#suburbs andromaquynh

[lilolilyr]

I have an idea for an Andromaquynh modern AU fanfic

In it, Quynh moves back home to her parents after getting a degree at university she isn't really sure she can or wants to use. She used to think that she's a city girl despising the suburbs she grew up in, but now she thinks she was wrong about that or maybe her preferences changed, she doesn't much like the cities she studied in anymore, first she thinks it's because she studied abroad (in the countries of her ancestors) and could never quite connect to the culture there, but visiting a friend in a city in her home country shows her it isn't just that, she just prefers a quieter environment

In the meantime, her parents have moved to a different part of town and it doesn't really feel like coming home at all. Quynh still struggles with her place in life, she doesn't want to hang around on her parents' couch doing nothing forever but she doesn't know what else to do either and the thought of a regular 9-5 job in an office terrifies her, she has done enough internships in that kind of environment to know she can't stand it for long

Quynh starts taking long walks through the countryside, for her health because she hasn't really found any sports/active hobbies in the area yet (that's an aspect she really liked about the cities, there's always something interesting going on, she used to dance and try out things like shooting with bow&arrow and axe throwing), and to have quiet time to think away from her family. That way she gets to know the area quite well - she actually already knows it a bit because she really didn't live far away as a kid, but she never really walked through the fields on this side of the suburbs before

On her walks she sometimes comes across equestrians, and one time a horse throws off its rider and she ends up catching the animal, which doesn't seem to mind people in general just people trying to climb and sit on it - it won't stay the last time she comes across that particular animal, and she thinks she understands the horse quite well what with not wanting to do jobs they don't like just to be allowed to live comfortably.

Andy's the owner of the horse riding school, and when a girl falls off her horse (probably the one that doesn't much like its riders, Quynh calls it Big Guy lovingly not knowing what it's actually called) and needs medical attention, Quynh ends up taking the horse back to the stables and meets Andy there.

There's a bit of an age-gap between them and even once they meet and fall in love Andy is reluctant to commit to Quynh out of fear of tying Quynh to a life she might not really want, meanwhile Quynh is finally figuring out her place in life and she wants to stay with Andy.

I'll probably never write the full fanfic, I just don't have the time and motivation for it. If anyone's interested in getting the draft and adopting it, I'd love to hand it over for you to write it!

Post is okay to reblog :)

The draft I have is pretty much in bullet points atm, but I'd even go over it and clean it up a bit if someone's really interested in adopting the fic, and I'd be open to either chatting about it and giving more input, or you taking it and doing your own thing with it!

I don't have the time to write a longfic atm and I feel like what with the plot I'm thinking of, it really needs to be 10 or even 20k minimum to start doing it justice... That being said if sb wants to try writing a shorter version or is inspired by it to write anything similar, absolutely feel free! Just pls lmk once it's done so I can read it :D

I also already wrote a college AU horse girl!Andy longfic before, and while that one was happier and this one would probably have quite some angsty vibes before reaching its happy ending, it still kind of feels like I've done this before, also reducing my motivation for it even more :( which is a pity really because I do really like the idea.

If you want to take on the story reply to this or send me an ask/dm and we can figure out how to do this, discord/email/docs or whatever :)

My tog tag list - I know it's been ages, if anyone wants off this list or if someone new wants on it, please let me know! -: @bobeau-beaubo @lesbianlotties (daniwouldnever) @ongreenergrasses @eyeh0rr0r @cantteachanoldguardnewquotes @badwolfkaily @andramaquynhs @depresbianintheclassicalsense @andy-the-scythian @cryhardanddanceharder @my-gaydar-is-on-point @spookyvoidangelskeleton @bookerandy @jackwolfskid @cinnamonplums @cruzwalters @kayivy @blacks-phoenix @binariesarebullshit @tea-lizzard @prevalent-masters @aftermillennia @youssefguedira (pierremichelofavignon) @salzundhonig @moonlightbuckley @genyathefirebird (rupzydaisy) @nickydestati @after-a-millennium @spacewitchqueen @damnbert @not-so-good-omen (innocent-gayngel) @rhubarbdreams-blog @bedalk

[thelucyverse]

Suburbs fic idea - character comparison

I mean I could go entirely modern no powers AU and make them all idk rich heirs and lawyers or sth and try to write the story one time in a one size fits every ship kinda way, but nah, I feel like doing this properly or not at all (maybe... More the not at all part. We'll see. I do /want/ to write it at least once but it might take a while to see the light of day. Still enjoying the thought experiments here)

Heavy spoilers for every version of the fic, beware!

