#still need to finish my wip i started almost a month ago. but i am NOTTT doing that til i finish the first chapter of my longfic

[bizlybebo]

soo sad that demonkicks isnt a more popular ship to write about because theres like 48 fics for them, ive written two and read almost all the rest (and am friends with some of the authors) and half the time theyre treated as just a side relationship and other pairings are the focus. i need 10k+ word demonkciks fics right neoww but i fear i may be the only one capable of such a thing

[spaghettificationandpretzels]

There's Nothing Sweeter Than My Baby

This is my first Gaz fic. I've just started uni break so I finally have the ability to write again, this idea grabbed me by the throat months ago and refuses to let go so I'm writing this instead of my millions of WIPS

Contains: Deadly levels of fluff, it's all fluff, I'm not sorry, this man is a puppy dog so don't blame me, hints at smut.

Masterlist

Song inspo (of course it's fucking Hozier)

1.4K Words

Gaz had never been so mesmerised by fabric before.

"You with us, man?" Price's words pulled him from his thoughts; Kyle hated his army functions, they were always so dull.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm thinking I should have given my ticket to my sister, at least she would be having fun."

Price chuckled. "Just get drunk, I know I am." Gaz sighed, for all their talk, once the gentry had finished their posturing and platitudes, they left the grunts to themselves.

Right on cue, Soap appeared with Simon in tow, their hands full of fancy glasses, and they settled beside their teammates. "I got this one for you Gaz, it's winter melon." It was comical to see Simon without his mask, a fancy drink in a tiny glass in his massive hand.

"Thanks man." It tasted like melon candy and a headache, but it was better than nothing.

"Is y/n coming?" Soap's tone was too almost too nutural.

Gaz nodded. "Yep, she'll be here soon."

Their table went quiet, and Price and Simon shared a look before Price turned to Gaz. "You gonna ask her to dance?"

Gaz blinked. "I don't know."

Simon cleared his throat. "Your arms are going to fall off it you keep carry that torch."

Gaz was going to refute him, tell Simon you were just friends but the tap of Soap's finger and a point towards the grand staircase stopped him. "Holy shit." He had never seen such a pretty shade of yellow, like you were wrapped in the fading sunlight of a spring afternoon.

You made a beeline for the group, stopping only to snatch a glass of bubbling champagne from a tray. "Hey."

Simon was the first to speak, twirling his thin drinking straw as if he were a cheap villain in an old movie. "Don't you look nice." He shoved Gaz in the shoulder. "Don't she look nice Kyle?"

His mouth was still agape, Soap and Price snickering from behind their drinks. "Yes, yes, you look lovely y/n."

You smiled. "Thank you Kyle." You paused for a moment, the poor man looked like he was going to keel over with nerves. "Will I be on your dance card tonight?"

He blinked. "Yep, yes, I would love to dance with you."

Simon, Price and Soap exchanged a look as Price hid his red face behind his glass; now was not the time to laugh at the poor man. "Wonderful, I need to go thank Kate for the invite." You turned to Price. "Please don't drink to much while I'm gone."

He chuckled. "You're off duty Doc, I can do what I want."

****

Kyle was a coward, a terrorist killing, war criminal hunting coward, or at least that's how he felt watching you awkwardly dance with a man old enough to be your father.

"He's an earl, you know?" His team had been taking turns for the last hour and Soap's Scottish lit had only grown stronger as he got drunker, your disapproving looks only served to spur him on. "You're going to lose your lady to an old earl." He snorted as you pulled away. "Wait, no, she doesn't like him much." He slapped Gaz on the back, and it was hard enough for him to shift from his spot. "Go on laddie, before someone else steps in, you did tell her you'd dance with her."

Gaz sighed and downed the rest of his whiskey. "Right.." His shoulders fell. "I don't fucking know how to waltz."

Soap chuckled. "You'll do fine, just don't step on her lovey shoes."

He took another deep breath and stepped out onto the dance floor, heading right to you with determination. But any confidence he had faded like a dying star when you flashed him a smile. "Kyle, I thought you'd run off."

He shook his head. "No, we haven't danced yet, and I want to do that, with you."

You did your best to hold back your giggle. "Is that you asking me to dance?"

He nodded and squared his shoulders, extending his hand like a Victorian gentleman. "Y/n, may I have this dance?"

You nodded and took his hand. "I would like that very much."

You stayed at the edge of the dance floor as the soft music continued, taking a deep breath before addressing the elephant in the room. "When are we going to talk about what's going on between us?"

He managed to hold back his flinch, the hint of upset in your voice was enough to make his chest sting. "Now's as good as any time I guess."

You huffed. "You guess? We spent weeks sitting with each other by Soap's bedside after Makarov shot him, then he finally checked out and you almost kissed me and now you're acting like nothing happened."

His eyes fell to the floor. "I know, I didn't know where to start. I didn't want to fuck things up."

You smiled softly and lifted a hand to his cheek. "You won't, don't worry."

The tension bled from his body as he resisted the urge to nuzzle into your palm. "Can I kiss you?"

You nodded. "I would like that."

He leaned down, his nose brushing yours, before pulling you into a kiss. It was soft, his thumb and forefinger holding your chin as the other hand splayed across your lower back. His chest swelled, so this is what love felt like, like drowning in a roaring river, all the sound sucked from the air while he got pulled into the undertow.

He pulled away and slid his hand up your body, uncaring of the people standing around watching. "The hotel gave us a room for the night, something about throwing us a thank you breakfast, you wanna save the cab fair and come to stay with me tonight?"

You nodded. "That's very thoughtful of you Kyle, shall we go now?"

His face broke into a grin, and he looped his arm around your lower back. "I like your thinking."

You slowed as you walked by the rest of the 141. "Get it off your chests now, you've all got one minute exactly."

Simon was silent, and Soap was so drunk that he was just smiling like a madman, so Price was the one to add his two cents. "Just use protection, I'm too young to be grandfather." Kyle's eyes went wide, and Price broke out into a belly laugh. "Off you go kids, go have fun."

You pulled Kyle away by the arm and waved. "I won't forget this."

The elevator ride was smooth and quick, and you were in his room in a flash. His lips found yours again, and you leaned against the door. His fingers slid around your body to find the opening of your dress. "You need to unlace the corset sweetheart."

He took a deep breath. "Right." He moved behind you, his hands never leaving your skin as they reached the bottom of the dress where the bow was tied. It took him a while, but the dress slowly loosened, and he slid his hands upwards to slip the cap sleeves off your shoulders. You stepped out, and his head tilted; he was expecting lace underwear, not more skirts.

"It's called a petticoat, it makes the dress more puffy." You took his hand and brought it to the hook and loop closure, and he struggled for a moment before that, too, came free.

He stretched his hand out, softly pinching the short silk dress that covered your skin. "A chemise, my dear, it stops the corset boning from pressing against the skin."

He grabbed the hem with a soft smile. "Can I?"

You nodded. "Of course." He marvelled at the softness of the silk as it came off, and his breath caught in his chest as he took in your bare flesh. His fingers reach out, brushing your flesh with a gentleness that didn't seem possible for hands so calloused. You took his hand and placed it flat on your breast, and he seemed stuck dumb. "Are you alright Sweetheart?"

He nodded. "Oh, I'm fucking great. Shit, I think you're the prettiest woman I've ever seen."

You smiled. "Ok, you're very overdressed."

His dress greens were suddenly even tighter and scratchier and that was saying something. "Yes I am."

You reached up and slid the coat from his shoulder, placing it on the nearby chair before you turned your attention to his shirt buttons. "Ok then, I guess we should fix that."

He nodded. "You should." He grinned and kissed you again, deeper this time with a promise of things to come. "I love you y/n."

You sighed as your hands hit the hard, warm muscle of his torso. "I love you too Kyle."

Fin

@chaos-4baby @candy616 No idea if this is your thing so no pressure.

[truly-hopeless]

Honest Question About A Fic

So not too long ago, while at work, I was thinking about a story of mine that I haven't updated in almost two years. The story is titled "I Move the Stars For No One," which is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin with L/Light Yagami as the main ship that I started writing after reading other LawLight fairy tale rewrites, namely eleonoraw's Merman and Totoroto's Snow Moon. It was my first story published to AO3 near the beginning of the pandemic and was my first LawLight fic. It currently sits unfinished at seven chapters (there was an eighth, a scrapped prologue, but I moved it to "The Dead Darling Graveyard" since it had little to do with the story) and was last updated December 2021. While I like parts of the current version (such integrating other fairy tales into the story since I'm a sucker for that kind of thing), I feel dissatisfied with the story for several reasons:

It's taking too long to get to the main conflict of the story (Beyond disrupting Light and L's arrangement and the two needing to find a way to stop that from happening) even without the long hiatuses and that smaller conflicts (L hiding he's a goblin from Light, Light feeling conflicted about what to do now that he's not going to be executed, and Misa's jealousy) are getting resolved too easily.

