goldenpineapples

[goldenpineapples]

Six-Fic Six-Sentence Sunday

Hi all! Fics below the cut. I know I don’t use this blog ‘properly,’ but I wanted to try one of these preview posts at least once as a form of self-motivation! I haven’t been able to read or write as much as I’d like this year, but I think that’s finally turning around!

Stay safe out there, everyone! Be seeing you!

Cyberpunk: Xadia

T+ // Sci-fi AU, aged-up characters. Roughly based roughly on TTRPG Cyberpunk setting, and now some video game as well! A sequel to the 2020 Birthday Bash chapter

Rayla lets Callum a little further into her life, and its details start connecting dots in Callum’s memory. The two work to uncover her past, in spite of both gang law and corporate policy.

===

The crowd surged as Rayla stepped into a small spotlight alongside the vocalist, her guitar swinging wide as its now-distorted notes ripped through the charged room. The frontman reared back, microphone raised, and howled with redoubled energy.

“Hunt down- hunt down- hunt down- your self-esteem!”

Then the lyrics were all but lost in the anguished roar of Rayla’s solo, and Callum winced, electing to cover his ears and stay in the crush of bodies to keep from losing sight of her. She wasn’t watching the crowd, wasn’t watching her hands, only mournfully sweeping her eyes along the edge of the stage, her mouth twisted in a grimace as she played.

Vollarian’s Day

T+ // Very Late Valentine’s prompts.

A mix of canonverse / other AUs, to follow the Rayllum Valentine’s prompts from earlier this year (2021)

Excerpt from Chapter 1

===

“So what’s the book for?”

“Oh,” Callum perked up, reaching for the sizable tome, “just a little… story, I guess, that made me think of you. Of us.”

She eyed the book in his hands. “That looks pretty substantial for a ‘little story.’”

“It’s a collection! They’re not bad, but… here we go- ‘Vollaria’s Everlasting Ardor.’ This is the one.

Rayla’s ears twitched at the name. ‘Vollaria’ didn’t exactly sound… human.

“This isn’t one of the stories with the shirtless men on horses, is it?”

Untitled ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ AU

M+ // Xadia AU (?), major character death, potential graphic violence. Based on the concept of the Japanse light novel “All you need is kill,” which was adapted to the hollywood film “Edge of Tomorrow,” this is a not-so-nice time loop story.

Since a certain someone brought it up a long, long time ago...

When the seemingly-random minor devastations began, the pentarchy could do little besides disregard them as magical events of the world. Now, several months into a shaky alliance with Xadia, the military might of both factions is near-spent attempting to contain what the Elves have guaranteed is a calamitous threat. A lottery is drawn to determine which unlucky souls will be sent to the next expected target...

===

The last thing Callum could focus on, as his vision darkened, was the moon over the elf’s shoulder. Visible in the daytime despite the glare of magic light from nearby. Its surface rippled as if liquid, like a drip into a bucket- some trick of death, he was sure…

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

And then he was breathing again- huge gasps of air, forcing his lungs to work again -but they were fine. He was fine. Sitting up in his bed in the castle, the chill of early hours again settling around him like morning dew.

Drought

T+ // Canonverse Non-Rayllum side story related to the fighting soon after the breach was opened. What happened to those that inhabited the lands close to the world was torn open? A one-shot relating the tale of a human that fled the fighting on the Xadian side of the border, who happens across an earthblood elf’s forest, dying as it is too close to the breach.

===

“Even a small amount is enough.”

She watched the human ignore her cupped hands, opening his canteen and carefully pouring a tiny measure of water into its cap- less than she’d hoped, but more than she’d dared believe the man would ever give her.

When she took the offering back to her Tree, pouring the water over its single exposed root, the human roused himself to anger once more.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing? We both need that more than your dead tree!”

Already beginning to feel the slight reinvigoration of the water, Milyn offered the vessel back. “Not dead.”

The cap was snatched away, but only secured after the man took a greedy swallow of what precious water was left to them.

Untitled Minority Report AU

T+ // Modern Sci-Fi AU (Yeah, again) Another AU based more closely on the Minority Report movie than its 1950s short story source. 

