#Every day I am grateful for Pynch

[ashes-and-ashes]

Ah where do I even begin?

It’s still @of-stars-and-moon’s birthday where I am (I was going to post it yesterday but I got sick!) So HAPPY BIRTHDAY - I hope you had an incredible day you amazing, gorgeous person.

Asu - you were the first person that I befriended on here. I fell in love first with your incredible fics and then with your incredible personality, your overwhelming support and your ability to always see the good in things. You’ve grown from being someone that I completely admired and idolized into someone that I can talk to about anything - from Pynch, Andriel and Wolfstar to selfie positivity, adorable baby cousins and complaining about rain. I am so, so grateful that I can call you a friend, and hope you had an incredible day ❤️❤️

~

Adam finds him on the roof, legs hanging over the edge and hands braced behind him, the light of the sunrise painting the sky in shades of red and gold and pink. For a minute he almost can’t breathe; the fields dotted with dream creatures, the stars just barely fading out, the bold lines of the tattoo snaking across Ronan’s shoulders.

It’s almost too dark to see but a collection of tiny glowing rocks litter the roof, too strange to be made from anything but dreams. Adam carefully steps over them, trying not to slip as he joins Ronan, legs dangling over the edge.

“Hey,” he says, cautiously. He never really knew what to expect with Ronan. Adam had woken up this morning to the tense set of Ronan’s body next to him, the hard lines that only came after a dream. It was too dark to see what Ronan had brought back, but he knew it was something small; Ronan had cradled it in his hands like he was scared of it shattering. “Are you okay?”

Ronan just shrugs. There’s something strange about seeing him like this, the strange sense of vulnerability that was rarely seen with Ronan. Adam watches the rise and fall of his chest, the slight curve of his neck as he tilts his head back.

“Yes,” Ronan says, and he’s lying. There’s enough of a bite in the words, though, that Adam lets it go. He leans back and watches, the sleeping cows and the silver deer and Ronan above it all, a Prince of Dreamers.

He’s often wondered about it, in the late hours of night. Gansey was a King and Ronan was a Prince and where did that leave Adam? He never really knew, even after everything.

Ronan’s still refusing to look at him, his eyes firmly fixed on the rising sun. Adam swallows. Breathes in and out and then holds his breath, heart pounding in his chest.

“Tell me,” Adam says. “I won’t go if you tell me not to.”

Ronan lets out a short laugh, as vicious as the rest of him. It doesn’t bother Adam though - he’s grown too used to Ronan’s sharpness, the way he moved through the world like a fighter.

He’s always found it strange, how a warrior like Ronan could also be a dreamer. Sometimes he wonders if Ronan would give it up.

Ronan finally turns his head, meets Adam’s eyes and it’s always been a bit like looking into the sun, all the heat and searing emotion and the way it made Adam’s heart stop every single time. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to give your dreams up for a boy?”

“You do,” Adam says; the forest whispers behind him. “You do it all the time.”

Ronan just smiles - his true smile, the one that’s beautiful and radiant and soft. “It’s not the same though,” he says, and Adam loves the slight roll of his words, the lilt of an accent. “I have dreams to give up. You don’t.”

“I’d do it for you.”

“No,” Ronan whispers, in a way that almost sounded like a sigh. “You wouldn’t. I wouldn’t want you to.”

Adam closes his eyes and tries to imagine it - a different world, far from the fairy tales of dead kings and magicians and greywarens. He both hates it and wants it with a yearning that makes him slightly ill, a twisting in his stomach and a pain in his heart. “What will you do?” he asks, and the corner of Ronan’s mouth goes up.

“I don’t know. Stay at the farm. Take care of Opal. Dream.”

“What if you - “

“I won’t,” Ronan says, with so much conviction that Adam can almost believe him, as if he hadn’t woken up too many times to see the darkness pouring from Ronan’s eyes. As if he hadn’t seen the things that Ronan brought back with haunted expressions; blood and bones and, once, a glass orb the same shade as Adam’s eyes. “I’ve got it. And I have Opal, I guess. She’s enough.”

