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had actual fic dreams last night

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wrote about 1000 words the other day (yay) but it seems the longer I write this story, the more confused I get about its tone/direction/everything. starting to wonder if this thing is ever going to sort itself

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355 words today ✅

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somehow wrote fic in my dreams last night

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Hi Bell!

I just randomly discovered your fanfic Sliver and i absolutely devoured it! You wrote a beautiful story!!! Amazing work!

Hello!! I'm so sorry it took me literal months to answer this. 😭 I am not on top of things it would seem.

But thank you so much for a) taking the time to read my story and b) reaching out to let me know you enjoyed it! It really does mean the world to me and every comment/ask/bit of feedback brightens my day.

Hope you're well!

bel

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a personal update

I don't usually share much about myself on this blog, but it seems that writing Silver has changed the trajectory of my life in a way I never foresaw and it feels appropriate to mark that here somehow.

read more because this ended up longer than I intended but

tl;dr I got a visa to move across an ocean and live with one of my readers

In November of last year, while in the throes of finishing my longest story ever, I got a kind ask from @starsoforionwrites. Without going into it too much, I did not have much going for me at the time. I'd just quit my master's degree after only a semester, had to move back in with my parents, couldn't get a job, etc. I wasn't doing well.

But then I got this friendly message! And as I was sitting there at my local cafe, trying to escape my chaotic family and wracking up more credit card debt paying for a chai I couldn't afford, I decided to reach out.

So we started chatting. At first it was about fandom and our stories, but fragments of real life began to slip in. And starsoforion is just so much fun to talk to. I started looking forward to the time of day when they would finish work and we could talk, staying up until ridiculous hours because we just didn't want to stop. Learning morsels of information about who they are, piecing together all the bits and pieces into this person I liked so much.

By mid-December, we'd gone from joking about meeting to buying airfares. I finally got to hug them for the first time at the international arrivals door at the airport at the end of January.

We spent a wonderful 10 days together and by the end of it, we decided we were going to try to be together.

Which, as far as immigration goes, is (thankfully and surprisingly!) not terribly difficult for us, given our particular combination of citizenships and residencies.

So I doubled down and got a job to start saving as we made plans for our future. After six months apart working hard, we saw each other again, this time with me visiting them just to make sure I could see myself living in the UK before I dropped money on the visa application.

And then... everything's worked out. I got the visa. I'm in the midst of packing up my things and leaving my job to move overseas before the end of the year.

I can't believe how writing fanfiction has brought this special person into my life and given me this incredible opportunity, or how different my future looks from just one year ago. I'm doing so well, I'm so proud of myself, and so happy.

so there you go, kids. follow your dreams. comment on your fav fics. date the authors! who knows what could happen 💕

p.s

if you're interested in the logistical/immigration side of this story, I have been blogging about it at @bels-adventures

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I need everyone to know that not only did I have the pleasure of witnessing this process, but that said process included getting out a tape measure to test if exactly 4 feet is a good height for a floating object

+1600 words that came literally out of nowhere and I did not plan for

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I am ✨ writing ✨

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big believer that writing doesn't always have to be writing. sometimes writing is going for a walk. sometimes writing is rehearsing your characters' dialogue in the shower. sometimes writing is putting a song on loop and staring at the carpet. sometimes you need to hang out with your story instead of writing it

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I've noticed a bit of an influx of new readers/commenters on Silver in the past week or so and I just want to say (again and again and again) how much I love hearing your thoughts 🥰 getting those ao3 emails during long workdays brings such a smile to my face. y'all are the best.

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Hey just came here to say I really loved An Exercise in Seriously Poor Judgement (And Easily Removed Shoes)! It was so wonderful!

Hi! Thank you 🥹 Your comment brought such a smile to my face. Thank you for taking the time to read and leave your thoughts! I'm glad my raunchy adventures are being so well received 😂

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my super smutty oneshot is up!!

special thank-you to @starsoforionwrites for a) motivating me to turn my terrible life choices into fic and b) letting me rope them into being my beta for this work (love u)

This is by far the raunchiest thing I've ever written, so if you'll excuse me I'm going to go lie down for a bit.

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just finished a draft of the smuttiest thing I have ever written by far. give me a few days to edit and then 👀

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✨writing porn in public✨next to my dad✨

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super overwhelmed by the influx of comments/bookmarks/etc on Silver and its afterword. thank you all so much <3

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Silver: Afterword

I vividly remember writing the first chapter of Silver in my high school library when I was 15 years old. I didn't pick it up again until I was 21. Now it's fully published, and it's been more than 10 years since I sat in that library.

Silver was a challenge to myself, to see if I could write the most realistic, canon-friendly redemption and romance arc. It's the longest thing I've ever written and challenged my writing skills in a way that is so gratifying and I hope will make my future stories better.

This story has followed me through so many life changes, too. From brainstorming plot at a warehouse job during lockdown, then office jobs, at cafes and on runs and drives and anywhere I could find to just sit and write for a while.

I left my partner (who never knew about this story) and moved across the country. Then the planet. I started grad school. I left grad school. Moved back across the ocean. Felt lost and found again. And now it seems that through this story I might have discovered my next chapter, so to speak.

I'm so incredibly grateful for all of you who have taken the time to read, comment, rec, etc. And a particular shout-out to the handful of people who were kind enough to look over my draft before it was published and be my cheerleaders.

As always, I'm here to chat about stories or writing or anything else. I do have another dramione in the works (oneshot) which I hope to finish soon, and a few other wips for various ships floating around as usual :)

-bel

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I think I can now safely promise that the final chapter of Silver will be up by the weekend!