xenomorphee3

[xenomorphee3]

My Avatar: A New Mission saga is complete.

Today, I dropped the final two chapters, an extended Epilogue, for A New Mission: Happiness is Simple. I sure hope these were worth the wait for those still riding with these characters and story. A part of me was maybe even holding off on finishing because it meant that this creative and emotional chapter of my life, which began with A New Mission: Ash to Fire back in January 2023, is over.

With so many Avatar Fire and Ash insights and content starting to emerge, it might just be time for me to retire writing our little Ash families that were, of course, originally crafted with very limited knowledge of Avatar 3 💙

Despite its divergence, I hope this two-story, character-rich, mega-saga, topping out at over 850,000 words, brought readers hours of joy. And, based on what I've heard, I think my first story is going to have shockingly similar major plot points to the 3rd film. We will see! (still can't believe "Ash" and "Fire" are in the official title lol)

And now, I get the great satisfaction of actually going back and reading this second story from start to finish for the first time (sure to be making edits and catching embarrassing mistakes and errors that have been up for over a year along the way, ugh haha.)

But wow. What a journey. Is this truly the last we will see of our cherished recom families, and my writing in general? I'm not sure. Right *now,* I'd say so. I just want to bask in this writing achievement and take a big, contented break and be proud of these works. But you never know! There will be a lot of time between Avatar 3 and 4 after all 💙 Anywyay, for those who have read A New Mission, thank you.

Here is a link to the series on Ao3 and my Wattpad profile.

Extra special shoutout to @tsukioreo and @ellenoir for their works below that really breathed life into the sequel.

[xenomorphee3]

Ha ha ha, I'm still alive!

On my honor, my gigantic two-story Quaritch-centric Avatar epic will be finished soon.

I just dropped Chapter 51 out of 53 for A New Mission: Happiness is Simple, titled "Grief."

Links here: Ao3, Wattpad

This has stunningly pushed the entire series to over 818,000 words. I think it'll wrap up at 835k. I literally don't know how this happened, I'm so sorry 💙

[xenomorphee3]

Hello A New Mission readers,

Sorry it took so long, the longest it's taken me to drop a chapter, but I just put up Chapter 47, Happiness :)

Our characters are swinging back into their home routines after their long mainland and ocean adventure. Just two chapters left!!! A final main story chapter and an epilogue.

Thank you so much to those who have stuck with this huge story. I hope you are fulfilled 💙

[xenomorphee3]

Additionally I would like to ask if you are open to writing an alternative universe where Quaritch is an avatar not a recom and falls for Zu but in this case, instead as a human. I can imagine how much conflict he would go through and the age gap too 🤪😝😝 Would make it interesting if this was the Quaritch that somehow survived the 2009 film and Jake didn’t lol

Regardless, I would enjoy reading any Quaritch fic from you and for any prompt

This is a fun prompt idea and I will say that I will think about it! The thing is that I don't want to get sucked into another mega story again, my bandwidth for such is fading fast. But I wonder if this is something that could be written as a long oneshot. Maybe a glimpse into such a universe.... we'll see! This hobby has brought me great joy but also kicked by butt in many ways 😅 We're talking nearly 800k words written since January 2023. Ya girl is getting tired!

Either way I am warmed by your compliment of appreciating my Quaritch stories 💙 So glad you enjoy them. Be sure to check out my other answer on my idea for "Slice of Life" 😊

[xenomorphee3]

Wow, I cannot wait to read more of Zu and Quaritch from a “behind the scenes” perspective that did not make it to the fic!

So sorry for the delay in answering you! 💙

But so yes, once I've taken a nice loooong break after finishing Happiness is Simple, I am thinking up some type of light anthology series. Perhaps it'll be called something sweet like "Slice of Life" where after I drop a standalone first chapter then maybe I could ask readers for a prompt of what they'd like to read in Miles and Zu’s rich life. Stories could take place at any point between the end of Book 1 and Book 2 (except during the Great War, I left that ambiguous for a reason haha).

What are all your thoughts on this format? It wouldn't be nearly as regular as A New Mission, but rather a nice little treat every now and again for you all who love this world and these characters 💙❤️

[xenomorphee3]

omg three more chapters 😭😭😭 i’m emotional rn

I'm emotional that you're emotional! 😢💙

But yes three more left (maybe 4--an epilogue), and the next Chapter, 46, should be dropping some time this weekend! I truly don't mean to drag out this ending I am just so very busy.

Who knew that being a full time scientist has more workload than finishing a PhD? 😵‍💫 Finishing up the first story alongside my degree was a relative breeze. Finishing up this one alongside this new position not so much 😅 But I appreciate everyone's patience.

