Fic Round-Up 2025
Jan. 9th, 2026 09:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kat_lair***
Better post this now before this year's fics start appearing...
Well, I did not manage my![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
getyourwordsout goal (largely because after Tricks I just stopped writing for six weeks) but I did reach total of over 100k though only 57k posted on AO3. I also passed 500 works on AO3 and in 2026 I will almost certainly pass 1 million words.
Fics published in 2025 by Fandom:
(I've only provided AO3 links cos I'm lazy, but all are readable on DW too, let me know if you'd like a link. My AO3 is locked for users only but if anyone needs AO3 invites please let me know, I have plenty)
American Idol RPF
Trial (Kris/Adam, G, 100 words)
ATEEZ
Whispers (Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa + Park Seonghwa/OMC, G, 100 words)
방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
First Spark (Namjoon/Yoongi, G, 100 words)
Metamorphosis (OT7/ambiguous relationships, G, 544 words)
Being Human
Home (Mitchell/George/Annie, T, 100 words)
Buzzfeed Unsolved/Watcher Entertainment
Awkward (Ryan/Shane, G, 100 words)
Better the Demon You Know (Ryan/Shane, M, 6422 words)
Cobra Starship
electric dreams (Ryland/Alex, G, 100 words)
Doctor Who
Mercury Lane (Tenth Doctor/The Master (Simm), G, 1134 words)
Enola Holmes
Courting (Un)Conventions (Enola/Tewkesbury + Sherlock/John, G, 837 words)
Fall Out Boy
Price (Patrick/Pete, T, 100 words)
Firefly
Grow Together (Kaylee/River/Simon, G, 501 words)
Given (Anime)
Second Chance (Kaji Akihiko/Nakayama Haruki + Satou Mafuyu/Uenoyama Ritsuka, T, 5517 words)
Guardian RPF
Closer (Bai Yu/Zhu Yilong, T, 2072 words)
no finer details than yours (Bai Yu/Zhu Yilong, T, 905 words)
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
Choice (Gretel/Hansel, T, 100 words)
Harry Potter
A Kiss (Bellatrix, M, 100 words)
The Hobbit
Together (Fili/Kili G, 100 words)
K.A.R.D (Band)
like what you (don’t) see (Matthew Kim | BM/Kim Taehyung | J.Seph + Kim Taehyung | J.Seph/OMC, G, 720 words)
Life on Mars
Boiling Point (Sam, G, 100 words)
Year of the Cat (Gene/Sam, G, 2111 words)
The Lost Boys
Flashback (Michael/Sam, T, 2553 words)
MCU
Shatter (Bruce/Tony, T, 100 words)
My Chemical Romance
Dribble (Gerard/Frank, E, 1142 words)
Original Work
climbin’ up to reach your land (OMC/OMC, T, 3291 words)
(i’ma) make a move (OFC/OFC, T, 2789 words)
Tribute (OFC/OMC, T, 2059 words)
Panic! at the Disco
Mismatched Magic (Ryan/Spencer, G, 100 words)
safe landing (Ryan/Spencer, G, 1035 words)
Person of Interest
Ruin (Finch/Reese, G, 100 words)
Primeval
Celebrate Tonight (Nick/Stephen, G, 1295 words)
SEVENTEEN
Thorns (Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi, G, 100 words)
Stargate Atlantis
Midnight Tea (Teyla, G, 100 words)
Protector (Lorne/Sheppard, T, 2248 words)
Star Trek: Alternate Original Series
Antigen (Kirk/Bones, T, 2111 words)
Stray Kids
Summoned (Bang Chan/Seo Changbin, G, 100 words)
when to fold’em (Bang Chan/Yang Jeongin | I.N + Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, M, 1392 words)
Supernatural
Struggle (Sam/Dean, T, 100 words)
Veil (Bobby, G, 100 words)
Wheel of Time
Architect (Rand/Elayne, G, 163 words)
Burgeoning (Nynaeve, G, 100 words)
Patience (Bair & Egwene, G, 191 words)
Vernal (Aviendha, G, 737 words)
The Witcher
The Winter of Our Contentment (Geralt/Jaskier, T, 4581 words)
阴阳师 | Yīn Yáng Shī | The Yin-yang Master (Movies - Guo Jingming)
touch me slow, touch me sure (Bo Ya/Qing Ming, E, 8984 words)
***
Meme Question
Leitmotifs of the year:
- Return of the Drabble
- Is This Original Fic I See?
- Old Fandoms, New Fandoms
- Gifting Things
Most popular story:
By every AO3 metric: The Winter of Our Contentment, because The Witcher fandom is still active af apparently.
Observation 1. This was the year I archive-locked all my fic and the overall drop in hits, kudos and comments compared to last year has been noticeable. Why are people still relying on reading without an account when the invite codes are relatively easy to get?
Observation 2. The second most popular fic by hits is Dribble which is a filthy pwp. I'm amused by the difference between the kudos to hit ratio between this and The Winter of Our Contentment, ~10% vs ~27%, which suggests that many people are apparently reluctant to make it known that they read and liked filthy porn. Which is hilarious to me. Baby, this is fandom, let go of your shame.
My best story this year:
Metamorphosis for the theme. Better the Demon You Know and Protector for the world-building. when to fold'em and Vernal for the voices. Mercury Lane for the sense of place. Antigen for the concept. climbin' up to reach your land as a personal favourite.
