2015 in fic
yes, it's that time of year again.
STATS:
fics: 38 (14 full-length fics, the rest ficlets and drabbles)
female pov: 8
male pov: 23 (...this is surprising)
both pov: 7
ships: 29
fandoms written in: nine muses, seventeen, vixx, red velvet, uniq, c-clown, lovelyz, exid, exo, rainbow, u-kiss, laboum, miss a, infinite, got7, dbsk, snsd, girl's day, f(x), a pink, winner, aoa, twice, bestie, day6, 4minute, beast, iu, jooyoung
total word count: 97740
OVERALL:
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
I definitely wrote more (waaaay more) than I expected to. Not only did I write more fics than I did last year (and the year before that), this was the year that I wrote things that were 10k or more long. This was probably because I got excited and signed up for tons of exchanges/challenges (more than I could take on tbh) and deadlines forced me to finish the extensive fics I planned in my head ahaha.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
Well, I didn't expect to write Seventeen fics. I also didn't really expect myself to write so much VIXX, but those were mostly drabbles for the ficathon.
Did you take any writing risks this year?
Tons, which was a total first to me! I wrote new fandoms, fic set in canon-verse, friendship fic (or more friendship-centric), experimented a lot more with dialogue/character voices, gen fic, and slash pairings - these were all somewhat firsts to me so I'm happy I got to try them! Not sure if this counts, but I also started writing longer fics with (gasps) pacing and more development (hopefully???)
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?
Not really. I don't know what to expect with my writing for 2016. Hopefully I'll actually get around to writing when I'm not doing schoolwork! Oh, and finish my holiday advent fics and write some of the ideas/pairings I've had in mind for a while. And I want to try writing for fandoms outside of k-pop, maybe (like anime or tv shows), though that seems very intimidating to me so no promises /sweats nervously.
What were last year's goals?
I quote: "This is the year I finally write that 10k one shot I CAN FEEL IT. I want to write more AUs but also more ships-in-canon-verse fics? I'd like to also finish long overdue birthday fics, write more SooSeop, and maybe some VIXX? But we'll see how that works out kdslghsdkjf."
I did most of these (4 ish out of 6) so /pats self on the back!
BEST AND WORST:
My best story of this year:
Overall, I think the third law of motion turned out the best in that the writing itself (stylistically) and the plot worked really well together. I don't know how to explain it, but when I went back and reread it not too long ago, I thought to myself, "hey, this actually isn't as messy as I thought it was!" lol. I might've just been pleasantly surprised but usually my fics have a 2-3 month (or forever, if I just don't like how the fic turned out) limbo period of me not knowing if I'm proud of it or if I hate it completely, and this one kind of bypassed all that and went straight into the "like" pile, so I guess that's what I'm basing this off of.
My most popular story of this year:
Probably ±. Krystal brings all the readers to my fics lol ♥
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Both of my olymfics fics - i heart your heart beating, you were in the darkness too and hunting season, probably just for the reason that they were the two fics I put a lot (almost too much) of effort into writing, but didn't receive much feedback, comment-wise, so I really don't know what people thought about them??? The pairings and crossover aspects of both fics probably turned a lot of potential readers away but I wish I knew what those who did read them thought ;;
Most fun story to write:
A tie between hunting season and i should live in salt. "hunting season" because I wrote mostly for me, and I basically crammed a bunch of separate plot bunnies into one story. I also liked all the characters I wrote in there so! "i should live in salt" was really fun to write because of Gayoon's strong character voice. I just enjoy writing characters who cuss a lot, too, and who judge everyone in their thoughts haha.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
Definitely setting fire to our lungs. In all honesty, I don't care for Baekhyun or Taeyeon all that much, but writing this fic made me more interested in both of them.
