avatatewrites

[avatatewrites]

Thankyou thankyou and congrats on the WCBF chapter!! I hope you are already digging into your TBR list! I was wondering, what’s on it?

(pls note that currently, your Daine x Sloane ship is ranking higher than the OG Xaden x Violet and this fic keeps taking re-read precedence over my entire tbr list…which has now promptly been abandoned now I’m back at work anyway 🥲)

If you keep flattering me like this, my ego will need its own post code. I cannot possibly thank you adequately for your comment, but... THANK YOU!

Ok, turning to my TBR... Currently, it's about 79 pgs long, so I'm just going to give you a fraction of the Empyrean fanfics currently on it, presented in no particular order. As you can see, there's a lot I plan to cram into the next week!

Lights, Camera, Bitch, Smile by @ellebellewritesfic and @curlyhairedkatniss: I actually just finished reading this, but I immediately wanted to read it again, so I'm counting it. It was quick, fun and PERFECT. I read it while I drank wine and ate cookies, and at the end, my cheeks were hurting from smiling so much. I would not change a single thing, and I truly cannot recommend enough if you're in the market for something lighthearted.

The Underpants Heist by yams77: I don't have words for how much I love this concept, and I have heard it's INCREDIBLE. I'm so, so, so excited to read this, and I wish I had something more poignant to say than that, but I don't.

Stay Your Pretty Eyes on Course by theoneiam2277 (@theoppositequeens): This is Slain omegaverse. Slain. Omegaverse. 'nuff said. A ship isn't a true ship until it has an omegaverse fic, and I'm pretty sure (?) this is the Slain ship's first/only? I just started the first chapter of this (with a glass of pinot grig in hand sitting by the fire pit), and I'm having the absolute best time. 11/10, no notes.

I love you, I'm sorry by mierelsorren: I very nearly broke my 'no reading while I'm in active writing mode' rule for this one, because SO MANY people are talking about it on the RQ discord. I have heard it's exquisite agony, and I cannot wait to sob, weep, bawl my fucking eyes out.

Flirting With Death (and Possibly Brennan) by wedonotsharekills: I'm so intrigued by this concept that my skin itches, and I'm nearly frothing at the mouth bc I just saw the second story in the series was Slain. SIGN ME UP.

Just Ask by @suebswrites: I went to start reading this the day I posted my first chapter of WCBF, then realised it was excellent about two sentences in, then realised I simply had to wait to read it because it was so good that it was going to influence my writing if I didn't. I wasn't a huge fan of how canon Halden panned out, so I feel like I'll be a sucker for any story that has a compelling/interesting Halden, which I have heard this story has! Also, Suebs is a wonder, and a rockstar, and I'm about to be the single most annoying/prolific commenter on and live reactor to her work until I go back into writing/hermit mode. Sorry in advance, Suebs!

Zihnal's Two by @june-s-pumpkins: In the spirit of full disclosure, June is actually one of my fav people on the internet (I don't know if I've told her yet, so this might be a very grand gesture), BUT that's not why this story is on my TBR. I was robbed - robbed, I say! - of a heist in Onyx Storm, and I demand justice. This is a canon compliant take on the research heist, and a lot of people who I think are incred love it, so I cannot WAIT to read it.

The Alchemy by @pretty-pleaseee: This is a modern medical AU with Violet/Xaden, Imogen/Garrick and Dain/Sloane. Please sign me all the way the fuck up. A lot of people say this is one of their fav comfort fics (and I'm ready to be one of the people who says that). ALSO, I already peeked at chapter 1 and IT'S SO GOOD.

I've probably missed some important ones, so if I think of more later that are high on my TBR, I'll add them in the comments!

[avatatewrites]

After reading your last chapter I’ve decided that Some Protector by Rolemodel is Dain coded af can’t wait to see what the next chapter brings! Happy Easter!

I can absolutely confirm that Some Protector is on my Dain playlist 🤩 (along with Sally When the Wine Runs Out… and Look at That Woman… AND Deeply Still In Love.)

Tbh, Dain is just deeply Role Model coded in my mind. 🥰

[avatatewrites]

Hi Avaa are you planning an update this week? I can’t wait!!

Hi! There will be a new chapter very, very soon - hopefully within the next two days!! Unfortunately, there was a lot of logistics work involved in this one (including building a minute by minute timeline of the first half), and I (once again) had to do a lot of cross referencing with canon, which kinds of pads out the time needed to write a decent chapter, lol. 🙈

Thank you for your patience and for bearing with me! 💗����

[avatatewrites]

I loved reading the interrogation chamber from Darin’s POV. I think you expounded upon the source material so well! I know you said it was the chapter you were least excited to write. I’m curious what scenes you are most excited to write?

LOVE this question, although struggling to answer it without being spoiler-ish!! There’s an out of canon scene for Sloane’s bday that has been stuck in my head for months, and although I try not to write ahead bc I want to stay with the characters, I’ve been jotting down notes for that and have about a 1,000 post-its on my wall for it. Same for the scene where Sloane finds out Aaric’s real identity.

