a hundred fics! a hundred ecstasies!

[pauraque_bk]

Now that I've claimed my severus_fest fic, if you go to my AO3 page you may notice something interesting, which is that I have posted exactly one hundred Harry Potter fics.

o_O

For some people this might not seem like a lot, especially considering that I've been in the fandom since 2003 (yikes), and it includes some drabbles and filks, and even my longer stories are short by most people's standards, BUT STILL. I write very slowly and leave a lot of things unfinished, so for me this is an accomplishment.

Here's some stats. Humor me.

Total word count: 124,115 (which makes the average fic wordcount 1241, of course)

Characters written (not including OCs): 62

Aberforth Dumbledore
Albus Dumbledore
Albus Severus Potter
Alice Longbottom
Alicia Spinnet
Arabella Figg
Argus Filch
Arthur Weasley
Astoria Greengrass
Bellatrix Lestrange
Cedric Diggory
Cho Chang
Colin Creevey
Dean Thomas
Dolores Umbridge
Draco Malfoy
Dudley Dursley
Filius Flitwick
Firenze
Fleur Delacour
Frank Longbottom
Fred Weasley
George Weasley
Gregory Goyle
Griphook
Hannah Abbott
Harry Potter
Hedwig
Hermione Granger
Horace Slughorn
James Potter
Katie Bell
Lavender Brown
Lily Evans
Lucius Malfoy
Luna Lovegood
Minerva McGonagall
Millicent Bulstrode
Molly Weasley
Mrs Norris
Narcissa Malfoy
Neville Longbottom
Nymphadora Tonks
Padma Patil
Parvati Patil
Pansy Parkinson
Percy Weasley
Peter Pettigrew
Pomona Sprout
Regulus Black
Remus Lupin
Rolanda Hooch
Ron Weasley
Rose Weasley
Rubeus Hagrid
Scorpius Malfoy
Severus Snape
Sirius Black
Tom Riddle | Voldemort
Trevor
Viktor Krum
Vincent Crabbe

A few times I've considered trying to "complete" the list by writing at least a drabble with every character. But even if you limit it to characters with a speaking part, that's... a lot. I'm also pretty meh on the idea of writing things just for the sake of having written them. I wrote the characters on my list because at the time I wrote them, they were who I wanted to write about. Right now I can't imagine what I'd write if I sat down to write about, say, Cornelius Fudge. But maybe there will come a time when inspiration strikes, and at that moment he will be the most interesting character in the world to me. No reason to force it.


Top 10 most frequently written characters:

Peter Pettigrew (23)
Harry Potter (22)
Remus Lupin (19)
Severus Snape (19)
Sirius Black (14)
James Potter (11)
Neville Longbottom (8)
Tom Riddle | Voldemort (8)
Ron Weasley (6)

And tied for 10th place:

Minerva McGonagall (5)
Draco Malfoy (5)
Hermione Granger (5)
Lily Evans Potter (5)
Lucius Malfoy (5)
Narcissa Malfoy (5)

This list may be perplexing to people who haven't known me for a long time. There was a time in the mid-2000s when I was known for writing Peter! There was no one moment when I decided not to write him anymore; it was a combination of my life changing in ways that made me relate to the character less, and simply running out of things to say. (Though to be honest it had started to annoy me to be classified as A Peter Writer, because I did always write other things.)


M/M pairings written: 30

Albus/Peter
Albus/Ron
Albus/Tom
Argus/Peter
Filius/Griphook
Harry/Cedric
Harry/Neville
Harry/Peter
Harry/Remus
Harry/Ron
Harry/Voldemort
Horace/Peter
Horace/Regulus
Horace/Sirius
Horace/Tom
James/Peter
Lucius/Draco
Lucius/Percy
Neville/Dean
Neville/Firenze
Neville/Remus
Peter/Ron
Remus/Arthur
Remus/Sirius
Remus/Severus
Sirius/James
Sirius/Regulus
Severus/Lucius
Severus/Peter
Vincent/Gregory


Het pairings written: 17

Aberforth/Millicent
Draco/Astoria
Draco/Pansy
Harry/Cho
Harry/Hermione
Harry/Ginny
James/Lily
Fred/Ginny
Luna/Albus Severus
Neville/Luna
Minerva/Remus
Minerva/Severus
Minerva/Tom
Severus/Narcissa
Sirius/Hermione
Sirius/Lily
Viktor/Fleur


