donutsweeper

It's holiday love meme time again! I posted my name there, please everyone go add yours so we can spread the love!

✨ holiday love meme 2024 ✨
my thread here

(I forgot the coding for how to have donutsweeper show up and spend ages trying a zillion different things before remembering I'd put how when I crossposted the meme here last year. It's "@ then the username then . then ao3" without the spaces in case anyone else needs it. And just now noticed there was a link on the meme to follow how to do as well. Sigh. Brains, I have them.)

Recently finished another oven mitt and am now out of cotton so I can't do more of those. I have a blanket ongoing but I'm feeling the crafting 'want-something-different' itch so I want to start something new but I'm not sure *what* ssssssigh.

Anyway, have some recthething recs (all mdzs/untamed fic recs)

Second Summer by Anonymous (152k)
Summary Snippet: A year after the mysterious death of the Jin heir, Lan Wangji runs across the secret, long-lost, amnesiac love of his life while on a night-hunt. (A fascinating canon divergent some people live/some people die not exactly a fix it AU)

Watch me ignite it by tawaen (10k)
Summary: The news spreads quickly across the cultivation world – Wen Ruohan is dead and his murderer declared himself the new leader of the Qishan Wen sect. Wei Wuxian is described as a demon, as a brutal warlord, as a threat to the very existence of the cultivation world. He is also, unfortunately, the most attractive person Lan Wangji has ever met. (interesting canon divergent AU, almost more of a set up then full story, but excellent read)

had a marvelous time ruining everything by livinginaworldofnoise (8k)
Summary Snippet: 5 times wangxian's feral kittens get in the way of lan wangji proposing + 1 time they help (cute modern au fluff)

A meme borrowed from trobadora - A guessing game via AO3 (this is based off my donutsweeper acct and not my birthdaybash sock, since that one is 90% crochet and bad art and 100% silliness)

1. What rating do you write most fics under?
100% positive it's General Audiences, yep, not remotely surprised by the result:

General Audiences (336)
Teen And Up Audiences (77)
Mature (29)
Not Rated (15)
Explicit (7)

2. What are your top 3 fandoms?
I think MCU has finally overcome Sherlock BBC? (AO3 is a skewed look at my fanfic output since I did not move the vast majority of the stuff I posted before AO3 was available and did not crosspost the majority of my drabbles/flash fics that I wrote the first few years when I was still actively posting my fic on LJ so a good half or more of my Doctor Who/Torchwood and NCIS stuff never made it there)

Marvel Cinematic Universe (41)
Captain America (Movies) (40)
Sherlock (TV) (36)
陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) (35)
Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms (30)
魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù (22)

Huzzah! I was right! I didn't realize Untamed was that high though. I've mostly quit writing for MCU and Sherlock (although there's always the possibility of treating a prompt for an exchange in one of them) so Untamed, and probably Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, will overtake the others soon.

3. What is your top (3) character(s) you write about?
Probably John Watson? I tend to focus my Holmes fandom stories on him.

John Watson (53)
Sherlock Holmes (46)
Steve Rogers (37)
Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian (26)
Jack Harkness (23)

Considering Jack was my fandom for 2 or so years, I'm actually really happy to see he's in 5th place.

4. What are the 3 top pairings?
WWX/LWJ or Watson & Holmes would be my guess.

Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian (23)
James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers (14)
Carlos "Cougar" Alvarez/Jake Jensen (12)
Sherlock Holmes/John Watson (9)
Sherlock Holmes & John Watson (6) // Du Cheng/Shen Yi (Under the Skin 2022) (6)

Okay, honestly surprised Stucky is in second and shocked Holmes/Watson is above Holmes & Watson. (And it's hilarious that of my 13 Losers fic, 12 are Cougar/Jensen and the other pre-Cougar/Jensen. I think I have a type for that fandom)

5. What are the top 3 additional tags?
I deleted something like 100 Yuletide treat tags a while back so now I have no idea. Probably h/c?

Hurt/Comfort (76)
Drabble (49)
Introspection (37)
Alternate Universe (32)
Crossover (25) // Post-Canon (25)

That year I treated the hell out of multifandom drabble really shows.

