peaked | Entries tagged with my fic

I want to clean up some of my notepad docs so, here we go, an exchange wrap-up! Because I've been feeling burnt out over the last year, I don't really have any recs compiled (I lied and did for FIAB, but I deleted the notepad after copying my bits over, so, RIP). I think I may move away from creating rec lists as I'm not quite sure how used they are and they take so much work that they're becoming unfun.

Anyway! Onto the good stuff.

candyheartsex 2024 -

I wrote -

myrtle
ENOLA HOLMES | Enola/Tewkesbury; Teen; 1.5k

"What?" she barked.

"What?" he repeated dumbly, blinking dumbly, too.

She rolled her eyes. "Not this again!"

"Enola," he said with a low laugh that ruffled the butterflies deep in her belly, "I haven’t the slightest clue what you’re talking about. What gift?"

"My gift!"

*

Enola gets Tewkesbury a gift. Perhaps that's the problem in itself.

I really enjoy writing their banter.

My gifts -

Card Goat by McBangle
GRISHAVERSE | Jesper & Milo | Gen

Jesper and Milo play a friendly game of poker.

Really funny art.

*

'effable Spirit by Synergic
THE GREAT | Catherine/Peter; Mature; 1.4k

On an unprepossessing day in May two years after her husband’s death, Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, put out a hand for her morning cup of tea-laced vodka and received a letter instead.

I thought this was brilliant. This universe is so easy to get wrong, but Synergic makes it look so easy.

smut4smut 2024 -

I wrote -

we can chew through my bracelet
GRISHAVERSE | Zoya/Nikolai; Explicit; 3.8k

Elizaveta was gone, and the demon remained. Juris was gone, and yet she felt him stand beside her. But why hadn’t Nikolai come back to himself? They’d done everything that was expected of them—

Except she knew, deep down, that the obisbaya required more than being pierced by the thorn wood.

-

With Elizaveta dead and the obisbaya stopped, why does Nikolai stand before her as his demon?

I wish I had the guts to make this dirtier lol. I enjoyed getting to write my OTP for a lovely recipient!

*

just for tonight own me
GRISHAVERSE | Zoya/Nikolai; Explicit; 4.1k

"We can prolong it, Nikolai," she murmured as she hovered over him, effortlessly holding the chains between her hands like they were the bridle for his horse. He felt like one at times, although one that was whipped even when he behaved well. This was the penance for surviving the war. The Darkling ensured to leave his mark on Ravka. "Pretend we’re an old married couple, if you like."

"Go on, wife," he said, not looking away. He wanted them to play this game, and so they would. "Let’s pretend for a little while."

-

Nikolai likes it when he's bound to his bed and Zoya sits on his face.

What can I say? I got to write my OTP being playful. I really enjoyed s4s in 2024 because people requested my favourites!

My gift -

Not Your King Tonight by InsectKin
GRISHAVERSE | Zoya/Nikolai; Explicit; 3.4k

At the beginning of Rule of Wolves, Zoya and Nikolai debrief after visiting the revived Darkling in his sun prison. Nikolai shows Zoya that his demon can exist outside of himself, and the demon removes the ribbon from her hair.

In this fic, the demon keeps going.

I loved the whole concept of this. THIS IS WHAT WE DESERVED IN CANON.

fandom5k 2024 -

I wrote -

between the world and you
THE WINTERNIGHT TRILOGY | Vasya/The Bear; Mature; 8.1k

When the kikimora brings Vasya the one person she wants most, the chyerti suffer nightmares as a consequence.

I really enjoyed writing this. Grief is something I always gravitate towards, and this fic was no exception. The Bear/Medved is always so difficult yet fun to write, and I remember really enjoying writing this. I wish this fandom was bigger.

My gift -

Dark Mirrors by GalahadsGurl
CHARMED | Chris & Piper; Teen; 5.6k

Chris Perry missed his mother, but Piper Halliwell was not his mother.

Right?

This was a fun expansion on season 6's plot with "Who is Chris Perry really?"

rarepairexchange 2024 -

I wrote -

dreamers are selfish
THE HUNGER GAMES | Katniss/Finnick; Mature; 2.1k

When the rebellion fails to catch fire at the 75th Quarter Quell, Finnick and Katniss are left to pick up the pieces. Katniss is glad Finnick lets her be there for him for once.

I love writing Katniss/Finnick. This was meant to be a lot bigger than what it was, but what I ended up with was what I felt was a nice moment of a grander world that you still get a good pulse of.

My gift -

the siren call by aelisheva
READY OR NOT | Grace/Daniel; Teen; 1.7k

Daniel let out a shaky breath. “You’re not the real Grace Le Domas.”

Not-Grace stared him down again, and all over his skin and bones grew cold. She tilted her head, blinking innocently. “Is that really such an issue? I’ve seen into your mind, Daniel, thanks to Lord Le Bail’s help. I know how much you covet your brother’s widow.”

She leaned in until their heads pressed together. “I could be her, if you wanted it,” she said in a low voice. His breathing shuttered at the suggestion.

***

Grace has won the game, and Le Bail offers to bring back Daniel as a reward. But only if they both realize why her life force is still tied to his through a soulmate bond...