Hardest story to write:
I struggled with the ending of the climbin' up to reach your land quite a bit. Emotionally speaking, probably Metamorphosis.
Easiest story to write:
Most of the drabbles I wrote in one sitting, often one after another, and it was good to get back to that instant sense of accomplishment. like what you (don't) see I wrote in one sitting too after being smacked by the MV. Year of the Cat was also a quick write. And Second Chance came out pretty quickly under deadline pressure. (i'ma) make a move was a fun breezy fluff piece.
Story most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Ugh, idk... Metamorphosis? But like it was never going to get a lot of attention given the theme and the ambiguous relationships. Maybe climbin' up to reach your land as I think it would appeal to anyone who's into incest-ships. Tribute has a bad ass female war general. Just saying.
Most fun story to write:
I had fun with a lot of the drabbles, but especially Awkward, Together, Mismatched Magic
Fluffiest story:
Mismatched Magic, no finer details than yours, Year of the Cat (kittens! scampering!). Actually The Winter of Out Contentment is pretty damn fluffy, seeming as it's essential 4,5k of huddling for warmth. Erm, okay, safe landing. (i'ma) make a move is cotton candy. Fuck, listen, fluff and angst are like my bread and butter.
Most angsty story:
*points above* But maybe Metamorphosis takes the win here too we it's high on hurt, thin on comfort. Special mentions to Whispers, Veil, Shatter, electric dreams, like what you (don't) see, Antigen (though has a hopeful ending)
Sexiest story:
For outright porn, Dribble. For slow burn and an extended, gentler sex scene with touch starvation and first time feels, touch me slow, touch me sure
"Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
Ehhhh *waves hand* Idk, there were some morally grey fics (when to fold'em) and plenty of incest (Flashback, Choice, climbin' up to reach your land, Struggle, Grow Together) but maybe A Kiss. For the sadism.
Biggest Disappointment:
As always, not finishing some of the longer wips, or poetry really though I did get back to that a little bit. I stopped writing entirely for about six weeks after losing Tricks, and I'm not like disappointed about that per se, just acknowledging that it happened and I'm still slowly coming back.
Biggest Surprise:
I did not expect to a) write in an anime fandom and b) for that to go as well as it did, so for Second Chance to get into a fourth place of 'most popular' was fun to watch. Writing as much Original Fic as I did.
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
Idk, nothing where I brought clear receipts... Wait, wait, I did, sort of, for Celebrate Tonight. (no, not for that!). I also don't think I wrote anything particularly unexpected. Ooooh Kat likes power dynamics! What a surprise...
Best summary?
I've used a quote from the fic as a summary for almost every single one this year so mostly what's left is this:
In which Akihiko decides that Mafuyu and Ritsuka need role models for a healthy relationship. You know, because he's such an expert on the topic. Somehow, this becomes Haruki's problem.
Best first line?
John’s government assigned Protector arrives to Atlantis within a week of them re-establishing the connection to Earth. (Protector)
Ardel hated this part the most. Alright, maybe a little less than the obligatory executions, but honestly, not that much. (Tribute)
Lehan is born three minutes before his brother. That makes him the eldest. That makes him the protector.
It makes him responsible. (climbin' up to reach your land)
Courting is, in Enola’s opinion, mostly about other people, not the two principal players. (Courting (Un)Conventions)
The Doctor finds him without meaning to, in a sprawling no-name city on a backwater planet, where the streets wind and twist like something living, where the people come to get willingly lost. (Mercury Lane)
He’s still learning, is the thing. Still learning and already so dangerous. (Architect)
Tony is falling. He’s falling fast, deadweight, nothing but a pile of dead metal encasing his soon-to-be-dead flesh. (Shatter)
How many times can you come back from the dead and still expect to live? (Ruin)
She likes them screaming, but she loves them silent, faces contorted, bodies locked, rictus of pain shining like lacquer on a butterfly. (A Kiss)
The house smells of old roses and dried blood. (Home)
The scales appear slowly. They bloom across his arms, like cherry blossoms opening in the spring, pale pink at first before deepening into fiery crimson. Every morning, they’ve spread a bit further, covering his shoulders, then his back, lines of red running down his spine like blood except more beautiful. (Metamorphosis)
It unfurls inside her, not like a flower but like a storm burgeoning above the horizon. (Burgeoning)
Best last line?
Pete looks at the sigil on his flesh and laughs. The price of never being alone is worth paying. (Price)
Doing nothing is not ignorance. It’s a choice. (Choice)
Minho-hyung may be shit at cards but it doesn’t make his advice any less right. Sometimes, the only thing to do with a bad hand is to fold. Jeongin gets into the car. (when to fold'em)
Beneath their feet, Mercury Lane pulses, a single throb of power rippling out, out, across the unremarkable town, the unnamed planet, the spiral of the galaxy it sits on. Outward it spreads, on and on, across the unfathomable span of the universe and then back, in a blink of an eye, thick with time and space and possibility. And at the crossing of two roads, at the crossing of two lives lived again and again, it resonates like a drum, like a dawn of a new era. (Mercury Lane)
If there is a world left, after the Last Battle, it will be very different, shaped by the Dragon regardless of whether the Dragon himself survives to see it. (Architect)
Sometimes, she drinks alone and that is good, necessary too. Sometimes, with others and that is better, love distilled. (Midnight Tea)
Maybe one day Chan will realise that he can demand rather than ask, that Changbin is waiting for him to. (Summoned)
Turns out, sometimes surviving is as life-shattering as dying. Perhaps even more so. (Shatter)
“I’m not worried.” Hongjoong is not lying. It’s not worry that hollows him out like a sunken ship. It’s regret. (Whispers)
Something will boil over soon, melt into liquid dreams, vaporise into nothing. Could be the city. Could be Sam himself. (Boiling Point)
Favorite line/passage of this year?
