The State of the Ficcery: May 2020

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Word count for May: 21,435 [met the monthly goal by the skin of my teeth today]

Writing: A good month. Lots of boxes checked.

I did 6 more fics for Dick or Treat (9 total so I win the badge I wanted). I also did 9 entries for the Merry Month of Masturbation. I finished the last of my poems for the GYWO Yahtzee picture prompts and finished my Jeeves Bingo card.

I had some disappointments. I did a gift fic that the recipient hasn't acknowledged, and on that same fic got two negative comments, the second (replying to the first) felt the need to express in detail their deep disappointment that the story wasn't hot like my others. Sigh.

So I left BBC Johnlock for a while and started posting some Good Omens fic, where readers have been uniformly kind, which has been helpful.

I wrote the first part of my Fandom for Oz fic [BBC Sherlock MorMor], which will start posting tomorrow, but I really need to focus on Part 2.


Personal: I finished my little library. I had a nice birthday and Mother's Day. I spent half the month trying to get my hands on a replacement string for Minor's upright bass (the string was bought in March and was shipped to the store, which closed, and then I was told a replacement would be shipped to our flat, and it wasn't, lots and lots of phone calls), and I finally got it, and the boys' father and I replaced the broken string after much swearing, sweating and Youtube videos. I uploaded all the documents for Minisculus and now he's officially registered for kindergarten in the autumn. I also agree to stay on as the manager of Minor's soccer team in the autumn (if there's a season). What else? The person I used as Minor and Minisculus' emergency school contact has ghosted me and I don't know if there's something wrong with her or something wrong with us. But I don't have any real life friends to ask to take her place, so that's a worry and something I'll have to deal with by the autumn. Uh, also. The world's on fire. I don't know how to keep my two black boys safe. But we're all healthy. And there's income coming in. So, on y va to June.

Comments

[castiron]

Sigh indeed. There are legitimate crits one can give a fic (see: reader who pointed out a discrepancy with canon in my Bujold WGW fic and was absolutely correct), but "it didn't push the buttons I wanted it to push" is a criticism you put in your own personal journal, not as a comment on the fic itself.

On the bright side, I've now read some of your fic and greatly enjoyed it :-).

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Yes, it helps that I have 250+ fics and almost 2 million words in my AO3 account and this is not my first rodeo with unhelpful commenters. I started writing exclusively genderswap BBC Sherlock and you get A LOT of them that way. But still, it wasn't something I was expecting and a blow.

Thank you very much! Glad you've enjoyed some of my offerings.

[lunabee34]

*hugs*

I'm sorry someone was being a jerk in your comments.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thanks!

[smallhobbit]

Yet again a great word count! And congratulations on getting the badge you were after and completing a variety of challenges.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you! I was 7k in the hole as of four days ago so I had to rev up. But it's a bit misleading because I don't count words unless their posted and so it doesn't include Sniper Part 1.

And I don't have to feel any chagrin with you about wanting a badge! You get a badge for every fic but it's cumulative and the one I wanted (naturally) was at the top!

It feels good to have nothing but Sniper part 2 and last books of the bingo on my plate.

[luthienberen]

Congratulations on your word count and achieving your goals! Sorry to hear about those awful comments. I don't understand it myself, if you find a fic doesn't push your buttons move on? *Hugs*

Hurrah for having a nice birthday and Mother's Day!

I pray you all can stay safe.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you, thank you!

[scfrankles]

As always, your writing achievements are so impressive ^^" And I'm glad you've got kind and positive readers in the Good Omens fandom. (Even if some of the Sherlock fans can sometimes be a bit immature.)

I'm glad that you're all healthy and you've still got money coming in. And I hope that once the world's finished burning, there will be new growth and a better world for your boys ^^ Wishing you and your family all the best.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you. I hope you're ok too. Yes, the GO readers have been kind.

Yeah, we have it much better than some. The boys and their father and I sat down and watched the Sesame Street Town Hall on Racism and had a good conversation about things. Minor is a very sensitive boy and he was sad about a lot of things. Minisculus is a bit young. But we don't watch TV and we don't have a lot of interaction with people outside so I didn't want them to go to school in the fall and not know who George Floyd was. And it's important to lay the foundation, I think.

[mafief]

I read this and forgot to reply.

It’s frustrating that they left awful comments - they were being silly and myopic and should have kept their comments to themselves.

Is minisculus going for half-day or full-day kindergarten?

Emergency contact- can you use the pastor from the church Minor did the thing I don’t remember the name of at this moment?

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you for your comment in defense of me. That was kind.

Yes, it was and it hurt at the moment, but you know, it's passed.

Full day kindergarten. I don't think there is any other kind here. And if things go back to normal, he'll ride the bus and everything.

Ha! That would be something. Put that silly woman to good use. No, my first plan is the neighbor downstairs. The issue is I need someone that the school can call to pick up the boys if they are sick and they can't reach me or their father. It's not a big deal when the boys' father is in the US but the problem is when he's traveling overseas and hopefully things will go back to normal one day and he'll be traveling again. Maybe in the fall. My other option is one of the soccer moms but I am not really that close to her but if soccer starts back up maybe we will see each other again. The school nurse at Minor's school has a tendency to freak out (really the most un-nursely nurse I've ever met) and one time last fall I had my phone turned off and Minor got hurt at recess and it was awful. So I do need someone rather reliable.