Holiday Giftfic News: Good & Bad

[tarotgal]

Hi all! It's been a really rocky year for me. I wasn't in the greatest mental state after losing my job and being unemployed for 11 months and being cut off from friends and family during the pandemic. But I made it through alive, thanks to my friends and family who made sure I could pay the mortgage and dropped off groceries for me so I could eat. I've got 4 jobs now (one full-time and 3 part-part-time), which doesn't leave me a lot of time to do fun things, as you might imagine. But I am also in need of a lot of downtime around so much work, so I've had to do a lot of juggling to stay sane and happy.

I haven't felt super creative all year. For the first time ever, I didn't finish Camp NaNo in July, even though I set a low goal for myself. I'm running the risk of not finishing proper NaNoWriMo this month (I'm at 34,000+ words with only 2 days left, which means about 8,000 words a day). I'm giving it my all and keeping my fingers crossed that I'll somehow manage to pull out a win.

For NaNo this year, I decided to try to finally knock out as many of the holiday giftfic requests as possible remaining from the 2020-2021 season. At the beginning of the year, out of 12 requests, I had 2 posted, 1 other finished, and 2 others started. Despite trying to work on them all year, that was also where I was at the beginning of November. Yikes. But now I've got the same 2 posted, 9 finished, and the final 1 started. I'm hoping to finish that one today (tomorrow at the latest). So I'll start posting the stories leading up to Christmas (likely starting on December 15).

I know they are a whole year late. I know the thing you requested might not be what you're into any more. And I am so very sorry for taking so long and letting you down. I have been filled with guilt and shame about it all year. But I hope at least one of the fics will be something you'll enjoy.

That being said, I'm a little burned out regarding fic requests and I don't want to over-commit myself after this debacle. So I'm going to be taking this year off in the gift fic-writing department. I'm so sorry if this news is disappointing to anyone who was hoping to submit a request this year. Please hold onto it and keep it safe until next holiday season when I will be open again for requests. Thanks for understanding! And sorry, again, for taking so long with your precious plot bunnies. They were wonderful; I just wasn't in the right mindset to do them justice.

Comments

[melydia]

*hugs* You take care of yourself. 2020 and 2021 have been hell.

Soooooo tell me about these jobs! I feel so out of touch with your life.

[tarotgal]

Yes they really have been. I miss seeing you every week and knowing everything going on in your life, too! HUGS

Sending you an email!

[shadowscast]

I'm so sorry that your life was so rough for the past year, but I'm happy to hear from you again and also to hear that things are somewhat looking up!

As for those plot bunnies, I have to say that I would still be absolutely delighted if you raised mine into a nice fat rabbit (er, I'm not sure about that metaphor, lol!). But also, I would absolutely hate for it to be a source of stress or unhappiness for you, to please know that I will greet the fic with joy and gratitude if it makes its way into the world, but I will absolutely not love you any less if it never does!

[tarotgal]

Thanks for the kind words! It was definitely a small source of stress this year, knowing I had so many outstanding fics I'd promised that just weren't coming. But I did manage to finish every last one of them during NaNo this year, and I'm pretty happy with most of them.

A few days ago, I realized that my search history was going to look super weird unless people knew I was a writer. I had things like "Diego knives powers" and "How long does a cocaine high last?" heehee Your fic was a pleasure to write, and I hope you like it when I post it later this month (after I do a quick round of edits on all fics).

Thank you for your understanding and enthusiasm!

[shadowscast]

I realized that my search history was going to look super weird unless people knew I was a writer

Hahaha I know the feeling. Writing about the Umbrella Academy in general and Klaus in particular really lends itself to developing a very suspicious-looking google search history! :D

Your fic was a pleasure to write, and I hope you like it when I post it later this month

AAAAahhhh I am so excited!

[tarotgal]

I DID start getting ads about recovering from drug addiction. But it was nothing compared to the "best vibrators for men" and "edging" searches I did for another giftfic. LOL But combine that with other fic-related searches like "how to grow premium organic cherries" and "towns that smell," and I've probably confused the heck out of whatever computer algorithm tracks search histories and looks for suspicious activity!

[(Anonymous)]

Yes what shadowscast said! I hope you are doing ok!

Anna

[tarotgal]

Hugs! Definitely doing better, thank you! :-)

[ladykorana]

So glad to hear you’re doing better! Yes please, definitely take any and all the time you need for yourself! *hugs*