Femslash pairings written: 12

Alicia/Katie
Astoria/Narcissa
Astoria/Pansy
Cho/Luna
Hermione/Ginny
Hermione/Molly
Hermione/Pansy
Lavender/Padma
Minerva/Pomona
Minerva/Rolanda
Minerva/Rose
Padma/Parvati


Pairings written more than once: 5

Remus Lupin/Harry Potter (4)
Sirius Black/James Potter (3)
Peter Pettigrew/Ron Weasley (2)
Lucius Malfoy/Severus Snape (2)
Padma Patil/Parvati Patil (2)

Yes, those five are the only Harry Potter pairings that I have written more than once. I've generally thought of myself as the multi-est of multishippers and the antithesis of an OTPer, and the numbers back it up. I don't try to be this way, it just happens. Once I've spent some time writing about a pairing (and even writing one fic usually takes me a while) I want to move on. It's not even that I lose interest completely — I can and do read the same pairings a lot when other people write them — but I get the feeling that I've already said all I can or want to say about a relationship. I'm more likely to write a pairing again if it's been a long time, or if I come up with a completely different angle on it, or both. I wouldn't say at all that those five pairings are my favorites, they're just the ones I could think of more than one story about.

Of course this leaves me in a position where, while I respect my friends who have a true OTP, I can't actually understand it on a gut level. And ship wars? Utterly baffling. For me ships are like tasty ice cream flavors. I love them all! No need to choose between them, because I can just have one today and another tomorrow. Yay!


Here's to a hundred more? Well... maybe. I've been in this fandom for a long time, but one of the reasons for that is that the dizzying variety of characters makes it hard to get bored. Even with all those fics under my belt, it's not at all difficult to think of interesting things I haven't written yet.

Reaching my bicentennial might take another twelve years, though.

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Feel free to comment wherever you're comfortable.

Comments

[akatnamedeaster.livejournal.com]

I find it amazing that Peter is your most written character. Go you! And congrats on making the big 100!

[pauraque]

I'm a little surprised that he still is, too. It was those first few years in the fandom that did it. Someone will overtake him eventually!

[akatnamedeaster.livejournal.com]

See, but I think it's awesome that you most written character is also one of the most overlooked in fandom. I mean, he's even cut out of Marauder Era stories for no other reason than he's not "sexy" enough. I really like that you include him so much in your writing. :)

[pauraque]

Oh yeah, for sure. There have been soooo many fics set in that era that downplay Peter or just flat-out pretend he wasn't there. Which is kind of flabbergasting since his being part of their tight-knit group of friends was what made the plot of the books even function. Like him or not, Peter matters!

I'm someone who tends to be drawn to the underdog. Plus I love rats, so it was a natural fit. :)

[torino10154]

Congrats!! That's an awesome achievement. :D

[pauraque]

Thanks! :D

[smallbrownfrog.livejournal.com]

100 stories is well worth celebrating. Here's to another 12 years.

[pauraque]

It could happen! I've already been in the fandom a hell of a lot longer than I ever would have predicted.

[stuttermoan.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on 100! It really speaks well for the series and you that you can keep finding more angles to explore.

[pauraque]

I definitely think that's one of the reasons I've stayed in this fandom so long. There's such a big world to explore, and that suits me really well.

[magnetic-pole.livejournal.com]

100! Congratulations! I love that HP (and your brilliant imagination) sustains that long list of pairings. M.

[pauraque]

Aw, thank you. I owe a lot to JKR... a hundred stories, dozens of friends, and a wife. Thanks for all those, Jo. ;)

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

Oh, this was just fascinating to read. I'm mega-impressed by the range of your characters and pairings and genres. I can't claim to have read all of them (though of course I some day plan to!) but, your Millicent/Aberforth and your Flitwick/Griphook in particular stand out as some of my favorites.

Glad you're not thinking of leaving!

[pauraque]

Thanks! I really doubt that anyone besides me has read everything I ever wrote... not that I would necessarily want them to, since I think some of the older ones, especially, aren't that good. I don't feel bad about it, though — it just means I'm improving!