experimentaldragonfire-fics

[experimentaldragonfire-fics]

mending (an afternoon away)

Catra and Adora sneak away from a day of diplomatic duties on an alien planet to eat lunch by a lake and talk about the process of healing and the concept of the future.

I wrote a fic for the @sherafluffbang ! And @crispy-bean made some INCREDIBLE ART to go with it, which is probably one of the coolest things that’s ever happened.

Anyway–here’s ~2k of a Soft Catradora Picnic Date

[experimentaldragonfire-fics]

“They stay, side-by-side, picnic food abandoned in front of them, for a moment that seems at once like an eternity and a split second.”

I had the wonderful opportunity to draw a scene from mending (an afternoon away) by @experimentaldragonfire for the @sherafluffbang! this fic is so soft and so sweet, and makes my little heart feel so full. go read it!!!!!

[experimentaldragonfire-fics]

today 

Adora realizes, several years down the line, that she’s content.

(A snapshot of the future, and the slow acceptance of a life during peacetime)

A loose follow-up to tomorrow, featuring my inability to stop writing introspective Adora.

Read on AO3!

[experimentaldragonfire-fics]

Now on AO3!

You should do catra/adora, this lyric: “But you never trusted tomorrow Yeah, baby is that anyway to live your life?” It’s from the song Tomorrow by Shakey Graves

Ohhhh that’s such a perfect lyric I don’t think I could have chosen anything better if I tried. This ended up both Introspective and Long, so most of it’s under a cut.

Adora couldn’t say she’d anticipated life after the war’s end.

Having been brought up in the Horde, conditioned from childhood to play her part as a piece of the greater conflict, she had never really considered that there could be an “after.” She supposed that, even when she had still been assured that a Horde victory would bring peace to Etheria, she had never quite thought what that might have looked like.

And then, of course, she had discovered a magical sword and a destiny in the middle of the Whispering Woods, and it seemed like her whole life would revolve around those two things--the same endless conflict, from the other side, and perhaps the vague promise of something after, something that looked like the party she had experienced in Thaymoor, the late-night sleepovers with Glimmer and Bow, the warm sands of Mystacor beneath her feet.

The warm feeling of Catra curled up at the foot of her bed, purring softly in her sleep, her traitorous mind had supplied, and Adora pushed the thought aside with as much determination as she could muster. 

Even when, much later on, she had shattered the sword, decided to take control over her own destiny for once, Adora hadn’t been thinking about her place in the nebulous future that her friends were convinced they’d reach. Faced with an intergalactic threat, a new enemy from space, she wasn’t entirely sure she’d even make it through to see the end of the conflict.

(She thought, secretly, that she might even deserve it)

It all had come to a head in the depths of Mystacor, before the Crystal of Arxia, when Shadow Weaver had revealed the true nature of the failsafe under Catra’s interrogation, Adora’s wrist trapped within Catra’s grasp as the reality sank in: whoever received the code would also receive a death sentence. She didn’t put much stock in the sorceress’ claim that She-Ra might survive the outpouring of magical energy--it seemed too much like a placation, a flimsy hope, and rang hollow when Adora had difficulty summoning the sword even under the best of circumstances.

She understood, then, that this must be her destiny--to live for the war, to die ending the war, to be nothing more than the vessel for others’ hopes and dreams.

What do you want, Adora? Why does it always have to be you? rings in her ears even as she tries desperately to push down the guilt, the longing, the tightness in her throat that threatens to leave her gasping for breath. Adora isn’t the one who matters, not in this--she is destined to leave behind the legacy of She-Ra, savior of Etheria, and not of Adora, the Horde cadet, who poked fun at her friends and solved her problems by punching them, who thought horses were the most majestic creature she’d ever seen and who made a promise, long, long ago, that she’d watch out for her first friend in the world, no matter what.

Even if, she thinks, that means that she’ll never see her smile again. If someone has to die for the cause, to defeat Horde Prime, to save all of Etheria--at least it’ll be her, and not Catra, or Bow, or Glimmer. It can’t be any of them, because they’re infinitely more precious than she is.

But everything goes wrong, and she’s bleeding, she’s not going to make it, and Catra’s there and refusing to leave, even when Adora tells her to run, to get as far away as possible, and when Catra insists on staying with her she doesn’t have the heart to make her go.

(She’s dying, now, and maybe she’s allowed to be a tiny bit selfish)

Adora watches everything fade away, feels the sensation leaving her body, and the vision of the idyllic future takes her entirely by surprise.

In that moment, she realizes that it’s no use just fighting for the present. The dreams of a tomorrow where there is no more conflict, no more fighting, no more impossible choices to make, are perhaps the key to pushing through this whole ordeal.

(And when Catra breaks through her spiral into the abyss, yells I love you into the ether, when Adora blinks her eyes open and looks into her face and realizes with her whole being that I love you, too, she lets that vision of tomorrow take root inside her chest, burrow deep into her heart where the failsafe code is etched, and it’s that that gives her strength when their lips meet and everything explodes into light)

Afterwards, staring out at the newly-restored wilderness of the planet, Catra beside her and Bow and Glimmer smiling behind them, Adora thinks about tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after, and lets herself plan out their entire future.

