ao3 wrapped [writers edition] (2024)

[mrsluigivargas]

This is an ask game from Tumblr that I've been doing for a few years now. I usually just do all the questions in a Google doc, since I very rarely get any asks over there, haha. But I wanted to post them, even if it's a bit later than I was intending to, so here they are! (This is all from the lens of someone who exclusively writes Super Mario fic, btw)

 

1. How many words have you written this year? 47,793 words, this year!

2. How many works did you publish this year? 21 works! (with a 22nd hopefully coming soon -)

3. What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)? Ti voglio tanto bene is my magnum opus for the year, for sure. It was a lot of fun to write, and it came out pretty much exactly how I wanted it to! A very satisfying final product, imo!

4. What work of yours has the most hits? Bowser Hates Having Feelings is sitting at 669 hits, right now. For non-ship fic, (Chaos) Heart Condition has the most at 314 hits.

5. What work of yours got more feedback than you expected? A Reframing got like two comments almost immediately which, considering we’re well past the Mario Movie hype and a lot of the Mario folks that follow me are busy or not into my stuff, was quite the surprise, lol

6. Favorite title you used: Tie between UNO Reverse Kidnapping and Ti voglio tanto bene! The former is very silly and the latter fell into place in a very satisfying way and ties into the fic nicely

7. If you use song lyrics, which artist’s songs did you pull from the most? I don’t use that many song titles, but I quite like something must be wrong (with me)! Even if the song (Aoi Shiori) doesn't match the fic at all, haha. (Also I realized a bit after writing this that it's also a song lyric from Something Comforting, which still doesn't quite fit but it's also a nice song so)

8. Pairing you wrote the most for this year? Mario & Luigi featured in 8 of the 21 fics I wrote this year! This is the third year this has happened, lol.

9. Favorite pairing you wrote for this year? Mario & Kamek, for sure. Their dynamic is very fascinating to me. Forever spinning around in that microwave.

10. What work was the quickest to write? Worry only took a few hours in an afternoon to write. Prison Escapes and Pianos was just about as quick, too. 

11. What work took you the longest to write? Ti voglio tanto bene was 10 months in the making, tbh, and most of that was continuous-ish work. Tiny Adventure, meanwhile, was a WIP dating back to December of 2021 that I finally got to knock out.

12. How many WIP’s do you have in your docs for next year? I have like a dozen or so. I have a Trello board about it. A lot of these are just outlines and concepts, but. I still wanna include them in this count~

13. What’s your longest work of the year? Ti voglio tanto bene at 11,002 words! It was a very big oneshot, lmao.

14. What’s your shortest work of the year? Worry at 200 words!

15. What WIP are you taking into next year with you? I’m taking quite a few WIPs into next year, tbh. There’s a mini sequel to Worry and a Bowser-centric angst-flavored entry in my Royal Plumbing Polycule series, one of which should be hopefully be written and posted this month, which would leave the other to be pushed forward. I’m still carrying Beach Vacation and scared-of-the-dark!Mario and the ‘5 times others slept around Bowser and one time he slept around others’ fics forward from last year. I’m hoping to get those done next year, now that I won't have to write a fic per month anymore, haha. And then there’s also an emotionally angsty Peach fic, and an aro!Mario Valentine's Day fic, and then a half-dozen or so other RPP fics waiting in the wings, too.

16. What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag? Sickfic, because of Sicktember, haha. I’ll probably be writing a lot less of that in the foreseeable future; sickfic is very much not my strong suit when I’m focused on it.

17. Your favorite character to write this year? I’ve really been into writing Peach, actually! I feel like I settled into a good characterization for her (although it always can be improved!). I liked when I got to write her with a little sass as well, especially when she’s paired with Bowser 🤭 Looking forward to writing her more next year!

18. The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year? Poked at writing Pauline in She’s your 1-UP Girl, and that was fun. Luckily, I don't have many future plans to write her XD And writing Bowser Junior still and will forever elude me, of course.

