Pros-by-Year Bingo for 2023

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I've been watching everyone working out their various Pros Bingos for this year, and thinking about how badly I failed my own bingo card last year, and how impressive tinturtle's Million-Word-Fanfic card looks (and clearly far too complicated for me, since I couldn't even managed to cut and paste pictures last year), but wanting to do something this year, to try and post more Pros again, and I think I've finally worked out a nice simple Prosfic challenge for myself - and anyone else who might want to play. *g* Prosfic-by-Year! It's dead simple - I'm going to try and read a Prosfic for every year since Pros began! *vbg*

I'm also going to cheat slightly, and add the Prosfics I've already read in 2023, just to get the ball rolling. It's restrospective, right? *g* So... 47 fics to find, and I'm just going to list them nice and simply, because that way I might actually do it... And the other ones I'll write reviews for too.

My Year of Reading Prosfic by Year
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984 - Surfer's Tension by HG
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997 - Choosing by Kate MacLean
1998
1999
2000 - Seeds by Joules
2001
2002 - Injured Innocents by O.Yardley
2003 - The Tangled Web by Jack Reuben Darcy
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023


I have read more fics than that this year, but I can't remember them all just now, and at least one Saints and Miracles by Jack Reuben Darcy is listed as the same year as another fic, so I'll only include the one.

And pics. Cos yes. *g*

Comments

[tinturtle]

Ooh, cool. This looks like a fun way to organize your reading. I look forward to your write-ups. Maybe I'll see some things I want to add to my complicated challenge board. *g*

I don't usually pay much attention to when stories were written. For one thing, I'm used to reading on AO3, and dates given there can be misleading; older stories are often listed under the dates they were added to the archive, despite backdating being available. When works were published seems like a valuable thing to be aware of, though, if you want to learn something about the development of the fandom.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I hope so! Mostly I just like to read, and not feel like I have to organise it all, so there'll be some of that too (I read faster than I can keep up with posting, even when I'm being good about posting!), but it's nice to have a way to choose which fics to read!

I've always been interested in when stories were written, and in seeing how people's - and by that I mean mostly women's, for a change - thoughts and reactions to the world have been reflected in it. I've mentioned the various uses of rape in fic before, I think, for example, as attitudes and expectations changed... I keep meaning to write a complete post about that!

For one thing, I'm used to reading on AO3
That's a good point, and one reason that I wish/hope fans won't come to just rely on AO3 - there's so much more nuance and interest from looking at the whole corpus of Pros fic, for example, and it's never all going to be on AO3, so if people rely on AO3 only it'll be a lost part of history, which would be a shame...

and dates given there can be misleading; older stories are often listed under the dates they were added to the archive, despite backdating being available
I think there's a couple of issues there - I don't know when the backdating came in, but you have to have enough time to realise it's an option to start with, and I guess care about people knowing when your story was written, which not everyone will. I don't think I was even aware of it as an option when I started posting my fic to AO3.

The other thing is that the historian in me sees that kind of backdating of posts as a distortion of history, and I can't bring myself to do that. Authors didn't post stories to AO3 in 2006 or earlier, because it didn't exist then. People reading those dates might well assume that it did though, and thus have no idea that fandom was a very different place before that. I always add the date a fic was originally written in the notes somewhere, so that the history of it's preserved without distorting the history of AO3. It's a shame they never thought to include a specific field for the original date published, but presumably their interest was never in the history of fandom, just in making something new.

[tinturtle]

I do also read things from the Pros-specific archives and from Proslib (as well as from MFU sites), but AO3 formed my reading habits, including the not paying close attention to dates.

Having an original publication date field for AO3 postings would have been a good idea.

(ETA: I have a few zines, as well, but I prefer to read online material, partly because I am an Internet baby, but mostly for other reasons and because I can make the type big.)

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

I started a Pros Bingo card and got as far as getting exactly one story on it. Hope to do better this year.

And I love your idea of reading a story for every year of the fandom. Not many fandoms could go do far back. 😊

[macklingirl.livejournal.com]

I'm still on my second go with the Bingo Card from last year and I'm very desperate to finish it before I'll start another challenge. But RL got in the way with reading so I have to start once more with bigger stories.

The pics are wonderful.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

That sounds like me... last year was... a year. Like you say though — hoping for better this year! There definitely wouldn't be as many years to fill in for most other fandoms... *vbg*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I'm still impressed that you got through one and started going through again — that's good organisation! *g* RL just interrupts us sometimes...

And thank you! I'm quite lucky in having some lovely subjects nearby... *vbg*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I knew you read more widely yourself (*g*) - I was talking more generally about people who stick to AO3 because that's all they know. I suppose it all depends on the fandom too, and whether there's people talking to each other, and passing on story sources and all...

I guess I'd just like there to always be different formats for people to read in. As you say, the internet is excellent for accessibility for people's different needs, but much as I love it, I have to print out stories that I want to re-read, or just really concentrate on. I did most of my early Pros reading online too, but falling in love with it meant I wanted it in print, so I hope there's always that option. One of my favourite m/m authors wrote a trilogy that I really love, and it was excitingly published by a mainstream publisher - but they published it as e-books, and then refused to either also publish in print, or to return the print rights to the author, so I don't re-read them nearly as often as I do my other favourites....