6. Did any of this surprise you? e.g. what turned out to be your top tag.
Definitely surprised by a few things (Cougar/Jensen being so high for one, as well as The Untamed in general)

7. Readers of this post, did any of this surprise you?

And, while I'm posting, have some recthething recs (2 Untamed/MDZS fics and 1 art)

The inherent romanticism of hiding a body together by Aki_no_hikari (4k)
Summary: Lan Zhan finds true love in the middle of a dark forest, burying a body. He offers to help, after all, he has experience on the matter. (dark lwj love at first sight modern AU that is oddly sweet, despite the premise)

No Loss by eb4life (46k)
Summary: After being forced to remain stuck in his wolf form by Madam Yu, Wei Wuxian conforms to her wishes of making it appear that he's runaway from home by doing just that. When he's God knows how far from home and manages to get captured by the knights of a king he's only heard rumors of, Wei Wuxian expects to be killed or imprisoned as the king's personal attack dog. He doesn't expect to move from "exotic pet" to "closest friend" within only weeks of his stay at the king's side. This story is inspired by Bisclavret. (werewolf medieval AU)

Art: Catch! by mekare
Summary: Lan Jingyi and Lan Sizhui travel back to the time Wei Wuxian attended the Cloud Recesses for the first time. (a very cute take on an iconic moment)

The Most Fanfic Meme (from calliopes_pen)
rules: give us the links to your fics with the most hits, most kudos, most comments, most bookmarks, most words, and least words.

Most hits, kudos and bookmarks (by 40342 hits, 1426 kudos, and 519 bookmarks) is Cloudy With A Chance Of Something, a decent length (14k) Merlin, modern au Merthur fic that was posted during the tailend of the fandom's heyday (2012), thus the reason for the numbers. Summary: As Albion's Sexiest Bachelor for four of the past five years Arthur could have anyone he wanted, but as it happened the one man he wanted was an oblivious baker named Merlin who had no idea who he was.

Second for all three (and also another outlier numbers-wise as it was recced by a stucky tumblr back in the day) was The Time With The... , a 4k Captain America, Stucky(ish) humor fic from 2014. Summary: The five times Steve and Bucky lied about what they faced during the War and the one time they told the truth. Aka the five times they trolled the Avengers and one truth that enabled them to get away with it.

Most words (38.6k!!) is The World Again, a Step to the Left, a Sherlock (BBC) fic also from 2014. Summary: Moriarty was back and destroying everything and everyone who got between him and a certain artefact, one that John was desperately trying to get to Sherlock. When Moriarty found him John thought it might be the end, that he was going to die. When Moriarty shot him he was sure of it. But then John woke up in a world that wasn't his own, where Moriarty was dead but everyone else was alive and he wasn't sure how he got there or how to get back, or even if he wanted to. (Its stats are laughable in comparison, but those two are outliers)

There's one art, Da Qing Demands Fish (cat sketch for Guardian done for last year's Battleship) and three octopus crochet pieces, the Tentacles Tentacles Tentacles series done for 2020's Battleship with, obviously, zero words but then (and thus the reason I am doing this meme) 60 drabbles, which is such a neat number of them. I'm not going to list them but here's my AO3 sorted to 100 words exactly although that doesn't include the one with weird formatting because even though it has 100 words the formatting trips AO3 up so it thinks S@ve the &ees!!! has 108 words.

Speaking of Battleship, 2023's is currently ongoing. I'm not being anywhere near as prolific as I have in years past, not accomplishing much at all actually, but hopefully that will change soon.

Have several weeks of recethething MDZS/Untamed fic recs:

no morning glory by luny0 (4k)
Summary: It was late at night, long past curfew, when Lan Qiren found the note. At first, he thought it had entered the doctor’s records by mistake, but while the writing was haphazard, it was the same hand. The notes seemed incomplete - a diagram of qi flows here, a note to procure clean thread for stitches there. Most confusing were the references to the golden core. They looked nothing like anything Lan Qiren had ever seen. If they had been found anywhere else, he would have assumed them to be the deranged ravings of a madman, but Wen-daifu, whatever their flaws, was clearly intelligent.