19. What’s one pairing you want to explore next year? To be completely honest, a large chunk of my fascination with the Royal Plumbing Polycule is that it’s an opportunity to get Peach and Bowser to reconcile and become friends with intentionality. So I’m excited to dig into that both directly and indirectly!

20. Which work of yours have you reread the most? Bowser Hates Having Feelings is just. So cute. I’m delighted that I wrote it, hehe.

21. How many kudos in total did you get this year? 559 kudos!

22. Which work has the most comments? Ti voglio tanto bene, with 9 comment threads. People really had stuff to say, about that one.

23.Did you do any collaborative works this year? N/A

24. Did you write any gifts this year? Well technically Bowser Hates Having Feelings could be considered a gift. I quess. I just didn't code it in AO3 that way XD

25. Did you receive any gifts this year? N/A

26. What’s your most common category? Gen, of course. Did you expect anything else?

27. What do you listen to while writing? The “My Mix” Youtube playlists are a chunk of it, and then a few Twitch streamers and Youtube video essays make up most of the rest. There’s also been some Hermitcraft stuff in there recently, too XD

28. Favorite work you wrote this year? Top 5, in no particular order: Ti voglio tanto bene, UNO Reverse Kidnapping, An Unexpected Caretaker, something must be wrong (with me), Bowser Hates Having Feelings

29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year? Some assorted favorites:

Mario shifted, a sleepy smile growing at something playing out beneath his eyelids. Bowser wondered what he was dreaming about. Something stupid, probably, like a mountain of pasta. Or maybe someone. Like his brother. Or Peach. Or —

...or.

Bowser frowned, shaking his head to dispel that train of thought before it could travel any further, a train of thought that’d had Bowser’s hand finding its way back to Mario’s shoulder without him even realizing. He huffed. What a ridiculous mess, this was. Maybe he did hate his feelings, after all.

Well, whatever. He’ll deal.

— Bowser Hates Having Feelings

The trail of disarray led deeper into the house. To the living room, a complete mess, half-full takeout containers strewn throughout; sitting in the center of the couch was Mario, in his boxers, listlessly staring off into space.

Luigi froze, though Mario hadn't reacted to him entering. Luigi crept into Mario’s field of view, and even then it was a while before Mario met his gaze. He looked tired. Despondent. Drained. Luigi bit his lip, feeling way out of his depth. He'd never seen Mario like this before. He had no idea how to break the silence.

In hindsight, he really should have picked a better opener.

“So...the Toads can't decide if you and Peach either got hitched or broke up...?” Luigi ventured.

He watched Mario blink, processing his words.

And then Mario

just

crumpled.

— Ti voglio tanto bene

Luigi retook his place on the couch, setting the food on the table and pressing a glass of water into Mario’s hand. “That’s a pretty one,” he remarked, gesturing to the flag on the screen. “Very pink!”

Mario swallowed past the lump in his throat. It was strange being on the other side of the unconditional acceptance, for a change.

— Ti voglio tanto bene

In the morning, they’re all going to go back to the Mushroom Kingdom to celebrate Mario’s return in a more semi-private setting, and work out how to do so and thank Bowser and his advisors in a more formal and public way later.

But for now, Mario watches the light from the makeshift bonfire somehow cast Bowser’s fond grin warmer than it already was, and Bowser watches Mario’s eyes sparkle brighter than any fire or star could barely dream of managing. New freedoms meant new beginnings, and as they reached for each other’s hands they knew this beginning was already off to a great start.

— This Tower (of Strength) (<- this is cheating because i technically wrote this last year but shush I really like it)

30. Biggest surprise while writing this year? Sometimes you write a fic and you know exactly what’s going on with it by virtue of you writing it but then you release it out into the world and it's a confusing mess for everyone else. Fated Memories was that for me. I still don't know whether to feel bad about it or not. Mostly bummed, I think. I really liked writing it, though; it came out well, imo, and I love getting the opportunity to write in second-person.

I really like this set of questions as a year-in-review type thing; feel free to nab them and do them if you do too, haha.