2018: Fandom and Misc.

[sholio]

I know 2018 wasn't much of a year for a lot of people, but it brought me many good things.

People

I met rachelmanija, magistrate, sartorias, and scioscribe in person (and allanh, separately) and it was AMAZING. I have known all of these people online for years except scioscribe, and I discovered that I had actually loved her fic in two different fandoms under two pen names in years gone by and in one case I had always kind of wondered, whatever happened to that person? Well, now I know and she's still writing fantastic fic and I got to hang out with her. ♥ The group of us also made plans to start a publishing house for tropey lesbian fiction which kiiiinda hasn't really gone anywhere but it got me to start the Mar Delaney pen name so that's a thing now.

I've also been doing lots of writerly stuff locally with ellenmillion and that's really been a lot of fun. ♥

Books/Comics

2018 was definitely the Year of the Cherryh; I've been reading my way through her back catalogue and loving it. I rediscovered old favorites, fell in love with new ones, and generally was delighted to find out how closely her id dovetails with mine when it comes to groups of prickly outsiders becoming each other's family.

I also reread Death Gate and fell back in love with that, read a bunch of Cable comics (see below) and (re)discovered the gorgeous 1920s-noir-with-cats webcomic Lackadaisy.

Movies

I didn't watch a lot of movies in 2018, and by far my favorite was Black Panther. I went from being generally unenthralled by the trailers and profoundly IDGAF about the over-hyping, to, okay FINE, it's worth all the hype and then some. XD It was amazing; I bought it on both DVD and digital, and I can't wait for the sequel.

I also really enjoyed Deadpool 2 and it kicked off a few weeks of industriously reading my way through 30 years' worth of Cable comics, of which there is A LOT. I had zero interest in that character throughout all my X-Men-reading years and now suddenly I love him ... just in time for Marvel to kill off the comics version. Dammit. Oh well, he's died plenty of times; he'll be back.

(Comics, man.)

TV

Fell head over heels in love with Punisher and Iron Fist and the Netflix MCU in general ... just for them to cancel it. *shakes tiny fist at Netflix*

Fandoms

You know, I feel like I could write a whole essay about how I used to only have one thing at a time that I had really intense write-all-the-fanfic feels about. And then somehow in the last few years I started getting to where it wasn't just one at a time, and the last couple of years in particular, it feels like I keep picking fandoms up without putting any down.

That being said, some fan crushes are more intense than others, and for whatever reason I've fallen for Iron Fist hard (and the Netflix MCU in general). It's swept me away in a bigger way than anything has since Agent Carter, I think. I am writing ALL THE THINGS! I can't wait to write more things! And I'm cautiously looking forward to the new season of Punisher later in January; I don't want to let it ruin the happy feels I have for the first season, but based on early spoilers, if it's good, it will be so much my thing.

And I'm just all-around WAY happier than I was at this time last year. I did not have a good 2017 (although I learned a lot about myself and I think grew as a person), and I know a lot of people didn't have a good 2018, but I'm ending this year on a really good note, feeling satisfied with my life and eager to set my plans in motion for 2019.

2019 plans

Focus more on Kismet, publish 4-5 novels (see previous post for which ones I'm focusing on), and get back to doing art on a regular basis ... those are the main things. And fanfic. Write all the fanfic. I'm planning to do some longer ones, a series of standalone Iron Fist ones that are part of a coherent continuity (I really wish I'd done that with Agent Carter post-cancellation; it would make it easier to write fic for it now without having to reinvent the wheel every time) and maybe a long WIP in some fandom or other, because I miss doing those.

Thanks for being great, everybody. ♥ I look forward to hanging out with all of you, online and in person, in 2019.

Comments

[sheron]

The amusing part for me is, post AC it's been like this:

me: MCU.............
you: MCU-adjacent show, MCU-adjacent show, MCU-adjacent show, MCU-adjacent show....

fandoms man. XD

[sholio]

LOLLLLL. Well, Stranger Things also snuck in there somehow! XD

It has been funny for us both to be circling around what's basically the same fandom except we never both seem to land hard in the same part of it at the same time.

I'll probably get into Stony 6 months after you leave or something.

[sheron]

I will murder you.

(Anyway, we were in STh at the same time, just not with equal intensity!)