Andromaquynh: assassin Quỳnh took one last job to make enough money to quit. Job so nasty she shot the guy who hired her instead. Managed to steal enough money from him to get her retirement after all, but now instead of going travelling or moving to a big city, she has to lie low for a while and moves into a small village instead. One of her neighbors is the known recluse Andy, who doesn't feel like having people around because she doesn't have the energy for them and also because she feels like people just bring constant disappointment.

Milippa: successful author Philippa (she wrote under a pseudonym) is completely burnt out from her work, doesn't manage to write anymore - not that she needs to make any more money, but she used to enjoy to write before it was for profit - gets suggested some time away by her therapist. She impulsively buys a house in the suburbs, because while she usually prefers the anonymity of the city, she thinks her therapist might be right and the city is just stressing her out. She tells her neighbours up front that she won't be to active in all their clubs and parties and whatnot as she is there to relax and people just stress her out, but ends up joining more often than expected, and definitely more than her next door neighbour: Michael, who is estranged from her foster family and moved back into the old house of her long dead birth family a few years ago.

Bering&Wells: after the death of her daughter, Helena had thrown herself into her work until she didn't have a minute to breathe anymore, her mental health only worsening and worsening. She finally quits her job, takes all her belongings with her and moves overseas, trying to find peace away from it all. One of her neighbours is Myka, a lonely woman who lost her partner a few years ago and barely Ventures out of her garden and library. After a while, the two women notice that they have more in common than just their grief.

HeistWives: Lou is a thief, and proud of it. However, her last job almost got her caught, and she needs to lie low for a while, somewhere no-one would expect her to go, so she takes her bike and moves into the calm, dull, suburbs to wait it out. Her neighbours are nicer than expected, they even throw some fun parties, and she tries to also drag the woman who lives alone in the house next to hers into her adventures, spending more and more time with her and almost wishiwthat she could tell her the truth about her life, her identity. When she finds out that Debbie Ocean is of /that/ Ocean family, her future with her suddenly seems a lot more likely.

I point blank Refuse to add any more ship ideas to this.

[thelucyverse]

Suburbs fic idea - andromaquynh version /1

This is a draft version, you might wanna wait for the finished fic on ao3 (if the story ever gets finished at all that is)

Quỳnh drags the last of her moving boxes inside, not pretending like they are any heavier to her than they are. A woman alone moving in without any help might attract some attention, but it's still better than pretending to be weak only for someone to see her muscles sooner or later. Plus, with the fitness craze, no-one is going to seriously question her being able to lift heavy boxes. Small mercies.

On the other side of the street, a curtain moves, and a woman's face looks out at her. Quynh tries not to frown, instead giving a short wave before she takes her backpack from the front seat of the van, closing locking the doors and heading inside. In the city, she wouldn't have minded anyone staring at her. In the city, she wouldn't even have waved except perhaps in mockery, because greeting random people from another house was not something you did there, anyway, and she would have never had to meet the face behind the curtains in person. But she isn't in the city anymore.

[thelucyverse]

Suburbs fic idea - andromaquynh/3 (1, 2)

draft version, beware!

Oh dear I need so many more minor characters than I have in canon hhh

Also note to self, I need to look up some names in canon lol

In the end, moving the wardrobe proves a lot easier than expected.

Celeste's friends Nile and Jay are happy to help - Celeste is coordinating while Nile and Jay are the muscle, and the two women work well together and follow Celeste's orders perfectly. Quỳnh suspects they have some military training background or something similar in their past, maybe they even served together... No, she should stop analyzing people this way. None of them are a mark.

Either way, the wardrobe makes its way into her bedroom unharmed, and the women don't attempt to go into any of the other rooms uninvited or otherwise disturbe Quỳnh's new home, either.