The story barely resembles Rumplestiltskin at all. Sure, it was always going to be a different story from the original fairy tale since the protagonists' identities and circumstances that make them desperate enough to ask a magical stranger for help and who they fall in love with are not the same (while the miller's daughter can definitely do better than the greedy king demanding she spin straw into gold on pain of death, never in a million years is she going to consider the man who demands she hand over her baby [presumably to eat it] in exchange for his help marriage material unless there is serious tweaking done to his character), it still feels off.

The main characters feel out of character. Light and L became too familiar too fast (even for a ship fic) and there's no real tension after L's deception is revealed and Light forgives him (too easily, I feel). And while I don't necessarily want to vilify Misa to add conflict (especially since I just complained about how awful the king in the original fairy tale was), she should be a little more unwilling to share Light with L (even if she is the one that gets to marry him) and push back more.

I just hate the title. It was taken from lyrics of a song from Labyrinth, but outside of L being the King of Goblins in this story and the memory-wiping peaches there's nothing in common with Labyrinth either; it could have been, if I wasn't afraid of adding more conflict and making L more dark grey when it comes to morality, but that wasn't what I wrote.

So I'm thinking about rewriting the story, to make it more in line with both the original fairy tale and in the spirit of LawLight. But that comes with it's own problems:

If you've been following me for any amount of time, you'll know that I'm not the most consistent when it comes to updating my stories; it could be anywhere between a week to four months to a whole year before I update something due to a combination of burnout, stress when I think about how I'm almost thirty and nothing in my life is coming together, and being distracted by other story ideas. Speaking of...

I have too much shit going on as is when it comes to writing. I was tagged for that WIP ask game a few weeks ago, where I had to list out all the stuff I've been working on. The list has 31 drafts and I found out today that I still forgot to list a couple (not going back to change it now) and then there are ideas that play out in my head during work or when I'm trying to sleep that I haven't brought myself to write down because I am trying to keep the new WIPs to a minimum.

I have yet to finish a long story (I have the same problem as the protagonist from Dave Made a Maze: I start all these projects, but never finish them) and will feel slightly guilty for abandoning yet another one, even if it's for the sake of a rewrite instead of abandoning it altogether and trying to forget they exist like the stories on my FFN account.

So what should I do?

[rdng1230]

Fic talk

tagged by @desert--moonchild

How many wips do you have currently? 8 ish? but I haven't worked on any of them since I started Ain't That a Kick in the Head. Most of them are one sentence ideas in a google doc but others are a little more fleshed out. One I would loooooooove to write is one where Buddie runs into the original Buddie aka Gage and Desoto from Emergency!, but I really need to be able to watch old episodes to get their voices down and the show isn't available anywhere except live tv reruns. I also have lots of Tommy + Deluca family shenanigans for the strings of fate series. There's some angstier stuff as well I hope to dive into.

Which one are you finding the hardest to finish? Why do you think that is? lol you can't struggle to finish something you haven't really started can you? tbh I'm putting everything on the back burner till the epilogues done and then we'll see how everything else goes :)

What does it usually look like when inspiration strikes for you? I'm not often far away from my laptop these days so usually I just plop down and type it straight into docs. If I'm out and about I'll jot it down in my notes app, maybe also text it to a friend if the idea was something I'd been whining to them about.

Do you curate playlists for each fic or is your process different? You know it's funny I love a good playlist and I love making them but because I can't really read or write when music is playing besides like instrumental stuff or lofi, I don't make playlists to set the vibe. However, I am meticulous about the music actually in the story, so I will make playlists to keep track of what music is referenced and also to give my readers an opportunity to know what the characters are listening to in those moments. I will agonize over what a character might listen to and under what circumstance. Sal's picks come to me almost immediately, he follows his heart and likes big earnest 80's gated reverb atmospheric kinda stuff. Tommy is more difficult, he's moodier, a lot more mercurial about what he listens to based on what he's feeling, he can be a tough nut to crack. The hardest part is when there's a song that is PERFECT for their situation but I know they wouldn't listen to/know about, see: A Home by the Chicks for Tommy chapter 5.

Do you go balls to the wall and write as you go or are you more organised? It is soooooo situation specific. Sometimes I sit down and just crank out a whole thing right then and there like my Young Royals Fic from a few months ago. I'm still really new to this whole thing tbh, I'm still trying to figure out what works for me. But for the longer stuff I usually know what I want out of each chapter and then when I get closer to it I write out a scene list for how that happens, sometimes what I want requires breaking things up into two chapters. chapter 6 was fun because it actually had entire conversations written before the scene list so I had a page of dialogue and had to backpedal and structure the chapter scenes around that conversation. the epilogue is literally fully written scenes followed by 5 word placeholders for next scenes, and dry templated out set up scenes, and then random lines of dialogue from the final scene, idk man its the Wild West out here. For my strings of fate series I'm keeping things vague on purpose in terms of timelines and certain details to allow for this universe to account for future ideas I may have.

np tags, I'm sure many of you have done these already and if you have just tag me I'd love to read 'em: @racerchix21 @ohlookitsthearkhamknight @cliophilyra and whoever else wants to!

[a-force-dyad-in-space]

A Fanfic Update

Hey guys, I thought I should give you an update about what's going on Ongoing-WIPs-wise just in case you've had some worries.

The short of it is that the writing juices haven't flowed well for a while now and I'm trying to get them back but it is a struggle. I've worked a bit on this fic or other but haven't made significant progress in a few months. I absolutely hope that will change soon but I unfortunately can't force it. It doesn't help that I'm going through some stuff IRL right now that I have to take care of (I am unfortunately an adult who has to do adulting and pay bills and shit 🥲). I try not to be too stressed out about it, but the more time passes the more the anxiety sets in. Wish me luck. 💪🏻

Anyway, here's a fic-by-fic overview, split up by fandom.

THE UNTAMED

The Angsty SongXue Fic — I'll be honest, I've written a little bit since I last updated you guys but I still haven't finished the buffer chapter (at this point I'm thinking about posting chapter 51 even though 52 isn't done yet), so nothing really new here. I really want to get back into a writing flow but so far it hasn't really worked. I am still working on it, though, so don't worry, I'm not going to drop it.

The It Follows AU — I'm ashamed to say I didn't even realize I posted that fic almost two years ago and I still haven't written the second half. I'm so sorry it's taking so long! I definitely still want to finish it! I might rewatch the It Follows movie before I do that, though.

The Observer Series — Oh yeah, remember that smutfic series I started a few years ago of which I've only posted part 1 so far? Yeah, I still need to work on that. I did write chapter 1 of part 2 a while ago, so it's not like it's forgotten, I just need to get my ass up and write the rest of part 2 before I can post it. 🙈

The Color Rush AU — Okay, technically I haven't posted that one yet but I did share a snippet along with a gifset a few years ago, so you guys know it exists. I haven't worked on it in a long time, though, and I don't know yet when I will find the spoons to continue writing it but I'm still intrigued by the premise and want to give it a go. Thank you for your patience!

The Somewhat Sweet, Somewhat Angsty XuanXian Fic — Again, haven't posted that one yet but I've been posting about it, so you guys know it exists. Nothing new on this front. I did want to rewrite the whole thing because I wasn't really happy with the way I wrote it thus far, so I'll probably go back to it at some point and do that, I just don't know when yet.

WORD OF HONOR

The Xie'er Deserves the World Fic — Listen, guys, I love this fic so much, I just haven't worked on it in a while. I'll probably re-read what I've written so far and go on from there, I've just been struggling with the latest chapter ever since I started writing it years ago. It's not dropped, though, I will get back to it! Pinky swear!

SAILOR MOON

I've mentioned here and there that I'm working on part 1 of an epic that is based on a doujinshi I started when I was 13 or 14. Unlike my other WIPs, this one really is 100% self-indulgent to the point where I don't even care whether people will read/like it once I post it when it's completely done. I'll just put it out there to make my teenage self happy because this story has been simmering in my head for over 20 years, and so that my IRL friends can read it if they want to. So, this one will be a long way out, but it exists. I'm only really mentioning it because I've mentioned it a couple of times before and because it's the fic that's been on my mind the most lately.

