

As above, some works are counted double if chapters were published in multiple years.

2009: 1 (My Sister's Keeper)

2010: 0

2011: 6 (Covert Affairs, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Kingdom Hearts, Supernatural, Twilight)

2012: 2 (Sherlock, Avengers)

2013: 0

2014: 0

2015: 1 (Fringe)

2016: 1 (Continuum)

2017: 1 (Continuum)

2018: 1 (Continuum)

2019: 0

2020: 1 (Endeavour)

2021: 3 (Community, Endeavour, Grishaverse)

2022: 6 (Continuum, Endeavour, Farscape, Fringe, Grishaverse, Stargate Atlantis)

2023: 6 (The Bear, Continuum, Endeavour, Fringe, Lockwood & Co, Stargate Atlantis)

(Technically 2011 was the start of my intentional fanfiction writing and posting - which means this blog predates my fanfiction authorship! - but I later found a poem I'd written about My Sister's Keeper and backdated it.)

#personal #writer probs: fanfic edition

[gingiekittycat]

Hi, and happy Yuletide, holidays and/or the end of the year! I'm once again wandering from askbox to askbox, asking questions from my fellow Good Omens fanfic writers.

How was your writing year? What's the favourite story you wrote? Yes, YOUR favourite of YOUR work! Feel free to gush about your creations, I'm looking forward to hearing all about it!

I wish you all the comments and kudos, and an exceptional new year! 🧡 Mirjam

Happy holidays Mirjam! And thank you for the ask 💜.

How was my writing year? Spectacular, actually. I finished a fic I'd been picking at for four years, where which every sentence I wrote felt like pulling teeth (but I FINISHED it, the bastard). I wrote (goes back to check) 5 new fics after GO season 2 was released (I did the math, over 135,000 words in less than 4 months!!! How did I sleep? Eat? Do basic daily tasks? I don't even know) and the first three were only because writing was the only way I knew how to cope with all of my big feelings after the finale.

One of those fics actually became quite popular. It wasn't meant to be. It was meant to be a rant about my feelings after the finale, a rant about writing in general, a rant about how fanfic is such a strange and chaotic animal. I had just finished writing a super plotty fic which had been SO difficult, and I was tired of plot. I was tired of editing each sentence into oblivion, like I always did. I was tired of character arcs. I was tired of posting chapters and getting very little, if any, reader response. I was so tired that I wanted to stop writing, and I was angry that I couldn't. Even if no one was reading what I wrote, I couldn't stop.

Imagine my shock when people started reading the thing. Commenting on the thing, kudosing the thing. I kept writing it, with no end in mind, just pouring out word vomit in each chapter, pulling crazy stunts because I felt like it, because I wanted to, because I didn't care if it was good. It was some kind of eureka moment in a way, where I really understood what people have been saying about "write what you want."

And then something even more shocking happened: I stopped being tired and angry. I started having fun. And the plot and character arcs I was actively trying to avoid just came naturally, appeared out of nowhere, except they hadn't been out of nowhere, they'd been there the whole time. All of that painful work I'd done in previous fics, over previous years, had become second nature in this one. It just sort of happened.

What an experience in the end.

So yes, "We Can't Keep Meeting Like This" has to be my favorite of my own fics of the year. Not that I haven't written parts of other fics that I've liked more--because there are lots of parts in my other fics that I've liked more--but just for the catharsis that came from writing it. And, of course, for the readers who read it. I've made so many new wonderful fandom friends this year. I've never had many fandom friends before. I felt I came too late the fandom in fall 2019 to break into the already close-knit circles, and then I went through some intense person stuff in 2020 that caused me to take a pretty solid break from fandom for over a year. And by then, making GO fandom friends felt like a lost cause. Fandom is strange that way. The internet is a big place, but it can also feel so small.

(You said you wanted me to gush, Mirjam, and I'm not sure if this counts as gushing but this is your lesson anyway to be careful what you wish for.)