From canon, the things I’m most excited to write are probably the obvious things: the Cliffs of Dralor scene, the heist of Colonel Aetos’ office, the scene where Sloane goes to fight someone and Dain catches her, and the Battle of Draithus. 💕

[avatatewrites]

I absolutely love your fic and it's all I think about between your updates, speaking of... "He looks at me with a horrified expression"- this line from chapter 14 has been keeping me up at night 😭 Did Dain accidently read a memory or was he just horrified that he actually gave into his urges/wants and needed to take a step back? Please for the love of god let it be the latter because of the OTHER line that has me obsessed- "I grab Dain’s fisted hands and pry them apart, then place them either side of my neck." 🫠

It’s more or less the latter! In the moment that he pulls back, he’s just realised that she’s leaving/saying goodbye. He definitely hasn’t read her memories, either accidentally or on purpose! So interesting that so many people have taken it as him maybe doing that, because I never thought of it as a possibility!

Thank you so so much for reading and saying nice things and thinking about it between updates?!??! The fact that anyone cares absolutely blows my mind. 🫠

[avatatewrites]

Are you a swiftie, and if so, what t swift songs best fit Sloane and Dain (individually) at this point/as of chapter 14?

Oo, interesting Q! I don’t consider myself a Swiftie bc there’s just so much lore I don’t know, but I do love her music. Does that count?? Idk. 😬

I’m pretty sure RY has said Dain’s song is The Prophecy, which has def influenced how I’ve written him. Sloane’s T Swift song as at chapter 14, but also generally, would probably Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?

In case it’s of interest, here are some non-T Swift songs that influenced my versions of Dain and Sloane, which I’ve shared on discord before:

Dain:

• Pretty Pimpin - Kurt Vile (first Dain POV)

• Spring Into Summer - Lizzy McAlpine

• Sally, When the Wine Runs Out - Role Model (Ch 13 specifically)

• Ode to a conversation stuck in your throat - Del Water Gap (Ch 13/14 especially)

Sloane:

• Everything Else Has Gone Wrong - Bombay Bicycle Club (early chapters)

• Big Grief - WAAX (early chapters especially)

• Simmer by Hayley Williams (Threshing and Ch 14)

• Teeth by Mallrat (recent chapters, but especially Ch 14)

[avatatewrites]

I’m new(ish) to fanfic and AO3 and literally just joined tumblr to follow you for updates on chapter releases for WCBF. Sorry if you’ve previously answered this but do you have an expectation for when we might see the next chapter and beyond? Is there a preferred location you post updates like that? This story is giving me life!!

Hi, and welcome! How incredibly flattering! :o

I don’t have a set update schedule (would just be asking the universe to fuck with me, tbh), but I generally post weekly on weekends. Lately that’s been blown out to Mon/Tues, because work is an exhausting hellscape that’s taking all of my mental energy. 🫠 I would feel comfortable saying you can expect an update by Wed of each week, though??

If, for some reason, there won’t be an update, my intention is to post on here letting everyone know and try to give an ETA, bc I know the pain of waiting for the next chapter and fearing it won’t come. 😿

I’m so, so glad you’re reading and enjoying. Thanks for coming on this journey with me/us. 💕

[avatatewrites]

I just wanna say that your aaric is so hot! I’m kind of upset we don’t get sloane/aaric in this fic 👀

😂 If it’s any consolation, my plan is to write a Sloane/Aaric story after WCBF is finished…

[avatatewrites]

hey! just wanted to say that we can't be friends has been a truly confort since i finished onyx storm. the way you write sloane and dain, their relationship, the side characters, their backstories... just perfect! I was wondering what do you think about dain's mom and their family before she - probably - passed, and if you have intentions of going deep on that in wcbf

Oo, great question! I probably won’t go too deep into it in WCBF, since I’m trying to stay canon compliant for this one; Dain’s mom is a complete unknown. Whenever I talk about something that hasn’t been revealed in canon, I have to either make an educated guess or make it something Violet would have no knowledge of, which… You’d think you’d know at least something about your best friend’s mother.

For the sake of my story, Dain’s mum passed when he was young, and Dain’s father never speaks about her. (I subscribe heavily to the fan theory that Dain’s signet is memory retrieval because he can’t remember his mother and his dad won’t talk about her.)

Anyway, I’m so glad you’re reading/enjoying! Thank you so much for reading and for your sweet words. They’ve made the sun shine a little brighter on a very average morning, lol. 💗

[avatatewrites]

SOMEBODY here said "Sgaeyl's love language is words of defamation" and DAMN if it didn't seal the deal for me because GAWD DAYUM FUCK YES IT IS

[avatatewrites]

I’m so glad you’ve joined tumblr so we can be internet friends :)

I saw you replied to someone’s comment that next chapter will be a Dain chapter! I can’t remember if there are any instances where you’ve already done the same moment from each of their perspectives or not, but do you think you will give us both Dain and Sloane’s POVs of everything that comes right after this week’s chapter, the whole revealing the truth to everyone and leaving basgiath plot? It just seems like such a big moment to explore, for both of them.