After the war, Lan Qiren picks up the pieces. (Canon divergent fic where LQR figures some things out and there is the hint that things will go very different as a result)

Oh if I could I'd will these clouds away by gdnightsweetme (7.5)
Summary: Lan Wangji reaches the shop and stops dead. There is someone huddled on the step, but the meager overhang does nothing to shield them from the snow and the wind. “They are not dressed right for this weather,” is the first thought Lan Wangji has.

A boy is lost, a boy is found. (sweet, modern AU, LWJ helping MXY fic with accompanying art)

Peachick by saichan (6.5k)
Summary: Really, it all started with her brothers. If not for them, then Jiang Yanli might never have had the idea.

Jiang Yanli crochets a peacock feather baby blanket to announce her pregnancy to her husband. (lovely JYL-centric crafting = love fic with accompanying art)

Fate's Helpful Assistants by wanderingflame (24k)
Summary: When the Juniors discover Zizhen’s teacher knows Sizhui’s dad—and there’s clearly something going on between the two—they decide fate has brought the former lovers together and it’s now up to them to reunite them. Unfortunately, Wei Ying and Lan Zhan aren’t making it easy. (Very cute Modern-with-Cultivation fic with accompanying art)

there is no limited dimensions by Stratisphyre. (105k)
Summary Snippet: Lieutenant Commander Lan Wangji joins Baxia Station as Head Science Officer. Of all the things he anticipates upon accepting the commission, Wei Wuxian is not among them. (delightful Star Trek fusion with some DS9 cameos)

Crafting-wise, I've two blankets ongoing. The first is the zig-zag one which is very easy and takes no brain power to do I mentioned last post. The second is a very complicated one, a dragonscale pattern I'd done a swatch with and liked but thought it needed a color-changing type of yarn and the pattern recommended mandalas which happened to be on a great sale (the 'bonus' cakes, multicolored 1,181 yard/300 gram ea) so I picked up a few to try out. I'm doing it in "sasquatch" color which ranges from soft purple to blue then green, yellow and orange before going back again to purple. No idea why that is sasquatch colored but whatever. It is such a slow, complicated pattern to do (it's a combo of Tunisian and regular crochet), wow, but it looks very cool.

The bread bag rug has been finished! It would up a bit more oval than usual, not sure why (27"x14") but it fits perfectly so that worked out okay.

As seen around (although I added in when they were posted and if for yuletide because I was curious) and cut for scrolling:

Hits
1. Cloudy With A Chance Of Something (Merlin, 14355 words) Hits: 47699 (written Jul 2012)
2. The Time With The... (MCU, 3828 words) Hits: 13537 (written Nov 2014)
3. Ethics, Schmethics (Original Work, 2416 words) Hits: 8449 (written Jun 2020)
4. Confessions of the Fevered Kind (Sherlock, 4018 words) Hits: 7652 (written Apr 2012)
5. Control, Or Lack Thereof (Teen Wolf, 2732 words) Hits: 7233 (written Apr 2012)
6. Love Will Keep Us Tooooogether (MCU, 4836 words) 6824 (written Sept 2014)
7. Preparing For Change (Sherlock, 1764 words) Hits: 6705 (written Jun 2011)
8. Lost and Found (White Collar, 5214 words) Hits: 5905 (written Dec 2009 - yuletide fic)
9. Haunting Laughter (Sherlock, 5385 words) Hits: 5575 (written Jun 2011)
10. Missions Of Most Importance (Covert Affairs, 1406 words) Hits: 5158 (written Dec 2012- yuletide fic)