I'm on a self-imposed writing break right now. The holidays are busy, and there are parts of my real life that I've been neglecting (uh, like sleep). I have about 8 fics in my head instead, I've been making notes for them on my phone. So there will in all likelihood, be more to come.

But then again, I also feel like I might be brave enough to do something I haven't done in twenty years: write something original. Maybe. Maybe.

Anyway, thank you so much for the ask! It was a good opportunity to reflect on my personal experience with writing fic and the whirlwind of the last few months. Reading it back, it sort of feels like navel-gazing drivel, but then where else can you write that junk if not on your own blog? 😂

#My asks #Personal

[damnslippyplanet]

@leupagus requested, and her wish is my command. At least on a Monday morning when I'd rather be thinking about fic than my weekend email backlog. So:

List five of your least-popular fics, as well as when/why you wrote them.

the green place, Word of Honor modern AU, YeXie, 2021

This was a little string of YeXie Week ficlets based on word prompts. Friend Ritualist* and I had been batting around some ideas for a Plant Witch Xie'er fic in the DMs and I thought I'd use YeXie week to play around with the character voices/world a little and see how I liked writing those two. I had a lovely time writing it, but semi-connected short ficlets where the rimming is (just barely) off-screen are a hard sell. Also I left it marked incomplete for a long time thinking I might go back and finish out the week's prompts, so I'm sure it got passed over by the very wise people who don't read WIPs. No regrets, I like knowing Plant Witch Xier'er is out there even if he'll probably never really get written.

*babe, I'm blanking out and can only think of your pro author tumblr name and not your fandom one, if you're seeing this and wanna be linked, drop your fandom url in the comments and I'll link you up

The Desert Dreams of a River, Darkangel Trilogy, Aeriel/Irrylath, Erin/OFC, 2019.

Yuletide fic! With the hit count you expect for a Yuletide genfic based on one of your formative pieces of circa-1982 fiction about a girl trying to reform a vampire while they live on the terraformed moon. Written in a frantic haze just short of deadline, if I recall, as I'd started a different angle on it that didn't quite work. I'm not saying this story was just an excuse to get Erin a wife, but it was sort of that, since the prompt didn't really allow for Erin to wife Aeriel. (But she SHOULD HAVE. Let Aeriel Have A Husband And A Wife.) I loved these books so much. Unfortunately something must be really fucked with the licensing because only the third of the trilogy was available as an ebook at the time and that doesn't seem to have changed? Pick up a hard copy of the first book if you ever see one, though.

every word is nonsense, Only Friends, Ray&Sand, 2023

Another little tidbit of a fic as an exercise in character voice again and also how much I liked how much the show likes their smoking scenes. Look. I'm a person of a certain age who smoked like a chimney as a teenager and into my early twenties, and I can't help the programming that got into my bones about the inherent eroticism of sharing a cigarette. (lolsob, high five to my fellow Thai BL nerds, how are we all doing this week with the one-two- punch of the DFF shotgunning scene and the new 4 minutes teaser? it's fine, i'm fine.) I wrote this thinking that next I would write some RaySand smut and then didn't because the whirl of Thai BL fandom pulled me on to something else, but at some point I want to rewatch this show and may still write it then because it fed my FirstKhao shipper heart so well.

dizzy in your wake, Nirvana in Fire, Changsu/Jingyan, 2020?

I'm not the one who said "what if Mei Changsu were a were-octopus," that was a series of amazing twitter threads by @astronicht. But people just KEPT sending it to me because I am known to think octopus content is very cool and also to be a Mei Changsu Girlie, and eventually a couple of friends shook me until 600 words of ridiculousness came out. What surprises me is not that this one has few kudos, but that it has >10 kudos at all. I would say this is the most niche and silly thing I've written except I've also written MDZS/Jupiter Ascending fusion fic, so let's not pretend I have any dignity left. Written in 2020 but it didn't get posted until later because I don't usually post things this short. At some point I was in one of those "it's an ARCHIVE, we should put ALL THE THINGS THERE" moods and slapped a few NiF ficlets written for the group chat up there.