[xenomorphee3]

Hey everyone,

I know it's been a minute but I'm happy to share that you'll be getting Chapter 44 tonight! It may be late tonight... but it will be dropping before the sun rises on the East Coast I promise haha.

I just wanted to take my time with it. If all goes as planned for the rest of the story this will be the 4th to last chapter and Happiness is Simple will end with Chapter 47.

Crazy to think about, but what a journey it has been. For those still with me, thank you. I know this story has taken longer to finish that the first (a little over a year vs ~5.5 months), but I'm so happy I could fill your lives with Avatar, Quaritch, Lyle, Mansk, and our beloved OC's in this timespan.

[xenomorphee3]

Hey everyone, Chapter 43 of A New Mission: Happiness is Simple will be dropping tomorrow evening! (EDT) I think you're going to love it 💙

And if any of you were like, "Wow, that's so wild that your version of an Avatar 3 had the words 'Ash' and 'Fire' in the title," given the big movie reveal, let's just say I'm right there with you haha

Me and the Avatar team just brainwaves'ing lol

And so if you🫵🏽 just can't wait for Avatar: Fire and Ash and like Quaritch enough for a pivot to him as the main character, I'd recommend checking out A New Mission: Ash to Fire and then its soon-to-end sequel, A New Mission: Happiness is Simple. I really think there's something in my series for lots of Avatar fans, beyond solely Quaritch and recom enjoyers 💙 (But Quaritch, Lyle, and Mansk appreciators for sure 😉)

[xenomorphee3]

Love your fic <3

THANK YOU 💙 Really needed this as I head into that final push ☺️

[xenomorphee3]

Hello A New Mission readers!

I am so sorry if it seems like I am dragging out the ending of story 2. I'm not trying to, I swear! I've just been so busy this summer (normal for my line of work) and my wrist has flared up again which makes typing a lot so very hard. I'll also be going into the desert to do a little science for a week where I won't have a computer. But!

In terms of productivity, I am happy to say that I have at least finished my TRUE final editing run of the first story, A New Mission: Ash to Fire. It was genuinely in very good shape (thank goodness), but now it's in even better shape regarding prose, continuity, dialogue, and general structure. Doesn't mean much for the folks who already read it, I know, but this editing run was *my* first time reading my story linearly, which was a joy, and it it quells my personal anxieties.

And now, with it no longer hanging over my head I can home in entirely on Happiness is Simple--which I will also start linear editing as I finish it up. Next chapter, 43, is partially written. Will write bits and pieces as my wrist allows on my phone in my desert tent haha. Overall, I think the sequel will end around Chapter 46/47. And that's accommodating me getting carried away. Anyway, you're all great and thanks so much to those who have stuck with me and this story even as Avatar hype has gotten really quiet for now 💙 I hope you've had and are having fun.

[xenomorphee3]

Hey dearest Happiness is Simple readers. I don't know if you saw, but last week (Jul 6) I dropped Chapter 41! I totally forgot to announce it here.

I didn't get any comments on it which is a first 🥺👉🏽👈🏽 I'm sorry it took a month! I've just been so busy 😩 Ch 42 will be dropping soon as well. And I know you all are busy with the summer (or winter for my Southern Hemisphere friends).

Sorry if this post seems needy (it is lol) but comments just keep me grounded and on track that I'm doing right by the readers and the story. So... if you have a moment... your feedback would mean the world 🌎

[xenomorphee3]

Pls consider writing Zu & Quaritch one shots 😭 don’t have to be a long story but maybe a collection of some moments they interacted with one another that might not have made it in the story?

This is honestly an idea that I've had! Like a little anthology of "behind the scenes" moments all throughout their relationship. Both before and after they had their kids. I am also so flattered that you love them together enough to want this 🥰💙

I will think about it for sure. After Happiness is Simple finishes up I will need a decent break, but I am certainly not ready to let them go yet 😢

[xenomorphee3]

Waiting for the next chapter girl💙

I'm working on it I swear! Summers are just so busy for my line of work. Aiming for a weekend drop 💙 Have not forgotten about our recom families 😊

[xenomorphee3]

I just dropped Chapter 40. Twilight, everyone. Really proud of this one. ☺️

https://archiveofourown.org/works/49778200/chapters/143475871

https://www.wattpad.com/1451732329-a-new-mission-happiness-is-simple-twilight

[xenomorphee3]

waiting for the next chapter 💙 can’t wait and such a bittersweet feeling bc it’s all coming to an end soon

Ah I know I'm bittersweet about it as well 💙😔 So sorry for the longer hiatus than usual. Really had to sit with this one of course, making it as close to perfect as I could, and I'm waiting for some commissioned art for it.

