#numbers and sap

[tracybirds]

It's New Year's Eve!!

I just wanted to take a little time to reflect on the year and celebrate it and say a ginormous thank you to everyone who has taken the time to drop by around here!! It's been a blast getting to share the Thunderbirds love and I love writing for TAG so much!!

This year had some major highs and lows for me which we're not going to dwell on, because the most important and fun thing is the spreadsheet I set up at the beginning of the year has had it's final update and I have numbers and graphs to happily geek out about!!! Naturally there's some skew - particularly with anything pertaining to AO3 since fics published earlier have had more time in circulation but still, I think it's made for a pretty good overview :D

Numbers and sappy feelings and reflections and things under the cut (there's even some pretty pie charts)

I published 45 separate works this year - many were short ficlets and subsequently gathered into the Thunderbirds Snippets collection which was the "fic" that overall had the most engagement (pretty impressive when you consider the collection only has AO3 stats!). This came to a total of 43,456 published words for complete stories (plus a whole slew for wips! At least another 20,000 is languishing in other documents :D We'll see those come out to play soonish, I'm sure)

As is usual for me, the overwhelming majority of fic this year was short oneshot stories. In fact I didn't finish any multichapter stories this year! Just didn't have the time for that kind of commitment for most of the year :D I also relied a lot on people giving me prompts and I'm endlessly grateful to them (especially @janetm74 and @katblu42 who sent me prompts nearly every time I asked!). I would have spent a lot more time feeling sorry for myself and languishing in writer's block without them bolstering me along <3

As you can see, I did make a fic genre graph, but I'll be honest - this is something I need to tweak for next year because I don't feel the genres well reflect what I actually wrote. This is partially because I only made space for each fic to have one genre, and partially because I dont think the genres I picked well described the writing I did. But looking it over, there's a clear emphasis on family dynamics and the ups and downs that go along with them and I do think that's my favourite part of writing.

When looking over the characters that called to me the most this year - Virgil's our clear winner! Which I think is hilarious because I feel like I wrote with a large Scott emphasis at the start of the year and a large John emphasis towards the end. But the numbers don't lie!! I think partially guiding this is that I wrote a lot more drabbles for Virgil (and Gordon.... lots of them two together!), but Scott and John got more substantial stories on the whole. Maybe. I'd need to check the raw data :D

In terms of people - I am totally blown away by how generous people have been reading my work <3 I see you and it's an absolutely humbling thing to see the same names cropping up over and over again, returning to read my stories which I don't often have a lot of confidence in (fake it 'til you make it, right?). Somehow getting an overview of the whole year only reinforces that and across AO3 and Tumblr I have nearly 4000 thank yous to say; one for every like, kudos, comment, hit, reblog, reply, whatever <3 Many many of which are being given to the same people over and over again, you guys literally rock hardcore and when I think about that number I'm literally so overwhelmed. It's easy to post something that only gets a couple of notes or kudos or whatever and feel discouraged, but when you look at the whole picture? Unreal <3

Now for the fun part; I've gone and taken all that data and figured out what my top 5 most popular fics of the year have been (excluding the snippet/prompt collections :D) so here goes!

Consequences [tumblr] | [AO3]

Cave In [tumblr] | [AO3]

But Not Forgotten [tumblr] | [AO3]

Roommates [tumblr] | [AO3]

The First Time [tumblr] | [AO3] and Hard Places [tumblr] | [AO3] (tied!)

Hey did you know typing [ tumblr ] did that? New things learnt every day lol...

Amazingly, these didn't line up with MY favourites nearly at all! So I've listed my personal top 5 stories below <3

Capture Comfort [tumblr] | [AO3]

The Scare Floor [tumblr] | [AO3]

Consequences [tumblr] | [AO3]

"Prompt Generator #5" [tumblr] | [AO3]

Different Universes [tumblr] | [AO3]

I'm not much for goal setting; it reminds me too much of school and sitting in stupid form classes with zero ideas as to what to say because apparently writing "I want to do my best and enjoy myself" wasn't a good enough goal. So instead I have some ~~intentions~~ that I'd like to carry into 2023 <3

Get better at replying to comments >///< I don't mean to ignore people and I know most of you know that but I do think replying to comments is! an important aspect of community building in fandom and I've neglected my part in that :P I love you all I swear and there's a lot of people I'd like to get to know better <3

