AO3versary!

[ratbones]

Several things happened a year ago today! I picked a screenname, made my AO3 account, and uploaded my first work. Yes, all in one day. Clicking "post" was one of the most terrifying/exciting things I've done, ever, in my entire life. I'd been reading Guardian fic daily for months at that point, and I'd seen how nice people were in the comments, but it felt like everyone already knew each other, and also I'd also seen how stupefyingly talented everyone was. I was fully prepared to disavow the entire venture, abandon the account, and deny any connection for the rest of my life.

Aaand instead I posted 204k words in my first year on AO3. More than half of those are in a freakin' zombie novel, which. If I had made a list of possible things that I would do last year, I would not have hit upon that. I would have guessed "run for public office" and "develop a cocaine habit" ahead of that. That is still wild to me. Not just All-Consuming, but the whole 204k. Like. Did I do that? Really?

I only kept writing because of feedback. I didn't know if I would be able to write anything that anyone else would enjoy reading; I didn't have any data to suggest that I could. If you've given me some data, thank you. Like, it's not just that people have been nice to me -- people have been amazing to me, I feel super comfortable here, and I've made friends, which is in itself pretty astonishing -- but y'all have indicated to me that the things I've discovered I like making are also things that other actual humans want. What a happy coincidence! Also, kind of the meaning of life, I think?

Okay, I love everyone here, I love this fandom, etc., enough of that. News I haven't posted, because I'm real bad at social media-ing:

-I finished The Untamed...um, two months ago or something. I enjoyed it, but I didn't connect all that strongly to the cast of characters as a group, and I don't ship anything enough to be motivated to write fic or even really read it. I've read a little femslash, but. Turns out Guardian owns my soul, which is kind of relief, tbh.

-Relatedly, I've never mentioned I watched HIStory3: Trapped way back when it aired. It feels weird saying it was too tropey for me when, dude, Guardian, but I think it was because the setting wasn't SF/F? I dunno. I adore Meng Shaofei, though.

-There are Russian translations of Flesh from Bone, Soul from Flesh and its cracky coda. The same translator is posting All-Consuming as a WIP right now. I can't read a word of Russian, but I am astounded at the amount of time they have put, and are putting, into my work. ❤

-I feel like I'm seeing a bunch of bingereaders come through in my kudos emails. New Guardian fans? Lockdown readers? Or maybe it's just me. Regardless, I love seeing people devour what I've written. I'm curious if anyone else has noticed the same thing, though.

-For all kinds of reasons, my writing pace approached zero for a couple of months earlier this year. I clawed my way back to the kind of pace I need to keep my head in a WIP, but it was still harder than it had been in 2019, and I have reason to think that it's going to get harder yet in a couple of weeks. That was kind of sitting at the back of my head, stressing me out, so about a week ago I decided: new rule. 100 words per day, every single day. This turned out to be exactly what I needed. I've written more than 100 words every day so far, but the point is that the bar is so low that I can reach it really quickly, so "I don't have time to write today, it'll be better tomorrow" is not an excuse that is happening anymore. And it's enough to keep my mind processing questions and problems, so I don't have that inertia of not having written in three days and not remembering what I was doing or what I needed to do next. Plus, I just feel better. So. It's what I need to be doing now, and when it's no longer what I need, I will stop. But sylleblahsome has joined me for the moment, and we're both feeling pretty upbeat about making steady progress.

EDIT: Free space to gripe about Trapped and/or The Untamed below! If you want to complain, or share what you did and didn't like, please have at. If negativity will bum you out, please don't scroll. <3

Comments

[nnozomi]

Happy anniversary and thank you for a year of lovely writing!

Turns out Guardian owns my soul
Seriously what is it about this canon/fandom, there's something more than natural. I still think it should have a warning label. Beware, you will never be the same.

100 words per day, every single day
Trying to live up to this! I am getting stuck on the goddamn plot; if I know what's supposed to happen I can write it, but I don't. Even so, it should get done. Best wishes for your continued steady progress!

[glymr]

Congratulations! Happy anniversary!

You are not the only one who didn't strongly connect with the other fandoms you mention. I watched Untamed and I was inspired enough to write exactly one one-shot story (and read a few...there are a. lot. and some of them do hit some of my kinks) but I'm with you in that it really doesn't own my soul the way Guardian does. I wrote 25k of my current Guardian WIP in April, and 7k for my Exchange fic, so Guardian is definitely winning!