In a fandom overrun by time loop fics, this was very, very neat to receive. The concept was fun to watch unfold.

highadrenalineexchange -

For 2024, I wrote -

belonging
BRIDGERTON | Kate/Anthony; Teen; 10.5k

Kate struggles to find her place amongst the Bridgertons.

I wanted to explore Kate's relationships with the other Bridgertons and got to dabble in a few of those with this. It's not what I had wanted it to be, but I still enjoyed the end result.

My gift -

Through Midnights Pass by goblins_riddles_frocks
THE WINTERNIGHT TRILOGY | Vasya/The Bear; Unrated; 10.6k

Vasalisa Petrovna and Medved traverse the Midnight road.

I loved the exploration of grief and death. The banter between Vasya and The Bear was spot on. (I loved Ded Grib the most in this, though.)

For 2025, I wrote -

V1. The Lovers
AGATHA ALL ALONG | Agatha/Rio; Mature; 17k

Before Rio, there was Death. Before Death, there wasn’t Rio.

She tried to separate them, once.

*

When a witch hunter starts killing witches, Agatha and Rio begrudgingly team up to take them down.

This idea was a lot bigger than it had any right to be for a fortnight turnaround and I wish that the end result was reflective of that, but I'm still happy with it because I had a lot of fun exploring Rio's relationship with death and grief in this. I was inspired by some of the cards I like (and dislike) playing in Marvel Snap, and wrote some of those characters into this. I wish this story got a little action during the anonymous period, but I knew when my name was on it that it would find its audience, and I'm glad it did. :)

My gifts -

Hollow Heart by Major
THE MUMMY | Evelyn/Rick; Teen; 10.7k

Rick accidentally activates a curse that traps him and Evy in an apocalyptic time loop.

They've had better days.

This was a super cool concept, and I really, really loved Rick's voice throughout this. I feel like he's a character who appears easy to write but is truly difficult not to write flatly. Major did a fantastic job getting his dry wit and absolute dedication to those he loves down.

*

Annadóttir, Black, & Flamel, "Circular Reasoning: Applied Temporal Philosophy in Alchemaical Metaphysics," Journal of Magical Cosmology, 1645 (2001): 19–32. by avocadomoon
HARRY POTTER | Hermione/Sirius; Teen; 89k

"Science has its limits," Dumbledore said. "As does magic. And time. And everything else there is to see and touch and hear. But it is not a matter of fate, dear, no matter what the druid mystics say." He nodded at her wand. "When you throw a handful of petals in the air, can you control exactly where they fall? And would they always fall the same way twice?

It's not safe baiting avocadomoon because sometimes you end up receiving a mammoth of a gift. I only request Harry Potter when I see it in the tagset and have a feeling avocadomoon will participate. This was a wild ride, a fantastic, in-depth exploration of time travel and the consequences of time turners. Prisoner of Azkaban is my favourite book/movie of the franchise, so to get a story that's based on that concept and seeing the concept of time turners fleshed out was so enjoyable. This was a delight to read.

fffx -

I wrote -

Ace
CHALLENGERS | Tashi/Art; Mature; 10.5k

Patrick didn’t call.

Sometimes, when she imagined it, she’d forgive him. Sometimes, she made him work for it over several weeks. Sometimes, she didn’t say anything at all.

Her phone didn’t ring for weeks after she popped her knee, and Tashi told herself she didn’t care. Why should she? She had Art, and Art was a good friend to have by her side.

Tashi/Art is a guilty pleasure of mine and I was thrilled I got to explore this pairing through a Tashi character study. She was so much fun to write and I really enjoyed how this story came together.

My gift -

negotiation by santanico
CHALLENGERS | Tashi/Art/Patrick; Explicit; 10.6k

“Yo,” Patrick said, and his eyes swept the main living space so quickly Tashi almost could have missed the widening of his eyes when he saw the oversized 8k TV or the double-sectional couch - in all creamy white, as if to make a point, Tashi thought - if she hadn’t been paying very close attention. He was dressed in jeans that fit him too loosely, a t-shirt with a button-up on over, as if that was somehow going to paint an illusion of professionalism to the look. He kicked off his shoes and handed her a bag.

“Chocolates,” he said, by way of explanation when she looked inside.

“I can see they’re chocolates,” she said, mesmerized by his choice of Ferrero Roche hazelnut chocolates. Maybe they were meant to be funny.

“Don’t judge,” Patrick said, brushing past her with intent and popping his head into the kitchen where Art was characteristically hiding. “Hey.”

This was a great exploration of the three of them post-movie and how they still are quite dysfunctional and shit at communication. I like that it didn't try to wrap them up in a pretty bow, and offered the implication that they aren't exactly going to work out long-term, but they might if they keep their heads in the sand.

ficinabox -

I wrote -

In the Middle
CHALLENGERS | Art/Tashi/Patrick; Explicit; 6k

She liked it better when he allowed them to be them, as they were. Her with her scarred knee, Art with his nervous tic of playing with his wedding ring, and Patrick… Patrick stayed the same. He rubbed his hands against his thighs, scratched the back of his neck, and laughed too much. His laughter was too loud, but it fit in their room, littered with wedding photos. Nothing in this room was his, but he fit. He was theirs.

Straight up smut lol.