After the wardrobe is dealt with and Quỳnh offers lemonade to Nile, Jay and Celeste for their help, Jay suggests that if she doesn't want to wait for the rest of the neighbors to come by her door, she could also make the rounds herself - "You might get less cake and salad offers that way if they're not the ones coming over, but it looks like you already have one of each anyway, huh?"

"Think I should bring something over, then, if I'm the one making the rounds? I'm not sure I'd be able to find enough to feed the entire neighborhood..."

"No, no," Celeste laughs. "They'll know you just moved in and have other things to worry about, if you just go around introducing yourself, that's fine. I think some might still come by later to bring you some welcome gifts, though..."

They make their way through the neighborhood, meeting James and Lara Copley and their infant twins, Laura Keane who is struggling to control her six- and eight year olds while talking to them (her husband more or less left her, Jay whispers once the door closes again, and she's been working in marketing from home almost full-time since), Nile's mother, who is an absolutely lovely woman, and the aforementioned Nicky and Booker in their semi-detached house parts.

Between the different houses, Celeste points out which way the nearest grocery store is and that there is also a local farmer's market once a week not too far away, Nile adding that they also have a school and a gym - she's an art teacher, and she and Jay frequent the gym in the afternoons.

"And who lives there?" Quỳnh asks when they come back to her part of the street, pointing to the so far ignored property holding a house a little further away from the street.

"Oh, that is Andromache. I don't know whether that's her real name, it's the only one on the nameplate. You don't have to worry about her coming to visit you, she's even more of a recluse than you say about yourself that you are one."

"Well, then I will still go and say hello."

Alone, Quỳnh makes her way over the small stone path through the wildly growing garden. It's a lovely scene, high grass and wild roses, birds bathing in a grey stone water basin, and ivy growing along part of the house. Whoever lives here might be a recluse, but Quỳnh already feels connected to the stranger more than she did to the other inhabitants of the neighborhood. If you are going to love somewhere other than the city, you at least have to make use of the advantage of being closer to nature, right?

There isn't a doorbell, so she just nods, and a moment later a woman opens the door. She frowns a little, but when Quỳnh introduces herself and says she just wanted to let her know that she moved into the neighborhood, she looks a little friendlier. "Andromache - Andy," she adds like an afterthought as she shakes Quỳnh's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Andromache," Quỳnh replies. They nod at each other, neither of them a woman of many words.

"I believe we will get on." Quỳnh decides. Andromache nods. They say their goodbyes, then she joins the others again who have been waiting on the street.

"Now that was a kind of welcome of my own taste."

The others laugh. Celeste gives her a contemplating look, and Quỳnh feels like she already knows which person Celeste wants to set her up with...

[thelucyverse]

Suburbs fic idea - Andromaquynh/2 (1)

Her first welcome committee arrives as Quỳnh is just about to finish moving the furniture in the kitchen where it belongs. Next would be the living room, but in the middle of it is still an antique wardrobe that is meant for her upstairs bedroom, and it is too bulky and heavy for her to carry up the stairs on her own. The previous owners had left it behind, and Quỳnh loves the sight of the dark hardwood doors already, but she'll need help to relocate it - well, if anything that's a good reason for her to be friendly to the neighbours. She's sure at least one of them will be willing and able to help. One already offered, even, when she was carrying things inside from the xxtruck- she had declined xxly, not wanting anyone to mess up her things, or spill the contents of a more dangerous carton. For the wardrobe, though... Well, it will have to wait now.

For the moment, she sits down on the kitchen counter with a bottle of cold lemonade - getting her minufridge running first thing had been the best idea she ever had - and enjoys a moment of peace.

It doesn't last long.

The doorbell rings, and with a sigh Quynh hops down from the counter, careful not to spill any of the lemonade. She briefly contemplates putting on something prettier to wear, one of her blazers perhaps or some jewellery to make a good first impression, but then she just makes her way to the front door. Whoever is there has no doubt already seen her move things all morning, even if it isn't the man who offered to help or the woman who had xxwaved from the window.

It is the woman from the house opposite hers, after all - Celeste, she says to call her, the "inofficial spokesperson of the street, though not so inofficial anymore after they tried to have me elected during the last garden party", as she introduces herself.