Trapped...I had a hard time getting into it, tbh. I did finish it eventually, but. Okay, I haven't criticized the show because so many of my friends love it, and I don't like to piss on things people enjoy. But it bugged me that the characters were cops/mafia members that acted like high schoolers. ^_^; I get that it was supposed to read like fanfic, but it just didn't work for me. So you're not alone!

Great job on the 100 words per day! *cheers you on*

[winter_blossom]

Happy AO3versary! You've given us some of the best-plotted Guardian fic I've read, and as a lifelong slave to Plot over Anything Else I'm eternally grateful!

Turns out Guardian owns my soul, which is kind of relief, tbh.

Ngl, I also breathed a huge sigh of relief when I read this bit. So many of my fav Guardian authors have long since being lost to The Untamed, and of course I accept that, but it's always nice to know someone else is willing to stay in this tiny sailboat with me instead of hopping on the luxury cruise ship, haha.

I never even started Trapped because neither of the main characters looked even remotely attractive to me, and I... Can't really watch BL if they're not at least a bit cute/pretty/handsome? Especially not live action. If it'd had a good plot I wouldn't have considered that for even a moment, of course, but it didn't sound like it did (does it?) so, yeah. (Okay, I just now admitted to being a lot shallower than I appear, didn't I? Yikes.)

Best of luck with your writing!

[extrapenguin]

Happy AO3versary! So fast the time goes, so well the wordcount flows. 200k+ is A Lot! Congrats! I hope you've enjoyed your red carpet enough to stay forever as long as you like.

[clevermanka]

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

I haven't gotten kudos notifications of someone binging more than two of my fics at a time. Sometimes I'll recognize a name from earlier in the week. It's pretty cool.

[umadoshi]

I am so glad to share a fandom with you. *^^* Happy AO3versary!

[tinny]

Oooh, I loved Trapped. Yes, it's tropey, but it's explicit m/m, and as such will always own my soul. I resisted watching Guardian for so long, because it's not explicit, and I sat in front of Guardian crying for a lot of the later episodes - not because of the ending, I hadn't gotten there yet (even though I knew how it ends), but because *they're not allowed to kiss* *or even hug*. This is a huge deal for me, and I don't even know why I still fell into the Guardian fandom so hard and haven't regretted it. Something about it is special for sure.

I saw the Russian translation come by on the tag a few times, and wow, yes, dedication! \o/

It's great that you found a way to write that works for you! Go you!

[naye]

*comes in two weeks late without Starbucks*

Congratulations on the AO3-versary! That's such an awesome milestone! All those wonderful, wonderful words. ♥ I can't even say how much joy they've given me over the past year.

I feel like I'm seeing a bunch of bingereaders come through in my kudos emails. New Guardian fans? Lockdown readers?
I've seen the same and it delights me to no end.

new rule. 100 words per day, every single day
Your posts continue to be the most relatable. I did this in April as part of Camp Nano, and writing every day really helped with the feeling of - chest-tightness struggle-sadness?

...and then Camp Nano month ended and I stopped tracking my words and I stopped writing every day and let me tell you: bad idea.

As for the shows - I am very fond of Trapped, but it's not something I seek out fic for. My wife fell super hard for the B pairing, so I have had this weird fandom by proxy happening? But even when they were writing lots of fic I just...didn't get into it? (My wife and I are both fans who write fic, but they're super into domestic fluff and such. Meanwhile I'm the type not to really get invested in anything where the characters don't at least suffer a little before they get to enjoy their comfort. It's always hilarious when we try to help each other plot. Them, writing a dog shelter AU and needing a meet cute: ...so the dog runs away and they chase after it maybe? Me: Oooh, and then one of them gets bitten by a snake! Them: WTF?? Me: ...they fall into a hole? Them: WHY?? Me: ...someone twists an ankle?)

Meanwhile I've had friends who have been into The Untamed since long before the live action aired and I've always had the strongest Not For Me vibes but it feels really rude to be sighing about how it's everywhere when people are having such a good time with it. But yeah. Not for me. (The novel, possibly? But I'm getting burned out on the censored M/M, no matter how much the actors involve smoulder at each other.)