2022 Year in Fandom

[lirazel]

1. Your main fandom of the year?

The Untamed/CQL, definitely. The second half of the year, I wrote about 63,000 words of fic for it. I also continue to enjoy freaking out in tags of reblogs of beautiful gifsets and/or reblogging hilarious shitposts about it on Tumblr dot com.

This fandom is not as all-encompassing an experience as BtVS or Kpop was for me--most of my social interactions with online friends are completely apart from it. So unlike with my last two major fandoms, it feels like a separate experience from online friendships and especially from Dreamwidth. CQL is for AO3 and Tumblr.


2. Your favorite film you watched this year?

Prey, maybe? I don't feel that strongly about any of the films I watched, though I enjoyed many of them. But I didn't have an experience like I did in 2021 of discovering The Vast of Night or something. Movies are just a pleasant diversion at this point in my life.


3. Your favorite book read this year?

There wasn't one particular one that stood out. Instead, there were categories.

New-to-me YA/MG novels that were so good: Wise Child and Juniper by Monica Furlong, Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson, Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale, Gullstruck Island by Frances Hardinge, and A Drowned Maiden's Hair by Laura Amy Schiltz were all absolute joys and I profoundly thank those of you who recommended them to me--I believer every single one of them was a recommendation by online friends!!! Even if getting back to Dreamwidth a few years ago wasn't rewarding in many other ways, it would still be an invaluable development in my life just because y'all have become the best book recommendation circle I've ever had!

I did rereads of L.M. Montgomery's Emily books and of the Earthsea books by Ursula K. Le Guin, both of which I still love muchly.

I had so much fun reading Dracula along with everyone else on Tumblr.

By far my longest read and probably my favorite nonfiction work was The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow.

Also a shout-out to The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson, which knocked my socks off. If only I can muster up the emotional energy to read the others in the series!


4. Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?

I rediscovered my Vienna Teng love again this year--I hadn't listened to her seriously for the past couple of years, and I just plunged right back in and have spent the past four months or so listening to at least some of her work almost every week. Aims is my favorite album as an album, but Inland Territory has many of my favorite songs on it.


5. Your favorite TV show of the year?

Andor. No question.

I also really enjoyed Beyond Evil and the third season of Umbrella Academy. I will finish season two of Los Espookys soon and then that one will go on the list.


6. Your favorite podcast of the year?

Proooobably Maintenance Phase just based on the sheer joy I feel whenever I see that an episode has dropped, though it was a good year for podcasts. I also really enjoyed the new season of Karina Longworth's You Must Remember This, Michael Hobbes' If Books Could Kill, and Joel Stein's Story of the Week. Hot Money: Who Runs Porn? and Sold a Story were probably the two that taught me the most about the world as it currently is. And, of course, I loved all my old favorites.


7. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?

Uh...I can't think of an answer to this one.


8. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?

Netflix cancelling so many things. They weren't even ones I watch! Or at least I haven't watched them yet! But still!

Just: fuck you, Netflix.

Also finding out that there will only be two seasons of Andor.


9. Your fandom boyfriend of the year?

Real: Meh. I continue to be astounded by Xiao Zhan's face, but I don't there really was a guy who stood out this year. Maybe Diego Luna? Coming in strong in November and December! Probably the actually-existing person I spent the most time with was Ezra Klein (via podcast, of course) so maybe it's just him by default. I am very fond.

Fictional: I'm still in a three-way marriage with Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. I cheat on them with Jiang Cheng.


10. Your fandom girlfriend of the year?

Fictional: Tenar from the Earthsea books, Naru from Prey, and Mama Lan from CQL

Real: Kim Yoohyeon, as per usual.


11. Your biggest squee moment of the year?

Getting lovely comments on my fics. That's always my favorite fannish thing in the world.


12. The most missed of your old fandoms?

I don't really miss any canons per se, but I will always look back at Buffy fandom with rose-tinted glasses.


13.Your biggest fan anticipations for the coming year?

New season of Ted Lasso? New season of Andor? I'm going to have to wait so long!

Also new exchanges to participate in! Maybe I'll do the MXTX one this year!