“Not always,” Adam murmurs.

Ronan shakes his head, his expression firm. “No,” he breathes. “You’re going to Harvard. It’s your dream. I won’t be the one to take it from you.”

Adam swallows down the feelings inside of him, a mess of conflicting feelings. He’s about to say something - anything - when Ronan holds up his hand.

“Here,” he says, and pulls something out. It’s wrapped in an odd golden fabric, the colour so rich that it could only come from a dream. “It’s for you.”

“What - “

“I don’t know. I just wanted to make something that make you remember and this came out. Take it.”

Adam does. The fabric is soft again his skin, slipping through his fingers. He pulls it aside to find a leather band - like the ones Ronan wore, shot through with threads of the same shimmering golden cloth that he had just cast aside.

“It’s beautiful,” Adam breathes, and Ronan smiles. He lets Ronan tie it, fingers brushing against the inside of Adam’s wrist and making him shiver. “Are you sure - “

Ronan shuts him up with a kiss.

They’ve been together for long enough now that the edge of their kisses had been dulled, no longer threaded with that frantic desperation, the feeling of the sky collapsing around them. This kiss was full of promise, of the sunrise and the sweet air, the rasp of the grass in the Barns at sunset, the taste of Ronan’s lips against Adam’s.

He watches the sun rise through half-shuttered eyelids, the feeling of Ronan’s hands against Adam’s hair, and he lets himself sink into it as the stars start to fade into the sky.

[lady-silvernight]

Rockstar

I wrote a little Pynch oneshot because I was bored. It’s longer than I expected but I finished it. @todreamforever asked me to post it when I got done so here it is. Enjoy everybody.

Summary: Rockstar AU 

Ronan and Adam are internet pen pals but they have never met in person before. Ronan invites Adam to a concert only for Adam to arrive and Ronan to never show up. Ronan swears up and down he was there but Adam isn't convinced until Ronan sends him an unreleased song by the band that had played. Only then does Adam realize that the person he's been messaging for the last six years is the lead singer of his favorite band.

AO3   FFN 

New message from Ronan. Adam's phone blinked at him. He smiled and swiped to open the message. He had messaged Ronan on a whim a couple years ago and they had hit it off. Adam had tried a lot to broaden his horizons when he got to college and finding an internet pen pal became them. He'd never figured out what exactly Ronan did because they had never moved forward from messaging one another. Ronan never seemed to be in one place. Every time they were talking he was in a different time zone or he was working, or not sleeping at normal times. The fact that he messaged first must mean he wanted to talk really bad.

"I know this is kind of last minute but Dream Thief is playing near you next week. I have an extra ticket that I don't know what else to do with it. We can meet up."

Adam quickly typed out a reply.

"Please tell me you're not just a fan because the lead singer has the same name as you?"

"No. Do you want the ticket or not. I need to get it in the mail before the end of the day if it's going to get there in time." Ronan was like that sometimes. He would be nice one second and a complete ass the next but it was kind of endearing to be completely honest. 

"Of course I want it. I love Dream Thief. We've been talking for years and we've never bothered to even try and meet up. I'm excited to finally meet you in person. You've got my address, just make sure to express ship it." "Obviously. It will be there Monday. Don't lose it before the concert." Ronan replied. Adam smiled. 

Work the following week seemed tedious and boring but Adam threw himself into it knowing he was going to finally meet Ronan in a few days. He had taken Friday off so he could stay out late if Ronan wanted to. Not to mention Dream Thief was notorious for running late into the night and Adam would rather take the day off than try to work with just a few hours of sleep. His coworkers could tell something was up but they didn't pry too much. In the three years Adam had been working there he had never once taken a day off of work. Something strange must have been happening but they never approached him to ask. 