From climbin' up to reach your land:
“What are we going to do?” Lassar asks a week later when the shock has worn off and the new reality, one much less secure, less predictable, has started to settle in. They’re lying side by side in the bed, the mid-winter darkness absolute around them, heavy and still, like Lehan imagines the waters of the lake are. “How are we going to do everything all on our own?”
Lehan doesn’t know what they’re going to do, or how, but he does know one thing. “We’re not alone,” he says, turning to his brother. Under the covers it’s easy to find Lassar’s hand, the exact shape and size of his own, to slot their fingers together tight enough to hurt, tight enough to cradle hope between them. “We’ve got each other.”
Lassar makes a wordless sound, something like a sob but… Angrier. His face is wet, pressed against Lehan’s collarbones, and his body fits against Lehan’s like it was made for it.
Because it was. They were.
+
The summer days are long, heat making everything languid and heavy, sweat dampening skin almost as soon as it’s wiped off. Lehan watches Lassar haul pails of water from the well, gaze lingering on the swell of muscles at his back and arms, growing rich, tawny-brown as the summer progresses. He can feel the same changes in his own body, but seeing them on his brother is different somehow, every twist of his torso, every flash of skin snagging Lehan’s attention like a snare on a hare’s leg. In the evenings, the light thins into milky white, air shimmering above the grass, the scent of the forest deepening into something dark and inviting as they sit on the front steps of their house, mugs of tea in hand, bone-tired but sated.
~~~
From Closer:
He will not accept any of this quietly fading away and out of each other’s lives business, hard won friendship diluting into occasional messages and polite, meaningless smiles at industry events. Bai Yu had fought for this friendship, goddammit, chipping at Zhu Yilong’s defences carefully like an archaeologist at a rare find, with gentle jokes and quality time and listening as his chisels. He’d fucking… respected boundaries even when everything in him had just wanted to bulldoze right through them and simply physically wind himself around Zhu Yilong like an infatuated boa constrictor and never let go.
~~~
From touch me slow, touch me sure:
“You didn’t say anything.” Qing Ming doesn’t mean it to come out accusatorily, but this is kind of a big deal; spirit guardian markings manifesting in the physical realm is not something he has ever heard of, but then again, the circumstances of Bo Ya’s temporary state of existence were unusual to say the least.
Bo Ya shrugs and then grimaces. “What was there to say? They don’t hurt. They don’t seem to be doing anything all. They’re just there.”
“Well,” Qing Ming reaches out to run a finger over the uppermost curve of the design because the temptation is more than he can resist right now, “they are beautiful.”
But not nearly as beautiful as the full-body shiver that racks its way through Bo Ya at the touch, not as gorgeous as the way his mouth drops open, soft and helpless, pupils flaring wide and dark, and oh, oh, this…
The moment trembles like the last leaf of autumn, Qing Ming’s hand hovering just a hair breadth’s away from cupping Bo Ya’s hip, two of his fingers resting against the graceful curve of the tattoo. The reaction has clearly taken Bo Ya himself by surprise as well, and Qing Ming can see the moment his expression starts to shift toward mortification. He’s expecting to be teased, maybe even mocked, certainly expects Qing Ming to take advantage somehow. Like a puzzle box clicking into place Qing Ming suddenly understands the reason behind Bo Ya’s stoicism and reservation; he’s holding himself back because every piece, every scrap of insight or vulnerability revealed, has potential to be exploited. Has been exploited, Qing Ming realises with a flash of anger, because a reaction like this doesn’t just develop naturally, it’s something learned, from bitter experience.
And everything in Bo Ya’s body language suggests that he expects nothing different right now. But it’s in Qing Ming’s power to give it to him anyway.
“Beautiful,” he repeats, keeping any hint of smile from his face so as not to risk it being mistaken for insincerity. “Mark of a battle fought and won. Without the honour of your service that day we would have all perished, and thousands more besides.” Deliberately, he presses his fingers against the tattoo just a tad harder and then brings them to touch his own heart and then his forehead, bowing slightly for added emphasis. “And today you have chosen to assist me once more, and once more we have defeated our foe. Together.”
Bo Ya’s eyes are wide with astonishment, all signs of apprehension blown away. “I…” he starts, gaze flickering all over Qing Ming’s face looking for a trick, or a trap, but finding none. “It’s an honour,” he says finally. It’s stiff and formal, but it’s also accompanied by a quick dart of Bo Ya’s hand, coming up to squeeze Qing Ming’s forearm.
Qing Ming lets his eyelids flutter shut briefly, lets his pleasure at the contact be visible. “Your trust is a privilege,” he tells Bo Ya, and watches the word sink in like smooth round stones into a still pond.
~~~
From Mercury Lane:
“Doctor,” the Master greets him. “Cold night for a stroll. Cold place too.” His breath escapes in a white mist, hanging in the air like lace.
The Doctor wants to taste it. This is nothing new.
~~~
From The Winter of Our Contentment:
In the bed, on clean linen sheets, is Geralt. His hair is still damp from the earlier bath, hanging in heavy white ropes down his back, over his bare chest. His skin is littered with scars, rough with hard living, and the gold in his eyes catches the firelight, gleaming a promise of warmth, of heat. At least for tonight.