[sholio]

LOL. At least I know I'll have plenty to read.

Also, technically you have one toe in IF and Punisher right now, and I have one toe in the movie/Avengers side of the MCU. XD So we're not THAT far apart.

[sheron]

The worst part is this was happening even when we were both semi-into-Stucky, way back. I mean, we literally never did this fandom at the same time! What even XD

(You would definitely have plenty to read *side eyes 300 bookmarks*)

[lunabee34]

So glad you're happier. Of everything, that's the most important.

*hugs*

[sholio]

Thank you! *hugs back*

[rachelmanija]

It was great meeting you! You made my 2018 much better.

As far as I'm concerned, Calico House is totally still on. Just not as an Insta-launch. ;)

[sholio]

Hanging out with you in person was SO great. I can't wait to do it again.

I am definitely still interested in Calico House being a thing! I have reluctantly been forced to acknowledge that I cannot actually do All The Things at once, though. ;D

[cornerofmadness]

Sounds like a great year. May 2019 be another great one

[sholio]

Thank you! I hope it will be for you too.

Love your icon.

[cornerofmadness]

thanks

[pipilj]

Sounds like you had an awesome year. Hope you have a fab 2019

[sholio]

Thank you! and thanks for the support all year round. <333 I hope you have a wonderful year too!

[sapphire2309]

ooooo, CJ Cherryh! which of her works would you recommend for someone new to her work?

...did they cancel Jessica Jones? please say they didn't cancel Jessica Jones.

re: Agent Carter: if your muse complies, you can do it now? or has your muse moved on from Agent Carter?

[sholio]

ooooo, CJ Cherryh! which of her works would you recommend for someone new to her work?

I think I would maybe recommend one of these?
- Rusalka
- Pride of Chanur
- Merchanter's Luck
- Heavy Time

Those are all fairly strong books that aren't terribly heavy or slow or dark, as some of her books can be, and are all favorites of mine.

...did they cancel Jessica Jones? please say they didn't cancel Jessica Jones.

:/

They haven't yet, but at this point they've cancelled everything else except that and Punisher. Both Punisher and Jessica Jones have new seasons already scheduled to come out in 2019, and the general expectation in the fandom is that they're going to wait 'til after the new season drops and then announce the cancellation (which is what they've been doing with the others; Punisher and JJ already had new seasons scheduled when cancel-geddon hit, so they've escaped the axe for now.

re: Agent Carter: if your muse complies, you can do it now? or has your muse moved on from Agent Carter?

You're definitely right. :D The big problem is that I've already written multiple versions of almost everything that I want to write in the immediate post-canon period, so I would either have to sort some of them out into some sort of continuity or do another version of something I've already written. I just want an already established post-canon continuity that I can work within. >_> tl;dr the world is hard and complicated, someone simplify it for me XDD

[sapphire2309]

i shall check them out :D

so one more season, and then it's probably the end. at least i know it's coming?

ahhh, i gotcha. does someone else have a post canon continuity that you can ask to write in?

[sartorias]

I've got about thirty thousand words of my FF adventure--I just have to buckle down to research.

[rachelmanija]

Fantastic!

[sholio]

Oooh! Congrats! :D

[scioscribe]

The meetup/hangout was absolutely lovely and should be repeated as soon as possible! I want the opportunity to make more grand publishing plans which may slowly come to fruition. :-) And I'm still in awe that you remembered my years-ago SGA fic, for the record.

I also have you to thank for getting me into Iron Fist and specifically Ward--I really fell in love with him.

[rachelmanija]

I agree!

[sholio]

The meetup was amazing and I am really looking forward to doing it again! :D I still can't get over how much like the idealized version of an author retreat/group of creative housemates the whole experience turned out to be.

And you wrote my Iron Fist Christmas story!! I absolutely loved it - your Ward is so, so good. (Also, speaking of Ward, I keep rereading your comment on the flogging fic in delighted squee. XD) I'm not sure if you've been intentionally keeping it under wraps that you'd watched the show or if it just hasn't really come up in our shared online spaces, but you completely surprised me - I finally started to suspect you'd written it when you commented on my fic, but ... well played. :D I am delighted to continue to spread my love for Ward far and wide.

