Year in Review

[scifirenegade]

Total Number of Completed Stories: 70

Total Number of Written Words: 9653 words

Overall Thoughts:
How come I have not finished the Barbara thing?? For heaven's sake! There was a massive dip in Doctor Who fanfiction this year, in favor of other, more horrifying fic :P

What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?
Behind the Scenes, a character study of one Erik the Great (of The Last Performance fame), one sentence at the time. It gets a little wonky in there, but was happy to pick at one of my fave's brains.

How many works did you publish this year?
70? I don't do multi-chapter works, meme.

My most popular story of this year:
Radiation and After Another Adventure (Barbara/Ian drabble and 3 sentence fic respectively) are, of course, the ones that seem to have gotten the most attention. Glad people took time out of their days to read them, Radiation especially. Broke my heart writing it.
So flashes and so fades my thought, at strife is THE Anders als die Andern drabble of the year >:)

Story most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
They all got what they deserved, I still say.

Most fun story to write:
Any comedic/cracky story was fun. Most recent being A Minor Mistake, the Anders als die Andern/Orlacs Hände crossover nobody wanted.

Sexiest story:
The self-indulgent Oberaertz thing that is now painful to think about because lord, is it too much!

Most fun story:
See the answer above the sexy question.

Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
Pretty much set in stone from the get-go.

Biggest disappointment:
No disappointments.
Okay, one disappoitment. The art scam bots can actually have accounts and I got one. AO3 still hasn't banned the account, but the comment is gone at least.
(Heard there are worse bots that accuse authors of being abhorrent shit, glad it wasn't one of those. No idea why those exist, the art scam ones are at least looking to get some money.)

Biggest surprise:
That Gentle Wind (The Blue Parrot het thing) and Always Misunderstood (FP1 Droste/Ellissen drabble) were actually read. By people!

"Holy crap, that's *wrong*, even for you" story:
Oberaertz, look at what you made me do...

Favorite title you used?
"my heart still brims with hope" was snagged from The Tales of Ise. It's the second time I stole from it. It will happen again.

If you use song lyrics, which artist’s songs did you pull from the most?
Wait, it's always Depeche Mode? It always has been.

Favorite pairing you wrote for this year?
I like the sad gay violinists (Kurt/Paul) so much they dethroned Barbara/Ian this year. The angst, the angst...

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
Well, there's ridiculous crossovers: Anders als die Andern/Orlacs Hände, Ich und die Kaiserin/The Phantom of the Opera (Lon Chaney edition) and Around the World in 80 Days/Ox Tales. The Conrad Veidt RPF (it's historical fiction actually *straightens glasses*) was certainly unexpected. OMG actual A Woman's Face fic?? Very short pieces, sure, but I was so scared of fucking it up it's amazing I actually wrote something. A few obscure 1910s shorts got drabbles. There's a Sex in Chains drabble, which is nice but unsurprising, it was only a matter of time for it to exist. Same for Eerie Tales (1919) and Nazi Agent (dear Otto).
Oberaertz thing does not count, I started it last year.

Did you take any writing risks this year?
Oberaertz *shakes fist*
Wait, but I started it last year.
The A Woman's Face half-drabbles then.

What work was the quickest to write?
Any of the drabbles and 3 sentence fics.

What work took you the longest to write?
Oberaertz thing from last year.

How many WIP’s do you have in your docs for next year?
Barbara's Wine Cellar Adventure, I'm so sorry...
There's also a couple of AadA fics. One is pretty much finished but I need a new pair of eyes on it.

What’s your longest work of the year?
Behind the Scenes, over 1k! Amazing!

What’s your shortest work of the year?
Ridiculous, the aforementioned Around the World in 80 Days/Ox Tales fic. It's only one sentence long.

What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag?
Let's do a top 10 and laugh at it.

1. Prompt Fill


2. Drabble


3. Post-Canon


4. 3 Sentence Ficathon


5. Community: comment_fic


6. Microfic


7. Angst


8. Community: fic_promptly


9. Community: small-fandoms


10. Attempt at Humor

Of course, it's all prompt fills... and gee, I wonder if he writes for small fandoms?? And writes very short fic?‽

Your favorite character to write this year?
Ian is always a fave, but Kurt seems to take the cake this year.

The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year?
Any Doctor Who characters, it seems.

What’s one pairing you want to explore next year?
Not romantic in any way, but I really need to get on writing that Above Suspicion fic so that Hassert and Sig finally have a scene together >:)

How many kudos in total did you get this year?
169, nice.
In all seriousness, who are you people and how did you find my stash?

Which work has the most comments?
Basorexia, another AadA drabble. Tried to be all flowery with it ~

Did you do any collaborative works this year?
Nope.

Did you write any gifts this year?
Nope nope. Got paranoid as of late of making gifts people will not like.

What do you listen to while writing?
Clara Bow deserved better, godammit!
In short, film documentaries, and random movies.

Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?
From Behind the Scenes:

Sprawled on the floor, his body cold, he cannot stop the sobbing, ugly, so ugly — it echoes back —, and he clutches at his chest, desperate, tries to tear himself apart, so his aching heart can leap out.

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?
You're next, Barbara...

This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most: Short :)

---

Your main fandom of the year?
Herr Veidt, for better or for worse. It's honestly very difficult to hang around there. If it wasn't for E I would've noped off.

Your favorite film watched this year?
A tie between Conclave (2024) and Die andere Seite (1931)

Your favorite book read this year?
Gay Berlin: Birthplace of a Modern Identity by Robert Beachy. Pretty much an excellent overview of the queer history of the city before the Horrors.

Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?
Some Great Reward by Depeche Mode, hands down. I live under the rock.