*

what do you get your superhero best friend for their birthday?
MCU | Carol & Kamala & Monica & MJ & Peter & Ned & Nick & Pepper & Goose; Teen; 2k

r/SUPERBESTPETSANDTHEIRHUMANFRIENDS posted by u/KAMALACANDO

sooooooo i (18F) want to get my super duper best friend a birthday gift but i 1) don’t know when her birthday is and 2) don’t know what to get a man-eating cat when i don’t know her age. SO I DESPERATELY NEED SOME ADVICE because i want to show her how much she means to me!!!

Even though I had some strife with the coding (div tags hate me), I had a lot of fun creating this. I think it's funny.

*

Homemade Hot Chocolate
GRISHAVERSE | Inej/Kaz; Teen; 2k

Inej’s Homemade Hot Chocolate
Please note that this is not for the faint of heart.

Just Kaz and Inej being a little silly and heartsick. I wanted to try something a touch different to writing a straight fic.

My gifts -

rising up like the sun at dawn by Fleetling
GRISHAVERSE | Inej/Kaz; Teen; 1.2k

Kaz doesn't answer her, because that's not what she wants, and because it's not something he can offer.

A sweet post-canon Kanej where Inej returns from some of her adventures on the sea and Kaz ensures she's comfortable. when Kaz wakes in the morning it'll be to Inej, having risen with the sun, sitting in the window and talking to the crows. It can't get anymore perfect.

*

[fanmix] deuce by hearteyesfordays
CHALLENGERS | Art/Tashi/Patrick; Unrated

I have never gotten a fanmix before. This was so cool and perfect.

*

[Art] Katherine Pierce by QueerIntentions
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES | Katherine; Gen

An iconic Katherine Pierce, enshrined in stained glass.

I can't believe I got Katherine artwork.

*

hurt by kitsunerei88
CHALLENGERS | Tashi; Tashi/Art, Tashi/Patrick; Mature; 1.2k

Tashi's life is not what she wanted it to be.
Or: A character study about Tashi, her injury, and her relationships with Art and Patrick.

A really great character study that explores Tashi's resentment toward both Art and Patrick.

*

Poisoned Glory by Alley_Skywalker
HOUSE OF THE DRAGON | Aemond & Criston; Gen; 1.4k

Aemond had thought Rook's Rest would make him a hero, but instead, even the people closest to him seem to be pulling away.

A great character study of Aemond post-Rook's Rest, giving more depth to Aemond and Criston's relationship that we should've gotten in the show.

*

horror and wild by cacowhistle
GRISHAVERSE | Zoya/Nikolai; Teen; 1.2k

It is late this evening in Os Alta. There is an ominous air to the palace, and an evacuation of the king’s personal wing has been put in place.

You can never go wrong with demon!Nikolai. I love how this shows a glimpse of how Zoya, Tamar, Tolya, Genya, and David work together to try to keep demon!Nikolai under control. This should've been a scene in the book.

*

some kind of miraculous bind by cacowhistle
GRISHAVERSE | Zoya/Nikolai; Mature; 1.3k

It goes like this: Nikolai is the one to propose, but Zoya is the one to ask him to marry her.

This contains my favourite line She is a hurricane, and Nikolai lets himself be her eye and center. He is the calm that comes before her storm.

*

there is nothing in-between by cacowhistle
GRISHAVERSE | Zoya/Nikolai; Teen; 3.6k

It is the night after the obisbaya, and Nikolai cannot sleep.

A moment between Nikolai and Zoya on their travels back to Os Alta post-obisbaya. Nikolai's perspective is really well done, and come of the dialogue feels like it leapt right out of Bardugo's head.

*

[ MURDLE ] THE CASE OF THE PRODUCER ON THE PILLOW by swirlingvoid
THE HUNGER GAMES | Finnick, Annie, Johanna; Teen

A logic puzzle excerpted from the Panem Gazette. Which Victor killed again?
(Any resemblance to real events or persons living or dead is a coincidence, the paper claims. This is just a game.)

An in-universe Murdle in Panem is very cool and so very meta. This was so good.

trickortreatex -

I wrote -

go
GRISHAVERSE | Inej/Kaz; Teen; 600

Stay, he says, and Inej can do nothing but heed him.

I wanted to try a different style while keeping it in a tight word count of 600. I think it works.

My gift -

Tonight and the Rest of My Life by anr
BUFFYVERSE | Cordelia/Angel; Teen; 605

A thin curl of sweet satisfaction.

(aka, Five times Cordelia dreams of Angel.)

This filled me with so much nostalgia.

yuletide -

I was lucky enough to receive two gifts for yuletide 2024. I really enjoyed my time in this exchange (I had a rough go of it in 2022 with the gifting side and the Yuleswaps side, so I took a break in 2023). I think this was the exchange I had the most fun in.

I wrote -

Mother
AGATHA ALL ALONG | Agatha/Rio; Mature; 11.3k

Agatha closed her eyes. Swallowing thickly, she felt a stone within her throat shift. "How long will this last me?"

This was how it always went. Agatha would ask, and Rio would never respond. Agatha would always have her answer in the dread coiling low in her belly.

If Death wouldn’t help her, dark magic would.

I am so proud of this one. I had an easy time writing it. I really enjoyed the themes and I just loved how it all came together. This is set pre-canon, with Nicholas, and explores Agatha, Rio, and Nicholas, and how death haunted them all. I feel like it could've been longer, but I think the story is one of my best, and I was certainly proud of it when I wrote it.