.. though I do think it's hilarious that of everything I've gotten into lately, THIS is the show I seem to be dragging all my friends into, as opposed to things that were objectively much better - but in a way that makes it easier to rec to people, because it's not actually that good but parts of it are iddy catnip, and (unlike things I feel more protective about) I'm not at all bothered if someone bounces off it because, well, I completely understand; I know what this show is like. But the iddy catnip parts are really iddy catnip.

One thing I was curious about: because I started tag-stalking early in Yuletide this year, I noticed that the Christmas fic started out in Yuletide Madness and migrated to the main Yuletide collection. This was one of the things that made it such a delightful surprise, because I was fully expecting it to be one of those cases where the author added a hundred words that was just enough to tip it from Madness to the main collection - but no, it was LONG! (And wonderful.) This makes me wonder if the original fic was just a fragment of this, or what exactly the story behind that was.

[scioscribe]

I did intentionally try to downplay the Iron Fist talk on Tumblr in order to have it be more of a surprise. (I can never surprise Rachel anymore, I have to surprise someone.) I don't know that I'll ever try anything like that again, though, because I kept wanting to reblog gifsets! And I have a lot of fic commenting to make up on. :-) Totally agreed about parts of it being complete iddy catnip.

The treat started out in Madness because I'd read that you should do that if you didn't want the treat to get bumped up to someone's main gift if their assigned author didn't post on time, so it was complete from the beginning and I always planned to move it over. Actually, this one was basically an effortless joy to write, so I was even relatively happy with it from the beginning. And I was so, so happy that you liked it--your comment was such a delight.

Also, for anyone reading, don't do this post-to-Madness-and-then-relocate thing. It's a pain and also officially advised against, and at one point while moving a fic around I forgot the main collection was closed and briefly openly posted it and had to frantically delete it. Learn from my experience.

[sholio]

Hahaha, you were SO sneaky! And you did completely surprise me! I had noticed you occasionally liking my Ward posts, but you'd already said you were curious about him on the basis of the gifsets alone, so it didn't really tip me off. (ETA: I can relate to the not being able to surprise Rachel problem. She has INSTANTLY twigged to everything I've written for her lately. Apparently I need to up my sneakiness game.)

Anyway, I'll have to reblog (or re-reblog) some Ward stuff just for you then. :DDD (Such a hardship.) Would also love to talk about it. I was just reading your Chocobox prompts and loving them. (Ghost Harold. OMG. WARD!)

That's really interesting about the Madness trick, though! I had never heard of doing that. Whether intentionally or not, it turned out to be a really good way of disguising the fact that I was getting a full-sized fic; I was DELIGHTED when I opened my presents and found out how long (and excellent) it was. I am really looking forward to whatever else you might do in this fandom, if Ward and Danny continue to inspire you.

(Side note: I ended up watching Banshee because Tom Pelphrey - Ward - is in it, and it is TOTALLY BATSHIT but in a really entertaining way. I loved his character in that; I think he would've been one of my favorites even if I hadn't already liked him from a different show. He doesn't show up 'til season 3 though.)

Your posts on The Terror are reluctantly intriguing me, btw. I say "reluctantly" because my tolerance for media about people freezing to death tends to vary with the weather (My mom, recently: "Here, read this book about a disastrous Antarctic expedition in which everyone died!" Me: *looks out window* No.) but it looks like fun.

[scioscribe]

Ooh, yes, please put All the Ward Meachum on my dashboard. I had so much fun coming up with prompts for him and Danny, so I do think I'll wind up writing more in that fandom. There are just too many possibilities, especially now that we know canon will never fill in the gaps. (RIP, show.)

I've been meaning to check out Banshee! It does sound like the kind of batshit that I would really enjoy, and having more Tom Pelphrey would definitely be a bonus.

The Terror: I am absolutely obligated to note that while I adore it, it's pretty filled with doom and dread and tragedy. There are funny bits, and there's a nice arc in which some of the characters grow closer over the course of the show even as their situation gets worse, but there's also a fair amount of despair and cannibalism. Funnily enough, I think a lot of the Everyone Lives AUs would be to your taste, so if you ever do watch it, you'll actually have a good number of fics filled with hurt/comfort and subtle pining.

[booksarelife]

I'm so glad 2018 was better for you than 2017 and that you're doing pretty well!!

[sholio]

Thank you so much! <3