“Jaskier,” Geralt says, voice almost a whisper, his name almost a prayer and Jaskier’s whole chest aches from the force of it, his heart burning, burning under skin and bone like a coal Geralt lit and hasn’t let go out since. “Come to bed?” It’s a question, undeniably. Geralt lifts the blankets covering him in invitation.
And Jaskier, who has always flown right into the fire like a moth, doesn’t even hesitate. Never mind if this will be scorch him beyond repair. He doesn’t care. It’ll be worth it.
+
Everything is white, when they step outside, the first snow of the season covering houses and trees like fine powder. It probably won’t settle for good yet, but it’s a forerunner of what’s to come, an augur of winter.
Of loneliness, Jaskier thinks, filing the line away for later use despite the sting.
~~~
From Celebrate Tonight:
Stephen’s eyes are dark. If he’s nervous, he’s doing a hell of a job at masking it. “Why don’t you just take what you want for once?” he asks. “And don’t tell me you don’t know what I mean, that you don’t know what I’m offering.” The frustration from earlier is back, less fond now, more… frayed. He runs a hand through his hair. “You may pretend to be oblivious but you’re not stupid. You’ve not been picking up what I’ve been putting down out of a choice, not because you don’t realise—”
Nick wraps his hands around Stephen’s trim waist and tugs, cutting Stephen off mid-sentence.
~~~
From Flashback:
“You know what I am, don’t you?” the vampire asks him. His fingers, when he brings them up to trail over Michael’s face, are curled like an animal’s, tipped with thick, yellowing claws.
There’s no point in denying it. “I’ve seen you bloodsuckers before,” Michael confirms, refusing to react to the touch.
“Have you now?” the vampire asks. “Hear that boys? He’s a fan.”
A chorus of hoots and cackling arises from behind Michael. He counts at least four separate voices. Fuck. Fucking… Fuck. Michael’s a good fighter. After his almost turning, some of the preternatural strength and reflexes remained, so he’s even better now – he hasn’t gotten into many brawls during his road trip so far but every fight he did get into, he’s won – but he’s no match for five vampires on his own. If they decide to make a meal out of him here, there’s not much Michael can do about it except make them work for it.
~~~
From Veil:
The veil is sticky, like spiderweb. Bobby doesn’t even try to get through by force, knows it would never work. Instead, he lets himself fall into the glimmering folds, lets himself be engulfed by the gossamer strands, falling deeper. Then through.
~~~
From Antigen:
Kirk was a people person. It was one of his core strengths, the ability to both understand others and to find common ground on which to build professional and personal relationships, to create trust and loyalty, to work together toward a common goal. It was what made him a great Starfleet captain, but more than that, it was also one of the deepest joys of his life. Jim loved people, loved to learn their little quirks and habits, to figure out what made them tick and then feed that to help them turn into the very best versions of themselves. To have all of that stripped away by a flower…
To have to watch the effects of the pollen on his crew was worse. Jim was familiar with all the evolutionary, physiological, psychological, cultural reasons why humans needed touch. Group and individual variation obviously existed, but as a species the requirement for connection went DNA-deep and the impacts of being deprived of it were well-documented and happening right in front of his eyes, right in his own body too.
~~~
From Patience:
Egwene ripples like water, and Bair sees people will die for her as readily as they'll die for water, for a chance of a mouthful, a droplet on their upturned faces, their swollen tongues, bestowed like an unthinking mercy.
~~~
From Better The Demon You Know:
“One hundred and fifty thousand.” It was quiet but the room had been silent, waiting for the end of the bid, and so the words were more than audible.
The auctioneer lowered the gavel. “Who said that?” they asked, disbelief breaking momentarily through their professional veneer. “Repeat the bid if you were serious.”
A beat of silence. Then the lone figure at the centre of empty chairs stood up. A sharp hissing sound could be heard as the room collectively inhaled in a shock.
“One hundred and fifty thousand dollars,” the demon said and Ryan too gasped, because he knew that particular prissy emphasis, the ‘I said what I said and if you’re too dumb to understand it’s not my problem’ tone that came out occasionally in meetings with sponsors and never failed to make Ryan squirm in a way that was only part anxiety over a deal going bust, because he knew that voice because…
He knew that man.
Except no, he clearly didn’t.
~~~
And since they're drabbles: All of A Kiss and all of Home
Story I haven't yet written, but intend/hope to:
I've signed up forgetyourwordsout with the same goal (150k) that I failed to reach this year, largely because I love their spreadsheet an unholy amount. I'm hoping to finish and post some of the longer wips, either the ones I'm writing alone, or the numerous shared stories with dreamersdare and I want to get some of the Unmarked Place fics (bandom bdsm au co-written with pushkin666 ) to AO3. I'm currently just playing around with fandomtrees fics.
***
Better post this now before this year's fics start appearing...