When Thursday finally arrived Adam did his best to stay focused at work but by three he was ready to get out of there and get ready. Near him happened to be the event center on the other side of town. Twenty minutes drive from his little apartment. Adam punched out at exact five and was pulling out of the parking lot ten minutes later. The concert started at eight so Adam texted Ronan he was on the way at seven fifteen and climbed into his car. Traffic was going to be ridiculous so Adam wanted to be early. 

By the time he managed to park he only had fifteen minutes to find his seat and Ronan. The ticket was for the floor seats near the front of the crowd. How Ronan had managed to afford two tickets for down here Adam didn't want to know. There were two empty seats in the row near the isle so Adam grabbed one and waited. 

People continued to file in and find seats but Ronan never appeared to take the empty seat.

"Hey man, where are you? The concert is going to start without you." Adam sent a quick text to Ronan and waited some more. The lights dimmed and the tour manager of Dream Thief, Richard Gansey, came out.

"Before the festivities start I want to thank everyone for coming tonight. This year has been tough with shifting tour dates around so much and we appreciate it all very much. A lot of work goes into putting on these shows, Henry wants you to know how hard he works to impress you guys and hopes you enjoy it all. Have a wonderful time everyone." He said. The crowd cheered as the lights dimmed and the fancy laser lights came up. Still no text from Ronan though.

"It's starting man, are you coming or not?" Adam texted. He didn't want to enjoy the first set as Dream Thief started playing with Ronan still not being there. By the end of it he was starting to get into it even if he was still pissed that Ronan hadn't shown up yet. A smaller band came on to perform in the middle while they reset some things for the finale. Ronan was two hours late at this point. Adam knew he wasn't coming but he still slipped out to call him in the hallway.

"Hey Ronan, It's Adam. I'm not sure what happened but it would have been nice to know that you had decided to bail on me. I'm still waiting if you want to come, the last set hasn't started yet. I doubt you'll be here but I can at least try." Adam left the message in Ronan's voicemail hoping he saw it in the morning and felt bad for ditching Adam here. He headed back to his seat and was surprised to find a girl waiting near his seat.

"Are you seat 162?" She asked looking up at him. Man this girl was short.

"What if I am?" Adam asked.

"My name is Blue and I'm a Roadie for Dream Thief. You were our random draw for dinner with Ronan Lynch tomorrow while he's still in town. He doesn't meet fans after the show so you would be one of the few who is meeting him on this tour. If you don't want to come it's up to you but I have to give you this and tell you that it's up to you what you want to do." She said handing him an envelope with his seat number on it. 

"Thanks but no promises. I'm a busy man."

"I understand." Blue said and then she headed back towards the stage. 

The last set started and Ronan never showed but Adam didn't give up hope until the last song started. Dream Thief always ended with their song Remembered. One of the guitarist's, Noah, sang most of that with Ronan backing him up. It was by far one of Dream Thief's most popular songs.

"Listen man, I don't know what the plan was tonight but it's not cool to stand up somebody like that. I don't know what you thought was going to happen but common courtesy is to tell someone if your plans fall through."  Adam texted Ronan before driving home. It was close to two AM by the time he finally crawled into bed and he was forever grateful he had taken the day off of work. After sending one more angry text to Ronan he fell asleep.

"How was the concert?" Adam couldn't believe it. Not even an apology or an explanation for what had happened, just a simple question.

"you tell me. You were supposed to be there." Adam replied.

"I was. It was good. Remembered still gives me the chills."

"Why didn't you answer any of my texts then? Or at least tell me that we didn't have seats next to one another?"

Ronan didn't reply to that. Adam shook his head and stuck his phone on the charger before cooking something for a quick lunch. He'd slept late and decided an early lunch made more sense than breakfast today. His phone buzzed a couple times while he cooked and ate but he ignored it. He had the day off work so nobody else was messaging him. By the time he finished eating he had seven new text messages and an email from Ronan. 

"As terrible as this sounds, I didn't have my phone on me most of the night. The one time I had it I didn't get a chance to reply.”

"I know that's a shitty excuse but it's all I have for you."