My gifts -

to haunt a house nobody lives in by Twilfitt6
AGATHA ALL ALONG | Agatha/Rio; Mature; 3.9k

Agnes doesn't remember why she hates Rio. She doesn't remember that they've had this conversation before. Rio at her door with a peace offering, conversations about the case, the evidence sometimes differed but the case and the corpse were always the same, and they'd talk about these nothingnesses and then, as always, Rio would lean forward and ask.

"Do you remember why you hate me?"

Agnes never does. She remembers Rio's face, she remembers her name, she remembers the way her hands used to feel around her waist, but she doesn't remember what had happened between them. The memories had faded beneath Maximoff's spell but something still remained.

This is Agatha/Rio stuck in a timeloop during 1x01, while exploring how they came to know one another, get together, and split apart. I particularly loved the exploration of Rio's identity throughout this. Perfectly done. It has a nice rhythm to it.

*

All a wild heart needs by Dolorosa
WINTERNIGHT TRILOGY | Vasilisa/Morozko; Teen; 1.5k

Vasya has already transformed Morozko, but now her unpredictable magic has started to transform the world around them, as well.

The maturity between these two! This explores the concept of winter/spring in a quiet moment between the two of them. I was super thrilled to have gotten a gift from dolorosa_12. ♥

littleblackdressex -

I wrote -

my heart beats heavy
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES | Elena/Elijah; Teen; 1k

"Don’t you wish you had a scar?" she asked.
*
Elijah and Elena speak about mortality.

I missed writing Elijah/Elena.

pine4pine -

I wrote -

falling gracefully
HOUSE OF THE DRAGON | Baela/Jace; Teen; 1.7k

When Baela falls from Moondancer, Jacaerys doesn’t leave her side.

I won't lie, writing pining is a lot harder when you actually have to make sure it's heavily in the story in order to comply with an exchange's theme. I think I had intended to write this from Baela's POV (I was getting comfortable writing her thanks to DWRP), but because of the freeforms, I decided to challenge myself with writing Jace, which was a fun exercise.

battleshipex or

voiceteam as they have their own dedicated wrap posts. (I am not even going to bother wrapping what I missed for 2023.)

That's all, folks. :)

I started pulling together a post to wrap up everything I engaged in during January, but it exhausted me pulling books, television, and movies into a post with fandom. This is a post wrapping up all the fandom stuff I did or interacted with, and includes some recs!

*

I had a whole

voiceteam post written, but it seems to have gone missing, so RIP. I have

ficinabox and

yuletide posts half-written and will do a separate post for all exchange wraps because I'm being honest with myself and I know I will never return to them. (I have to track down the creators for FIAB and Yuletide, and I am too lazy to do that right now.)

For Voiceteam Mystery Box, I created or participated in:

( voiceteam )

*

My contributions to

threesentenceficathon:

( three sentence ficathon )

*

I decided to make my first ever non-challenge podfic, and it was for

southernmedicine's fic. (I had actually half-recorded one of her other fics for Guess That Voice in Voiceteam, but I disliked how I said "luminous" and I couldn't stop laughing because it was such a surreal experience recording myself reading aloud.) When I chose this fic, I had forgotten she had written it for me!

[Podfic] Playdates
MCU | Fanny & Lucky ft. Yelena/Kate; Gen; 4 mins
If Kate and Yelena are going to be getting along, it only makes sense for their furry friends to be close companions as well.

I'm glad my first official pod that I made for the hell of it was for a friend's work! ♥

*

I commented on some of these on 29-Dec because I discovered them during

voiceteam, but I think they deserve to be added to my list! These are recs, mostly of pods, but there's one or two fics in here that I remembered I had commented on. Give them a listen, and if you like them, comment! ✨ Sorry, I couldn't be bothered ordering them by fandom. I am that lazy today.

This does not include the podfic I listened to for

comment_bingo, during January. I'll post those as part of my completed blackout when I'm done.

( recs )

*

It's been nice getting back into fandom and engaging again!

My third year of Battleship is over! :D I was on Team Mermaid this year and I had a beaching time with my team! Even though we didn't win, it was one of the best social experiences I've had in this game, and I'm so glad that I not only got over my creative burnout and managed to create over 25 things, but I got to make some new friends, too. (D'aww!)

Things I want to brag about that are personal accomplishments:

I ended up writing approximately 40k of published works (not including the two WIPs that share 10k that I'm still working on), which I think is great. In 2022 for the Frost era I wrote 50k and in 2023 for the Tower era I wrote 9k (can you feel the burnout?). I'm back, baby!

I collaborated with peasina! This was my first collaboration ever! We bonded over tarot and peasina asked me if I'd like to do a reading and sent me the most beautiful Pokemon artwork. She would give me the cards and I got to decide which order they'd sit in the reading. A lot of the Pokemon puns are her work.

I hit work caps for Boards 1 and 2, and really enjoyed the rush of creating triple drabbles so we could clear our board and move onto the Bosses. I love the rallying the most in Battleship.

All the challenges we did as a team were so much fun! I really enjoyed the Rockpool Bar and am so glad everyone was game to participate in that. peasina came up with a comment bingo that made the work reveals period less quiet and lonely. (In case you didn't know: my team was orcawesome!)