Well, I did not manage my
getyourwordsout goal (largely because after Tricks I just stopped writing for six weeks) but I did reach total of over 100k though only 57k posted on AO3. I also passed 500 works on AO3 and in 2026 I will almost certainly pass 1 million words. Fics published in 2025 by Fandom:
(I've only provided AO3 links cos I'm lazy, but all are readable on DW too, let me know if you'd like a link. My AO3 is locked for users only but if anyone needs AO3 invites please let me know, I have plenty)
American Idol RPF
Trial (Kris/Adam, G, 100 words)
ATEEZ
Whispers (Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa + Park Seonghwa/OMC, G, 100 words)
방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
First Spark (Namjoon/Yoongi, G, 100 words)
Metamorphosis (OT7/ambiguous relationships, G, 544 words)
Being Human
Home (Mitchell/George/Annie, T, 100 words)
Buzzfeed Unsolved/Watcher Entertainment
Awkward (Ryan/Shane, G, 100 words)
Better the Demon You Know (Ryan/Shane, M, 6422 words)
Cobra Starship
electric dreams (Ryland/Alex, G, 100 words)
Doctor Who
Mercury Lane (Tenth Doctor/The Master (Simm), G, 1134 words)
Enola Holmes
Courting (Un)Conventions (Enola/Tewkesbury + Sherlock/John, G, 837 words)
Fall Out Boy
Price (Patrick/Pete, T, 100 words)
Firefly
Grow Together (Kaylee/River/Simon, G, 501 words)
Given (Anime)
Second Chance (Kaji Akihiko/Nakayama Haruki + Satou Mafuyu/Uenoyama Ritsuka, T, 5517 words)
Guardian RPF
Closer (Bai Yu/Zhu Yilong, T, 2072 words)
no finer details than yours (Bai Yu/Zhu Yilong, T, 905 words)
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
Choice (Gretel/Hansel, T, 100 words)
Harry Potter
A Kiss (Bellatrix, M, 100 words)
The Hobbit
Together (Fili/Kili G, 100 words)
K.A.R.D (Band)
like what you (don’t) see (Matthew Kim | BM/Kim Taehyung | J.Seph + Kim Taehyung | J.Seph/OMC, G, 720 words)
Life on Mars
Boiling Point (Sam, G, 100 words)
Year of the Cat (Gene/Sam, G, 2111 words)
The Lost Boys
Flashback (Michael/Sam, T, 2553 words)
MCU
Shatter (Bruce/Tony, T, 100 words)
My Chemical Romance
Dribble (Gerard/Frank, E, 1142 words)
Original Work
climbin’ up to reach your land (OMC/OMC, T, 3291 words)
(i’ma) make a move (OFC/OFC, T, 2789 words)
Tribute (OFC/OMC, T, 2059 words)
Panic! at the Disco
Mismatched Magic (Ryan/Spencer, G, 100 words)
safe landing (Ryan/Spencer, G, 1035 words)
Person of Interest
Ruin (Finch/Reese, G, 100 words)
Primeval
Celebrate Tonight (Nick/Stephen, G, 1295 words)
SEVENTEEN
Thorns (Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi, G, 100 words)
Stargate Atlantis
Midnight Tea (Teyla, G, 100 words)
Protector (Lorne/Sheppard, T, 2248 words)
Star Trek: Alternate Original Series
Antigen (Kirk/Bones, T, 2111 words)
Stray Kids
Summoned (Bang Chan/Seo Changbin, G, 100 words)
when to fold’em (Bang Chan/Yang Jeongin | I.N + Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, M, 1392 words)
Supernatural
Struggle (Sam/Dean, T, 100 words)
Veil (Bobby, G, 100 words)
Wheel of Time
Architect (Rand/Elayne, G, 163 words)
Burgeoning (Nynaeve, G, 100 words)
Patience (Bair & Egwene, G, 191 words)
Vernal (Aviendha, G, 737 words)
The Witcher
The Winter of Our Contentment (Geralt/Jaskier, T, 4581 words)
阴阳师 | Yīn Yáng Shī | The Yin-yang Master (Movies - Guo Jingming)
touch me slow, touch me sure (Bo Ya/Qing Ming, E, 8984 words)
***
Meme Question
Leitmotifs of the year:
- Return of the Drabble
- Is This Original Fic I See?
- Old Fandoms, New Fandoms
- Gifting Things
Most popular story:
By every AO3 metric: The Winter of Our Contentment, because The Witcher fandom is still active af apparently.
Observation 1. This was the year I archive-locked all my fic and the overall drop in hits, kudos and comments compared to last year has been noticeable. Why are people still relying on reading without an account when the invite codes are relatively easy to get?
Observation 2. The second most popular fic by hits is Dribble which is a filthy pwp. I'm amused by the difference between the kudos to hit ratio between this and The Winter of Our Contentment, ~10% vs ~27%, which suggests that many people are apparently reluctant to make it known that they read and liked filthy porn. Which is hilarious to me. Baby, this is fandom, let go of your shame.
My best story this year:
Metamorphosis for the theme. Better the Demon You Know and Protector for the world-building. when to fold'em and Vernal for the voices. Mercury Lane for the sense of place. Antigen for the concept. climbin' up to reach your land as a personal favourite.
Hardest story to write:
I struggled with the ending of the climbin' up to reach your land quite a bit. Emotionally speaking, probably Metamorphosis.
Easiest story to write:
Most of the drabbles I wrote in one sitting, often one after another, and it was good to get back to that instant sense of accomplishment. like what you (don't) see I wrote in one sitting too after being smacked by the MV. Year of the Cat was also a quick write. And Second Chance came out pretty quickly under deadline pressure. (i'ma) make a move was a fun breezy fluff piece.
Story most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Ugh, idk... Metamorphosis? But like it was never going to get a lot of attention given the theme and the ambiguous relationships. Maybe climbin' up to reach your land as I think it would appeal to anyone who's into incest-ships. Tribute has a bad ass female war general. Just saying.