Deep breaths here because this one does scare me - I want to write and finish Where Parallel Lines Meet. The scope of this fic scares me but I do love it and I know that it's going to push me a lot. It's going to be great though <3

ARCHIVE AS I GO LIKE WHY DO I NOT DO THAT (it's the titles rip)

This one isn't writing - I just want to rewatch Thunderbirds :D

Finally I've got some specific people to thank. You've all been amazing and kind to me this year and I'm giving you all the giant-est hug. You're also all incredible storytellers and writers and artists in your own right and I am genuinely so thankful to know you all <3

@gumnut-logic - I know I say this constantly but I LOVE getting to geek out about all sorts of different things and I have to say thank you for reading over so many of my fics and picking me up when I think that they're terrible <3 You're the bestest friend and I'm very lucky to have met you :D

@katblu42 - I love your very cheery chats that we've gotten to have, lots of laughter and fun and you always have such sensible advice it's great. Thank you for diving in and not missing a beat when I get randomly dramatic about whatever I'm writing because even when I've completely failed to explain the context you always seem to know exactly what's what :D

@janetm74 - you've been such an incredible cheerleader and every time (because you've done it multiple times!!) that you go through my AO3 and read stuff and comment in quick succession is always so exciting and overwhelming because what the heck?? Remember those 4000 thank yous I have to give - I'm pretty sure at least a thousand of them are yours <3 Thank you as well for sending me all the fun space things you think I'll enjoy and also for egging me on when I'm spouting off silly ideas in response :D I'll need to give them all a proper go someday!!

@gaviiadastra, @the-original-sineater, @godsliltippy, @mariashades, @amistrio - I've so enjoyed getting to know you all this year - you're all amazing writers and totally inspiring and very kind to boot :D I love how unique you all are and how you all bring such amazing ideas to life and I have to say thank you for both chatting with me but also for sharing all your wonderful work <3

@squiddokiddo thank you for be a very consistent source of encouragement and fountain of kindness when I'm having down days in my personal life. You didn't know me at all but that never stopped you from reaching out and checking in and given that this year was beyond shitty in many various different ways it meant the world in ways that I didn't always know how to express <3

oh and there's so many more people - I've had the good fortune to make some amazing friends and I love you all very much.

I don't think I'll get the current chapter I'm working on done today, so this will likely be my final post of the year (although lol I'm sure I'll still be mucking around on my main) and I KNOW this is sappy and you're not meant to put emotion into the data, but it's pretty damn difficult when the numbers are made up out of friendship and people reaching out from across the globe to say "hey, me too <3"

So see you all in 2023!! I can't wait :D

#sometimes i'm a sap #that's all there is to this post #numbers and sap #in case you choose not to read this (bc fair enough it's long) #allow me to wave from here and say thank you thank you thank you to everyone who's read any of my fic this year I see you and I love you #have a great end of the year <3

[thebeeshaveknees]

A lot of Connor's peers in uni thought he was a teenage father because he would just take this tiny version of him to lectures. Six-year-old Niles was well behaved so Connor never got in trouble, but Connor hated when groups of people would go up to them trying to talk to Niles because they were rude and loud and made Niles nervous. That mixed with Connor having very little time to himself and him being at least 3 years younger than everyone else meant he had no friends in college.

Him and Niles were also pretty close until Connor was pushed to work on his career and Amanda convinced Niles he had to be better than his brother.

Connor still calls Niles 'Nines' sometimes tho, because little Niles would tell everyone he knew about the multiplying nines trick that Connor taught him, and nine is Niles' favorite number.

#dbh #dbh reverse au #I mean Niles is wrong the best number is 24 but he's a punk kid and 9 is the fourth best number so he gets a pass #Of course Amanda would make Connor babysit for free on top of classes she's evil #🎶The monster's gone he's on the run - your big brother's here🎶 #i'm a sap

[opens-up-4-nobody]

:-P

#why am i so tired today? its like someone sapped all my energy #hopefully im more awake tomorrow bc ive gotta do fieldwork #naruto #uzumaki naruto #hatake kakashi #umino iruka #kkir #kakairu #i dont draw naruto enough. hes literally my fav naruto character #im just unhinged abt iruka my number 2 fave naruto character

[interplanetjennette]

I can tell I’m going through it when my brain keeps playing on repeat the part of “You Can Call Me Al” that starts with “What if I die here?”