Hardest story to write:
A split between i heard your heart beating, que sera, sera, and perhaps the wildest sound. "i heard your heart beating" was the hardest fic to start EVER because I was super afraid about olymfics scores and how extensive the plot had become in my head that I basically couldn't write it without feeling terrified haha. That's why it reads really stiff and awkward at times, and there are probably more words in that fic than there needs to be. "que sera, sera" because it was the first large-scale canon AND gen fic I've attempted, and as a huge Nine Muses fan, I wanted to write it like I wanted it to turn out in my head. It was also pretty taxing putting together the timeline of events, because I hadn't kept up much with them when they laying pretty low for basically all of 2014. "perhaps the wildest sound" was just me wanting to write a pairing, ending up writing them in canon, and then realizing halfway through the fic that the tone suddenly changed/things did not seem believable so I had to backtrack and add 3k to salvage it.
Biggest disappointment:
Umm... the third law of motion. Not as in the fic itself, but mostly at myself for not being able to complete it by the deadline for the challenge it was supposed to be in. ): I still feel really bad about sighs.
Biggest surprise:
Some of the fics I wrote for ficathons actually turned out pretty good, in my opinion??? Especially so i won't lose myself, trouble, trouble, our destiny, and beach baby.
Most unintentionally telling story:
we were like pomegranates, especially in the sense when you think you don't "deserve" certain things. And Jihoon's moodiness.
HIGHLIGHTS + WRAP-UP:
Favorite opening lines:
(usually it takes me 2+ sentences to get to something good or just better than the first line so I cheated a little lol)
i heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too--
The window’s open. The air is humid, the cicadas are screaming, and Woori’s trying to finish the story she started after they were done fucking as she pulls on her jeans.
give my gun away when it's loaded--
They are many things. Together is not one of them.
靠朋友--
Seungcheol doesn't really know how his night ended up like this, arms supporting a stumbling (and heavy, really fucking heavy) Jeonghan, who keeps flipping his long hair out of his face and, consequently, into Seungcheol's face.
Favorite closing lines:
introduction to pyrokinesis--
sungjoo relearns how to pray.
perhaps the wildest sound--
And that’s when Brian feels everything move.
que sera, sera--
But then again, there are gaps between stars - those deep, dark spaces that make them shine more - and Minha, Minha likes to think that like those spaces, they have a purpose.
±--
This time when she bites down, she draws blood.
Favorite lines in general:
hold our tongues and fill our lungs--
Jongin can tell that she’s beautiful, but she looks as pale as death, and she carries the beginning of the look on her as if she’s anticipating it’ll be in next season.
so i won't lose myself--
Only after he hears Jaebum's footsteps retreat into their small bedroom does Jinyoung let himself cry.
±--
You couldn't trick dead people, Jongdae knew, much less people who'd been dead for a long time.
the third law of motion--
He still tastes the bubblegum in the back of his throat. Thinks about her, his dream girl, literally, and her large brown eyes, until he settles back into sleep, dreaming of desert dunes carved from the candy dust of her gunshot.
i really really really really really like you--
He stares at their intertwined fingers and wonders if his palm is sweaty (and if it is, would Jinyoung find that gross? He totally would. Jaebum’s fucking sweaty hands were going to ruin everything and this would be the end of a beautiful, beautiful dream).