STAR WARS

You didn't think I forgot about TROBS, did you????? I did work on several beginnings of a draft during NaNoWriMo last year and I'm getting more and more of a clear picture of how I want it to go. For those unfamiliar, TROBS (or The Rise of Ben Skywalker, though I already changed the name of the fic again) is my attempt at an Episode IX fix-it fic that essentially replaces TROS. This one has been simmering in my head since early 2020 and I really want to get it out of there and onto the page for catharsis. I've even held off on reading any other TROS fix-its because of it, even though I've heard there are some really amazing ones out there (and I can't wait to read them once I've gotten my own out of my damn head). I really need to finally finish that beast. Wish me luck. 🥲

UNPOSTED WIPs

I still have so many notes for other fics (mostly for The Untamed) that I want to write at some point. Will I be able to get them all on the page? I honestly don't know, but I'll see where they take.

Anyway, that's all!

[popjunkie42]

Fic word search game!

Was tagged ages ago by @thesistersarcheron but I wanted to wait until I had time and was at my desktop for easier searching!

Find 5 words in your WIPs and share!

YOUR WORDS, SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT THEM:

haughty, vibrant, dance, surge, ice

Annnd we're going under a cut because there is some NSWF smut in here and there is a lot :p

haughty

(you're in luck, this is a smutty one-off I sort of abandoned ages ago where Rhys and Feyre have some High Lord roleplay fun, I will finish this one day)

“You’re in quite a mood tonight,” he growled out.

I asked you a question, she sent down the bond.

He looked at her a few seconds more, considering. She could see in his face the moment he decided to play. His mask slipped on just a little bit more, his mouth going hard, the muscles in his jaw clenching. A haughty, bored look infused his face.

He nodded at her, permission to continue.

She smiled before taking him in her mouth fully.

Feyre worked on him slowly with her lips, her tongue, her hands. As if they had all night long. And they did.

She loved watching him struggle to keep his composure.

“You have no idea,” he said quietly, slipping a bit more, “how many months before we mated I dreamed of feeling your lips on me.”

She hummed a bit with him in her mouth and felt his body respond.

She loved the glimpses of their secret shared history. Loved knowing that all along there was the love, the desire, and the hope behind all.

Is this what you want, High Lord? She asked innocently into his mind.

vibrant

(this is from my Vampire!Feyre Halloween WIP that may or may not get finished in time)

But what caught her eye was very out of place in the chaos. Atop the desk was a beautifully carved ornate wooden box. Though the wood was polished and immaculate, something about it screamed ancient. 

It was common for the children to bring her gifts, and often the parents. But never anything as grandiose as this. 

Patience never much of her strong suit, Feyre flipped the latch and lifted the heavy lid of the small chest until it hung back on its hinges.

No card, no engraving, no initials. Just twelve bottles of vibrant, fresh paint.

A soft smile played on her lips. Perhaps these were from the Continent, or one of the Master’s studios in Day? She was glad she was alone. Whoever had brought this perhaps had a sense of how embarrassed she would be taking such a luxurious gift.

The bottle of brilliant blue unscrewed easily and she grabbed a palette knife to mix the heavy pigment back in with the clear binder floating on top.

It was..mesmerizing. Bright and almost glowing. She wondered where they ever found the pigments to make something so otherworldly.

There was a lightness in her chest as she looked at the other bottles, each as vibrant and rich as the first. She had come here to paint, after all.

dance

(this is a WIP I am maybe working on for Feyre week in March, which starts out with Feyre in the human lands hunting in the midst of summer and turns into something...else)

It was approaching the heat of the day. Far past the time for wandering deer and rabbits, who were no doubt bedded down in the secret cool corners of the forest. And several hours still until the sun would grow heavy and begin to dip past the trees, calling them out again to dance in the twilight and risk her arrows.

But she forgot all that when the breeze kicked up, rustling the green leaves around her, some of them burnt and crisp at the edges. Feyre felt the sweat dry and cool on her body, let the sweet cloying scents of flowers and fruit fill her nose, and closed her eyes.

Feyre avoided reflecting on her life, this new life with her family in a hovel surviving day by day, too often. It was easier to shut off her mind and listen only to the groaning in her hungry stomach or the aches and needs of her body. 

But now, this time in summer…sometimes her mind peeked up again from wherever it had hidden inside her, and began to hum, as if it were happily sunning itself on a warm rock. Content.

surge

(this is a secret thing I am writing now and starts with a letter from Emissary Lucien to Thesan during the human-faerie war)

The Peregryn legion you sent to our aid were invaluable in our victory on the coast of the western Spring lands. Indeed, through whatever grand insight you possess, they arrived in the knick of time, as our armies were on the verge of being overwhelmed. The turn of the tide led to a grand victory on our side. Though casualties were great, the land has been held successfully by our warband and will, we believe, provide strategic ground for both monitoring Hybern’s forces and maintaining a foothold on the shore, to prevent further ships and troops from docking in Prythian and adding to our troubles. 

Indeed, if you’ll forgive me for my storytelling, I can tell you the sight of feathered wings will forever bring a surge of joy to the hearts of the Spring Court rebel warriors, and the tales of the Peregryn’s bravery will long be told in our lands and at our tables. The legion’s arrival at dawn, the rising sun at their backs, was the stuff of grand tales and poetry, and seemed to us a blessing from the Cauldron and the Mother. Lord Tamlin (and myself) sincerely hope that his future court and the Dawn Court may remember this great victory and the strength of our combined partnership in the days and years to come

ice

(here is a snippet of a poem I never did anything with)

When you set yourself alight

I am the dry firewood at your feet

and when you turn to ice let me be

the jagged crystals of water

when you burn like the sun

I will be

the cold earth awakening to your touch

tagging (with no pressure!) @xtaketwox @adreamof-spring @kestrel-tree @shadowdaddyazriel @asnowfern

Your words should you choose to accept them: vibrant, dance, shadow, curious, smirk

[lemotmo]

Hello :) not to put pressure on you or anything, but I recently read (all in one sitting) and fell in love with to boldly go (the 911 star trek AU), and I saw that it's almost finished but you haven't updated in a while. Again no pressure, buuut can I hope to read the ending someday? The writing is so lovely, and the slow burn so gooood 🥺

No pressure, don't worry.😋

I'm a little ashamed though. 🙈 I have two months of vacation coming up and finishing this fic is right on top of my to do-list. Real life, single motherhood and work got a little overwhelming just over a year ago, so I had to start prioritising some things in my life. Writing fic wasn't one of the priorities.

But I am in a better place right now and I have the outline for the ending all ready. Now I just need to sit down and write it out. I am determined to finish it because I hate leaving things unfinished. I know what it's like, reading a WIP and waiting for a new chapter.

So yeah, somewhere during July, I will post a (hopefully) worthy ending to this fic. You have given me an extra boost though. Knowing that there are still people out there, eagerly waiting for the ending makes me happy.

[juliasdowntonstuff]

So, about a week ago I did a writing-WIP-tag here on tumblr and that caused an old drabble to resurface thanks to @bella-caecilia. In the last few days I finished it and reworked it a couple times. That did not help in the least - in fact, it only made it worse (classic case of verschlimmbessern) so now I’ve decided to just put it out here to prevent me from making it even worse.

The prompt I used was given to me a by a friend and it was: "I don't need a lot to be happy"

you can also find it on ao3: click here

My dearest Robert,

I hope this letter reaches you well and in good health, wherever you are right now. I still do not dare to imagine what your daily life looks like and what horrors you are facing. But enough about that — I am sure you want to hear about home.

You will not believe what our daughters did yesterday afternoon. The three of them put on a show for me and your Mama! Edith played the piano — her lessons have not been wasted, I can assure you — while Mary sang so beautifully for us. And darling Sybil danced to their music. What a sight to behold.

It baffles me time and time again how Mary and Edith can be so nasty towards each other and fight all day long, and then put on such a nice show together immediately afterwards. Even Carson clapped excitedly for the girls and their efforts — Mary had insisted he stay and watch the show, as you can imagine.

Apart from that, nothing much has happened since the last time I wrote to you. Life has been slow, and the weather is still cold and windy, not at all pleasant enough to go on strolls alone. Oh, how I miss our daily walks, my dear!

I hope you get to come home soon, at least on leave from the front. I need to see you, my darling one.

