Falling Stars

The year in review

Wed, 31 Dec 2025 03:18:31 GMT

Last year, I said, "It certainly has been A Year. A lot of family health stuff, and everything going on in the world." Well, it's definitely still all that.

( My fandom year )

( 2025 in review )

Happy New Year! Wishing you peace and joy in 2026.

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Updates

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 10:33:33 GMT

Been away for a few weeks. But I'm back now!

* Dreamwidth - Way behind on reading and posting. Hoping to catch up soon. (Also behind on the news generally. I know I should catch up. But it's hard to summon the will to dive back in.)

* Haikyu!! - In that weird limbo of waiting to get hold of the next part of canon, and in the meantime trying to dip into fic without getting spoiled. (Probably playing with fire.)

* Yuletide - Watching the nominations queries posts go by, and always feeling amazed at the snapshot of fandoms they offer. (Mod query: "Can you confirm if the polar bear is a character?" Nominator response: "Here is a link to the polar bear.")

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The year in review

Tue, 31 Dec 2024 07:13:41 GMT

It certainly has been A Year. A lot of family health stuff, and everything going on in the world.

( My fandom year )

( 2024 in review )

Happy New Year! Wishing you good things in 2025.

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50 assignments

Sat, 29 Jun 2024 13:00:46 GMT

I just noticed the other day that my AO3 account has 50 exchange assignments.

It's not an exact count, because there were exchanges I did before AO3 was a thing. And there must be people who have done lots more. But it still feels like a significant number to see on my dashboard!

It's weird to think back to the changes that have happened over that time. Not having to email your story to the mods to upload! The creative use of tag fields, to match not just on fandom and character, but also media type, relationships, worldbuilding, and freeforms! The whole concept of DNWs!

Lessons I have learned for a happier exchange experience:

1. Curate your own experience - If you're stressed, offer what you're most comfortable with and request what you're most excited about. Or if you're bored, offer what's a challenge and request what's a surprise. Change up things that aren't working for you anymore. Sometimes this means cutting back on exchanges or taking a break from them entirely.

2. Focus on what you can control - You can't control how many comments you get, but you can control how many comments you give. You can't control when someone picks up your pinch hit, but you can control how many treats you write. It's painful to be fixating on something that depends on someone else. Anytime you're desperately refreshing the screen for an update, is probably a sign you should go take action on something, anything else.

3. Figure out your limitations and your strengths - I know I'm a slow writer, so I'm never going to sign up for anything that requires speed or volume. I love certain canons where I'm just not confident about the voice, or where I'm realistically not going to have time for review.

4. There's always next time - There are going to be ups and downs. It helps to be philosophical about it and take the long view, instead of pinning all your hopes on this exchange being perfect.

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The year in review

Sun, 31 Dec 2023 11:29:12 GMT

How is it December already? This year feels like it was full of stuff, but also went by in a blur.

( My fandom year )

( 2023 in review )

Happy New Year! Wishing you a very good 2024.

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Dreamwidth fic archive

Tue, 12 Sep 2023 14:58:00 GMT

With everything going on with AO3, I figured it was a good time to make a backup archive of all my fic.

It's taken over two months to upload over 120 stories. Which is not as many as some people, but still a fair chunk of work for me.

Anyway! You can find the archive at serenadefic.

I want to ramble a bit about the process, since I've been finding it interesting when other people talk about theirs.

( Why Dreamwidth )

( Journal vs community )

( Tagging )

( Chapters, series, and collections )

( Related works )

There's still things to iron out - some italics formatting is causing extra blank lines, and there are miscellaneous ficlets to be uploaded - but the bulk of it is done and I'm pretty happy with it.

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The year in review

Tue, 27 Dec 2022 15:42:21 GMT

Posting a bit in advance this year.

( My fandom year )

( 2022 in review )

Happy New Year! Wishing you good things in 2023.

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The year in review

Fri, 31 Dec 2021 05:54:22 GMT

So, here we are again.

( My fandom year )

( 2021 in review )

Happy New Year! Hoping you're all safe and well, and wishing you a good 2022.

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The year in review

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 04:51:23 GMT

Well. That sure was a year.

( My fandom year )

( 2020 in review )

Happy New Year! Stay safe and well, wherever you are. Here's wishing for a better 2021.

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Can you believe it's been twenty years since we were partying like it was 1999?

Tue, 31 Dec 2019 10:03:06 GMT

Anyway, here's my year in review.

( My fandom year )

( 2019 in review )

Happy New Year! See you all in 2020.

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Memories of a decade ago

Mon, 30 Dec 2019 03:26:47 GMT

I like reading retrospectives on the decade just past, but I don't have the energy to do one myself. Instead, I dug up my year in review for 2009, like a mini time capsule.

( Highlights )

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I really liked your stories, author.

Sat, 08 Jun 2019 12:57:04 GMT

One of my favourite fic authors has orphaned her stories and deleted her accounts, and I'm feeling unexpectedly devastated.

I first ran across one of her stories during Yuletide several years ago, and it blew me away. I've been following her fic through several fandoms since. That something like this can happen overnight has shaken me.

I mean, orphaned is better than deletion, because the stories are still there on AO3. But they're not connected together anymore. If you liked one, there is no way to find other works by the same author. They're mixed in with all the other hundreds of thousands of orphaned works ever.

This is the internet, where pillars of rock disappear into the sea all the time. I should be used to it by now. But it just feels like yet another chunk of history lost.

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The year in review

Mon, 31 Dec 2018 04:38:59 GMT

( My fandom year )

( 2018 in review )

Happy New Year! See you all in 2019.

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'Tis the season

Sun, 09 Sep 2018 13:50:14 GMT

September here is when the season of spring begins.

September also is when the season of Yuletide begins.

It used to be the only exchange I did, and the highlight of my fandom year. But a few years ago, I started branching out into other exchanges as well. And now I'm waiting for Yuletide nominations to begin, but I'm also hanging out for Trick or Treat signups to open, and I'm working on finishing my Coronation Ceremony assignment.

It's kind of weird to realise that almost all the fic I've written recently has been for exchanges. I guess because time and energy are limited. And deadlines make things get done. Still, I've got quite a few WIPs sitting around that I'd like to get finished and sent out into the world.

I love exchanges. But there's also an incredible rush in thinking, "Whoa, I could just write anything and post it."

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The year in review

Sun, 31 Dec 2017 01:31:43 GMT

( My fandom year )

( 2017 in review )

Happy New Year! Wishing you all a wonderful 2018.

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