Most fun story to write:
I had fun with a lot of the drabbles, but especially Awkward, Together, Mismatched Magic
Fluffiest story:
Mismatched Magic, no finer details than yours, Year of the Cat (kittens! scampering!). Actually The Winter of Out Contentment is pretty damn fluffy, seeming as it's essential 4,5k of huddling for warmth. Erm, okay, safe landing. (i'ma) make a move is cotton candy. Fuck, listen, fluff and angst are like my bread and butter.
Most angsty story:
*points above* But maybe Metamorphosis takes the win here too we it's high on hurt, thin on comfort. Special mentions to Whispers, Veil, Shatter, electric dreams, like what you (don't) see, Antigen (though has a hopeful ending)
Sexiest story:
For outright porn, Dribble. For slow burn and an extended, gentler sex scene with touch starvation and first time feels, touch me slow, touch me sure
"Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
Ehhhh *waves hand* Idk, there were some morally grey fics (when to fold'em) and plenty of incest (Flashback, Choice, climbin' up to reach your land, Struggle, Grow Together) but maybe A Kiss. For the sadism.
Biggest Disappointment:
As always, not finishing some of the longer wips, or poetry really though I did get back to that a little bit. I stopped writing entirely for about six weeks after losing Tricks, and I'm not like disappointed about that per se, just acknowledging that it happened and I'm still slowly coming back.
Biggest Surprise:
I did not expect to a) write in an anime fandom and b) for that to go as well as it did, so for Second Chance to get into a fourth place of 'most popular' was fun to watch. Writing as much Original Fic as I did.
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
Idk, nothing where I brought clear receipts... Wait, wait, I did, sort of, for Celebrate Tonight. (no, not for that!). I also don't think I wrote anything particularly unexpected. Ooooh Kat likes power dynamics! What a surprise...
Best summary?
I've used a quote from the fic as a summary for almost every single one this year so mostly what's left is this:
In which Akihiko decides that Mafuyu and Ritsuka need role models for a healthy relationship. You know, because he's such an expert on the topic. Somehow, this becomes Haruki's problem.
Best first line?
John’s government assigned Protector arrives to Atlantis within a week of them re-establishing the connection to Earth. (Protector)
Ardel hated this part the most. Alright, maybe a little less than the obligatory executions, but honestly, not that much. (Tribute)
Lehan is born three minutes before his brother. That makes him the eldest. That makes him the protector.
It makes him responsible. (climbin' up to reach your land)
Courting is, in Enola’s opinion, mostly about other people, not the two principal players. (Courting (Un)Conventions)
The Doctor finds him without meaning to, in a sprawling no-name city on a backwater planet, where the streets wind and twist like something living, where the people come to get willingly lost. (Mercury Lane)
He’s still learning, is the thing. Still learning and already so dangerous. (Architect)
Tony is falling. He’s falling fast, deadweight, nothing but a pile of dead metal encasing his soon-to-be-dead flesh. (Shatter)
How many times can you come back from the dead and still expect to live? (Ruin)
She likes them screaming, but she loves them silent, faces contorted, bodies locked, rictus of pain shining like lacquer on a butterfly. (A Kiss)
The house smells of old roses and dried blood. (Home)
The scales appear slowly. They bloom across his arms, like cherry blossoms opening in the spring, pale pink at first before deepening into fiery crimson. Every morning, they’ve spread a bit further, covering his shoulders, then his back, lines of red running down his spine like blood except more beautiful. (Metamorphosis)
It unfurls inside her, not like a flower but like a storm burgeoning above the horizon. (Burgeoning)
Best last line?
Pete looks at the sigil on his flesh and laughs. The price of never being alone is worth paying. (Price)
Doing nothing is not ignorance. It’s a choice. (Choice)
Minho-hyung may be shit at cards but it doesn’t make his advice any less right. Sometimes, the only thing to do with a bad hand is to fold. Jeongin gets into the car. (when to fold'em)
Beneath their feet, Mercury Lane pulses, a single throb of power rippling out, out, across the unremarkable town, the unnamed planet, the spiral of the galaxy it sits on. Outward it spreads, on and on, across the unfathomable span of the universe and then back, in a blink of an eye, thick with time and space and possibility. And at the crossing of two roads, at the crossing of two lives lived again and again, it resonates like a drum, like a dawn of a new era. (Mercury Lane)
If there is a world left, after the Last Battle, it will be very different, shaped by the Dragon regardless of whether the Dragon himself survives to see it. (Architect)
Sometimes, she drinks alone and that is good, necessary too. Sometimes, with others and that is better, love distilled. (Midnight Tea)
Maybe one day Chan will realise that he can demand rather than ask, that Changbin is waiting for him to. (Summoned)
Turns out, sometimes surviving is as life-shattering as dying. Perhaps even more so. (Shatter)
“I’m not worried.” Hongjoong is not lying. It’s not worry that hollows him out like a sunken ship. It’s regret. (Whispers)
Something will boil over soon, melt into liquid dreams, vaporise into nothing. Could be the city. Could be Sam himself. (Boiling Point)
Favorite line/passage of this year?
From climbin' up to reach your land:
“What are we going to do?” Lassar asks a week later when the shock has worn off and the new reality, one much less secure, less predictable, has started to settle in. They’re lying side by side in the bed, the mid-winter darkness absolute around them, heavy and still, like Lehan imagines the waters of the lake are. “How are we going to do everything all on our own?”