I got two amazing podfic of my works! :O I also listened to a lot of podfic this year!

I wrote for new fandoms and converted myself into a shipper! I wrote for Challengers and House of the Dragon (and made myself ship Helaena/Aemond), and revisited a very old fandom in The Vampire Diaries. I did not write MCU or The Boys this year despite some really great requests (I have some superhero burnout).

The worst thing about Battleship is I struggle with titles at times. This will never change lol.

Last year I didn't go through the collections because I was burnt out, so I'm glad to say that I managed to get through all of the teams' collections and really enjoyed a lot of the works that I was familiar and unfamiliar with.

I lost for the first time! But I really enjoyed how my team members were always so encouraging and enthusiastic, and how some of them even ventured into new mediums for this round. Seeing others try podfic for the first time and having our veteran Mermaid podficcers help them out was really cool. That's what Battleship is all about imo.

This will sound lame but I MADE NEW FRIENDS and that is the reason why I participate in battleshipex!

Next year I'd like to contribute art, so I need to… get practicing… I'll be surprised if I try podfic. I don't think I have the reading voice for it lol.

When (not if!) I finish those two other fics, I'll update this list…

Anyway, here is what I wrote. (I did save all my tags in Scrivener… I wonder if it's easy to figure out which tags inspired what fics?) I asterisked my favourites…

( BRIDGERTON )

( CHALLENGERS )

( GRISHAVERSE )

( HOUSE OF THE DRAGON )

( THE HUNGER GAMES )

( POKEMON TAROT READINGS )

( THE VAMPIRE DIARIES )

I'm tired so no thoughts, brain is just buzzing with white noise. I saw

dolorosa_12 and

svgurl do this meme so I thought "I want to be cool, too".

Rules: go through your last 5 fics and share the first and last line. No context.

Obviously not including anything I may have written for unrevealed exchanges! I will also provide a note for my NSFW fic since you know I write horny stuff and I think it's fair I warn for this.

-

i'm desperate for your adoration [ IMPLIED CONTENT ]
first line: "So, does this mean I get to be your dirty little secret?" he murmured against her skin.
last line: Before he could utter another ridiculous word, she kissed him.

*

falling in my den full of lions
first line: "So, you’re sleeping on the floor," he declared with a swish of his cape.
last line: Instead, it held her and kept them at bay.

*

unafraid [ NSFW ]
first line: "You know, when I suggested you take me up against a wall, I was partly joking."
last line: Rather than shush her, he laughs loudly, letting the sound echo around them like he’s finally unafraid of being seen.

*

a broken clock
first line: With a jolt, he slurred, "I had fantasies about this."
last line: Turned out, Maggie Shaw’s a better kisser than him.

*

bleeding in the snow
first line: The snow is cold against your back.
last line: You’re no longer in the snow.

*

In other news: did y'all feel the tectonic plates shift? I'm writing again! My brain is full of ideas. I'm writing things for myself and they are indulgent af. AND I'M LOVING IT. I hope to finish something soon. 🤗

After struggling all year to sit down and write whatever I wanted outside of an exchange, I finally did it!

I decided to participate in

slippery_fish's music drabble challenge (once again!!! I missed doing this!) and FINALLY WROTE MORE ZOYALAI.

i'm desperate for your adoration
gregverse | zoya/nikolai; mature; 500 words

"So, does this mean I get to be your dirty little secret?"

*

Nikolai's excited to be Queen Zoya's dirty little secret, but she has other plans for him.

I feel like it's rough, but, whatever, I WROTE SOMETHING FOR MEEEE.

Is my creativity block over? HAVE I DEFEATED THE EVIL?

We'll see...

This art by

kolarpem inspired me...

[ REBLOG ]

Doing the unthinkable for me and combining two challenges since I purposefully stalled on Challenge 10 because I was tossing up on what to do.

*

snowflake_challenge #10: In your own space, create a fanwork.

My first fill for my

hc_bingo card and another fill for

slippery_fish's weekly music prompt:

to the devil that i love in you
the vampire diaries | katherine/klaus; mature; 1,520 words
During captivity, Katherine and Klaus reminisce about their relationship in England during the 1400s. Even after five hundred years, one of them remains in denial about their shared truth.

I love rare pairs and I love fucked up rare pairs. Bring on the toxicity! (Bring on writing for myself! Guys! I wrote for myself!)

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snowflake_challenge #11: In your own space, Talk about your favorite trope, cliché, kink, motif, or theme.

I really like ambiguous/open endings and I like not reading or writing love declarations that say "I love you". Sometimes I feel like these two go hand in hand for me.

I mean this in the sense that a story follows a certain plot or problem, and by the end of the story, that specific problem is solved. If I follow two people getting together, I want to see them together at the end. In this scenario, what I love about the two people getting together at the end is the story ending on a note of "They're together, they're happy, but what comes next is left up in the air".

I'm not the biggest fan of declarations of love as I prefer it being shown rather than told to me as a reader. I feel like this is often seen as being ambiguous as a lot of stories I read and watch have a love declaration that ties up the "getting together" nice and neatly. But what I love most about a getting together story is that they work through the hurdles that keep them apart and get together in the end, and it's not all rainbows and butterflies. They still haven't gone on a date. They haven't moved in together yet. They're not in a place emotionally to say "I love you". I like the ambiguous endings because I feel like they're more realistic. (I classify people not saying "I love you" as open because, well… I've grown up with love stories that conclude with "I love you" and that's it with no real promise of anything further. The story ends here. The "I love you" is the neatly tied bow.)