Prediction of the near-future is now within reach of the modern world, and law enforcement has successfully used it to prevent violent crime, including murder. For Rayla, an officer of this division, it’s a slow day of monitor-watching… until it isn’t.

And yes, pink hair as requested.

===

“He’s still out on that farm?”

Rayla was already pulling on her street jacket and lense-ordering a dropcraft to the address Callum had given her all that time ago. “Far as I know.”

“Rayla?”

She turned. “Yeah?”

“Promise me you won’t run.”

Soren’s face slackened into a deadpan as she hesitated, not saying what they both knew, and Rayla shrugged before leaving him alone in the control room, spinning the prediction’s truecopy between his hands.

Already Dead

Undecided rating // Xadia ‘low fantasy’ AU. This is the... ninth iteration of the very first fanfic I ever wrote, starting in April 2020. Its timeline, story, and characterizations have been rewritten so many times, but I feel like this might be the right story I want to tell? It’ll be my love letter to the fantasy genre that helped me so much in my life, as well as the fanfic world I’ve grown to love.

Callum embarks on an elf-supervised pilgrimage to research primal alternatives to dark magic, while Rayla comes to terms with what being an assassin entails.

===

“What did he do?”

Runaan’s eyes narrowed. “His crimes have been committed, and his guilt recorded. All that’s left is his justice.”

Rayla looked away from the glare, down at her hands, reciting what she knew would please him. “Assassins don’t decide right and wrong, only life and death.”

“Just so.”

She swallowed the rough lump in her throat.

“I’ll do it.”

[goldenpineapples]

Rayllum Halloween Fic - “Bloodthirsty” (Completed)

Summary: Everyone knows that elves drink blood... right? Unable to sleep, Callum gets advice from townsfolk and meets a peculiar night owl, then finds himself drawn back to her night after night.

Rayla snorted softly and took the book. “No, your pinkers are safe. I think.”

“Pinkies.”

“Whatever.” She’d flipped through a number of pages, and he could see her eyes tracking back and forth across the words. Apparently she could read Human Common.

Callum couldn’t keep the wonder out of his voice. “You really can see in the dark.”

The glowing pools glanced up. “Duh? How do you think I saw you to begin with?”

That… was a good point.

Read the rest on AO3: Bloodthirsty - Ch. 1

Check fic tags!

[goldenpineapples]

Rayllum Birthday Bash - Summertime Celebrations - Complete!

Hello everyone!

Thank you for following my first foray into the world of writing fanfiction! I had a ton of fun both reading everyone else’s prompts and writing my own. I made an attempt to write about both things I wanted to read and things I didn’t think would get much attention from the rest of the community, so my prompts were a little weird, sometimes! It was rough to lose half my pre-written prompts and have to rewrite them, but I won’t make that mistake ever again!

I’m especially grateful so many people liked the AU chapter, Cyberpunk: Xadia! I went all-out on that one, and received some very kind comments and notes! It ended up being a third of my whole bash’s words by itself! Oops?

Thank you all for your support! The kudos, comments, reblogs and messages were all very humbling to receive! I’ll be reading your fics, and hopefully be posting again sometime!

Special thank-you to @raayllum for organizing the bash prompts and giving me a convenient place to dive into the fandom!

And extra-special shoutout and thanks to @zuppizup & @numptypylon for both being so inspirational to me and for their kind support throughout the month! I love you both!

Until next time! 

Final Link: Summer Celebrations on AO3

[goldenpineapples]

Rayllum Birthday Bash Ch. 11 - AU - Cyberpunk: Xadia

Summary: A young street punk agrees to her first solo mission, unsure what to expect.

“I really appreciate you not killing me.”

“Trust me, that took more restraint than I knew I had. How did you even get out here?”

“Huh? I walked.”

Rayla shook her head in disbelief. Callum was clearly insane.

“Look, I haven’t been in X4D1A for very-”

“Xadia.”

“What?”

“Call it Xadia. No one who actually lives here uses the city code. It’s spelled the same, anyway.”

“What? That… ah.”

She rolled her eyes as they neared the safehouse. What a square. “Yeah, ‘ah.’ ”

Read the rest on AO3: Summer Celebrations: Ch. 11

[goldenpineapples]

Rayllum Birthday Bash Ch. 8 - Callum’s Birthday - Close Cut

Summary:  Callum's friend insists on teaching him a life skill on his birthday. Rayla is curious.