#personal #I’m completely fine #just a little over caffeinated and feeling like a sap #I just wish I had given the cute guy at the coffee shop my number #because now I’m fixating on it and it’s pissing me off lol

[anadiilua]

Geez, where did all the drolos go? Since when do I follow so many Sapnap mains/sapolos?

Idc if you watch his kick streams or not but why do you guys need to defend his white cishet ass every time? It WAS a stupid decision motivated by money because that's what he cares about. Don't need to defend his honor. Just watch his streams if you don't care about the platform.

#moonie talks #moonie mini rant #sap neg #kinda #i swear to god people didn't watch him this much before #you just like to go against whatever twitter is thinking #this war of who has more morals or not is so fucking annoying #why are you mad at people that don't want to watch him in that platform? #just shut the fuck up and let people be hurt by his actions #because he DID treat us like nothing more than numbers to give him money #and he does think of himself like the last chip in the bag #so fuck him. I'm NOT supporting his stupid ass decision he made for a cash grab

[canpandaspvp]

sapnap is fighting knf with his LIFEEEE RN .

#sapnap number 1 knf anti #🍓.sap

[sapsolais]

i hate the movie theater bc i can't be autistic in there

#ok number 1. no captions #horrendous. ik they have lil machines 4 it but they LAG BADDD #so i'm not Processing everything #i cannot scream or vibrate in my seat or bounce around or emote or pause 2 ramble abt smth cool for 15 min straight #can't rewind and rewatch a scene 2 really Nail it In my brain #grah. #it esp sucks w movies like spiderverse where there's 200 things going on at once #i want 2 see EVERYTHING and HEAR EVERYTHING idc how many times i need 2 rewind shdkfhgj #people put their soul into this it's important i experience every lil detail #anyway #going 2 rewatch as soon as someone puts it on movies123 or some shit lmao #sap says

[leonardalphachurch]

hmmmmmmmm. maybe i should. do something. for 600.

#i guess i can open myself up to prompts. but uh. homelessness kind of saps creative energy away. still. #i wonder how many of these are dead blogs. would be neat to be able to see only active followers #there are NO spam bots i block all of them bc i hate to have the wrong number. god if i didn’t i’d probably have 700 by now.

[amildlyspookydeer]

*stomps out onto grass and wags cane in air* you kids and your live action remakes of disney movies!!! ooohhh!!!!

#ik i sound like a boomer or a gatekeeper or whatever i just. hate the entire concept of these so fucking much #and i hate being scared to bitch about it and how creatively bankrupt they are bc some of my friends like them a lot #just like im scared to complain about how annoying the MCU and DCU are #but god. god i have not seen a single disney live action remake i enjoyed watching #also the MCU and DCU and star wars are all annoying as fuck and the longer they go on the more and more they are sapped of any personality #and the more by the numbers they can become #im not a film critic im not a genius and im sure as fuck not majorly informed on film theory or making but these movies are all so fucking #boring to me. i wish the people behind them instead 1) didnt do live action remakes of beautifully animated 2d movies and 2) had an end #goal in sight that didnt waver indefinitely to include as many IPs as possible between the start and end of the series AND didn't already #have a plan in place to do a reboot or continuation as soon as that last movie in the story arc is over #every time i watch an MCU or DCU movie it feels so by the numbers and/or attempting to pull in the same success as previous releases #this obviously isnt mentioning how shitty the studios are for treating their workers how they do or how bullshit the people running the #MCU are for insisting on filming in the greenest screen to ever have screened so even the actors dont know what scene theyre acting out #or to mention the racial problems or sexism or anything like that #just how annoying these things are to me. i just want to watch movies dude. i dont want to watch movies with the biggest budgets and the #worst greenscreen ive seen since 2006 because the artists are overworked and not paid nearly enough #this obviously plays into other films as well but the disney live action remakes and MCU and DCU and star wars annoy me the most #im not watching live action pinocchio. im so tired of it #spooky speaks

[petitsdieu]

on the fence about the powerful/godly thing... he's influential for sure, just not in a particularly overt way

☙ 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒂'𝒔 𝒕𝒚𝒑𝒆? ❧

Fill the sheet out with all the items that apply to your muse and send it to my inbox! We don’t have to have a ship, plot, or thread. ((Take the blank and do it for your muse, too!))

"See, I knew you were sweet."