But until my tired soul sets eyes on you again, I remain your longing, loving wife

Cora

Robert had had a bright smile on his face when an officer handed him the envelope with his wife's neat writing on it, even more so when he found not one, but two letters in the envelope. Reading his wife's letter first, that smile stayed there and almost extended all the way to his ears. He must have looked like a fool, but he frankly could not care less. He was a man deeply in love with his wife, and who could blame him for that?

She did not write much about life at home, she never did. She missed him, just like he missed her and their family, and that did not improve with writing about it too often, both of them had found. She had stopped writing those long letters full of stories of what happened at home months ago. At first, he had not noticed, he had been too preoccupied with the raging war. Still, when her letters had turned from spanning several pages to barely scraping the bottom of one single page, he had started to worry and eventually posed that question in one of his letters. Her reasoning had only been all too understandable when she replied and it made him miss his family even more.

He could not wait to get home.

Two and a half years. That's how long he had already been stationed in South Africa. He had seen his family only a handful of times in the many months since he got called up to serve his queen and country at the front. Even when he got leave, it was rarely enough to travel all the way back to England and see them. This war had cost him over two precious years of his life already. More than two valuable years he did not get to spend with Cora and their daughters and he couldn't wait to get home, hopefully for good in the near future.

Home. Downton Abbey.

He could still picture vividly the abbey's striking architecture as it rolled into view when one came home from the station or simply went on a long walk across the estate. He was proud, incredibly so, that he was the one to call this his home.

If only he was already standing at the gates to the estate.

But he was not. Not yet, anyway. Robert was still on a boat. One that was set to land in Southampton in only a matter of hours. Sure, he would still have to board several trains to take him up to London, then on to York, Ripon and then finally to Downton.

Home was already well within his reach. He had sent a letter to Taylor when he was on his way back to England to inform him of his arrival in the village but asked the chauffeur to keep it to himself as a surprise for her ladyship. By god, the young Earl hoped his chauffeur had listened and kept it to himself.

Then, on the train taking him to London, Robert had finally found the time and peace to read the letter his daughters had sent him. It was clear that Mary was the one who wrote it — he knew her writing that looked mature and meticulously placed for her age only too well. Reading the words she had written in seemingly hasty penmanship made his heart only grow heavier than it already was. He hated to think of his dear wife in such a state that even their daughters couldn't lighten her mood with a joint performance. Those were rare enough as they were. And it only made him want to get home even quicker.

Dearest Papa,

We sincerely hope you are somewhere safe and not getting yourself in danger.

Mama only just now told us we could write a few lines and put them into her envelope to be sent to you along with her letter, but we do not have much time.

All of us miss you so terribly much and we cannot wait for the next time you get home on leave. It seems like we have already forgotten what you look like — Edith and I have had quite the argument about the colour of your hair. She says it is a very, very dark blond, while I think your hair is a shade of brown. You do need to settle this for us, so please come home soon!

Mama has not been feeling too well since the last time you were home to see us. Ever since you left again, she has been in her room for most of her days and has not taken much interest in anything apart from tea with us and Granny. She looks so awfully, awfully sad all the time and we have not managed to cheer her up for long. Edith and I even played the piano and sang for her while Sybil danced!

Granny said that she is worried about Mama's lack of interest, and I have never seen her look so concerned.

Please, come home very soon, Papa!

That is all we wish for.

Promise us to please stay safe and think of us every once in a while.

Mary, Edith, and Sybil

Oh, he would give anything to see the scene of his daughters trying to cheer their mother up. He would give anything just to see their happy little faces look up at him.

What would his darling girls say once they caught sight of him in this state — his arm in a sling, covered in bandages, a healing gash on his forehead? His wounds and bruises were the sole reason he got granted this longer leave that allowed him to travel home to his family. He had not told them of his injury, not even Cora. He simply couldn't get himself to write those horrid words on paper.

Cora.

How would his beloved wife react when she saw him, battered and bruised as he was?

It was the beginning of May, and what a nice day it was.

Finally, after weeks of nothing but horribly dull weather in all of England, the sun had made a rare reappearance. For the first time in weeks, Cora wanted to go outside and maybe sit on the bench for a while — she would have to ask Thompson for her light coat in a few minutes. Cora had not been outside for longer than a few minutes in at least a month, but that had not entirely been to blame on the weather. Similarly, she had not even responded to any of the invitations to luncheon or tea with her mother-in-law down in the village in the dower house. A fact that would likely turn into a lengthy argument when she would next meet Violet, which was inevitably quite soon.

Cora knew that she should take more of an interest in the estate and entertain more of her acquaintances. But truth be told, she did not feel like it and she had no great aspirations to spend evenings with women who looked down on her because of her heritage, not when Robert wasn't there to cheer her up with a look or a stolen kiss.

She had not seen her husband in well over 9 months, and his last letter had reached her over a month ago. He had never taken so long to respond and it concerned her greatly. What if something happened to him, what if he wasn't coming home?

All of this uncertainty only further added to her uneasiness and sudden need for constant solitude. She found no real joy in things she once loved, and not even her daughters had managed to lift the heavy clouds weighing down on her.

Cora was standing at her bedroom window, looking out over the green grass in front of the house and the gravel path that stretched all the way down to the gates of their estate when she saw a carriage ride up to the house drawn by two horses.

They were not expecting anyone, were they? Or had she forgotten about a visitor? No, that could not be — someone would have reminded her; Mrs Hughes would have, surely.

Quickly, Cora turned and left the well-known comfort of her bedroom to rush downstairs and see who came to see them without prior announcement. Just when she arrived downstairs and crossed the threshold of the grand entryway, their butler opened the carriage door to let whoever was riding in the back step out onto the gravel.

There he was in his khaki uniform, climbing out of the carriage with a bright smile plastered onto his sun-kissed face.

Her eyes must be deceiving her, or maybe this was all just a dream.

Had Carson not looked so surprised himself, she would have believed that this was just wishful thinking, a rather vivid daydream at most. But he was here, he was home. Robert was home.

With three quick and long strides, he reached her, stopping only a metre in front of her when she did not move. His bright smile slowly turned into a frown when she still did not show any reaction to his presence.

"Cora," he said, trying to sound encouraging, and it seemed that this finally snapped her back into reality.

"Are you really here? Or are you just a figment of my imagination?" she breathed, looking up into his excited face.

"I am really here, my dear. I got granted enough leave to travel home at long last," he replied, taking off his beige military hat with his gloved left hand.

Then, without any warning, she closed the gap between them and fell into his arms. Her arms wrapped around his neck almost on their own accord and she pulled herself up into his embrace.

While trying to hold her tightly to him so that she would not fall, he winced and drew in a sharp breath. The sudden impact of her body on his was painful, and so was his right arm being squeezed between their bodies, but he couldn't deny relishing in the familiar sensation he had been deprived of for so long.

"Robert?" she asked alarmedly when she heard his sharp intake of breath. Only then, having stepped away from her husband again, she noticed the sling his right arm was in and caught sight of the already healing cut on his forehead. "Robert, what happened?" she gasped.

"Don't you worry, darling. I was wounded, but not too badly, and they gave me leave to convalesce a little. It is not as bad as it looks, I assure you, my dearest," Robert replied before making a start for the main entrance of his ancestral home. "Where are the girls?"

"They are on a walk with Nanny, I believe," Cora said, not at all sure if this was truly the case. Maybe they had gone on that walk the day before, or maybe Nanny had asked for the day ahead? Cora couldn't remember, she hadn't paid close enough attention. Their girls were not all that little any more, and she trusted their Nanny. It's not that she did not care — she did care, a lot! She just couldn't get her mind to focus on anything lately. Not even on her daughters' whereabouts.

"Good, so you can tell me all about what happened without us being interrupted over a cup of tea," he smiled as they went into the library.

///////////////////////////////

"Cora, I have to ask," Robert said after she had given him an account of what had happened in the last few months since he had last been home to England in August. By the sounds of what she told him, everything seemed perfectly alright, but that did not go well with what his daughters had written. Adding to that, he knew his wife well enough to know that she liked to keep her sadness to herself to spare the feelings of others.

"What is it, darling?"

Cora looked at him wide-eyed, expectation and fearful anticipation clearly visible on her still youthful features while her hands closed around the empty teacup she held close to her chest, sitting up straighter on the settee.

Robert scooted closer, carefully taking one of her hands in his. While she was trying to avoid his gaze, his eyes searched her face worriedly. Calmly, he said: "How have you been, truly?"

"Whatever do you mean?" she asked, pretending to sip from the empty teacup in her hands.