LIST OF COMPLETED STORIES:
so leave me in the cold (changmin/yoona)
her/him (myungsoo/suzy)
no need to leave (sehun/hyeri)
beach baby (chanyeol/sulli, kai/sulli)
valley (jb/hyejeong)
is where your heart is set in stone (leo/sojin)
setting fire to our lungs (baekhyun/taeyeon)
trouble, trouble, our destiny (taehyun/wendy)
or it's gonna go down (jb/eunji)
then maybe (baekhyun/iu)
give my gun away when it's loaded (jr/suzy)
i heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too (hongbin/soyeon)
hunting season (or the story of Lee Kiseop as told to Kim Jaeseop) (kiseop-centric, various side pairings)
introduction to pyrokinesis (sungjoo/seulgi)
virgin lips meet virgin lips (t.k/jin)
i really really really really really like you (jb/jr)
que sera, sera (minha-centric)
hold our tongues and fill our lungs (taemin/sulli + kai, krystal)
steal some covers, share some skin (ken/leo)
l.i.p (Legitimate Instances in which we need to Pucker up and kiss) (ken/leo)
paperback dreamer (n/ken)
son (leo-centric)
sugar crush (ken/hongbin)
down to earth (ravi/hongbin)
it's a new art form showing people how we care (leo/irene)
starry eyes for starry nights (leo/uji)
hipster aesthetics (hongbin/myungsoo)
the third law of motion (seulgi, sungjoo, irene, lay, joshua, nayeon, soyeon, hongbin, wonwoo, jin)
we were like pomegranates (woozi-centric, woozi/s.coups, woozi/hoshi)
there's greener grass (jr/wonpil)
not broke, just broken-hearted (jr/suzy)
so i won't lose myself (jb/jr)
i should live in salt (gayoon-centric, gayoon/doojoon)
perhaps the wildest sound (young k/nayeon)
a love letter, best left undedicated (jb/jr)
± (krystal/chen)
summer salts (leo/uji)
靠朋友 (woozi/s.coups + other seventeen members, ailee)
IN CONCLUSION: So this year was the year I experimented a lot with my writing! Some of those experiments didn't turn out that great, and others I was pretty proud of, but I'm just really glad I got around to not being so terrified of writing again. Last year, I didn't write as much because I was a) being lazy and b) I was worried that I'd be super disappointed with the outcome. I'm still really insecure about my writing, but I realized that if you don't write at all, you're just going to get worse rather than better, so I kind of ended up writing whatever most of the year. I definitely think I need to chill with the exchanges/challenges because with my school schedule, I tend to miss the deadlines (also because I procrastinate too much /laughs nervously), or I end writing the fics at like 3 or 4 in the morning on zero to little sleep so typos are everywhere. On a totally different note, I'm so glad I met so many new writer friends this year! I've always wanted more people to talk about fic and fandom with so it's a joy having all of you guys on my tlist ♥ Thank you all for being so supportive and holding my hand through stressful times! If you've read all of this until here, congratulations, you get...hearts and my tears from crying about how my winter break is ending lol ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
STATS:
fics: 38 (14 full-length fics, the rest ficlets and drabbles)
female pov: 8
male pov: 23 (...this is surprising)
both pov: 7
ships: 29
fandoms written in: nine muses, seventeen, vixx, red velvet, uniq, c-clown, lovelyz, exid, exo, rainbow, u-kiss, laboum, miss a, infinite, got7, dbsk, snsd, girl's day, f(x), a pink, winner, aoa, twice, bestie, day6, 4minute, beast, iu, jooyoung
total word count: 97740
OVERALL:
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
I definitely wrote more (waaaay more) than I expected to. Not only did I write more fics than I did last year (and the year before that), this was the year that I wrote things that were 10k or more long. This was probably because I got excited and signed up for tons of exchanges/challenges (more than I could take on tbh) and deadlines forced me to finish the extensive fics I planned in my head ahaha.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
Well, I didn't expect to write Seventeen fics. I also didn't really expect myself to write so much VIXX, but those were mostly drabbles for the ficathon.
Did you take any writing risks this year?
Tons, which was a total first to me! I wrote new fandoms, fic set in canon-verse, friendship fic (or more friendship-centric), experimented a lot more with dialogue/character voices, gen fic, and slash pairings - these were all somewhat firsts to me so I'm happy I got to try them! Not sure if this counts, but I also started writing longer fics with (gasps) pacing and more development (hopefully???)
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?
Not really. I don't know what to expect with my writing for 2016. Hopefully I'll actually get around to writing when I'm not doing schoolwork! Oh, and finish my holiday advent fics and write some of the ideas/pairings I've had in mind for a while. And I want to try writing for fandoms outside of k-pop, maybe (like anime or tv shows), though that seems very intimidating to me so no promises /sweats nervously.
What were last year's goals?
I quote: "This is the year I finally write that 10k one shot I CAN FEEL IT. I want to write more AUs but also more ships-in-canon-verse fics? I'd like to also finish long overdue birthday fics, write more SooSeop, and maybe some VIXX? But we'll see how that works out kdslghsdkjf."