𝒇𝒕. @fawnworked

#influential is def power... half point and another half point for tall see read more #he hits a surprisingly large number of spots #he could get it prob #fawnworked #* filed under — ( ooc ) ( the director the writer the sap )

[amy-bonsai]

Artistic representation of the event arena

#fruit team at 4 sap team at 2 and fein at 8 (i think) #lb #<- ig #the bunkers are apparently numbered lol

[pinespittinink]

In the Deep of the Trees does not have royalty so to speak, but they’ve got the damn near equivalent and Titus wants to be king and by god he will do it by whatever means he wants to use

#lmao #oc: Titus #in the deep of the trees #I’m curious now how religion factors into the skin-changers picking their new king/queen #that’s basically the big plot of Bloodlines book number 2 #which will not be written for the next fifteen years #sap spill

[bam-stroker]

The way you deserve your little spider dude is too adorable!!!

My sweet sweet spider gentleman Umbra :')

I hand you a treat of a snippet from the story for the kind words -

A low coo from above draws the fairie's attention back up. “No emotions? Little firefly, I’ve felt nothing but the deepest emotions because of you. You’re the reason I returned night after night to watch. I had been… afraid you might finally be gone, but you were always still there.” The butterflies flutter faster in Spark’s chest at the declaration, “Me?!” Laying flat on the web, the spider gazes down at him with adoration, “You had the most stunning shine out of all of those other fairies combined. Like a star. I.. I had hoped I might be able to watch you shine just for me.” A flustered rumble tingeing his words, “But I can see my adoration might be misplaced. Here let me untangle you then.” As the other begins to bounce lower on the web heat blooms all throughout Spark. Him? Like a star? No one had ever said such beautiful things about him before. No one had ever looked at him like that before. He blinks back the tears that prick at his eyes, this time not from fear but from the overwhelming joy of those words. He can easily picture the shadowy spirit shyly hiding off in the edges of the forest. That same look of wonder on his many gleaming eyes. Adoration from a distance like a lovestruck stargazer. 

#crypt crumb #umbra #spark #ask spooky #firefly fairy story #shakes the bars of my cage #they are in SO MUCH LOVE #he is a number one SAP #they are rotating in my head 360 degrees #bug fairy romance

[meistoshi]

man this guy would fit right in w/ team skull,,,,,,,,,,,

#i havent. rewatched a LOT of the anime in a hot minute so im like #rewatching with a lot of conversations in the interim on my mind #& this is makin me think abt like a thing me n sap have yelled at each other abt re like. all things NOT being equal????? esp w/ battling #we yelled specifically abt alola n trials & the introduction of the league & the kapus but it IS a global thing #like theres a whole buncha ppl that get Lucky in their journeys or are simply fortunate in ways others arent #& so you get things like ''millions of trainers who dont have all badges but are still strong'' #that like. for any number of reasons simply couldnt make it to the proving grounds to Show their strength #just thinkin ykno #ooc. pkmn is autistic culture. #rewatch.

[loving-august]

can i tie a ribbon around your biceps?

pairings. bakugou katsuki x fem!reader

genre. all fluff

links. navigation | masterlist

notes. Midterms is coming close and instead of studying, my mind popped an idea after the IG reel I saw months ago :))

You waited.

You waited for this moment to come.

Not that you are nervous around katsuki, goodness no. It's just, Katsuki has a knack of snarky remarks whenever you have something to do to him. And most of the time, he's busy with his job. Saving people from day to night was part of his daily routine. He’s the number 2 hero, of course. Although he’s not the actual number one hero, your words of praise kept him going. He’ll tease you for a sap. But he’s thankful enough with you staying by his side even during his worst and best times.

You waited for him from the living room as you lay down on the couch, scrolling with your phone. Soon, a sound came from outside. The sound of heavy boots and the sound of the key from the main door, indicates that he’s home. He always tells you to lock the main door even if you are still in the shared apartment with him, he cannot let any danger come to you.

The door opened, revealing your boyfriend in all his glory. He was wearing his black t-shirt, with his hero costume underneath and he was holding a briefcase with his gauntlets inside.

“I'm home.” he announced.

You rose from the couch and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “Welcome home, katsuki, have you eaten yet? I have leftovers. Your mom gave me food for the both of us.”

Katsuki grumbled, and he silently placed his things at the corner of the living room. The sound of his home slippers came closer to you as he inspected the food inside the Tupperware. “What did she bring?” He asked.

You let out a sly smile. “My favourite."