[I also took a week to continue editing the first story and got up through Chapter 40 for it. The remaining 41-51 of course are all 8-11k word behemoths haha]

I don't have a precise drop date planned for Chapter 39, Sunset but tomorrow is very possible depending on the art. I'd say if the art isn't ready enough by Tuesday, then I will probably drop the chapter then and make clear that there will be accompanying art soon.

Thank you all for your patience! The wait will be worth it, I promise. I think a part of me is just hanging on too. But I'm always working on it.

[xenomorphee3]

Will you consider writing a new Quartich story about a new OC from a different clan or will this really be the end 🥲😭

Wow okay this question made me so sad when posed like that! So bear 🐻 with my emotional reply.

Almost a year ago, I finished A New Mission: Ash to Fire having started it in January 2023 and completing it in June. It took about 5.5 months to finish that nearly 400,000 word longfic. But I loved this world and the characters and felt there was more story to tell. And so I started A New Mission: Happiness is Simple in August 2023 having posted the first chapter on September 1st and proceeded at a much slower pace than its predecessor. But it too is coming to a close. I anticipate late June, not too far from a year after ANMAF finished which is a funny coincidence.

I love my story and my OCs so much. My life has been dedicated to them for a fascinatingly long time considering the random urge to just start this massive saga in the wake of my many Avatar 2 theater viewings and borderline obsession. I was a sleeper Avatar fan since the first came out and boy did the vindication of the second's success feel sweet. I was ready to ride the Avatar wave and I certainly did 🌊 But writing these longfics was an unexpected way to ride it.

To be honest, I don't know if I'd write more stories. A big part of me—and I'll be sincere in saying this—wishes I didn't start A New Mission at all. Not because I don't love it, but because I do. Too much. When all is said and done, my series will be about 740,000 words. All written in about a year and a half. That is... a remarkable feat, shocking even to myself. It was a result of the longest actively cultivated dedication and hyperfocus I've ever had. To keep this up, I have been purposefully strained from all my hobbies and even other movies and shows to not get in the way of my "Avatar high". My stories together are over 10 times bigger than my dissertation which I finished while writing the sequel. Geez.

My sadness over starting these stories primarily stems from how as soon as Avatar 3 comes out, the void that these 740,000 words fill for myself, Avatar readers, Quaritch, and recom fans is officially filled. And I hate, despite the frothing at the mouth excitement I have for Avatar 3, how sad that makes me. Sure some people here and there will still find my stories, but I don't see how there will be much interest and demand given the third film and new canon. I accept that, even for my own mind, but it still saddens me deeply. At least my stories will be able to breathe on their own for about a year and a half before Avatar 3 releases.

I just wish to close this interesting, complex, and fulfilling chapter of my life. So happy to have done it with such a dedicated cabal of amazing readers. Everyone has been so kind and supportive and your enjoyment has kept the fire going 🔥. As a thank you, I hope you can all tell that I've been desperate to keep up the quality of each chapter. I never want to give the impression of losing interesting or untidily wrapping it up. I am as dedicated to the closing of this fic as you all are to read it.

I won't say I'll *never* write again. There will be a four year gap between Avatar 3 and 4 and I think Quaritch is going to do some cool stuff in A3. Maybe I'll be inspired again. But damn I really do love Zu and her and Quaritch’s little made-up family. It would be hard to let them go.

[xenomorphee3]

New chapter when? 🥲

Genuinely today!

These are important chapters so I'd like to sit with them for a bit to make sure they're solid (Also was busy traveling and doing events all last week 🥴 and didn't write as much as I hoped).

I may also add and reorganize some tags and the summary of the sequel to try and reach more Avatar fans. It's easy for people to think this is a Quaritch/Recom story, and it is! It's a Quaritch + Zu story the same way Avatar is a Jake + Neytiri story. But as I write varying arcs for numerous secondary characterd that influence the main story (Spider, Kiri, Jake, Neytiri, Parker, Tonowari, Norm, Garvin, Max, Tsireya, etc.) I wonder if other Avatar fans who could tolerate Quaritch as the main character might enjoy it for these characters they may love.

I know its size and descriptive style can be intimidating to new readers, but I write it from the perspective of loving *all* aspects of Avatar so there is something for many Avatar fans in my stories. I think.

Sorry for the long, partially irrelevant answer to a simple question haha