"The girls wrote to me and they said you were incredibly unhappy, hiding away in your bedroom most of the time. They even said that Mama was worried about you. Speaking of which — she, too, wrote to me, about 6 weeks ago, stating that you have ignored all her invitations to come down to the Dower House and also haven't invited her to come here, either. I know you haven't been entertaining, that is somewhat understandable. But this is not like you, dear, no matter how hard she is being on you."

"Nothing gets past you, then," she replied dejectedly. "You know everything, even when you are half a world away. It's true, I have not been feeling my best in recent weeks."

"What can I do? What do you need to be happy again?"

"I don't need a lot to be happy, Robert, you know that," she said dismissively, glancing shyly to the ground near the fireplace.

"Yes, I do know that. But what does it take for you to be happy now? There must be something, surely."

"I need to know you're safe," she replied, finally meeting his gaze.

"And you shall have that for at least another fortnight still," Robert replied, taking her slender fingers in his bigger, unscathed hand.

That was not entirely what she meant and he knew that, but a fortnight was all he had to offer, no matter how much he wished it was more.

"What happened?" she then asked, motioning to his arm to bridge the silence that had fallen over them.

"We were under attack during the night, we had not seen it coming. They cornered us, but we fought back. I was lucky that my batsman had been awake, he warned me just in time, he saved me. We managed to get away, not unscathed, obviously. He had to be taken to a military hospital to get stitched up while they sent me home. So many of our fellow men didn't. But enough about tha-"

Suddenly, squeals of delight filled the library when the three girls entered, almost running to their father but remembering their lessons in etiquette and good behaviour.

"Papa?"

"Papa! It is you!"

"I knew that was your voice I heard from out in the hall!"

It was little Sybil in her light blue dress who first asked: "Papa, what happened to your arm?"

"Oh, that. It's nothing for you to worry about. Papa fell badly and needs to let his arm rest for a little while longer. That is why the doctors gave me a sling."

"And what about your forehead, Papa?" Mary asked curiously.

"Like I said, I took a rather bad fall. But this, too, shall heal again, I have no doubts about that. And now come here and let me hug you," he laughed, opening his arms for his three young daughters.

They all but ran towards him again, throwing their short arms around him while squealing in delight.

"Mary, Edith?" he asked as his daughters hugged him.

Dutifully, they all let go of him, stepped away and looked at him expectantly.

"Yes, Papa?"

"I hope you did not give your mother and Nanny too many grievances while I was away?"

The two elder girls looked at each other rather guiltily, but it was Sybil who eventually replied: "They did fight a lot, but I managed to calm them down, apologise to each other and then make them play nicely again every single time."

The young girl looked up proudly at her father, bouncing on her feet so that the hem of her dress swayed animatedly with her movements.

"That was very good of you, Sybil, my dear. Thank you," Robert said as he patted his youngest's head. Turning to face Edith and Mary he added: "Now, the two of you have undoubtedly noticed that I have not yet replied to your last letter and there is still an unresolved argument, isn't there?"

"What do you mean, Papa?" Edith asked sheepishly, her eyes flitting from her father to her mother and back again to her father.

"Well, I gather the two of you have been fighting about the colour of my hair, haven't you?"

"Oh, that. That was nothing, Papa. It was just a silly argument, I should not have mentioned it," replied Mary hastily, trying to diminish the fight she mentioned in the letter to their father. It was, after all, a truly banal question that she posed.

"Was it really silly if you indeed argued over it?" he said when his daughters both shook their heads no rather shamefully. "No, I didn't think so. If you were to ask your Granny for photographs and paintings of me in my youth, you would find that my hair indeed used to be lighter. I had blonde hair when I was a child, with a hint of red in it, just like Aunt Rosamund. Then, as I grew older, it got darker until the darker shade of blonde I had in my youth had turned into brown. Until finally, in the last few months especially, it has started to turn increasingly more grey."

The Earl leant forward in his seated position and pointed towards his temples to let his daughters inspect what he had just told them. And it was true, the hair at his temples was already turning considerably grey, even though he had not yet reached 40.

Just then, Nanny came to call the girls upstairs for their bath. Diligently, Mary and Edith bid their parents goodbye and quickly dashed upstairs. Only Sybil stayed back and moved closer to her father.

With her voice barely above a whisper — as if she were to plot something with him — she said: "You know, Papa, they didn't fight badly about this. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I can't let them lie to you and mama. They didn't fight about the colour of your hair. In fact, they never truly argued about your hair at all, we simply talked about you, what we remembered about you and how much we missed you. This was all just a plan we came up with that was meant to get you to come home to us faster. We thought if we exaggerated things, you might be able to come home. I am sorry," the young girl said, bowing her head ashamedly.

"Sybil, darling, I know."

"You do?" she asked. Her brown eyes were wide when she looked back up at her father with surprise and shock

"Yes, of course. Why would you ever seriously fight about something so insignificant like the colour of my hair? And I am not mad about this plan of yours, not in the least. I wouldn't even have been mad if they had argued."

"You would not?" Sybil asked.

"You would not?" Cora echoed her daughter, almost at the same time and just as surprised.

Robert quickly smiled at Cora before turning back to face his daughter. He took Sybil's small hands in his.

"Sybil, your sisters argue over many things. They always have and they likely always will. They are very different people, and both have inherited their mother's strong determination, as have you. That leads them to argue a lot, but they are still sisters. They love you and they love each other, they just can't show it. They don't know how. This plan of yours just shows that you care; all of you do, and I am glad for it. So no, I am not mad that you lied."

Sybil beamed brightly at him, more than relieved that her Papa was not cross with any of them for their deception, and quickly made to leave the room and follow her sisters upstairs.

"But only this once, little lady," he shouted after her when she was already out the door.

Her head peeked back around the wooden door again, still smiling widely, as she said: "Of course, Papa, we will never lie, ever again!"

Her parents shared a laugh at that, both knowing this to be quite far from the truth. Neither of them was an only child, after all. Just when they thought they had the library to themselves again and Robert made to kiss his wife, Carson entered with a silver tray in hand. Starting to get quite irritated by the interruption, he asked rather harshly: "What is it now, Carson?"

"I am sorry to interrupt you, milord, but this just arrived for you," the butler replied as he lowered the tray for him to retrieve the envelope. "I will also ring the dressing gong in a minute." Then, turning to face the lady of the house, he said: Oh, and the Dowager Countess has also sent word that she will arrive very soon. She will stay for dinner and she will not take no for an answer this time."

"Thank you, Carson," both of them said in unison, and Robert helped his wife up from the settee. He knew she would immediately want to go down to the kitchens and report the change in the menu to their still rather new cook and inform her of the two extra stomachs that needed to be filled.

Sure enough, Carson rang the gong as soon as he was out in the hall again and soon after that, Violet arrived at the abbey. All evening, Robert wanted nothing more than to finally be alone with his wife. And yet, his mother, who was understandably quite joyous about his leave of convalescence, simply would not leave that night.

///////////

It was almost midnight by the time they were alone in her bedroom, both exhausted after the events and surprises of the day.

Lying in bed, Robert watched his wife, who was still sitting at her dressing table and took off her jewellery. He saw how preoccupied she seemed, that her mind was somewhere miles away. Cora had her brow furrowed and pensively took off her right earring while staring at her reflection in the mirror with a frown on her face.

"Cora, what do you truly need to be happy?"

"I told you already, darling. I don't need much to be happy."

"Yes, I know you don't. But what is it that you truly need or desire? What would make you feel better?" Robert pressed on.

Silence.

For a minute, a deafening silence filled the otherwise cosy bedroom. His wife looked at him through the mirror on the vanity. She let her gaze wander from the long laceration on his forehead to his arm resting limply in the sling, and then back up to his face.

"You, Robert. You are who and what I need. I need you with me, here at Downton, and not away on another continent fighting for your life every single minute of every single day. I need you here with me. I need to be sure that you're safe, that you are far out of harm's way. I need to know you're alive, that you'll come home to me."

Cora turned and finally looked at him.

When he did not reply, she added: "It seems like I have steadily gotten worse at coping without you here. It is true, what the girls wrote in their letter to you. I have been unhappy and I have been ignoring your mother's messages and invitations. I am honestly quite surprised I did not get an earful about that tonight. No doubt that was only because of your unforeseen presence."

"I think you might be right about that, dearest," he chuckled. The same thought had crossed his mind already, as well, and it would be in his mother's character.

"Robert, I mean it. Look at you, you have been hurt badly-"

"It could have been worse, so much worse. So many of my comrades will never return home like I did. But I had a lucky charm that saved me. Which reminds me-"

As gracefully as he could, he hoisted himself out of bed and went to his dressing room. Cora only heard how he rummaged through something, muttering under his breath, until he eventually returned and took a seat on the cushioned bench at the foot of their bed.