I did most of these (4 ish out of 6) so /pats self on the back!
BEST AND WORST:
My best story of this year:
Overall, I think the third law of motion turned out the best in that the writing itself (stylistically) and the plot worked really well together. I don't know how to explain it, but when I went back and reread it not too long ago, I thought to myself, "hey, this actually isn't as messy as I thought it was!" lol. I might've just been pleasantly surprised but usually my fics have a 2-3 month (or forever, if I just don't like how the fic turned out) limbo period of me not knowing if I'm proud of it or if I hate it completely, and this one kind of bypassed all that and went straight into the "like" pile, so I guess that's what I'm basing this off of.
My most popular story of this year:
Probably ±. Krystal brings all the readers to my fics lol ♥
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Both of my olymfics fics - i heart your heart beating, you were in the darkness too and hunting season, probably just for the reason that they were the two fics I put a lot (almost too much) of effort into writing, but didn't receive much feedback, comment-wise, so I really don't know what people thought about them??? The pairings and crossover aspects of both fics probably turned a lot of potential readers away but I wish I knew what those who did read them thought ;;
Most fun story to write:
A tie between hunting season and i should live in salt. "hunting season" because I wrote mostly for me, and I basically crammed a bunch of separate plot bunnies into one story. I also liked all the characters I wrote in there so! "i should live in salt" was really fun to write because of Gayoon's strong character voice. I just enjoy writing characters who cuss a lot, too, and who judge everyone in their thoughts haha.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
Definitely setting fire to our lungs. In all honesty, I don't care for Baekhyun or Taeyeon all that much, but writing this fic made me more interested in both of them.
Hardest story to write:
A split between i heard your heart beating, que sera, sera, and perhaps the wildest sound. "i heard your heart beating" was the hardest fic to start EVER because I was super afraid about olymfics scores and how extensive the plot had become in my head that I basically couldn't write it without feeling terrified haha. That's why it reads really stiff and awkward at times, and there are probably more words in that fic than there needs to be. "que sera, sera" because it was the first large-scale canon AND gen fic I've attempted, and as a huge Nine Muses fan, I wanted to write it like I wanted it to turn out in my head. It was also pretty taxing putting together the timeline of events, because I hadn't kept up much with them when they laying pretty low for basically all of 2014. "perhaps the wildest sound" was just me wanting to write a pairing, ending up writing them in canon, and then realizing halfway through the fic that the tone suddenly changed/things did not seem believable so I had to backtrack and add 3k to salvage it.
Biggest disappointment:
Umm... the third law of motion. Not as in the fic itself, but mostly at myself for not being able to complete it by the deadline for the challenge it was supposed to be in. ): I still feel really bad about sighs.
Biggest surprise:
Some of the fics I wrote for ficathons actually turned out pretty good, in my opinion??? Especially so i won't lose myself, trouble, trouble, our destiny, and beach baby.
Most unintentionally telling story:
we were like pomegranates, especially in the sense when you think you don't "deserve" certain things. And Jihoon's moodiness.
HIGHLIGHTS + WRAP-UP:
Favorite opening lines:
(usually it takes me 2+ sentences to get to something good or just better than the first line so I cheated a little lol)
i heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too--
The window’s open. The air is humid, the cicadas are screaming, and Woori’s trying to finish the story she started after they were done fucking as she pulls on her jeans.
give my gun away when it's loaded--
They are many things. Together is not one of them.
靠朋友--
Seungcheol doesn't really know how his night ended up like this, arms supporting a stumbling (and heavy, really fucking heavy) Jeonghan, who keeps flipping his long hair out of his face and, consequently, into Seungcheol's face.
Favorite closing lines:
introduction to pyrokinesis--
sungjoo relearns how to pray.
perhaps the wildest sound--
And that’s when Brian feels everything move.
que sera, sera--
But then again, there are gaps between stars - those deep, dark spaces that make them shine more - and Minha, Minha likes to think that like those spaces, they have a purpose.