Kudos
1. Cloudy With A Chance Of Something (Merlin, 14355 words) Kudos: 2655 (written Jul 2012)
2. The Time With The... (MCU, 3828 words) Kudos: 1670 (written Nov 2014)
3. Love Will Keep Us Tooooogether (MCU, 4836 words) Kudos: 634 (written Sept 2014)
4. Confessions of the Fevered Kind (Sherlock, 4018 words) Kudos: 464 (written Apr 2012)
5. Control, Or Lack Thereof (Teen Wolf, 2732 words) Kudos: 458 (written Apr 2012)
6. Between Memory and Moment (Charmed, 5926 words) Kudos: 448 (written Jul 2018)
7. Eloquence in Motion (Sherlock Holmes (Downey films), 725 words) Kudos: 393 (written Jul 2013)
8. The Sky Visitor (WTNV/, The Incredible Hulk, 1224 words) Kudos: 393 (written Aug 2013)
9. Advance and Be Recognized (MCU, 1864 words) Kudos: 375 (written Jul 2012)
10. Visions, Illusions, and Nothing (Everything) to Hide (NCIS, 2782 words) Kudos: 338 (written May 2019)

Bookmarks (according to stats page, including hidden ones)
1. Cloudy With A Chance Of Something (Merlin, 14355 words) Bookmarks: 767 (written Jul 2012)
2. The Time With The... (MCU, 3828 words) Bookmarks: 366 (written Nov 2014)
3. Between Memory and Moment (Charmed, 5926 words) Bookmarks: 144 (written Jul 2018)
4. Confessions of the Fevered Kind (Sherlock, 4018 words) Bookmarks: 136 (written Apr 2012)
5. Love Will Keep Us Tooooogether (MCU, 4836 words) Bookmarks: 127 (written Sept 2014)
6. Control, Or Lack Thereof (Teen Wolf, 2732 words) Bookmarks: 110 (written Apr 2012)
7. The Depths of Silence (The Losers, 2167 words) Bookmarks: 71 (written Jan 2018)
8. The Moment's Respite (9-1-1, 1163 words) Bookmarks: 71 (written Feb 2020)
9. To Not Exceed the Limit (The Losers, 4222 words) Bookmarks: 65 (written Feb 2018)
10. How to Thrive in the Cloud Recesses (MDZS, 1209 words) Bookmarks: 65 (written Dec 2020 - yuletide fic)

Subscriptions
1. Cloudy With A Chance Of Something (Merlin, 14355 words) Subscriptions: 43 (written Jul 2012)
2. Grief and Blame, Interwoven (MDZS, 2762 words) Subscriptions: 32 (written Oct 2021)
3. Control, Or Lack Thereof (Teen Wolf, 2732 words) Subscriptions: 16 (written Apr 2012)
4. Frame of Fearsome Symmetry (MDZS, 1060 words) Subscriptions: 12 (written Dec 2020 - yuletide fic)
5. The Moment's Respite (9-1-1, 1163 words) Subscriptions: 11 (written Feb 2020)
— Memories of a Life Never Lived (MDZS, 1351 words) Subscriptions: 11 (May 2021)
7. The Time With The... (MCU, 3828 words) Subscriptions: 10 (written Nov 2014)
— The Placing of Thread (MDZS, 1562 words) Subscriptions: 10 (Sep 2020)
— The Worse Tomorrow (MDZS, 555 words) Subscriptions: 10 (written Jan 2021)
10. Tethers to Home (9-1-1, 2630 words) Subscriptions: 9 (written Feb 2020)
— Stains of Regret (MDZS, 1429 words) Subscriptions: 9 (written Jul 2021)
— Moments of Warmth and Home (MDZS, 200 words) Subscriptions: 9 (written Aug 2021)

Generally, this is what I expected, although the subscriptions list is a little surprising to me. Sorry, everyone interested in the LXC-time travels-but-fucks-up fic, that's definitely a one shot! Although, honestly, so are all the MDZS (which I just used to label anything in the greater expanded MDZS universe)

Bit the bullet and jumped on the bandwagon....