A Second Dose, Hannibal, Bev/Freddie, 2016

This was the thing where you write an odd little rarepair and it's so much fun you come back and do a sequel you hadn't meant to write. I'd written Bev/Freddie before and then when a Hannibal rarepair fest came around I was like, hey, what if I did that again. Possibly I just wanted to revisit the cat named after Rosalind Franklin that I'd made up for Bev.

#slippy writes things

[antimony-medusa]

MCYT on Ao3 - Nov ‘22

The state of MCYT on Ao3, just for fun

The Cube SMP (9 works)

iDots SMP (14 works)

Area Unknown SMP (21 works)

Legacy SMP (23 works)

30 Day SMP | Free Trial SMP (27 works)

Cogchamp SMP (28 works)

X Life SMP (30 works)

Epic SMP (32 works)

Shady Oaks SMP (32 works)

100 Hours Hardcore SMP (48 works)

Bear SMP (48 works)

Rats SMP (64 works)

House Builder Gang SMP | HBG SMP (101 works)

Outsiders SMP (116 works)

SMPEarth (170 works)

SMPLive (240 works)

Evolution SMP (257 works)

Afterlife SMP (304 works)

Fable SMP (354 works)

Lifesteal SMP (399 works)

Karmaland SMP (482 works)

Origins SMP (1,016 works)

Empires SMP (2,806 works)

3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series (4,098 works)

Hermitcraft SMP (11,911 works)

Dream SMP (63,708 works)

Notes:

Anything italicised is new since the last time I did this list.

Congrats to Rats SMP which went canon in under a month, in contrast to idots, where the first work is from 2020.

Fandoms under 1000 fics are still considered a “small fandom” and are Yuletide-eligable, which means Origins is no longer yuletide-eligable (you could probably make an argument about crossovers).

Karmaland is the one SMP where the majority of fics are not in English.

Dream SMP went up by 7,292 works since I did this last month, Hermitcraft went up by 1,003 works. Lifesteal is probably the fastest-growing “small” smp, as it went up by 105 works, contrasted with Fable growing by 45 works and Karmaland growing by 68.

Mianite still doesn’t have its own fandom tag.

#MCYT on Ao3

[hopetorun]

tagged by @bropunzeling and @postoperation 💕

Rules: Go to your published works on AO3 and list the first fic you ever published there, the last fic you published, any fic that you wrote for a fandom/ship only once, your favorite fic you wrote in the fandom/ship that has the most works, the fic you wish more people read, the fic you agonized over the most, the fic that sprang fully formed from your mind without any effort, and a work you are proud of—for whatever reason.

first fic (on ao3): perspective, a star wars (legends) eu rarepair fic that i wrote for yuletide in 2011 that honestly was like pulling teeth at the time and i don’t think i’ve ever reread. i crossposted and then deleted some social network fic but i honestly don’t remember if i ever backdated any of it correctly anyway so this is probably the first one regardless since i got an ao3 specifically to participate in yuletide in 2011

last fic: make a better mistake, the brady/quinn home by now timestamp i put on here the other day. i don’t have much to say about this really except that it was fun to write out one of the bits of their backstory, which i have a lot of thoughts and feelings about

fic for a fandom/ship i only wrote once: don’t read the last page, broadchurch pornography i wrote in the year of someone’s lord 2021 after rewatching because my mom hadn’t seen it and wanted to. i wrote so much het porn in 2021 and yet i still can barely bring myself to write any of the common slang terms for vagina 💀

favorite fic in the fandom/ship with the most works: well in the summer of 2012 i was possessed by demons and wrote two then-avengers/now-mcu fics but i can’t say i like either of them. i guess i think this one is better, if pressed. honestly i don't feel a need to delete them but i am glad that no one ever seems to read them lol