"Well, it's wonderful to meet you, Celeste," Quỳnh tells her with a bright smile and takes her hand. "My name is Ngô Thanh Quỳnh, please call my Quỳnh as it is my given name.

"Nice to meet you, Quỳnh," Celeste smiles, and then she slides her bag from her shoulder and pulls out a large box of salad. "I wasn't sure whether you had anything to eat, it must be a hassle going grocery shopping on top of moving, so... I hope you don't have any allergies? I figured a salad was safest either way..."

"It's wonderful, thank you," Quỳnh smiles, accepting the salad. "The only allergy I'm aware of is to walnuts, so as long as there aren't any of those in there..."

Celeste laughs. "No, there aren't! Although you should be careful at the Freemans' parties then, they have a wonderful big walnut tree, and Mrs. Freeman tends to put them in everything. She lives there in the house next to her daughter's, who moved here first and bought her neighbour's house for her mother when- well, you'll meet them both soon enough, Nile and her wife Jay are about our age."

"I'm sure I will," Quỳnh smiles. "Now, I best put this in the fridge... Do you want to come in?"

"If you don't mind?"

~~~

"Is that you?" Celeste asks, pointing to the large photo print on canvas leaning against the wall, showing two women embracing in the desert.

"No, a photographer friend of mine gave it to me," Quỳnh replies, thinking back to Lykon and his side hustle of smuggling documents with a smile. "Well, an acquaintance, really- though I guess he counts as a friend by your definition. I just like the picture."

"By my definition?"

"I would just use the word acquaintance instead, you see? But I've found that Americans say 'friend' much more often than I am used to, I just say it for what you might call best friends, everyone else I call friendly acquaintances."

"Ah," Celeste smiles, then tilts her head. "Do neighbors fall into the category of acquaintances?"

Quỳnh shrugs.

"Friendships can happen there too, of course, but honestly I'd take even longer to switch the terms there - you're neighbors first and foremost, you have to live in the same area, that's a category all on its own, isn't it? But maybe we can be friends in the future." she says it with a twinkle in her eyes to make sure Celeste won't be offended.

"Just maybe?" Celeste replies with a smile in turn.

"Well, I barely know you, I don't know whether maybe you're all bigots or something around here," Quỳnh replies with a grin to soften the blow. "I don't know you very well yet, after all- though from what you told me about the other neighbours earlier, I at least won't have to worry about too extreme homophobia, if a lesbian marriage is tolerated?"

"Oh, don't worry about that! We're an inclusive bunch, or trying to be. You won't have to worry about racism, or-" she nods at the photograph, "it's not just you Nile and Jay, either- I might be married to a man, but I'm bisexual, and we have a bunch of gay men as well... I suppose once an inclusive community like this exists, it attracts more of the same! We also have people of several different religions, So, you don't have to worry about that either, being a witch-"

"I'm not a witch," Quỳnh replies, a little perplexed.

"Oh, I just saw the crystals on the mantle, and the pentagram on your shirt... Sorry, I shouldn't have assumed," Celeste explains.

"Oh, this is a band shirt! And for the crystals, I just think they're pretty, no idea about any healing powers. I'm a bit of a magpie, if anything, a hoarder of shiny things..."

"Oh, you'll have to meet Booker then! He's an accountant, but he learned to do jewellery for his late wife, and he still does a lot of it now in his freetime- his neighbor and best friend Nicky is also gay by the way - not that I think you have to be best friends with all the gay people, of course! Just that well, you're here alone... And as far as I'm aware, he knows everyone in the gay community, he might be able to introduce you to some ladies in nearby neighborhoods, I don't think Nile or Jay would be much help there, they mostly stick to themselves."

"Oh, I'm not really looking to date anyone right now," Quỳnh replies a little awkwardly. "Not that I'd not like a girlfriend, but I need too much alone time for most people to handle, especially I think those in the suburbs aren't usually looking for a casual relationship like that, where the end goal isn't to move in together and constantly hang out..."

As she says this, Quỳnh notices a certain... /glint/ in Celeste's eyes. What - does the other woman want to prove her wrong? Well, if she wants to meddle, thinking she has someone in the area that might be interested in Quỳnh's way of life, that doesn't mean Quỳnh will have to act on it. And if maybe, just maybe... No, she shouldn't hope for a relationship on a hunch of someone maybe wanting to play matchmaker. She not just doesn't enjoy being around people 24/7, she also has a lot of secrets to keep, and she doesn't really plan to live here permanently, either.