"I'm sorry. Is that what you want to hear?"

"Adam, please?"

"Here, I'll make it up to you. I emailed you one of the new songs that technically hasn't been released yet.  Don't share it with anyone else."

"I don't know what else to do."

"Adam?"

Adam shook his head as he opened his email. It was blank aside from an attached mp3 file labeled Foil. Turning up the volume he clicked play to hear the voice of Ronan Lynch.

"This is probably the worst way to tell you this but it’s the best way I can think of so here goes. These past few years messaging you have been amazing Adam, and I want to meet you so bad but the tour schedule is killing me. I'll figure out some way to meet you I'm sure. Anyway, this song is for you. I'll probably record it for the next album but you can know that it's for you." Adam scrambled to pause it. The Ronan he had been talking to for the last few years was The Ronan Lynch. Lead singer of the headlining band Dream Thief. With hands shaking he pressed play and listened.

At first I walked alone, I treaded waters unknown, I had a path laid out for me A plan for everything. But some things have changed, That path has moved again, The only factor, The only thing that's changed, Is you, My foil….

The song had been playing on repeat for the last hour. As soon as it had ended Adam had rewound it to the beginning again. He had searched through all the forums about Dream Thief's new album. There was supposed to be fourteen songs on the one that just came out but one had gotten cut and the other had just disappeared a couple weeks before the release. 

Adam wasn't paying attention and the last little piece of the file started playing as the song ended.

"that should do it. Track thirteen is a wrap. Keep this one under wraps. I'm going to release this one maybe a touch later. It's for Ad-, someone special." The voice said on the recording. Adam looked up sharply when they had stumbled over their words there at the end. It had almost sounded like he had said a name there, his name.

He thought for a second, staring at the phone before grabbing it and doing the one thing he had wanted to do for three years. 

He called Ronan.

They had been talking for almost six years now and never once had they had a conversation that didn't involve their screens. They had gotten comfortable with the text messaging and the occasional random photo of not each other. They had no idea what each other looked like aside from the basic descriptions. He'd never even heard Ronan's voice until now.

"Hello?"

"Are you still in town?" Adam asked before he could lose his nerve and hang up.

"Maybe, depends on who's asking?" The voice on the other end replied sounding a bit defensive.

"Shit sorry, It's Adam. Are you still in town?"

"Adam? Really? It's been six goddamn years and you finally got the nerve to call me." Ronan laughed. "Yea, I'm in town still. You want to meet up somewhere?"

"There's a pizza place on 42nd. It's not very well known but it's pretty good. Closest thing I could find to the pizza place from my hometown. I'll send you the address and I'll meet you there in an hour." Adam said as he mentally ran through what he had for clean clothes right now.

"I'll be there."

"Ask for a spot near the front windows. It's fun to watch the people go by on the street. I'll see you in an hour." Adam replied.

"See you in an hour." Ronan said then hung up. 

Adam's hands were shaking as he pulled his phone away from his ear. He was actually going to meet Ronan. For real this time. He texted the address to Ronan before opening his closet to find something to wear. The place they were headed was fairly casual so he settled on a faded Coke t-shirt and a nice pair of jeans with a nice black jacket. With one last check in the mirror he grabbed his keys and headed downtown to meet Ronan.

It was almost seven by the time he got there and the dinner crowds were starting to thin out already. Two of the tables by the window were free already. Adam checked his phone quickly to see a message from Ronan.

Tell them you are Adam. I said I was waiting for you.

Ronan was already here. He was in one of the seats by the window. Adam hurried inside.

"How many for you?" The lady at the courtesy table asked.

"My name's Adam. Someone should be waiting for me." He said. She smiled and grabbed a menu before heading for the last table by the window. Ronan was sitting with his back to the door so Adam couldn't see his face till the lady set down his menu and walked off again. 

"I take it you liked the song?" Ronan asked. Adam just stared in awe for a second. Ronan, his internet friend of six years, was Ronan Lynch, the lead singer of Dream Thief.