(That said, I do like it when "I love you" is featured in a story, but one person says it and the other person denies it. I love it when that declaration brings on more problems than solutions, and introduces yet another hurdle for two people to work toward. I guess in that vein, I really like trust issues and insecurities flaring up.)

And even outside of this example, I just prefer open endings because I feel like it gives the impression that the story I read exists in a bigger story itself. Not everything is hunky dory in real life, and while I know we escape to fiction to get away from real life, I really like having that impression of "More can happen and will happen". The story isn't over yet, but this thread of it is.

I recently reread one of my favourite book series (Six of Crows) and I really like how it ended on an open ending. The main plot thread that spanned two books is concluded, but the characters' endings are open and offer promise of further stories and movement. I find this more fulfilling than anything else, really. I have my closure, I'm satisfied, but I'm not left with what I feel is unrealistic which is a neatly tied bow at the end of it. I like my bows wonky.

I have no idea if that even makes sense, but it's often a driving force for me as a writer. As I've mostly engaged with fanworks in exchanges, the gifts I receive that have open endings (with the plot thread coming to a nice closure-giving end) are the ones that I really love the most. I like my open endings because I feel like they offer a closure that promises that the characters' journey doesn't end with the story. The plot thread I took you on does.

snowflake_challenge #7: In your own space, interact with a community or a fic.

I have:

* commented on

readingtogether (a community I've been intimidated by as I feel I'm a slow reader) and committed to the train rides challenge, where I said I'd like to finish my reread of Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo by tonight (Sunday night).

* dropped a handful of prompts, saved a whole bucket load from

threesentenceficathon, and am commenting around on the stories I find that are of things I love. I've been slowly filling in the ones I've saved. (I love how this year's round is going to turn out like last year's where I just write a lot of Kaz/Inej. I've accepted my fate.) I plan to do a little round-up post of my fills and prompts a little closer to the end date this time.

* posted summer stock icons in my icon community,

shithouse.

* posted a double drabble (Six of Crows; Nina/Matthias; Crooked Kingdom spoilers) as part of

slippery_fish's weekly challenge where you have a week to write a short fic (of whatever size you like) where the story is inspired by the song.

I thought this challenge prompt would be difficult lol.

fandomtrees has taken root and I don't know tree metaphors well enough to make this work (despite doing a lot of work with trees in my day-to-day job which just makes this confession all the more embarrassing), but it's open! This is my second round participating, and the big theme of this year is "Let's get her to actually read" because damn, did I get a lot of book recs.

Me before Fandom Trees:

Me after Fandom Trees:

I'm super ecstatic because the books sound fantastic, I got a range of genre suggestions, and I now have no excuse to not renew my library membership and go explore my local library. :) One of my goals for this year was to read more books and try different genres, and I feel very, very encouraged to take the plunge.

My tree is here if you'd like to check out the book recs!

*

I also got a few drabbles and ficlets covering a span of fandoms, which was super amazing.

the hunger games drabble by

obscure_ramblings
finnick & katniss | gen; 100 words

This really captures the adrenaline of fighting side by side. Finnick and Katniss are a well-oiled machine, and this captured their dynamic, their ability to work together so well, and their resilience so effectively within the structure of the story.

-

Hot Ass Cookie Monster by

bring_me_sugar
abbott elementary | janine, gregory, ava, melissa, barbara; gen, 100 words

All you need to know is that Janine is Janine and tries to fix Gregory's dislike for the foods we all love. I could see this being an episode of the show. It just captured the spirit so well (and the last line is hilarious).

-

The Salt Road

dolorosa_12
six of crows | inej/kaz; gen; 1,997 words
Five times Inej Ghafa left Ketterdam, and one time she didn't.

One of my favourite things about the Inej/Kaz relationship is their emotional intimacy, and that's captured so beautifully in the progression of Inej finding herself on the sea and returning to Kaz for safe harbour. Even after all the heists, I love that Kaz is there for Inej even when she's chosen to fulfil a mission that he was never involved in. What I also really love is that even though they're not physically intimate i.e. hand touching, kissing, etc., they are still physically intimate in the non-conventional understanding where Inej always physically returns to Kaz and Kaz always, always welcomes her back.

-

Playdates by

southernmedicine
hawkeye | fanny & lucky (+yelena/kate); gen; 593 words
Just a couple of small snippets from the POV of the dogs. If Kate and Yelena are going to be getting along, it only makes sense for their furry friends to be close companions as well.

Anyone who knows me knows I love animals and this captures everything that's so special about having an animal in your life. Fanny and Lucky's perspectives are believably sharp and I really loved the language chosen to keep you situated in their POV. This was so beautiful. A big woof from me.

( originally posted here )

*

As for me, I dropped a lot of icons beneath trees, which was a lot of fun considering I hadn't been in Photoshop to make icons in many months. I really enjoyed looking up animal and scenery photos.

I also wrote my first ever fic for Fandom Trees and it was for

southernmedicine! (It only makes sense to inflict this torture on a friend.)

you kept me close
hawkeye (mcu) | yelena/kate; teen; 2,900 words
Five times Yelena and Kate wore one another’s clothes.