±--
This time when she bites down, she draws blood.
Favorite lines in general:
hold our tongues and fill our lungs--
Jongin can tell that she’s beautiful, but she looks as pale as death, and she carries the beginning of the look on her as if she’s anticipating it’ll be in next season.
so i won't lose myself--
Only after he hears Jaebum's footsteps retreat into their small bedroom does Jinyoung let himself cry.
±--
You couldn't trick dead people, Jongdae knew, much less people who'd been dead for a long time.
the third law of motion--
He still tastes the bubblegum in the back of his throat. Thinks about her, his dream girl, literally, and her large brown eyes, until he settles back into sleep, dreaming of desert dunes carved from the candy dust of her gunshot.
i really really really really really like you--
He stares at their intertwined fingers and wonders if his palm is sweaty (and if it is, would Jinyoung find that gross? He totally would. Jaebum’s fucking sweaty hands were going to ruin everything and this would be the end of a beautiful, beautiful dream).
LIST OF COMPLETED STORIES:
so leave me in the cold (changmin/yoona)
her/him (myungsoo/suzy)
no need to leave (sehun/hyeri)
beach baby (chanyeol/sulli, kai/sulli)
valley (jb/hyejeong)
is where your heart is set in stone (leo/sojin)
setting fire to our lungs (baekhyun/taeyeon)
trouble, trouble, our destiny (taehyun/wendy)
or it's gonna go down (jb/eunji)
then maybe (baekhyun/iu)
give my gun away when it's loaded (jr/suzy)
i heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too (hongbin/soyeon)
hunting season (or the story of Lee Kiseop as told to Kim Jaeseop) (kiseop-centric, various side pairings)
introduction to pyrokinesis (sungjoo/seulgi)
virgin lips meet virgin lips (t.k/jin)
i really really really really really like you (jb/jr)
que sera, sera (minha-centric)
hold our tongues and fill our lungs (taemin/sulli + kai, krystal)
steal some covers, share some skin (ken/leo)
l.i.p (Legitimate Instances in which we need to Pucker up and kiss) (ken/leo)
paperback dreamer (n/ken)
son (leo-centric)
sugar crush (ken/hongbin)
down to earth (ravi/hongbin)
it's a new art form showing people how we care (leo/irene)
starry eyes for starry nights (leo/uji)
hipster aesthetics (hongbin/myungsoo)
the third law of motion (seulgi, sungjoo, irene, lay, joshua, nayeon, soyeon, hongbin, wonwoo, jin)
we were like pomegranates (woozi-centric, woozi/s.coups, woozi/hoshi)
there's greener grass (jr/wonpil)
not broke, just broken-hearted (jr/suzy)
so i won't lose myself (jb/jr)
i should live in salt (gayoon-centric, gayoon/doojoon)
perhaps the wildest sound (young k/nayeon)
a love letter, best left undedicated (jb/jr)
± (krystal/chen)
summer salts (leo/uji)
靠朋友 (woozi/s.coups + other seventeen members, ailee)
IN CONCLUSION: So this year was the year I experimented a lot with my writing! Some of those experiments didn't turn out that great, and others I was pretty proud of, but I'm just really glad I got around to not being so terrified of writing again. Last year, I didn't write as much because I was a) being lazy and b) I was worried that I'd be super disappointed with the outcome. I'm still really insecure about my writing, but I realized that if you don't write at all, you're just going to get worse rather than better, so I kind of ended up writing whatever most of the year. I definitely think I need to chill with the exchanges/challenges because with my school schedule, I tend to miss the deadlines (also because I procrastinate too much /laughs nervously), or I end writing the fics at like 3 or 4 in the morning on zero to little sleep so typos are everywhere. On a totally different note, I'm so glad I met so many new writer friends this year! I've always wanted more people to talk about fic and fandom with so it's a joy having all of you guys on my tlist ♥ Thank you all for being so supportive and holding my hand through stressful times! If you've read all of this until here, congratulations, you get...hearts and my tears from crying about how my winter break is ending lol ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