"I want you to have this back," he said, extending his left hand.

With surprise written all over her face, Cora looked at what he tried to give her.

It was her lucky charm, the small toy dog she had insisted Robert take with him to the front when he was first called up. Her father had given it to her when she was a young girl and it had always brought her luck, and so she wanted Robert to have it. He would need all the luck he could get, she had figured.

"No, Robert. You need it. I can't take it from you."

"You can. Your lucky charm did its trick, it saved me. I am here, am I not? Please, I insist."

Once again, he urged her to take the toy, extending his arm further towards her.

"No, take it back with you. This time, you and your batsman were only injured. But god knows what will happen next time," Cora replied adamantly.

She took his hand and closed it around the small dog, trying to push Robert's hand back towards his chest.

"Cora, take it, please. I have no use for it any longer. There is nowhere left I could take it."

"I don't understand?"

"The mysterious letter Carson brought this afternoon. I never told you what it was about, did I?"

Seeming more than slightly confused about the sudden change of subject, Cora shook her head no. They hadn't had a chance to talk since then, and she had already forgotten about the letter delivered to him, if she was completely honest with herself.

"It was a telegram from the general I served under in Africa. He said that the last of the guerillas finally surrendered a few days ago and that a treaty is currently in the works, waiting to be signed. That will put an end to this war once and for all. I don't need your lucky charm any longer because I'm staying. I'm staying for good this time, Cora," he smiled.

"You will never have to go back there?" she asked, bewilderment written all over her features.

"No. I will never have to go back there. The war is over for me, for us. I am home and I wanted you to be the first person to know."

Robert tried again to give Cora the toy. And this time, she took it. Gladly. She stood up and put it on her nightstand before getting into bed, waiting for him to do the same.

He lifted the covers on his side of the bed and slid under them, carefully trying not to move his arm too much. Once she had finally settled into bed next to him and her head was resting on his chest as she snuggled up to him, he asked: "Cora, are you happy now?"

"I told you, I don't need a lot to be happy," she replied. "And this proves it. Yes, I am so very happy."

"Good, so am I."

[dudewhy3]

It's me Moon, here to ask ya STUFF!!

😈🧐🦅💞🤲✅⌛🤯

hi you, Moon! love to see you here, thank you for the ask! here goes:

😈 has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your reader? not yet (threat)

🧐 do you spend much time researching for your stories? It depends on the story really. Not usually, since i tend to write about stuff i'm familiar with or just go on vibes, but i did do loads of research for "See You Again", because, being a hospital au, i needed to make sure i got all the terms and symptoms right.

🦅 do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants? i outline most of them. Before i actually start writing, i make a separate document with all the stuff that should happen in the story, then sort them cronologically, and then start writing the story. They always look different though– i made bullet point lists for both WPTS and SYA, because it looked easier at the time, but for the high shool au and the uni au (neither of which has been posted, nor have i mentioned them before. WILD WAY TO ANNOUNCE FUTURE FICS INNIT) i find it easier to do summaries of each chapter. For one-shots, i usually either do a very basic oultine of events that will happen, or just wing it in one sitting with no plan at all

💞 who's your comfort character? Aled Last from Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

🤲 would you please share a snippet of a wip? since you asked so nicely...

Here's a snippet from chapter 9 of Who painted the sky?:

“What?” she asks, her eyes narrowing slightly.

His smile grows. “I was just thinking that you’re really pretty,” he shrugs.

Annie’s eyes widen slightly, her face turning redder. “Am I?”

Armin almost snorts. “Of course you are! You’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever met!”

✅️ what's something that appears in your fics over and over again, even if you don't mean to? certain expressions and structures, like not only but also, his eyes poured into hers, some coparission between their eyes that i forgot... also i think i've mentioned camping and the Park of Roses in like half of them lmao

⌛️ how long does it take you to write a fic or a chapter? depends on the length, the story, and my mood. for wpts, i've written entire chapters in one day, but i've also spent entire months on one scene. i remember that i wrote like 2 chapters and a half in one singular day back in november. i have fics from years ago that i work on regularily and still haven't finished, but i also have fics written, edited and posted in a matter of hours. i've noticed that the editing takes the most time, but it really depends

🤯 what's a genre you struggle with as a wrieter? not sure if it counts as a genre, but smut. i just can’t write it

[lorirwritesfanfic]

Do you have any fics in the works? Tell us about them!Looking forward to any other writer's upcoming fics? Tell us about them too!

My wip folder is never empty, darling. I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing to say it, given the number of unfinished works I have there, but oh well...

I haven't had much time to write. You know... real life, bills, family, more bills... 😵 and of course I procrastinate a lot (I blame Netflix Brasil for getting Downton Abbey and all the Turkish diziler I find online 🤦🏻‍♀️). But I write sometimes. Not every day. Not most days of the week as I used to do before. But I'm still writing.

The one wip I'm actually half way through is a Hamid x MC xmas fic. I know you're thinking "but it's almost February! And Prince Hamid is Muslim!" and you're right. But Daphne is Christian, very fond of Christmas, Hamid loves a nice social gathering and finding any reason to tease his favorite girl and we do not follow the real life calendars in here, so why not?

Among the series I write, earlier this month I was working on Meant To Be (Desire & Decorum modern day AU) chapter... 27? (I lost count... 🙈) Anyway, I think the next two chapters will finally explain why I label it as a Soulmates AU. There's a Sinclaire and Daphne awkward scene here, a little Sinclaire x Alisha moment there... But nothing too dramatic for now.

There's also Jade and Liam's For The World to Know. Tbh I have no idea what chapter I am (I'm getting super lazy on this because Tumblr and AO3 count the chapters automatically for me 😅). They're just a couple of weeks away from the wedding, they're getting joint a bachelor and bachelorette party, there's some heart to heart talk with Hana (these girls need it), Leo is joining them in Vegas (and we all know he often brings drama) and there's Drake situation to be solved. I'm close to reaching the end of FTWTK and I wish I could really start Happily Ever After (instead of just posting a few one shots of them married) because I've been daydreaming about the plot for years (the story will be soooooo good, ugh!), but I don't know... If I managed to finish FTWTK (or just The Fives Stages since there's only two more chapters left), I'll take it as a win.

Last year, I also remembered I never finished my Bloodbound series. A while ago, I got a comment on AO3 from someone who wanted me to extend the series and I thought about doing it, but at this point I wouldn't know how to do it. I'd probably have to create a new plot since the one I started back then is nearly solved. But that would demand time to replay Bloodbound to find inspiration and, unluckily, that's something I don't have lately. I started planning a chapter with Adrian x OC (any Adrian stans still out there?), then I'll write one more chapter to wrap it up.

There are other Desire & Decorum AUs and a TRR AU, but I haven't touched those wips in months... I rather not make any promises regarding any of those stories for now.

Other than that, there are a few one shots planned:

A Thomas Mendez x Ayla (+ Stephanie and Luz) inspired by one of my favorite Brazilian memes and a scene of a 2010 romcom. I can't explain why I'm doing this... The muse wants what the muse wants 😂

A few ficlets (or short stories, depending on how inspired I am when I actually sit down to write) to answer some OTP asks for Hamid x Daphne and Nate x Stella (TWC). I was debating if I'd include Liam x Jade, but I might give away the plot of Happily Ever After in one of the questions, so nope 😅

When it comes to other people's stuff, I don't know... I'm not super active on Choices (or any fandom, for that matter) and I'm not familiar with most of the fandom and what people have been writing lately. I do have my faves (@missameliep @lilyoffandoms @storyofmychoices @princess-geek @noesapphic ) and they still write from time to time, but I'm not going to pester them for new fics. They have their own lives and write whenever they can. As a fan of their work, I respect their writing pace and I'm simply glad they're still here.

Thanks for the ask, anon!

[tboy-boone]

1-15 for the wip asks :)

this is like an entire school assignment, sorry it took so long <3

how many WIPS do you have right now?

too many.... i can't finish anything

2. what is your oldest WIP?

I have this goofy sequel I made to this one story i wrote in middle school and I have to finish it. For everything else, I can't finish anything, but for this WIP, I am required to!!

3. what is your newest WIP?

The last WIP i worked on was Cold, and it's my favourite of all of them. My favourite child without a doubt <3

4. Do you have any WIPs that will never be finished?

I never ever finish anything and I love it! Some things are meant to be small and unfinished thoughts, and I will do it again!