✨ holiday love meme 2021 ✨
my thread here

and this week's recthething recs (all from the NIF exchange)

Under the Waning Moon (850 words) Summary: Shortly after the Chiyan Conspiracy is unveiled and Lin Shu dies, Xiao Jingyan secretly visits Mu Nihuang at her Jinling manor. (Jingyan and Nihuang mourning together, beautifully done)
Lilies That Bloom (1.5k) Summary: Liyang, after the trial. (wonderful look to Liyang's strength and what happens to her after)
The Secret History of Young Prince Changlin (11k) Summary: In the years following the Chiyan massacre, through the efforts of Jingyu's wife, her servant, Prince Ji, Consort Jing and Xiao Jingyan, Tingsheng is born and somehow survives in obscurity until he is rescued by Mei Changsu. (great pre-canon explanation for Ji and Jingyan's ability to look out for Tingsheng)
we cradle the sun (3k) Summary: 5 times Fei Liu was taken good care of + 1 time it was his turn to care for someone else. (delightful and tender Fei Liu POV)
memories to bury or live by (10.5k) Summary: Yan Yujin spends her maiden years growing up in the shadow of the Chiyan Rebellion. (interesting what-if AU)
what other lapis lazuli was hiding (1k) Summary: It has been twelve years since Jingyan and Nihuang lost their shared soulmate. Then they discover something both better and worse: there was always supposed to be four of them. (Fascinating soulmark AU)

Year in review, as seen around LJ/DW

( general stats and some answered questions, altered for what makes sense for me to compile )

I'm bored so it seems like a good time for a prompt meme! (stolen from measured_words on dreamwidth)

How about alphabet drabble/ficlet challenge, then? Give me a fandom/character/pairing and a prompt for the letter of your choice and I'll write you a drabble! eg: L is for Love, Arrow, Sara/Felicity.

Any fandom I've written before is fair game - you can look over to the left to see what fandoms I've written in previously. If you're not sure, or want me to try something else, feel free to ask and I'll let you know whether I think I can manage it.

A - Archery, Arrow, Oliver -- Protect and Survive
B - Blue - SGA - John/Rodney -- Bitter and Blue
C
D - Donuts, Welcome to Night Vale, any -- The Most Important Snack Food of All
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L - Lucky - White Collar - Neal-Centric (Pairing(s) Optional)
M - Movie Night, Avengers, any
N - New seed - Plants vs. Zombies -- Seeds of Doom
O - Old friends, NCIS, Gibbs/Ducky -- The Long Goodbye
P - Procrastination, Agents of SHIELD, any -- Neverending Forms
Q
R - Runaway, Winnie the Pooh, any -- The Runaway
S - Sneeze - NCIS - Tony/Gibbs
T
U
V
W
X - Xenophile, X-Files, any -- Appropriation
Y
Z

Stolen from awanderingbard

Name a character and I will tell you:
1) The most interesting canon fact about them
2) Something from my personal canon about them

Any canon I've written in or watched or read is up for grabs

The rules are simple, if you're interested leave a comment and I'll LJ stalk you to find THREE FANDOMS you apparently love. And then you answer these questions about them!

1) What got you into this fandom in the first place?
2) Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
3) Favorite episodes/books/movies/etc.?
4) Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?
5) Do you think that more people should get into this fandom?

mad_jaks gave me:
1) Dresden Files
2) SGA
3) NCIS

( Cut for ramble )

So, looking at my calender, I just noticed that, by quiting, not only will I be missing staff meeting tomorrow, but I will also be missing the 'Annual meeting pre-meeting agenda committee meeting pre-meeting' which, for all of you who don't speak meetingese translates as a meeting to discuss the agenda for a meeting which will be about a meeting.  Only discuss the agenda, mind you, actually deciding upon the agenda will happen at the 'annual meeting agenda committee meeting pre-meeting.'  *shakes head*

Anyway, missing an important event like that demands celebrating.  So.... PRESSIES FOR EVERYONE!

Hopefully, anyway.

Respon to this post with a request.  For a story, an icon, a meta, anything.  Doctor Who, Torchwood, Supernatural, NCIS, SGA, any fandom or verse I've written in ever (with the exception of Dresden Files, sorry awanderingbard, I've lost my voice for it).  Timestamp request of a previous verse, continuation of a story, interaction between two characters, anything that strikes your fancy, and hopefully I'll be able to make it work for you.

Make a request!  Help me celebrate!