"You're not much of a people person?" Celeste slightly changes the topic. "You seemed so extroverted just now."

"No, I do need my me time," (true), "So I guess you could say I'm not much of a 'people person'" (at least, she never learned to hang out with normal people), "...but I'm sure we will all get on fine. - I hope you don't mind if I don't always join all activities, it wouldn't be anything against you, I just don't always have the energy for that kind of thing." she much prefers the anonymity of the city for the same reason, where she can go out and meet someone when she feels like it, and stay in and ignore the world otherwise. If anyone asks, she'll say that she's a bit burned out and got recommended a small town to relax - what they don't need to know is that she is indeed quite burnt out from assassin's jobs, that she wanted to do one more big hit to get enough money to quit, but the job was so nasty, she instead killed her employer, a gang leader, and stole his money and organization paperwork instead of doing the assigned job - and is now lying low in case the rest of that organization is now looking for her. Same result, really, except she would have preferred to spend her retirement somewhere other than a suburban picket fence house.

"Alright... I guess maybe we should leave early then, leave you some energy to meet the rest?" Celeste asks.

"No, no, don't mind me, I can survive a day of welcomes, I just meant in general, for the future... Wait, is really everyone going to come today?" (goodness, those people are insane, they consider stopping someone from fixing their house for an entire day a friendly welcoming? Sounds more like slow psychological torture)

"I can text and ask whether some can come tomorrow or the weekend, if you'd like? Not that we have, like, a neighborhood groupchat, just several inofficial friendgroup chats, all friends here - well. By the american definition, I suppose, but most of us do meet up from time to time for more than just neighborhood friendlyness." Celeste offers.

"No, no, it's fine," (at least it will all be over quickly then), "and do you know anyone who could help me carry the old wardrobe upstairs? It's still standing in the living room now"

"Sure! Nile might be strong enough, or Nicky maybe, or if we try it in a group?"

"Sounds wonderful," Quỳnh replies, mentally going through the damage created by several people she doesn't trust carrying a large wardrobe up the stairs. Does she have any paint in case they hit the wall in places? She just hopes the wardrobe itself will survive. "I'm sure we'll all get on wonderful, if they're as nice as you are!" she adds with he bicest honeypot charm smile, mentally sending Now Please Go Away I Still Have So Many Things To Do.

[lilolilyr]

And ohhhh, anything you can tell us about any future projects? 👀

Sure! I'd love to :D

For TOG, I don't have many new WIPs, but I do have

- about 2 more chapters of the Andromaquynh University AU coming up soon(ish)... It's still a damn slow-burn, I swear if I end up only having the getting together in the last chapter, I'll write an epilogue for some established feels xD

- As far as I remember I ended up never posting the (smutty) Andronilynh fic with Quỳnh in lingerie? Was supposed to be a discord collab with a fanartist months ago, but I think by now I can assume they've abandoned the project xD (vague so I won't call them out lol), so... I'll just post the fic itself, I think it's finished already, just gotta dig out the draft

- Sth more for the Just You And Me series maybe? I do have a bunch of ideas but no concrete plans yet...

Then, I've got some Milippa fics coming up:

- a getting together ficlet (2k, T) I wrote in the middle of the night and after looking at it earlier today and then just closing the Word doc with a headache, I think I'll just post that without further edits lmao - edit- posted!

- I want to write a longer(ish, probably still just a ficlet of 1-2k) version of this photostory for ao3! I was thinking about whether to make it established or pre-relationship, then came up with an idea for a getting-together variant that I like, and now I've just seen @onaperduamedee's tags here, and I love that idea as well! But maybe as a separate ficlet some day (if you'd be okay with me writing that, Flo?), as I don't think it'd work out with the idea I already drafted now.

