#that's all there is to this post

[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

[rowanoke]

Very little has made me feel more accepted than my girlfriends inviting me to the bathroom with then when they have to pee at the bar, I love it. But there's one bar we go to that has a single bathroom with no stall so we're all just hanging out making eye contact while one of us is peeing. And at that bar I don't usually invite them with me to pee because even though they all know I'm trans I don't really want them to see it, but then they get sad that I didn't invite them 😭

[hualianisms]

verified ways to donate to gaza directly

[this post is outdated. up-to-date version here.]

Donate to a Palestinian family directly:

gazafunds.com - Donate directly to a Palestinian family in urgent need of evacuation, medical treatment, daily necessities or more. Site run by Palestinians, all GFMs verified (full list here). Spotlights 1 stagnant GFM at a time. (*If you can't decide who/where to donate, just go to gazafunds.com & donate to the 1 GFM they show you!)

masterlist of 200+ verified Palestinian families' GFMs: Operation Olive Branch

Help provide tents:

The Sameer Project: Currently providing tents & transport for families in Rafah who urgently need to evacuate to Deir Al Balah. Has a team on the ground in Gaza who have supplied tents to 1% of the displaced population in Rafah. Run by Palestinians. (paypal) (gfm)

@helpgazachildren: Currently helping Palestinians in a refugee camp in Rafah flee the Rafah invasion to Khan Younis. Funds go directly to Hussam, a Palestinian in Rafah who hosts a refugee camp. Funds will cover the cost of tents & transport fuel. Managed by a Palestinian @.fairuzfan. (gfm)

Food:

Care for Gaza: Palestinian charity on the ground in Gaza distributing food, cash, medicine & other essentials to displaced families. Proof of their work found on their Twitter. (paypal) (gfm)

We Feed Gaza: Team of Palestinian volunteers in the heart of Gaza distributing food & water to 344+ families. More details & proof in their gfm. Vetted & promoted by LetsTalkPalestine on IG. (gfm)

Direct Aid for Gaza: A Palestinian activist on the ground in Gaza distributing food, cash & other essential supplies to displaced families. Proof of their work found on their twitter. (paypal) (gfm)

Water (*urgent and crucial!)

Gaza Municipality: The official Municipality of Gaza is doing vital, life-saving work to rebuild the water pipes in Gaza City to restore access to clean water & waste management services for the people of Gaza.

eSIMs (*very urgent):

guide to buy & send esims to gaza

Crips for eSims for Gaza: donate any amount to this team of volunteers who pool funds to buy & maintain gaza esims regularly (see their financial accountability document).

Medical Aid:

Gaza Wound Care: Palestinian doctors in central Gaza treating injured/sick children & mothers in neglected displacement camps far from hospitals. Facing a severe shortage of medicines, equipment, and medical supplies. Currently raising funds to support their efforts to battle infectious diseases in refugee camps. (gfm) (paypal) (gogetfunding)

international charities: Palestine Red Crescent Society, Palestine Children's Relief Fund, Medical Aid for Palestinians

How to help if you can't donate:

Share & amplify Palestinian fundraisers in your irl & online circles

Organize or help to run an online/irl event to raise funds for Palestine

Boycott

Get involved with a protest/strike/direct action in your area

Contact your reps

Educate yourself & others both irl & online

Daily clicks on Arab.org

(you can even adopt 1 fundraiser campaign to regularly boost it & make materials promoting it online, or print posters/flyers about Palestinian fundraisers to encourage others to donate. (poster/graphic about gazafunds.com: here, flyers about esims: here, flyers about gazafamilyfunds: here)

(longer masterpost of all ways you can help)

(*all these links and more now in this rentry page. will no longer be updating this post, instead refer to the rentry page)

Last updated 3/6/2024 with Gaza Wound Care & We Feed Gaza. Wanted to focus on Palestinian-run grassroots initiatives that will actually reach Gazans on the ground, so all of these except eSIMs, PCRF, MAP are by Palestinians. Donating to international orgs is not ideal rn as aid is still being stopped at the border. Please focus on Palestinian-run initiatives on the ground in Gaza.

Remember, small donations really do add up. Any amount counts, even $1!

[sepiamestus]

You guys should read thepromised neverland

[willinghands]

i think r/BenignExistence is my favorite subreddit 🥲 i love these pleasant little glimpses into strangers' lives

[codecicle]

Guys I'm so glad everyone loves hit JRWI campaign: The Suckening so much. 12 thousand notes on just a thumbnail that's so cool. Anyone think about emizel pussy-out post revival

[queerstudiesnatural]

reminder that donating just a few $ to gofundme campaigns actually helps, you don't have to donate huge amounts if you don't have the funds, every little bit is useful. give $10, $5, even $1. it all adds up. don't scroll past because you think you can't help. help in your own capacity. donate a dollar. share and speak up.

[sunriseovergotham]

characters have to be a little bit awful in ways that you cant defend. its good for the ecosystem. your honor he did do that. He did in fact do that

[mayhemchicken-artblog]

in the hour or so it took me to draw this op turned reblogs off

EDIT: reblogs are STAYING OFF. op was right and correct and i have never regretted making a post as much as this one. if you want to reblog my art you can reblog something else from my blog. or commission me, lord knows i deserve financial compensation for the nightmare this post has put me through

[fosliie]

College roommates, lab partners, to basically married pipeline

[aimasup]

Favouritism

Bill get a hold of yourself man

[sylvies-kablooie]

i do unironically think the best artists of our generation are posting to get 20 notes and 3 reblogs btw. that fanfic with like 45 kudos is some of the best stuff ever written. those OCs you carry around have some of the richest backstories and worldbuilding someone has ever seen. please do not think that reaching only a few people when you post means your art isn't worth celebrating.

[scribefindegil]

Everyone is so weird about people who cry easily. Fellas, is it evil and manipulative to *checks notes* have an involuntary stress response?

[hellkitepriest]

[eggsistential-breakdown]

Okay, but hear me out -- what if his parents weren't usually red and blue?

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

License to Kitty.