#he’s gonna get kissed and probably jerk off between 2 wips and 4 chapters I’m working on simultaneously

[emeraldcreeper]

It sucks to know everything’s made up and bullshit when it’s fully midnight and you’ve been cranky for 3 days straight, the mortgage budget we had is now shot to shit because 5 months is… too long to try and get a house????? The FUCK man

[iam93percentstardust]

State of the Fic

Hello, all! Can you believe I’ve been doing these for a whole year now? Just a couple of quick things: my qualifying exams are rapidly approaching and it’s pretty likely I won’t be posting as much in the upcoming months, so I just wanted to let you all know. Another thing, I’ve gotten a couple of asks about this and I decided to just answer it here: all the ko-fi account is is a sneak peek of things I’ll be posting to ao3 soon. Nothing stays on ko-fi forever, so if you don’t want to donate and would prefer to wait to read until the fic is crossposted to ao3, that’s perfectly fine.

WIPs

More Complicated than a Smash and Grab (Stevetony): Finished on January 25!

Kissed by a Muse (Winteriron): On a brief hiatus while I finished up Smash and Grab but I will hopefully be returning to this one in February

Simply the Best (Stevetony): Currently a ko-fi fic but is on track to be crossposted to ao3 beginning in April

Recently Posted

Rocky Road and Mint Chocolate Chip (Thunderiron): Posted on January 1

“What do you mean you don’t know what ice cream is?” Tony nearly shrieks. He skids to a halt in the middle of the path, promptly nearly getting himself run over by a bicyclist. Thor reaches out, grabs him, and yanks him off to one side before he and the bicyclist go head over heels.

You Make My Dreams Crumb True (Ironfalcon): Posted on January 4

Sam learns about an important family tradition he must take part in if he wants to propose to Tony.

Hold Me Closer (Winteriron): Posted on January 19

Tony is floating.

Eyes closed, mouth parted, wings tucked up against his back, head lost in the clouds that make up his subspace, the collar around his throat the only thing anchoring him to the here and now, making sure he doesn’t float too far away. Sometimes, there’s a gentle, familiar hand on his head, ruffling his hair, and a rumbling voice that reminds him of home telling him what a good boy he’s being. Sometimes, there’s a spoon at his lips and that same voice urging him to try whatever is in the spoon. Sometimes, there’s a change in the vibrations teasing his prostate and his breath hitches and his hips jerk needily.

And always, always, he is floating alone amongst the clouds.

Tomorrow is Still Far Away (Stucky, Pre-Stuckony): Posted on January 28

“What if you could have both?” Steven asks James. “Me and an omega?”

“You really think that could work?”

“I think,” Steven says slowly, “that there’ve been more than a few omegas your father’s introduced you to that you might have been interested in if it weren’t for me.”

“And what about you?”

“Well, I already know that I tend to like mouthy brunets with a penchant for trouble so I think I’m pretty much set.” He means for it to be a joke but James doesn’t laugh. Instead, his frown deepens, the furrow between his brows getting more pronounced. Steven gently brushes a kiss over his troubled mouth. “Hey. We don’t have to find an omega tomorrow. We can think this over, let Papa know our plan. We’ve got time.”

Lay Me Down (Ironfalcon): Posted on January 30

He knows sometimes that when Sam looks at him, he sees Riley there instead. He knows that Sam thinks he’s too reckless sometimes, that he doesn’t listen to orders, and it reminds him of that last mission when he had told Riley not to fly into that airspace. He knows that when Sam looks at him like he does right now, with glazed eyes and worried expression, he’s not seeing Tony at all. He’s seeing someone who didn’t much look like him but he talked like him and he acted like him. And Tony knows better than most how terrible triggers can be.

Wet and Warm (Winteriron): Posted throughout the month

There’s already someone tanning themselves at the pool by the time Bucky gets there. He idly glances over at them and then stops dead in his tracks, arrested by the sight of the perfect epitome of the peach emoji, the shape only partially hidden by a pair of tiny red swim trunks.