Your favorite TV show of the year?
Hahahahahahaha
(A friend is trying to get me to watch Black Sails and girl, I haven't even watched the shows I wanted to watch for years *cough* Blake's 7 *cough*)

Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
None.

Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
Same old, same old.

Your fandom boyfriend of the year?
Oberaertz apparently.

Your fandom girlfriend of the year?
I shall be forever smitten with Felicitas (Flesh and the Devil). She deserved better!

Your biggest squee moment of the year?
Der Student von Prag new restoration DVD less goooooo!
Bonus Alraune. Brigitte Helm ftw! The Golem is there too.

The most missed of your old fandoms?
I'm still hanging out in Who spaces, I swear.

The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
One day, I'll get to Blake's 7.

---

How many books did you read this year?
Not enough, I say. Most are stuff for uni.

Did you reread anything? What?
The same old books.

Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?
I have read new authors, but I wouldn't say I love them. It's mostly non-fiction anyway.

Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?
I wanted to finish Terrarium! But Anno Dracula is also Too Much, and I chose it to take its place on the Fiction Books that Are Too Much.

Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones?
I'll ditch any goals at this point.

What genre did you read the most of?
History. Non-fiction. The usual.

Did you get into any new genres?
No.

What was your favorite new release of the year?
Hahahahahaha

And the oldest published book you read this year?
Still haven't finished The Speed of Soundz but probably that one.

Any books that disappointed you?
Not really. I knew what I was getting into.

Any book unexpectedly good?
Grosses Kino was awesome! I knew it was going to be good, but it was veryz very interesting. Shame it only exists in Portuguese.

Favourite book read in your own language?
Grosses Kino by Gerald Bär.

Most books read by a single author:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Favourite character encountered this year:
Awf, what was the name of the xenophile that shows up at the beginning of Terrarium? That guy, I choose him.

The beginning of a book series:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The end of a book series:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What books do you want to finish before the year is over?
Hahahahahaha

A favourite of this year:
I said Gay Berlin already!

---

What TV shows did you watch a season of this year?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What TV shows did you DNF this year?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

How many movies did you watch this year? Any trends in genre/viewing format/etc?
Over 70 (not 130). Not counting shorts. Some didn't get tracked on Letterboxd, which is why I can't pointpoint an exact number.
Trends? Conrad Veidt. René Cresté. Ivor Novello. I wanted to watch Musidora's films (that she directed!), didn't get to 'em.

What are your top movies you watched this year?
Top 9, let's go!

1. Die andere Seite (1931) / Conclave (2024)


2. Autumn Sonata (1978)


3. Hamlet (1921)


4. En kvinnas ansikte • A Woman's Face (1938)


5. Within Our Gates (1920)


6. Emma. (2020)


7. Now, Voyager (1942)


8. Flesh and the Devil (1926)


9. Geschlecht in Fesseln • Sex in Chains (1928)

But I watched so many great movies. Honourable mentions: Ich möchte kein Mann sein • I Don't Want to Be a Man (1918), Body and Soul (1925), The Last Warning (1928), Lonesome (1928), The Philadelphia Story (1940), Above Suspicion (1943), The Seventh Seal (1957), Ansiktet • The Magician (1958), Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (1964), Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967, Peau d'âne • Donkey Skin (1970), Panna a netvor • Beauty and the Beast (1978), Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022), Flow (2024), The Wild Robot (2024)

What's a movie you enjoyed more than you expected?
The original Swedish version of A Woman's Face, to the point if someone says "I like it more than the American remake", I won't even be mad.

Which movies most disappointed you this year?
Belle (2021), as is the most recent disappointment I watched. Sigh. So much potential, squandered. At least it's gorgeous!

Movies that you had the most fun talking about, whether they were good or bad:
Dernier amour (1916) and I Lived with You (1933) made me write much more than expect and made me gif bits! Then again, Petit and Cresté have wonderful chemistry and Novello is peak weirdo.
(Pssst I Lived with You has baby Ida Lupino. She's great!)

Did you rewatch any old faves? If so, which one was you favourite?
Boy, did I! Buster Keaton, you are a star. Pretty sure The Lodger (1927) is ducking it out with Rear Window as my favourite Hitchcock. Faust (1926) is much better than I remembered. The Shape of Water (2017) was a good way to mourn not being able to see del Toro's Frankenstein. Filibus and Leonora should've ran away together. We stan Margo Channing! Judex and Les Vampires <3
Let's stop here.

What's the oldest movie you watched?
Le Mystère des roches de Kador (1912). An interesting one. Features my favourite trope of being tangentially about film.

What's the newest movie you watched?
Wicked: For Good (2025). Not as good as the first one, which appears to be the consensus. Same as the original musical even. Hyperrealistic scarecrow!Fiyero isn't real, he can't hurt me.

Did you watch any movies outside of your usual preferred genre(s)?
I watched plenty of recent movies, many of them came out this year. That's out of my wheelhouse.

Any movies you're excited to watch in the next year?
No idea what is coming out next year. I just want to watch Mickey 17, the new Nosferatu and del Toro's Frankenstein.
(And Sleeping Car, that one seems like a good time, but it has Madeleine Carroll and Ivor Novello, so it's almost 100 years old *sigh*)




Art vs the artist('s hand), 2025 edition

Comments

[liadt]

Lots of lovely art and fic made: well done hand!

I prefer 'Downhill' to 'The Lodger' because I'm a bad person;p Oh and 'The Rat'. What I like about Novello is that his while his acting did improve over time he had a good suffering face from the beginning, which is why he was the UK's top heart throb, second only to Rudolph Valentino;p

Hopefully del Toro's Frankenstein will be accessible to you at some point. New Nosferatu should be.

[senmut]

You have been a delight to see on my circle and in my inbox from SqWA.