Because, finally, she knows that she’ll be there for it.

[experimentaldragonfire-fics]

You should do catra/adora, this lyric: “But you never trusted tomorrow Yeah, baby is that anyway to live your life?” It’s from the song Tomorrow by Shakey Graves

Ohhhh that’s such a perfect lyric I don’t think I could have chosen anything better if I tried. This ended up both Introspective and Long, so most of it’s under a cut.

Adora couldn’t say she’d anticipated life after the war’s end.

Having been brought up in the Horde, conditioned from childhood to play her part as a piece of the greater conflict, she had never really considered that there could be an “after.” She supposed that, even when she had still been assured that a Horde victory would bring peace to Etheria, she had never quite thought what that might have looked like.

And then, of course, she had discovered a magical sword and a destiny in the middle of the Whispering Woods, and it seemed like her whole life would revolve around those two things--the same endless conflict, from the other side, and perhaps the vague promise of something after, something that looked like the party she had experienced in Thaymoor, the late-night sleepovers with Glimmer and Bow, the warm sands of Mystacor beneath her feet.

The warm feeling of Catra curled up at the foot of her bed, purring softly in her sleep, her traitorous mind had supplied, and Adora pushed the thought aside with as much determination as she could muster. 

Even when, much later on, she had shattered the sword, decided to take control over her own destiny for once, Adora hadn’t been thinking about her place in the nebulous future that her friends were convinced they’d reach. Faced with an intergalactic threat, a new enemy from space, she wasn’t entirely sure she’d even make it through to see the end of the conflict.

(She thought, secretly, that she might even deserve it)

It all had come to a head in the depths of Mystacor, before the Crystal of Arxia, when Shadow Weaver had revealed the true nature of the failsafe under Catra’s interrogation, Adora’s wrist trapped within Catra’s grasp as the reality sank in: whoever received the code would also receive a death sentence. She didn’t put much stock in the sorceress’ claim that She-Ra might survive the outpouring of magical energy--it seemed too much like a placation, a flimsy hope, and rang hollow when Adora had difficulty summoning the sword even under the best of circumstances.

She understood, then, that this must be her destiny--to live for the war, to die ending the war, to be nothing more than the vessel for others’ hopes and dreams.

What do you want, Adora? Why does it always have to be you? rings in her ears even as she tries desperately to push down the guilt, the longing, the tightness in her throat that threatens to leave her gasping for breath. Adora isn’t the one who matters, not in this--she is destined to leave behind the legacy of She-Ra, savior of Etheria, and not of Adora, the Horde cadet, who poked fun at her friends and solved her problems by punching them, who thought horses were the most majestic creature she’d ever seen and who made a promise, long, long ago, that she’d watch out for her first friend in the world, no matter what.

Even if, she thinks, that means that she’ll never see her smile again. If someone has to die for the cause, to defeat Horde Prime, to save all of Etheria--at least it’ll be her, and not Catra, or Bow, or Glimmer. It can’t be any of them, because they’re infinitely more precious than she is.

But everything goes wrong, and she’s bleeding, she’s not going to make it, and Catra’s there and refusing to leave, even when Adora tells her to run, to get as far away as possible, and when Catra insists on staying with her she doesn’t have the heart to make her go.

(She’s dying, now, and maybe she’s allowed to be a tiny bit selfish)

Adora watches everything fade away, feels the sensation leaving her body, and the vision of the idyllic future takes her entirely by surprise.

In that moment, she realizes that it’s no use just fighting for the present. The dreams of a tomorrow where there is no more conflict, no more fighting, no more impossible choices to make, are perhaps the key to pushing through this whole ordeal.

(And when Catra breaks through her spiral into the abyss, yells I love you into the ether, when Adora blinks her eyes open and looks into her face and realizes with her whole being that I love you, too, she lets that vision of tomorrow take root inside her chest, burrow deep into her heart where the failsafe code is etched, and it’s that that gives her strength when their lips meet and everything explodes into light)

Afterwards, staring out at the newly-restored wilderness of the planet, Catra beside her and Bow and Glimmer smiling behind them, Adora thinks about tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after, and lets herself plan out their entire future.

Because, finally, she knows that she’ll be there for it.

[experimentaldragonfire-fics]

I kind of want to write stuff, but not anything that involves too much commitment?

so, maybe send me some song lyrics or a quote and a fandom/pairing and i’ll write something?

[experimentaldragonfire-fics]

hey remember how i was writing an spop canon-divergent space adventure fic that was going to be like. super long

what if i....finished that

[experimentaldragonfire-fics]

a handful of things I wasn’t able to fit into Tipping The Scales, which I feel like I should share:

-Prof Diamanté’s first name might just be “Yellow.” I couldn’t think of anything fun that started with Y. It might also be Yolande or Yvonne or something.