Coming Up

1. This year’s MTH

2. The Stony/Winterwidow Holiday AU: very tentatively calling this one The Holiday Switch (feel free to let me know what you think of the title), Chapter 1 is written

3. The last couple of TSB prompts: have ended up changing up the plans on some of them so if you were excited for the Civil War fix-it, sorry that’s gonna take me a little longer to get to

4. Eyes Turned Skyward verse: have about 3 fics left to write for this verse and then will probably be marking it as complete

5. Spoils of War: currently have 2 fics planned for this verse, but I’m always open to ideas

[singingwordwright]

Annual Writing Self-Evaluation

*All answers should be about works published in 2017.

1. List of works published this year:

NON-SHADOWHUNTERS

Celestial Bodies (Yuri!!! on Ice, a WIP from Yurio’s POV trying to illustrate a headcanon I had about Yurio, ended up on indefinite hold because the new SH season began and ate my brain.) 

SHADOWHUNTERS (TV)

Episode-based speculations, missing scenes, codas, and fix-its:

Of Laughter and Lima Beams, 2x07 missing scene attempt #1

No Half Measures, 2x08 coda

Breathing Room, 2x09 extra scene

Life Support, 2x10 missing scene/coda

Things We Think We Know, 2x07 missing scene attempt #2 and possibly the point at which I truly accepted I couldn’t smut anymore

No Stay of Execution, 2x12 what-if/coda that went to an unhappy place

One Memory, pre-2x15 what-if/speculation

In the Glow of a New Day, pre-2x18 speculation on Magnus’s greatest fear (or his unwillingness to go there) based on the sneak peek.

Midnight Oil, 2x18 coda

AUs

Alicante Hall, college AU written for the Malec Secret Santa exchange

Magic and Mass Effect, just what it says on the tin, Mass Effect 3 crossover on indefinite hold because the One Easy Answer universe ate my brain

One Easy Answer, marriage-of-convenience AU. Canon-divergent beginning at 1x12, offering a look at what season 2a might have been if Magnus hadn’t interrupted Alec’s wedding (but Alec called it off on his own) and thus the events of season 2a weren’t influenced by Alec and Magnus’s developing relationship. When they come together post 2x10/2x13 they enter into their politically motivated marriage to try to prevent war between the Downworld and the Clave.

A Separate Peace, sequel to One Easy Answer that got way more canon-divergent, focusing on giving the characters far more agency and filling a lot of plot holes. Covers the events of season 2b from the premise that Alec and Magnus have gotten married and are trying to unite the Shadow World, but pressure on multiple sides may destroy what they’re trying to build.

2. Work you are most proud of (and why): Definitely A Separate Peace. First because it’s the first actual novel I’ve written in, like, three years, and also because it’s the most tightly-plotted piece of work I’ve ever done, and that includes my professional published novels. It just came together so well and while it might not be the greatest craft-wise because I’m out of practice (so. many. dialogue. tags) it was really a truly excellent piece of storytelling, IMO.

3. Work you are least proud of (and why): Probably one or both of my 2x07 missing scene fics. I’ve been an erotic romance author in both fandom and professionally for 20 years, so the discovery that I just can’t (and don’t want to) write smut anymore is a really hard pill to swallow.

4. A favorite excerpt of your writing:

“Yeah, but he wasn’t entirely lying,” Jace said with a shrug. “Clary and I do share the same blood, in a way. And those first few weeks, it’s like we needed to be close to each other, to, I don’t know, figure out the abilities the angel blood gave us. And once we’d done the work we had to do, we didn’t need to be with each other like that anymore. So maybe that’s why we felt that pull toward each other, and we just didn’t know what other context to put it in, you know?”

“I really don’t,” Alec said, shaking his head.

“Look, I love Clary. I do. I’m gonna love her the rest of my life. I just apparently don’t want to…be with her like that.” Jace shuddered. “To be honest, after the first few weeks, it sort of started making my skin crawl. And she says she feels the same.”

“Wait. Wait.” Despite his best efforts, the first snicker slipped through Alec’s nose. He covered his mouth to try to hold back a bark of laughter, but it wouldn’t be contained. The rest followed, pouring out of him in a torrent of amusement while Jace looked on in disgust.