*

Because Fandom Trees is structured very differently from the typical exchange I do (it's a fest, I suppose), a very kind nonnie on FFA compiled a list of all the gifts under categories to make it easier to view the trees. You can find that list here and the AO3 collection here!

Not everything is cross-posted to the AO3 collection. I've used the list to go around and check some things out and leave some comments, so if you see something you like, consider letting the creator know!

My second

yuletide is done and dusted! This year, I was really lucky to receive four gifts for two fandoms (three from the main collection and one from Madness, although I consider them all Yuletide gifts!). I have been desperate for Amy/Laurie and I was honestly so thrilled to get stories focused on them (and focused on different aspects of their relationship)!

I ended up writing two case fics because I decided that there was no better way to end the year than with some sort of crime solving. I enjoyed writing both—one was filled with nostalgia and exploring the reasons why someone would steal from a friend and the other was utter ridiculousness that let me have a lot of fun in writing hyperbolic situations that would only happen with superheroes.

There is so much great stuff in both collections. Yuletide is a fic exchange that focuses on rare fandoms, so if there's a fandom out there that you love that hardly gets any fic, check out the collections (past and present) and see if you can find any gems!

*

Fandoms I wrote: Enola Holmes and She-Hulk.

Fandoms I received: Little Women (2019) and Ready or Not.

Other fandoms: Abbott Elementary, The Good Place, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Little Red Riding Hood, Only Murders in the Building, Ready or Not, and Spy Game.

*

( What I wrote. )

( My gifts. )

( Gifts I enjoyed in the collection. )

There are plenty of obscure canons in both Yuletide collections that I'm sure people on my flist (and who wander by this journal) may enjoy: the Main collection and the Madness collection. As always, if you find something you enjoy, please consider leaving kudos and a comment for the creator! (And nothing is ever late—I'm sure they'd enjoy knowing you liked their work several months from when I posted this, too.)

I've finally finished cross-posting all of my three sentence ficathon fills—and just in time for 2022 to end! If you're a poor soul who has subscribed to me, you can breathe a sigh of relief as you won't be getting any more daily notifications.

I won't be listing them all individually here because there are 39 of them (it kills me that it's not even, curse past me!) and that's too many, but you can find them all in my three sentence ficathon series. They're not sorted by fandom because that's too logical.

Stories include Kaz/Inej (Shadow and Bone + Six of Crows), Kaz & Jordie (Six of Crows), Jesper & Milo (Shadow and Bone), Alina + Darkling/Alina (Shadow and Bone), Jaskier/Yennefer + Geralt/Yennefer (The Witcher), Yelena/Kate + Yelena & Kate (Hawkeye), Bucky/Natasha + Bucky (MCU), Elena + Katherine/Elena (The Vampire Diaries), Jess/Rory (Gilmore Girls), Clark/Lois (Smallville).

Some of my favourites include:

sankta
six of crows/shadow and bone | kaz/inej; mature; 67 words
"Sankta Inej," Kaz murmurs and chuckles as she hides her face beneath the cover of her hands.

one of the crew
six of crows | kaz/inej; gen; 87 words
Inej is exasperated when Kaz refuses to act like he's a guest on The Wraith.

i hope when i die, you barely survive
six of crows | kaz & jordie; mature; 80 words
Kaz looks for Jordie in the canal.

she herself is a haunted house
the vampire diaries | elena; mature; 90 words
"I’m sorry," she whispers to the chipped and discoloured tombstones.

flirting
the witcher | jaskier/yennefer; teen; 116 words
Jaskier flirts with Yennefer through song.

grey
shadow and bone | alina; mature; 77 words
Sankta Alina reclaims what the shadows had thieved so brutally from her.

get your shit together so i can love you
six of crows | kaz/inej; teen; 101 words
She watches soundlessly as Kaz sheds all of his armour but his gloves.
—
Or: Kaz takes off his armour, except for one piece he leaves for Inej.

braiding hair
six of crows | kaz/inej; teen; 77 words
With bare hands, Kaz braids Inej's hair.

together we're lost
six of crows | kaz/inej; teen; 141 words
Kaz chooses the sea over Ketterdam.

to be loved and love at the highest count
six of crows | kaz/inej; mature; 95 words
When Inej bumps into a previous Menagerie client, Kaz comforts her before planning his revenge.

when i'm alone with you
six of crows | kaz/inej; teen; 89 words
It's in the shadows where they're able to touch.

fairytales
the witcher | jaskier/yennefer; teen; 131 words
Jaskier writes a song for Yennefer. She, of course, has some edits.

singing like a bird
six of crows | kaz/inej; teen; 131 words
Kaz confesses his love for Inej and enjoys her embarrassment.

you bear your fangs and drink me
the vampire diaries | katherine/elena; mature; 85 words
Elena's no longer afraid of the big bad vampire.

we’re slaves to any semblance of touch
six of crows | kaz/inej; mature; 183 words
Inej glides her naked fingers against the bared skin of Kaz's neck and shoulder, down the muscle of his bicep and to the crook of his elbow.
-
Or: Inej studies Kaz without his armour.

*

I might have a Kaz/Inej problem.