5. What scene did you write first in your current WIP?

The first part I wrote in Cold wasn't the beginning. Since the idea came to me in a dream, I wrote it in segments. So, I wrote the beginning like 6 months later.

6. How long do you tend to spend on your WIPs?

It's usually like two days or almost a year. No in between.

7. What's the longest time you've spent on a fic?

When I was writing I Saw Your Ghost Tonight, it took so damn long.... I started it in October '22 when I was working sound at a play and..... then I hated it after trying to work on it for long. So, it took even LONGER. I have a whole hate/love thing with it, more hate than love.

8. What's the fastest time you've finished a fic?

My last fic took me a little under three hours I think. There was something in the air that night.

9. Do you write your fics as you go, or finish before publishing?

I finish my fics before publishing. I didn't always used to do that, but it helps me commit to the fic. Otherwise, all my works will never be finished.

10. Do you outline a fic before you write it?

Sometimes I'll outline a fic, but I don't usually. If it's a little on the longer side, I might outline it. It just depends on what I'm writing about.

11. How close has your WIP stayed to its outline/original version?

I never finish an outline..... but usually it'll stay pretty close.

12. Do you have a title, working or otherwise, for your WIP? How did you come up with it?

My word docs are given a working title, and it's usually the first sentence so I know what it is. I don't typically give it a good title until I publish it.

13. What's been part of your WIP since the beginning? What the newest idea that you've added to it?

Well, in unnamed wip, I have this bitchy to lovers concept that I like, but I'm thinking of changing some parts of it. I need them to be bitchier and the catalyst needs to change, I'm not feeling it anymore.

14. Rewrite a scene from your WIP from another character's perspective.

Ben had fallen asleep on the couch, but when Riley or Abigail nudged him awake, he would say he was just shutting his eyes for a moment. The occasional snore told them otherwise. Sometimes, he’d snore loud enough he heard himself through his sleep. Tonight was no different than any other, Ben woke himself up with a snort. His eyes burned after hours of reading and researching, so he lay there with his eyes closed, listening to Riley and Abigail in the kitchen. Riley’s laptop was still on, he didn’t get up that long ago. The blue glow dried out Riley’s eyes like the dizzying blur of pages dried Ben’s.

“Howdy, stranger,” Riley’s voice crackled.

There were days when they were all so invested in their research that hours went by before they spoke to each other and discussed their findings.

“You should get some rest.” The soft wrinkling of Abigail’s gloves echoed in the silent apartment. “The both of you.”

“Don’t tell it to me,” Riley grumbled. “Tell it to Indiana Jones in there.”

Despite his snarky tone, Riley kept his voice low for Ben. Although, Ben wasn’t sure if Riley spoke quietly for Ben, or because he cranky enough to start talking shit.

15. Rewrite a scene from your WIP in a different person (first, second, third, etc.)

Although, you should think about getting a new couch. You kneaded the cushions with your palm before sitting down, but it never made the seats any softer. You glanced at the clock on the wall, far too late to be awake, but far too early for you to sleep. The ticking bounced off the bare walls and through the barren rooms. There were plenty of things you needed to do, but the very thought exhausted you in an instant. Ringing echoed from the kitchen, another phone you forgot to disconnect. Can't a man sit in his home and listen to the drone of the news in peace? Once you hoisted yourself onto the crutches, you made your way to the phone hanging on the wall.

thanks for the school assignment brother golfball

[july13th2004]

AO3/Pixiv Masterlist - Part Three

Part One can be found here, and Part Two can be found here! Felt like a good time to add another one of these. There will probably be a Part Four, but probably not for at least another year and half (or whenever I write ~11 or 12 fics). This part is going to be divided into two sections, a drabble one, and a one-shot one. The drabbles (which are all R18/Explicit, so please be aware of that), were all written between July and December 2022. And the one-shots were all written between August 2022 and November 2023 (some are also R18/Explicit or Mature, so again, just be aware of that).

Drabbles

On Top (R18)

AO3 | Pixiv

Her Taste (R18)

AO3 | Pixiv

Her Warmth (R18)

AO3 | Pixiv

His Touch (R18)

AO3 | Pixiv

One-Shots

Forever Yours (R18)

AO3 | Pixiv

This is my favorite fic that I wrote in 2022! I still love the ending to this one, and overall I'm just really proud of how I wrote it!

Getting Caught Up In The Moment (R18)

AO3 | Pixiv

Close

AO3 | Pixiv

Year of the Snow Bunny

AO3 | Pixiv

Almost a year later, I am still so, so happy and grateful that many of you liked this fic! I'm hoping to post an Easter themed sequel to this one that I started on last year, next year.

A Quiet Morning

AO3 | Pixiv

This might be my favorite fic that I wrote last year! It's really sappy, but I don't know, I just love how I wrote it!

Impatience (R18)

AO3 | Pixiv

In Your Arms

AO3 | Pixiv

The Unexpected Dog (Protozoan) Father

AO3 | Pixiv

I am still completely floored by the response to this one five months later! This is probably my second favorite fic that I wrote last year, and I am so, so happy that many of you liked this one, too! I do plan on writing a sequel to this one, but I don't know when I'll get around to writing/posting that. Could be this year, could be next year...

To Revel Being In His Arms (R18)

AO3 | Pixiv

Let's Sleep Warmly

AO3 | Pixiv

Holding Them Close

AO3 | Pixiv

Tangled and Tied, Now and Forever (R18)

AO3 | Pixiv

That's all for this addition to my masterlist! This year I'm going to focus more on my WIPs and maybe, finally, adding some second parts to some of my past fics that really need it. Currently, I don't plan on posting another fic until March, when I will hopefully, finally, finish that Valentine's Day/White Day series I started almost two years ago. In November, I plan on posting three fics, one to celebrate the fifth anniversary of a song mid-month, one for Good Couple Day, and one at the very end of the of the month to celebrate the fifth anniversary of some fanart (iykyk). Anyway, I'm going to end this part here. Thanks for reading!

[wildchildvdm]

Fic! Asks! #9!!!

My writing process. Great great ask baby girl ❤️

Before I write I make myself tea with some butter biscuits.

So first of all I write it in Italian. Because it’s easier for me to put down the emotions and feelings. But before I really start I start to take my notes on that brown faux leather notebook I bought two months ago. Times passed I still love it. There I write the ideas I have before put it on my laptop.

So I put the right music that makes me imagine the scene, sometimes I quote the song during the scene.

Here is an example: when I used to write Heaven is a place on earth there is a flashback scene on the beach where our two main characters where listening to Slade and the song Summer Song (wishing your were here) from the album Slade in Flame (1974) came in especially during that almost kiss scene because the flashback is set in 1983 and I wanted to find the right song for the right feeling of a teenage dream of the time with these two soon to be Pro Wrestlers.

So for me the right song does a lot when writing a scene. Especially during the process to create an OC like when I first created Amelia I used and still use a lot of music from 70s and 80s so Slade, Supertramp, Elton John, Queen, Depeche Mode, Status Quo etc… (I have the playlist on Spotify for who wants to check it out). Or who knows Eva in Shatter and Castigo y Pecado with her is more particular because she is Italian American and I use a lot of Italian and Neapolitan music in her creation process.

And also depends on the scene I am about to write.

Then during the process I also write an order for the paragraphs and scenes because some scenes are long and some are short (but not less important).

When finished the chapter after having breakdowns I send it in Italian to Salvatore and @yukioni02 who are my Betas and they read it and give me advices before I start the translation process.

In the case of Castigo y Pecado when I write in Spanish and on the process of creating Latinos characters I always ask my Hermanita @claymorexpunisher for some help and advices and especially correction in Spanish. Because I don’t want to be in the middle of a shitstorm and there no one I can ask better than a latina to avoid it. My dear Gigi being half Boricua and half Honduran and she explained me a lot of things from food (that I absolutely need the recipes) to simple traditions during festivities. And this because I created a character who is the bestie of Eva and she is actually Boricua and she is also inspired by my bestie of more than 10 years especially how she looks like. And even because it's a fanfiction about Damian Priest so... Here we are. Another people I ask for advices are my Fam on the Server On The Other Side on Discord. I love y'all lots.

My WIP is now also Wild Rose’s Tale the fully Kayfabe alternative of HIAPOE, while this I will keep writing and keep it to myself while Wild Rose’s Tale will be published soon when I finish to write it in Italian. When I translate it I ask you always for advices and soon I start to get on @kayfabebabe nerves and ask him for advices (love you dude).