Lehan doesn’t know what they’re going to do, or how, but he does know one thing. “We’re not alone,” he says, turning to his brother. Under the covers it’s easy to find Lassar’s hand, the exact shape and size of his own, to slot their fingers together tight enough to hurt, tight enough to cradle hope between them. “We’ve got each other.”
Lassar makes a wordless sound, something like a sob but… Angrier. His face is wet, pressed against Lehan’s collarbones, and his body fits against Lehan’s like it was made for it.
Because it was. They were.
+
The summer days are long, heat making everything languid and heavy, sweat dampening skin almost as soon as it’s wiped off. Lehan watches Lassar haul pails of water from the well, gaze lingering on the swell of muscles at his back and arms, growing rich, tawny-brown as the summer progresses. He can feel the same changes in his own body, but seeing them on his brother is different somehow, every twist of his torso, every flash of skin snagging Lehan’s attention like a snare on a hare’s leg. In the evenings, the light thins into milky white, air shimmering above the grass, the scent of the forest deepening into something dark and inviting as they sit on the front steps of their house, mugs of tea in hand, bone-tired but sated.
~~~
From Closer:
He will not accept any of this quietly fading away and out of each other’s lives business, hard won friendship diluting into occasional messages and polite, meaningless smiles at industry events. Bai Yu had fought for this friendship, goddammit, chipping at Zhu Yilong’s defences carefully like an archaeologist at a rare find, with gentle jokes and quality time and listening as his chisels. He’d fucking… respected boundaries even when everything in him had just wanted to bulldoze right through them and simply physically wind himself around Zhu Yilong like an infatuated boa constrictor and never let go.
~~~
From touch me slow, touch me sure:
“You didn’t say anything.” Qing Ming doesn’t mean it to come out accusatorily, but this is kind of a big deal; spirit guardian markings manifesting in the physical realm is not something he has ever heard of, but then again, the circumstances of Bo Ya’s temporary state of existence were unusual to say the least.
Bo Ya shrugs and then grimaces. “What was there to say? They don’t hurt. They don’t seem to be doing anything all. They’re just there.”
“Well,” Qing Ming reaches out to run a finger over the uppermost curve of the design because the temptation is more than he can resist right now, “they are beautiful.”
But not nearly as beautiful as the full-body shiver that racks its way through Bo Ya at the touch, not as gorgeous as the way his mouth drops open, soft and helpless, pupils flaring wide and dark, and oh, oh, this…
The moment trembles like the last leaf of autumn, Qing Ming’s hand hovering just a hair breadth’s away from cupping Bo Ya’s hip, two of his fingers resting against the graceful curve of the tattoo. The reaction has clearly taken Bo Ya himself by surprise as well, and Qing Ming can see the moment his expression starts to shift toward mortification. He’s expecting to be teased, maybe even mocked, certainly expects Qing Ming to take advantage somehow. Like a puzzle box clicking into place Qing Ming suddenly understands the reason behind Bo Ya’s stoicism and reservation; he’s holding himself back because every piece, every scrap of insight or vulnerability revealed, has potential to be exploited. Has been exploited, Qing Ming realises with a flash of anger, because a reaction like this doesn’t just develop naturally, it’s something learned, from bitter experience.
And everything in Bo Ya’s body language suggests that he expects nothing different right now. But it’s in Qing Ming’s power to give it to him anyway.
“Beautiful,” he repeats, keeping any hint of smile from his face so as not to risk it being mistaken for insincerity. “Mark of a battle fought and won. Without the honour of your service that day we would have all perished, and thousands more besides.” Deliberately, he presses his fingers against the tattoo just a tad harder and then brings them to touch his own heart and then his forehead, bowing slightly for added emphasis. “And today you have chosen to assist me once more, and once more we have defeated our foe. Together.”
Bo Ya’s eyes are wide with astonishment, all signs of apprehension blown away. “I…” he starts, gaze flickering all over Qing Ming’s face looking for a trick, or a trap, but finding none. “It’s an honour,” he says finally. It’s stiff and formal, but it’s also accompanied by a quick dart of Bo Ya’s hand, coming up to squeeze Qing Ming’s forearm.
Qing Ming lets his eyelids flutter shut briefly, lets his pleasure at the contact be visible. “Your trust is a privilege,” he tells Bo Ya, and watches the word sink in like smooth round stones into a still pond.
~~~
From Mercury Lane:
“Doctor,” the Master greets him. “Cold night for a stroll. Cold place too.” His breath escapes in a white mist, hanging in the air like lace.
The Doctor wants to taste it. This is nothing new.
~~~
From The Winter of Our Contentment:
In the bed, on clean linen sheets, is Geralt. His hair is still damp from the earlier bath, hanging in heavy white ropes down his back, over his bare chest. His skin is littered with scars, rough with hard living, and the gold in his eyes catches the firelight, gleaming a promise of warmth, of heat. At least for tonight.
“Jaskier,” Geralt says, voice almost a whisper, his name almost a prayer and Jaskier’s whole chest aches from the force of it, his heart burning, burning under skin and bone like a coal Geralt lit and hasn’t let go out since. “Come to bed?” It’s a question, undeniably. Geralt lifts the blankets covering him in invitation.
And Jaskier, who has always flown right into the fire like a moth, doesn’t even hesitate. Never mind if this will be scorch him beyond repair. He doesn’t care. It’ll be worth it.