- The very very slowly growing fic (I have more or less abandoned the idea of turning it into a longfic, but maybe that means that I'll post it soon-ish now... Damn, I really love the idea but I just can't seem to bring myself to write much for it, why brain whyy) that's a follow-up to this post by @georgiov :)

- a mirror/mirror idea @forestcircle reminded me of earlier today :D

Thanks for the question! <3

Feel free to ask me more about these, or send me other asks/prompts for thirsty thursday!

I also have some vague ideas for projects in other fandoms (below the cut):

- Rly want to continue my 666words Good Omens series, but no actual wips started and they're all one-shots anyway

- a bering&wells artefact story that I thiink I posted the summary of on discord somewhere, but who knows whether I'll actually write it... guess it goes on the list of Might Write It If I Get A Reply to both remind me of the idea's existence and show that there's an interest for it

- Thinking about whether or not and if yes for which ship I should write the suburbs AU I posted about on my WIP blog @thelucyverse

- I'd love to finish my Heistwives Kinda Job series one day, but goddammit I know I probably won't anytime soon lol

- Thinking about whether or not and if yes when to start podficcing part 4 of Leo Inter Serpentes by @aeternumregina, a wonderful longfic series (and I've seen you've started posting the last part!!! Really need to catch up), problematics being a) time (podficcing is hella time extensive and I'm not sure I want to get tied down in weekly uploads again, but on the other hand a slower upload schedule would make it harder to remember the voices and all when reading), b) it's partly NSFW, which I'd censor for the audio, which again is Work, c) it's HP and... Well... I've been working on getting the overterf's name /out/ of my ao3 fandom top5 (the ones that are shown without clicking expand on the list) by getting my Star trek disco fic count to higher than HP, which it now nearly is, and I don't want to ruin that lmao, d) if I do start another long podfic, I'd actually love to podfic my own Andromaquynh fic In Your Stead? Because for once I have a story I wrote myself that I feel would be worth it... But like... I also really do want to continue Leo Inter Serpentes! But it's 7 monsterlong fics! And just...aaah! XD #strugglez

- Wanna write more lezbean smuttttt

[thelucyverse]

Hi, could you add tags like quynh, andromache the scythian and the old guard etc to the suburbs Andy×quynh fic for better visibilty. I couldn't find your fic until i used the Andromaquynh tag.

Uh, no actually, this is a WIP blog just for my own organization, I don't use many tags on purpose, I don't even know whether that fic will ever get finished yet, but if yes you'll at some point be able to find it on ao3, anon!

Also I hope that you meant it in good faith in a "hey your fic is nice and if you want more ppl to see it here's how to tag it" kind of way, but maybe next time consider actually phrasing it that way, you came off kinda entitled like it's your right to demand how other ppl should tag their things

[lilolilyr]

For the ao3 asks: 1, 3, 7

Ao3 ask

1. Top 3 fandoms written for (dash - fandoms)

Answered!

3. Do you have any abandoned works?

Hmm I have a bunch of works that I haven't written for in ages and am not sure whether I ever will again, not because I don't want to but because the fandom isn't my main obsession anymore and I'm busy with the ones that are... for example the Heistwives Kinda Job series (which I've actually re-read recently with plans to finish it- but then got distracted by Andromaquynh again), and Inselbeziehungen, and also- while I'm definitely still in the TOG fandom, that fic just kinda got buried, and the one part I've written does work as a oneshot, so I'm not too desperate to continue it - The One Where They Don't Dream Of Each Other...

For actual abandoned works, I think there's just one, a Brutasha fic I wrote after watching Age of Ultron lmao, I don't even remember the name anymore but it's still on my ao3 in the Marvel tag, though I took it out of the ship tag a while ago bc I marked it 'abandoned bc I hate the ship actually' or sth and I didn't want to be mean and have actual shippers have to see that in the tag!

7. Top 3 tags (works - filters - additional tags)

If you want to have a look, they're all on my ao3: lilolilyrae

Oh, and there are also a bunch of fics that never made it past draft stages, I think the suburbs fic idea is about to end up in that category, but I wouldn't personally call sth an abandoned work when it was never a Work in the first place xD for ideas I'll never write I usually make an outline post to prompt others to write it :)

Established, emotional h/c, getting together

Thanks so much for the ask! <3

Ao3 ask