“What the hell? Are you drunk?”

Alec flapped a hand at him. “No! Wait wait wait!” Alec gasped, clutching at his sides as he slid down the wall, fighting for breath. “Are you—are you—telling me—”

He couldn’t even manage the words. His ass hit the hard, dirty concrete of the sidewalk and he pressed his face to his knees, shoulders jerking convulsively.

“—After all you two have been through—” He snorted and that just made him laugh harder, his head spinning with oxygen deprivation. Finally, he managed to wheeze, “—That it’s like kissing your sister?”

That set him off again, the peals of his laughter echoing off the walls of the nearby alley. If a demon came along now, he was a dead man, because he couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak. His stomach was starting to hurt and he still couldn’t stop.

Jace gave him a withering glare. “I hate you,” he muttered, and stalked away with Alec’s howling laughter chasing him.

A Separate Peace, Chapter 8

(Okay, look, I’ve ALWAYS struggled with writing comedy, so this was a major achievement for me. Also Jace/Maia is way more awesome than Clace so I was pleased to have found a way to walk Clace back and make way for different ships for Clary and Jace.)

5. Share or describe a favorite comment you received: I love all the people who leave me feedback, especially the ones who leave feedback with each and every chapter, but I really have to say, @lyannastarkweather was my MVP for A Separate Peace. Every single chapter she just left these beautiful, long, thoughtful comments and they were such a joy to read.

6. A time when writing was really, really hard: Did I mention the fact that I can’t smut anymore? So pretty much any sex scene or almost sex scene in my fics was like pulling teeth. I ended up fading to black a lot.

(Also, pretty much everything that happens from Chapter 13 to the end of A Separate Peace made me cry. A LOT.)

7. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you: Maryse Lightwood. I haven’t written much from her POV, only Midnight Oil, but her development in A Separate Peace was a joy to delve into.

8. How did you grow as a writer this year: I wrote both heavily plot-driven stuff and comedy, which are two things I’ve very much struggled with. Usually my books and fics have been more about character exploration, so that was really an accomplishment for me.

9. How do you hope to grow next year: I hope to keep improving on those fronts, and also to find more of a balance between character exploration and plot movement, because I feel like I went a little too far in the plot direction in A Separate Peace.

10. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc): @roseglass was a champ for beta’ing basically a novel and a half worth of fic that I sort of volunteered her for. The conversation went something like this:

Me: I’m thinking of writing a marriage-of-convenience AU Her: I think that’s a fine idea Me: Okay, I’m doing it and it’s all your fault for encouraging me therefore you have to beta it

I’m lucky she didn’t tell me to take a flying leap, tbh. Of course, after 30 years of friendship “a flying leap” would probably involve a lot more f-words and more anatomical specificity.

@faejilly @janoda @actuallyredorchid @ladymatt @blj2007 and @lyannastarkweather  @nancyloumm @s-erendipitiness @champagnemagnus @nanf1c @ketzwrites @beatperfume @nanichick5 @247malec @sharona1x2 @rayofsunshinemaiaroberts @lecrit @irina-something @blav527 @uniqxfuera @a-rosewood-by-any-other-name @michellemisfit @rutherinahobbit @djchika @immortal-husbands @bane-of-brooklyn @accal1a @ohfreckle

were all tremendously friendly, supportive, responsive, inspirational, are people i want to get to know better, and/or are just positive people at a time when I needed positivity in my life. (forgive me if I’ve overlooked anyone; i know there are others I’ve had meaningful interractions with this year, I’m just not remembering everyone.)

11. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year: well, Mouse in One Easy Answer/A Separate Peace looks like my cat (who also looks like Alberto’s cat Stella.)

12. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers: it’s okay to step back, take some time, and come at it again later when you need to.

13. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year: I really cannot wait to delve into the sequel to A Separate Peace. There’s something gonna happen in there that’s gonna make a lot of people happy.

Tag writers whose answers you’d like to read. If I’ve already tagged you, consider yourself tagged here. Hell, if I didn’t already tag you, consider yourself tagged here.