Soren’s arms were crossed, but his expression didn’t match his stern words. He was clearly trying to imitate Opeli. “I’ll have you both know this is highly irregular.”

With an elbow on Callum’s shoulder, Rayla could only nod. “Yeah, but we’re not exactly a ‘regular’ bunch now, are we? Any of us.”

The prince nodded at his girlfriend’s counterpoint, and the crownguard sighed in defeat, but gave them his usual smile. “Fine, we’ll do this the weird way. Come on.”

Continue reading on AO3: Summertime Celebrations Ch. 8

[goldenpineapples]

Thanks @zuppizup for inviting me to play along! I’m new enough to writing / fandom in general that my card failed to produce a bingo, but I’ll spill a bit a lot extra for just that reason! 

I DID have an old ff.net account when I was a teen, just to comment on a friend’s Last Airbender fic during the first season. HOO I feel old now.

I had to look up what ‘beta’ meant when I first saw ‘no beta’ tags, and I had no idea that was a common practice! Totally makes sense, though. I feel like I could read for others (since I don’t write or edit for work), but there’s no way I’m bothering someone else to check my nonsense, so I’ll just stay out of it completely if that’s hypocritical (??)

I’ve been casually roleplaying online for about ten years now, exclusively in MMORPGs as original characters. Now that I think about it, all that practice is probably the only reason I feel like I can write fic at all! Hah!

I’m new to fandom in general, so a lot of this is all shiny to me. I was a little nervous about my age, and feel I might still be a bit of an outlier, but I’m definitely not alone! Just alone enough not to know anyone else that hasn’t already been tagged! (Original via jellyjay ‘s blog)

[goldenpineapples]

Rayllum Birthday Bash Ch. 6 - Dancing - Tavern Jig

Summary:  Dissatisfied with a night of noble dancing, two kids sneak out into the city.

The large doors thunked shut behind them, and Rayla arched a brow at her partner, taking his hand.

“I thought you said you liked dancing? You were so stiff in there!”

Callum pouted. “Well, that kind is okay, I guess, but I don’t really like dancing in these at all.” He tugged at his immaculate formalwear. “At least yours was made for dancing.”

She threw back her head and laughed. “Oh yeah, tell me again how comfortable it is to wear something that’d rip six different ways if I danced the way I want to.”

Continue reading on AO3: Summertime Celebrations Ch. 6

[goldenpineapples]

Rayllum Birthday Bash Ch. 4 - Baking - Flour Power

Summary: The happy couple has a bit of an embarrassing accident in the kitchen

Callum arranged the jars and packs along the counter, then stood back and flipped open his sketchbook-turned-cookbook to the correct page.

The first few steps were easy enough, as long as he measured carefully...

“You’re sure you don’t want any help?”

He waved Rayla away as she stepped closer to look over his progress. “Nope, I’ve got this. You go handle your business. I didn’t trap Ethari in the kitchen for a week straight for no reason. Now shoo! You’ll ruin the surprise!”

Continue reading on AO3: Summertime Celebrations Ch. 4

[goldenpineapples]

Rayllum Birthday Bash Ch. 3 - Travel - Treasures

Summary:  Relaxing at home, Callum and Rayla reminisce over their journeys.

Rayla leaned back into the room to catch what Callum said.

“My what?”

“Your boots. They’re looking a little worn down.”

She nabbed one from next to the door and turned it over, running a critical eye over the sole.

“Huh, you’re right. Must be all the traveling we’ve been doing. Want me to run yours down to the leatherworks when I take mine?”

Callum shrugged. “May as well- then we can see who really wears them out faster.”

Rayla smirked. They both knew how that would go, between the one who stayed in his saddle and the one who ran up trees and along stoney ridges for a break from hers.

Continue Reading on AO3: Summertime Celebrations Ch. 3

[goldenpineapples]

Rayllum Birthday Bash - Summertime Celebrations

My contribution to the Birthday Bash! I won’t be posting on tumblr for every chapter, but I wanted to get a link out there and show support! Let’s all have a great July!

Read it on AO3 - Summertime Celebrations

[goldenpineapples]

I’m ready

Thank you, @raayllum , for organizing this shindig