If you like any of them, please leave a comment if you like! Feedback is always appreciated. :)

This was my second year participating in

ficinabox, which happens to mark my one-year anniversary in exchanges. This round, I was successful in swaps and got to have fun creating for different assignments. I ended up writing 72k in total (which is only a testament to how much fun I had creating for this exchange) and explored a lot of the collection (I'm not too sure how many comments I left, but I think I broke my own record). FIAB is one of my favourite exchanges for how it encourages me to be creative and how I get to selfishly enjoy everyone else's creativity.

Without further ado, the good stuff:

I created for The Boys, Enola Holmes, MCU, Six of Crows, and What If…?.

My recs include A Series of Unfortunate Events, A Song of Ice and Fire, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Emperor's New Groove, Harry Potter, Marvel 616, MCU, Murdle, Original Work, One Piece, Oxford Time Travel Universe, Star Wars, and Taylor Swift music video.

*

( What I wrote. )

( What I received. )

( What I enjoyed. )

*

You can check out the collection, which has over 800 works.

ficinabox has different mediums, so not everything is a story! There are over 300 fandoms to explore and many, many great pieces to discover. If you do find something you enjoy, please consider leaving the creator a kudos and comment!

I'm finally getting around to slowly posting a backlog of exchange fic.

I wrote a treat for the

hurtcomfortex earlier this year for

svgurl410.

[FIC]

dancing with skeletons

When Bucky has to pretend to be the Winter Soldier on a mission, neither he nor Natasha expect it to almost cost her life.

You can find the collection here. If you enjoy something, consider leaving kudos and a comment for the creator.

So I think this round of

seasonsofdrabbles might be my favourite??? It's hard to have a favourite when there's always a handful of amazing drabbles that just hit me in the face or kick me in the gut or rip my heart out.

As a participant, I love every round because I make it a point to spice up my requests and ask for a few different fandoms. As a creator, I like to use this as an opportunity to experiment, try new characters/ships, and challenge myself with great ideas inspired by amazing requests. This time around, I stuck to 200-300 words because I was busy with

ficinabox. (I did try to write 100 words, but the drabble that originally had it didn't feel right, so 100 words unfortunately didn't make it as a successful hit on my Drabble Writing Bingo Card. Sometimes that happens! I was still very, very happy with what I had spun into tiny stories.) I also wrote some ships I've never written before, which was exciting and terrifying.

I was absolutely spoiled. (I got a drabble focusing on a character study of my favourite The Boys character and drabbles of my main fandom, TVD! (So glad I didn't sacrifice that request for something else!) I also got a DCU Comics drabble (I was so excited to shake that!) and, of course, what appears to be my main fandom, MCU.)

( what i wrote )

( what i received )

( what i enjoyed )

Check out the collection as there's plenty more in other fandoms! If you find something you like, please give kudos and consider leaving a comment.

multifandomtropefest has come to a close for 2022.

I ended up pinch hitting this year:

MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE

[FIC]

i'm going to leave you shivering

flipflop_diva

While on mission to find the Winter Soldier, Steve and Natasha hide out in one of Fury’s safe houses in the middle of nowhere. When the snow settles in and their heat goes out, they have to rely on one another to keep each other warm.

I enjoyed a couple of works in the collection:

ORIGINAL WORK

[ART]

Seaside Summoning

denpring

BUFFYVERSE

[FIC]

Scarred

RoselynnThornwood

Wesley gets injured after breaking Faith out of prison, and together they heal old wounds and new.

so good

*

While the collection is on the smaller side, there's still a great assortment of fandoms and tropes. If you see/read something you like, give it kudos and consider leaving a comment so the creator knows how much you enjoyed it!

I participated in

battleshipex as a part of the Frost team and ended up writing around 30 fics and drawing one piece of art. This collection is massive and filled with good stuff. I highly recommend browsing the collection and seeing if there's anything that strikes your fancy! (And if there is, please give the creator some love and comment!) I've only linked the main collection because there's four collections and most participants placed their works in the main collection.

This is going to be a huge post covering what I created, what I received, and what I enjoyed in the collection that wasn't created by or for me. Please use your discretion when viewing the AO3 tags if you click through to a work. Some are NSFW and a few cover sensitive topics.

SHORTCUTS: WHAT I CREATED | WHAT I RECEIVED | WORKS I ENJOYED

( what i created + some thoughts )

( my gifts )

( works i enjoyed )

Profile

💯

March 2025

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
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2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30	31

Page Summary

398. WRAPPING UP EXCHANGES FOR 2024 AND 2025 (SO FAR).
391. JANUARY WRAP.
357. BATTLESHIP 2024 - MY DAVY JONES' LOCKER.
323.
322.
310. SNOWFLAKE_CHALLENGE #10 AND #11.
306. SNOWFLAKE CHALLENGE #7.
305. WRAP | FANDOMTREES 2022.
297. EXCHANGE WRAP | YULETIDE 2022.
293. CHALLENGE WRAP | THREE SENTENCE FICATHON.
290. EXCHANGE WRAP | FIC IN A BOX 2022.
286. EXCHANGE WRAP | HURT/COMFORT EXCHANGE.
285. EXCHANGE WRAP | SEASONS OF DRABBLES.
284. EXCHANGE WRAP | MULTIFANDOM TROPEFEST.
272. EXCHANGE WRAP | BATTLESHIP.

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