fic i wish more people read: the sky is big enough, which i feel like i've said before! i really like how it came together but dropping 15k unannounced and unheralded on a medium-sized fandom and peacing out isn't exactly the best way to attract readers 😂 at least it exists for me to pretend is part of the game of thrones canon

fic you agonized over the most: this is kind of a toss-up. on the one hand, it took me the better part of six months to write preference, which clocks in at a not actually all that long 37k, because for mysterious reasons it was just a really slow story for me to pick through and i had to put a lot of thought into what i could do with each scene since the structure (which i imposed on myself btw. i made this problem) is so limiting. on the other hand the actual writing sessions for home by now were easy and productive but the story took ten whole entire months of my life, a major characterization revision just under halfway through, and a major pacing evening-out three quarters of the way through. both involved a lot of crying about whether the story was actually good.

fic that sprang fully formed from my mind without any effort: okay this is a throwback and also such a rarepair as in the only fic in the tag but years ago i wrote jt compher/his college teammate kevin lohan and it was just such an enjoyable story to write because i had a clear vision of the arc and it came together neatly and the non-linear structure meant i got to play with some fun juxtaposition. anyway: instructions for dancing

a story i'm proud of: this is not the end. was this a ridiculous thing to write in any year, much less the year 2020? sure. but write it i did, and it was the first novel-length story i ever successfully wrote, much less completed and edited and posted. and i think it's a nice story! proud of myself for getting over the long story hump and proud of myself for doing it while also doing graduate school. and proud of myself for finding something to do with my time so that my entire life didn't just become work and grad school in 2020.

#i'm not tagging anyone bc idr who's already been tagged but if you feel moved you can pretend i tagged you #my fic

[atlawintersolstice]

[ID: a digital painting of northern lights above snowy mountains. Below there is a white glowing text saying "ATLA Winter Solstice gift exchange" and symbols of all 4 nations. End Id]

ATLA Winter Solstice gift exchange 2022- sign ups open!

Please spread the word! ATLA Winter Solstice Exchange 2020 is a fanwork gift exchange for Avatar: The Last Airbender, in the style of Yuletide and similar AO3 exchanges. You may offer and request fanfic, meta, fanart, fanvids, and/or podfic.

Sign-ups are open from now until November 11 (they close at 11:59 pm CET). To sign up, click here! Remember, you can edit or delete your sign-up until sign-ups close. Check out the AO3 profile to see details and rules. Please note that the “Content” section of the rules addresses potential triggering topics.

If you have any additional questions feel free to reach out to this blog or any of this year's mods (@fixationsbigandsmall , @beachytablecloth )

If you’re interested in the exchange, but unsure about committing: we also need beta readers! (Folks planning on signing up are also encouraged to volunteer as beta readers). If you’re interested, please send this blog a message. You also create treats to give to participants without being signed up for the exchange yourself, but you aren’t guaranteed a gift in return without signing up for the exchange. Finally, we are in need of pinch hitters, who fulfill requests if someone can no longer create the challenge. Please message us if you’d like to join the pinch hitter list! (This is also possible to do without signing up.)

Exchange Schedule

All exact times are on AO3 page.

November 2-11: Sign-ups are open.

November 14: All assignments will be sent out no later than this date.

December 7: Deadline to default (withdraw from the exchange).

December 14: Assignments are due.

December 21: Gifts revealed!

#mod post #2022

[magicalrocketships]

the one d famndom misses you deeply rip i have rather verse hope these silly guys in silly cars are treating you well 💓

Oh, I'll never go away, I'll always be here! Once in a fandom, always in a fandom, mate. And one day I will figure out the ending to I Had Rather and I'll actually untangle the mess of the draft and flipping post it. Still haven't actually posted anything to AO3 since 2020, except for two little yuletide things, so cross your fingers 2023 will be the year when my writing ability comes back from the war :)

[imaganatomy]

Frohe Weihnachten!! May all your Yuletides be Gay! 

@ormarkus1  I think this CLEVER Elf helps DevoSanta make wishes come true!  

12/31/2020

#mine #devosanta2022