-After the school year detailed in the fic is over, Lapis and Peri move into a shared apartment just off-campus, but Lapis doesn’t go back to university for Peri’s senior year--instead, she spends a lot of time working out how best to communicate with her family back home, and gets some sort of job. (also, she communicates via sea-mail, because I just came up with that pun and it’s great)

-They eventually move into a house back in the same area Peri was visiting on the school trip at the beginning of the fic, because Peri’s working to develop prosthetic limbs and Lapis actually ended up as a teacher to the local mermaid kids. Their house is sort of half-in, half-out of the water, so Lapis isn’t forced to be in human form all the time, and they can get mermaid visitors whenever

-They’re still vaguely in contact with Garnet/Amethyst/Pearl, but more on the level of “facebook friends” than “bffs”. Amethyst came perilously close to figuring out the mermaid thing a few times, but chalked it all up to Lapis and Peri being weird and also adorable. 

-Lapis and Peri had both a mermaid wedding and a human wedding. There may have been some magic-y mermaid powers interventions for the mermaid wedding, because Peri was adamant that she wasn’t going to wear scuba gear to her own wedding.

-They don’t have kids of their own, but mentor all the mermaid children. And they get a pet who is a Pumpkin-equivalent--probably some sort of fish or something, I haven’t thought it out enough tbh

[experimentaldragonfire-fics]

Tipping the Scales: Chapter 19

The final chapter! At last! It’s been almost exactly two years since I posted the first chapter of this fanfic, and now it’s over. I’m not quite sure how to feel about it to be honest.

Anyway--this chapter is mostly an epilogue, of sorts. 

Tipping the Scales is a Lapidot college AU, where Lapis (a mermaid) saves Peridot (a nerd) from drowning in the summer before her junior year, and then finds herself compelled to show up as Peridot’s unwitting suitemate when she returns to school. It’s now complete! You can read the whole thing from the beginning to the end! 

A massive thank you to literally everyone who’s read, commented, or left kudos on this fic over the years--you’re all amazing, and I can’t quite believe how many of you there are. It’s important that you know that I literally would not have finished this fic if not for you--so thank you, truly.

[experimentaldragonfire-fics]

the in-between: part 3 of The Way to Your Roommate’s Heart

Part 7: Perspective

For day 7: First kiss/Last kiss. Lapis considers all the many, many first kisses that she’s shared with Peridot, and thinks about the ones that are still to come.

And this is it, the end! That’s definitely been one of the fastest weeks that I’ve ever had--thank you so much to anyone who’s been reading this, and I hope you’ve enjoyed my series of little interlinked fics in the universe of that college AU I wrote that one time a few years ago. Many thanks to @lapidot-week for running this whole event for I-don’t-know-how-long, and though this is the final Lapidot Week, I’m sure it’s nowhere near the end for new lapidot content! 

It’s been great to participate in this, and I hope that everyone else has enjoyed this as well. Thank you again!

[experimentaldragonfire-fics]

can’t believe that nobody’s mentioned that in ch. 5 of the in-between lapis and peri drink their tea out of each others’ mugs. that was my favorite tiny inconsequential detail. of course lapis wouldn’t buy an x files mug but she uses it for her drinks because it reminds her of peri even when she’s sitting right next to her, and peri does the same thing for the same reason

anyway come talk to me about my dumb fanfics because i have literally tons of things to ramble about for inconsequential plot details

[experimentaldragonfire-fics]

the in-between: part 3 of The Way to Your Roommate’s Heart

Part 6: Reflections

Lapis thinks about many things, but mainly how happy she is now, and how married life isn’t anything like she’d expected--in the best way possible, she’d say. For Day 6: Married/Kids AU

@lapidot-week

[experimentaldragonfire-fics]

the in-between: part 3 of The Way to Your Roommate’s Heart

Part 5: Starlight

For Lapidot Week day 5: Confessions/Surprises. Literally just some fluff involving Lapis, Peri, surprise stargazing, and roof decorations. And tea.

@lapidot-week

[experimentaldragonfire-fics]

the in-between: part 3 of The Way to Your Roommate’s Heart

Part 4: Drawing Conclusions

For Lapidot week 2020 day 4: “Drawing each other/Model AU.” After moving across the country post-college, both Lapis and Peridot take an afternoon for some artistic pursuits.

(Did you really think I was going to go this whole week without at least one pun title?)

@lapidot-week

[experimentaldragonfire-fics]

the in-between: part 3 of The Way to Your Roommate’s Heart

Part 3: Dawn

For Lapidot Week 2020 day 3: “Good nights/Good mornings.” Lapis and Peridot on graduation morning.

@lapidot-week

[experimentaldragonfire-fics]

the in-between: part 3 of The Way to Your Roommate’s Heart

Part 2: Ocean Air 

Lapis and Peridot take a trip to the beach in mid-December, and contemplate endings (and new beginnings)

For day 2 of Lapidot Week--”The beach/Sweater weather”! 

@lapidot-week

[experimentaldragonfire-fics]

Yeah sex is cool but have you ever woken up and checked your Ao3 to see (3) in your Inbox