Also, while I definitely want Sloane to have all the support she can get, I kind if want her to make Imogen, Bodhi, and to a lesser extent Aaric really earn it when it comes to gaining her trust back. I love how you’ve written her relationships with all 3, but I think they deserve to feel guilty for a little bit right now.

Also I do not envy you working in politics at all at the moment. Until recently I wasn��t a very political person/ignored politics a lot, and now I’m hoping to find a protest to attend in the next couple of weeks because I just can’t stay quiet about what’s happening here right now in the US, especially in my own field of expertise (children’s health care) with the attack on science and vaccines and the fact that it’s 2025 and some people seem to be fine with children dying of measles.

Oo, very good question! The answer is that no, I haven’t told the same moment from the same POV and don’t plan to at the moment. I don’t like retreading the same ground, if that makes sense. I also think it’s more interesting when you’re left wondering what a character is thinking in that moment, and then sometimes your suspicions are confirmed or sometimes they aren’t; I think that’s really reflective of how we have to navigate relationships in real life, tbh. I was really careful when I was plotting who got which chapter because I always wanted to be with the character who would give the most interesting viewpoint of what was happening.

BUT! With that said, in the next two chapters, you’ll be in the interrogation room with Dain, then in the courtyard with Sloane before they depart. So you’ll sort of see it from both perspectives!

You’re so right about Sloane’s friendships, btw. You might have seen this comment on AO3, but after chapter 14 I replied to someone that this story is, in part, my love letter to the agony of being in your 20s (especially my early 20s), where all of your friendships of proximity start to fall away and you have to decide which of them you’re willing to work for. And that’s where Sloane and her friends are now, at the end of chapter 14: asking which of their friendships are going to go the distance. It’s one of the worst, loneliest parts of becoming an adult, but I think it’s also the part that really informs the way you move through the world in adulthood.

Lastly, I can’t imagine what it’s like working in healthcare in the US right now, but especially children’s or women’s health. I think a lot of my readers are in the same boat. I hope you know I’m so proud of you; it’s not always easy to exercise your voice, but speaking out and showing up is such an important part of how we influence and shape the world around us. Although, if you can’t attend protests, don’t feel like you’re not doing your part! In times like this, navigating the world with kindness, integrity and honesty is can also be an act of radical protest, and I can tell you right now that you’re already doing that.

We make the world better when we do our best. 💗

Thank you so, so much for taking the time to not only read and say something nice about my work, but ask a really thoughtful question. It makes my day when I get to talk to people about my writing; it’s my escape from the real world (which, as we’ve established, can be real shitty at the mo).

[avatatewrites]

i didn't say it was good, i said it has bewitched me body and soul

[avatatewrites]

do y’all think dain’s signet is memory reading because he always wanted to know what he did to make his dad hate him

[avatatewrites]

Hi!! I absolutely ADORE your fic, it’s probably one of the best things I’ve ever read. I was just wondering if you think you’ll write past onyx storm or will you just stay in realm of what’s already been published

Again, thank you so much for blessing my mind with you AMAZING writing ❤️❤️

You have me over here kicking my feet and giggling, lol. Thank you so much for such a profuse compliment (which I am undeserving of, but I’ll take it anyway)! 🫶🏼

At the moment, the plan is only to write up until the end of OS. If it all works out how it’s plotted (big ‘if’), then the story should be fairly wrapped up by the end. If not… well, we’ll see! After that, I plan to be working on a butterfly effect Aaric/Sloane fic idea for a while. And, once Book 4 comes out, I might be inspired to carry on the story, depending on what happens in canon and how much it aligns with where my story leaves off, lol. 🫠

[avatatewrites]

so happy you have a tumblr so we can goss about we can't be friends!!! i'm obsessed with your characterization of dain and sloan

Omg, it's my dream to gossip about my own work, haha! I could talk about my headcanons for hours.

Thank you so much for taking the time to not only read my silly, (not so) little fic, but say something nice about it and care enough to have questions! It means the world to me. ❤︎

[avatatewrites]

Not a question, but just wanted to let you know how much I’ve enjoyed reading We Can’t Be Friends! It keeps me company through late night feeds with my newborn! I’ve probably read some chapters 4 or 5 times!

I'm honestly just so impressed that you can keep your eyes open during nighttime feeds, haha. My son was a bad sleeper, so my only memories of those weird witching hours with my son involve me staring blankly at a wall in a state of near delirium thinking, "Don't fall asleep sitting up! Don't fall asleep sitting up!"

Anywho, I'm so glad you're enjoying (and very, very honoured that I get to be a part of these moments with your newborn!). And I always think that someone not only reading, but rereading my work, is the highest compliment, so you've really flattered me!

Thank you for sharing this journey with me. ♡

[avatatewrites]

Reblog if you're okay with receiving asks for backstory info on any/all of your fics.

If not all, specify which ones in the tags.