And when I finished to translate, correcting etc... I publish to both Wattpad and AO3. Great Success.

[lilithshadefanfic]

I have been absent from the fandom for the last 12-18 months. I've scrolled Facebook from time to time, commented here and there. But for the most part, I've been checked out.

I've been battling alot in my personal life, but won't delve into that. In fact, I almost didn't make this post as one of my many many concurrent inner monologues likes to stress about if this will be perceived as vague posting and attention seeking, when that's the furthest from the truth.

I want to return to fandom. But most of all I want to return to writing. I miss having the energy and emotional capacity to string words together. So this is both an apology to those so patiently following my WIP, as well as an accountability post of sorts.

I cannot afford to throw myself headfirst into writing again, I need moderation or I will quickly burnout and extinguish the little spark that has only recently rekindled. But I do want to begin again.

My first step for re-engaging with fandom is going to be addressing and responding to each of the 102 amazing comments that have been left on my AO3 throughout my absence. These messages have brought me so much joy and motivation, but also guilt. To allow myself to write again I feel I need to work my way through these beautiful comments and show them the gratitude they deserve.

Then I plan on picking one of the two oneshots I started more than a year ago. They both have potential as an easy re-entry into writing, but I'm still undecided about which to choose first.

Option 1 is an 8th year hurt/comfort Panville oneshot that ends with loving, more emotional smut, though it has alot of trauma addressed throughout the fic and significantly more plot substance than option 2. I have 812 words written on this one so far and another 1722 of fairly fleshed out outline. This option is more progressed, though likely also more emotionally taxing for me to write currently.

Option 2 is my unfinished work for the 2023 Call Me Daddy fest. It is essentially gratuitous Billmione smut with a large serving of Ron bashing 😅 This would likely be less taxing to write, but in contrast to the Panville, only has 244 words down (which I honestly feel need work) and a basic outline of an additional 250 words.

I also desperately want to resume my Dramione WIP, Finding You In Solitude, but am at a heavy plot junction and don't feel I am capable of delivering that chapters content to the best of my ability with where I am currently. So I want to finish one or both of these oneshots before seriously working on my WIP again.

Anyway, if you've made it this far you're amazing and you should help me decide what to write first ☺️

[kinetic-elaboration]

February 15: Writing Plans

Extremely tired and unproductive today but we are very close to the weekend so I think I can make it. Now that I’ve posted my Hey Sweetheart fic, I am, technically, not working on anything. Except my drawer fic and a mountain of editing. I feel like I’ve been going through the same lists for a while—working, but not as fast as I can make plans to write stuff in the future—but nevertheless I’m going to go over it again.

Also, I had this idea that maybe I’d try to prod myself to write regularly on both Saturdays and Sundays. On Saturdays, I could work on something from the WIP list, and continue to attempt progress there. And on Sundays I could start writing another Daria fic. I’ve had a lot of thoughts for it and I’d like to get them down so I can remember them, re-read and enjoy them later. Plus, the positive reaction to my Hey Sweetheart fic has been really, really encouraging, I’m not going to lie. Totally unexpected but lovely.

So, here’s sort of the to do across different categories:

For writing, I’ve got the old 2017-era Jonty fic up first. I still need to re-read it and spruce up my notes. I wanted to do it before the weekend but unless I do it tomorrow that obviously won’t happen. We’ll see. I don’t fully know what to expect from going back into this project but the basic steps are simple: re-read/re-orient, then write three distinct scenes, then it’s finally done.

Also up next on writing, the Sunday component, a longer-form Daria/Jane fic I’ve been toying around with. I don’t know quite how I’m going to translate it to the page yet but I’m kinda excited about it, since the drawer fic and Hey Sweetheart have been so fun.

Farther ahead, I’m still hoping to start my Miller/Bellamy Road Trip after the Jonty fic, and then I guess I gotta acknowledge SGAU again.

Then, in the world of editing. I’ve started reading through Chapter 4 of the Time Loop. My desire to work on this at all has almost totally evaporated (much like the interest of anyone in reading it? Lololol it’s fine) but I got to slog through. I am about a sixth of the way through the chapter. I think I’ll post it probably the week after next, but that’s just a guess. Then on to Chapter 5, which I think will be easier both because it’s a bit shorter and because I remember being pleased with it as I wrote.

Afterwards, I want to crosspost Mist to AO3, with some slight edits, and then I have a massive Bellarke fic (talk about timing in times like these) that I finished writing 6+ months ago but haven’t looked at since. By the time all that is done, it should be time to edit the Jonty fic—or at least, I hope so!

[havethetouch]

Life Update

Dere! I am still around guess what :) I just took a bit of a longer break again from the web and stuff because honestly stuff got a bit much and there was so much other stuff that needed my attention and time. Not looking forward to clear my inboxes across all my accounts again but eh, it is what it is. Prolly gonna filter out the important stuff and reply to what I need to and just delete the rest for a clean start.

But hey, all that stuff that kept me busy and mostly offline was the good stuff. I had my mother over at my place almost every weekend for a month now to help me out with some of that stuff and it really imporved so much about my situation and my livin space and a lot of other stuff across the board like literally anytime my mother came over I would be weeping at the end of the day in joy and relief. So yah, lotsa improvements going on that would've taken me a lot longer by myself. Love my mom.

There was a bit of an issue with the water supply, it got tainted and I got a little sick from that but thankfully I am young and my immune system is a beast so I was a lot less affected from that than other members in the community. Still sucked though. For a couple of days I was hauling water rations around to the elderly folks in my neighbourhood who were unable to get it on their own. It was a whole thing. It also lead me into the house of my vis a vis neighbour who sometimes talks down from her balcony with me and used to talk a lot to my grandmother and my father as well when they were still around. Let me tell you this woman is a master crocheter - everything in her flat is basically crochet. Wall decorations, seat covers, couch throws, pillows, there was a computer chair decked out in crochet sleeves... lotsa nicknacks hell, every flower in all the vases I could see were crocheted. I was surprised to find items that were not decked out or complety made oud of thread tbh. That visit was like.. a revelation bc ages ago, maybe two or three years ago, there was this image going around of a rainbow hue shift blanket with a pattern included to crochet that yourself. And i was like... man, wish I could remember how to crochet I would love to do this. Which also lead to me two or so weeks ago walking up to my aunt and asking her if she by chance has knitting needles and wool and if she could teach me knitting. Long story short I can knit now I have a huge bulky scarf in the works and because I wanted some fexibility on what I work on I started a second project last Monday (I can either hyperfixate start to finish or I need at least two wips in any given craft so I can switch back an forth) and now I have a triangle shawl that I just finished this morning. Very lovely. I also bought a shitton of wool which raised some eyebrows with my aunt and both my mom because they assumed I would not somehow get really really into it? Well. Jokes on them. I am already planning arm and legwarmers, maybe a sweater. Lotsa shawls. It is very realxing for me and my hands really could do with a new craft that forces me to not grip stuff too hard and get into more fluid and flowy movements while creating. I am also really fast at this stuff apparently according my fam so like... yay knitting :) Which is also a reason why my absence from the web got extended. New hyperfixation on new hobby unlocket it is getting colder outside and I get urges to make myself warm comfy shit. I also have some sensory issues with some fabrics so being able to make my own shit is hella nice especially since I found the softest whatever bulky thread that feels like those soft cheaps synthetic fluffy blankets and I love that shit and that is the material of the scarf I am working on and that is also what imma make the arms and legwarmers out of and yeah idk if you can tell how excited this stuff makes me because it does and I am already thinking about if and where to get a huge loom from maybe next year because I did weaving once as teenager and mhhhhhh I kinda wanna do something. (The knitting stuff also basically started with I want a thing imma make it myself how I want it.)

So.. yeah. Ah and in between I was also in Venice in September I can't remember if I mentioned that but I had a short trip up there and it was a blast and very inspiring. All in all life's been going up n up and as the seasons shift again I feel at ease and peaceful with everything going on. I also finally got my old landlord to fork over the security deposit so that's another loose end tied neatly and I do not have to go to his workplace to have a talk after all :) I still have a couple of things to do before winter hits because this will be my first winter out here (remember I moved in around March this year so it was still cold but it was more the tailend of winter in my area so yah that will be interesting. But I got my self made teas, I bought all I need to operate my fireplace and heat the house already in Summer and oh. I am finally financially stable again. Like fully stable. And bruh that is... a huge weight off my back (and also the reason why I was able to buy lotsa wool lets be real.) But yeah.. yeah only good stuff around on my end. All is well. And I feel great.