“Ha? That's the third time she gave us,” he went closer to the kitchen counter and took the Tupperware.

“Are you jealous?”

“hell no.”

You laughed at his reply. It is true that this was the third time that Mitsuki sent your favorite food whenever she dropped by the apartment.

Katsuki silently washed his hands as you prepared his food. After preparing, katsuki sat down and you sat down oppositely to him, giving the heart eyes to look at him.

“you're so handsome. Did I tell you that?” You started.

Before he took a bite, he looked at you with his eyebrow raised at you. “Don't beat around the bush. What do you want?”

He knows when you want something or him to do something. It's always that look you give him.

“Oh, you know… the ribbon thing with your biceps. Can I tie a ribbon around your biceps?” You popped the question.

“Headlock wasn't enough for ya? Such a greedy girl,”

“Come on! Wrapping a ribbon around your biceps is cute! But it would be hotter if you flexed your muscles and the ribbon would just snap, pretty please?”

He was speechless. Just how are you desperate to do that?

“Fine. But you're washing the dishes until tomorrow night.”

“I accept!”

You hurriedly left the dining table and went to your shared room. You quickly look for the ribbon inside the drawers of your closet. When you left the table, he let out a light chuckle.

“So fucking cute..” he said to himself.

REBLOGS ARE APPRECIATED !!

© 2024 loving-august. All Rights Reserved. Do not repost. Do not plagiarize. Do not share on other platforms. Will get slapped if u do.

#๑.made by aug #bnha x reader #bakugou fanfiction #bakugou katsuki x reader #bakugo katuski #bnha bakugou #bakugou x reader #bakugou x fem!reader #bakugou x reader fluff #bakugou x you

[thebibliosphere]

I both believe "poor people deserve art" and "artists deserve food", but it's hard to reconcile those beliefs. I blame capitalism. And I suppose it mostly matters who you're stealing from?

I don't mean to question you at all, I'm against people pirating your stories. I guess I was just wondering if you had more thoughts regarding the reconciliation the two beliefs I quoted above.

I think the reconciliation is working toward a future where things are better, and authors and artists don't have to beg people not to steal from them because they think every author is Stephen King, who wouldn't notice if you stole the pennies found under his couch when in reality most of us are hunting for spare change down the back of the couch because we are earning below minimum wage.

We need people to embrace the idea that art belongs to the working class, both in terms of consumption but also creation.

If you don't support the working-class creators, you'll only end up with rich fucks with no scope of the world beyond their own narrow view of privilege.

Indie creators are actually working very hard to change the way the industry works, and the publishing industry is shitting itself over it. They don't like the success some of us are having. It's why they keep upping prices while slashing corners on their own production (while never affecting the man at the top) to try and stay competitive within the rat race they've created.

They're not interested in the proliferation of art. They're not interested in making sure their authors can afford to live. They don't want more diversity. They don't want inclusion. They want profit at whatever the cost.

And while indie creators very much need to get paid because we live in a capitalistic society and everything is burning down around us, and a carton of eggs now costs more than what I earn per hour, our creativity is directly at odds with the type of profiteering big publishers want.

The money should go to the writers. Not the CEOs. The money should go to the workers in the print houses. Not the CEOs. No one needs the kind of wealth these people have. It's obscene. We need direct action against these conglomerates. We need unionization. We need a means to fight back so that we can make art and make it accessible.

So, how do we do that? I don't know. I'm just a very tired, disabled creator doing my best to keep my head above water. But I think getting people to realize that art and books are worth saving up for would be a good start.

That putting money in the pockets of creators is just as important as your own enjoyment of their art. Because if there aren't any artists, you've got nothing.

Getting them involved with their local libraries would also be a great start. Educating them on how the industry works is part of that. The number of people telling me they had no idea libraries paid authors is staggering. And that's intentional. It's a by-product of right-wing propaganda to make you think libraries are worthless and just sap taxpayers' money.

They're not.

If they were, the fash wouldn't be trying so hard to take them away.

Basically, we need working-class solidarity and for certain people on the left to rid themselves of the idea that just because something isn't borne of manual labor, it doesn't have worth. We need the artists and the dreamers as much as we need to bricklayers and the craftsmen. Otherwise, what's the fucking point of it all?

#sorry #this isn't an actionable answer to your question #I don't know what that answer is #I just need people to realize art is not the exclusive creation of the wealthy #and treating it as such is making everything worse