+
Everything is white, when they step outside, the first snow of the season covering houses and trees like fine powder. It probably won’t settle for good yet, but it’s a forerunner of what’s to come, an augur of winter.
Of loneliness, Jaskier thinks, filing the line away for later use despite the sting.
~~~
From Celebrate Tonight:
Stephen’s eyes are dark. If he’s nervous, he’s doing a hell of a job at masking it. “Why don’t you just take what you want for once?” he asks. “And don’t tell me you don’t know what I mean, that you don’t know what I’m offering.” The frustration from earlier is back, less fond now, more… frayed. He runs a hand through his hair. “You may pretend to be oblivious but you’re not stupid. You’ve not been picking up what I’ve been putting down out of a choice, not because you don’t realise—”
Nick wraps his hands around Stephen’s trim waist and tugs, cutting Stephen off mid-sentence.
~~~
From Flashback:
“You know what I am, don’t you?” the vampire asks him. His fingers, when he brings them up to trail over Michael’s face, are curled like an animal’s, tipped with thick, yellowing claws.
There’s no point in denying it. “I’ve seen you bloodsuckers before,” Michael confirms, refusing to react to the touch.
“Have you now?” the vampire asks. “Hear that boys? He’s a fan.”
A chorus of hoots and cackling arises from behind Michael. He counts at least four separate voices. Fuck. Fucking… Fuck. Michael’s a good fighter. After his almost turning, some of the preternatural strength and reflexes remained, so he’s even better now – he hasn’t gotten into many brawls during his road trip so far but every fight he did get into, he’s won – but he’s no match for five vampires on his own. If they decide to make a meal out of him here, there’s not much Michael can do about it except make them work for it.
~~~
From Veil:
The veil is sticky, like spiderweb. Bobby doesn’t even try to get through by force, knows it would never work. Instead, he lets himself fall into the glimmering folds, lets himself be engulfed by the gossamer strands, falling deeper. Then through.
~~~
From Antigen:
Kirk was a people person. It was one of his core strengths, the ability to both understand others and to find common ground on which to build professional and personal relationships, to create trust and loyalty, to work together toward a common goal. It was what made him a great Starfleet captain, but more than that, it was also one of the deepest joys of his life. Jim loved people, loved to learn their little quirks and habits, to figure out what made them tick and then feed that to help them turn into the very best versions of themselves. To have all of that stripped away by a flower…
To have to watch the effects of the pollen on his crew was worse. Jim was familiar with all the evolutionary, physiological, psychological, cultural reasons why humans needed touch. Group and individual variation obviously existed, but as a species the requirement for connection went DNA-deep and the impacts of being deprived of it were well-documented and happening right in front of his eyes, right in his own body too.
~~~
From Patience:
Egwene ripples like water, and Bair sees people will die for her as readily as they'll die for water, for a chance of a mouthful, a droplet on their upturned faces, their swollen tongues, bestowed like an unthinking mercy.
~~~
From Better The Demon You Know:
“One hundred and fifty thousand.” It was quiet but the room had been silent, waiting for the end of the bid, and so the words were more than audible.
The auctioneer lowered the gavel. “Who said that?” they asked, disbelief breaking momentarily through their professional veneer. “Repeat the bid if you were serious.”
A beat of silence. Then the lone figure at the centre of empty chairs stood up. A sharp hissing sound could be heard as the room collectively inhaled in a shock.
“One hundred and fifty thousand dollars,” the demon said and Ryan too gasped, because he knew that particular prissy emphasis, the ‘I said what I said and if you’re too dumb to understand it’s not my problem’ tone that came out occasionally in meetings with sponsors and never failed to make Ryan squirm in a way that was only part anxiety over a deal going bust, because he knew that voice because…
He knew that man.
Except no, he clearly didn’t.
~~~
And since they're drabbles: All of A Kiss and all of Home
Story I haven't yet written, but intend/hope to:
I've signed up for
getyourwordsout with the same goal (150k) that I failed to reach this year, largely because I love their spreadsheet an unholy amount. I'm hoping to finish and post some of the longer wips, either the ones I'm writing alone, or the numerous shared stories with dreamersdare and I want to get some of the Unmarked Place fics (bandom bdsm au co-written with pushkin666 ) to AO3. I'm currently just playing around with fandomtrees fics.***
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on 2026-01-09 09:52 pm (UTC)SAME!
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on 2026-01-09 10:00 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2026-01-09 10:16 pm (UTC)So much writing!
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on 2026-01-10 11:26 am (UTC)no subject
on 2026-01-09 10:24 pm (UTC)I only signed up again because of your mention of their brilliant spreadsheet! I dropped the habit one though - too much pressure - and went back to word count!
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on 2026-01-10 11:27 am (UTC)I'm glad you went with what works for you <3 May 2026 bring some words that you're happy with.
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on 2026-01-10 08:49 am (UTC)I love how multi fannish you are.
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on 2026-01-10 11:30 am (UTC)no subject
on 2026-01-10 04:53 pm (UTC)I have seriously read fuck all of anything though.
I appreciate the best summary is from a limited list, but it still made me laugh
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on 2026-01-10 11:20 pm (UTC)Ehhhh, *hand wave* always a delight if you get to reading any of my stuff but never anything to stress about.
Hee, idk if you've seen that anime, but Akihiko is in absolutely terrible situationship with his ex, like his high horse about healthy relationships is a geriatric pony.
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on 2026-01-11 06:34 pm (UTC)