"It was great. Why didn't you release it?" Adam finally replied. 

"I wrote it after that night I stayed up texting you until almost five. You were the only thing between me and making some very bad decisions. I wanted you to hear it before the general public heard it. Originally I wasn’t even planning on recording it but Noah found the lyrics and brought them to one of our sessions. Everybody else seemed to like it even if they didn't know what it meant.”

"Why did you never tell me though? I thought you decided I wasn't worth meeting when you didn't show last night."

"I was afraid of what you would say. People sometimes change how they act when they find out they are talking to a celebrity. I liked our basically anonymous relations." Ronan said.

They chatted over dinner before heading to the park nearby to talk while the sun set. It was dark by the time they made it back to Adam's car.

"I'm glad I finally got to meet you." Adam said with a smile. Ronan grinned.

"Same here. Next time, you're coming on tour with me so we can do this all over the world." Ronan replied. With a soft kiss on Adam's cheek Ronan turned and headed towards his car on the other side of the parking lot.

(One year later)

"Get your lazy ass out of bed. We need to load the bus." Ronan shouted smacking Adam with a pillow.

"I'm entitled to at least a few hours of sleep in a real bed before four months on the road." Adam groaned holding the pillow to him.

"You haven't seen our bus yet. We have a real bed this time." Ronan said.

"And Chainsaw is a dog now. There is no way you convinced Gansey to redo the bus just for us." Chainsaw cawed from her cage in the corner where Ronan had started moving their bags.

"I told him to can it and then paid for it myself."

"Fine. Where did you put my stuff?" Adam said getting out of bed.

"It's on the chair where you left it. I'm taking a load of stuff out. Best get moving before Blue comes to yell at you." Ronan said. Adam smiled and gave Ronan a quick kiss before jumping in the shower.

Dream Thief's Chosen tour started in a week and Adam was going with. After all, it would look bad if Ronan Lynch's new boyfriend didn't make an appearance.

[parakeatswrites]

1, 3, 7, 25 writer meta? 🥰

HAR, get ready for a long one!! 

I wrote this whole thing and it’s a LOT but a HUGE thank you for giving me an excuse to chat about my writing!! 😍

1. Tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

My WIP folder has 27 files in various states of writing / planning / abandonment. So here’s the ones that are posted on AO3:

- 🌄 Home to Me (the timetravel slowburn / they are married one) - I’m scared of writing the ending of this 😂 but i’m definitely in the home stretch of writing the draft and my brain Does Not Want To. 

- 💤 The Night Hides All Flaws (the ASMR, no-magic, university AU) - I just like writing this when I want to do pure awkward fluff. It’s incredibly self-indulgent.

Here’s the WIPs that are still drafts or just notes that I fall asleep thinking about:

- 🎠 the Witcher Fusion AU (very very loosely based on the Witcherverse concepts with no regard for timelines) where Adam was given as a child in payment to a Witcher and is now walking the Path. He keeps coming across the runaway Prince Gansey and his Crew etc etc It’s got a small mystery, action vibe to it so I’m taking my time putting in plot points. So here’s the tentative summary that I’ve written: 

Adam hadn’t been a Witcher for very long in the grand scheme of the Continent and he wasn’t the type of Witcher that got involved in grand adventures, or found himself in the middle of turning points in history. Adam had been trained because he was a child surprise - no more important than a cask of wine - and had made it to adulthood because he was smart. He wasn’t like the Witchers of yore, and he wasn’t trying to be. Give him a nekker nest or a few drowners over Destiny any day. Then again, the errant Prince of Gansey was determined to cross his Path with his merry band of misfits in search of adventure as often as possible. 

Adam had come inland for the winter, hoping to get a big payout to tide him through the season from the local Duchy of Springer Falls, but something wasn’t right with Duke Lynch and his brothers. The monster in the woods hadn’t been part of any bestiary Adam had seen, and the Duke seemed reluctant to hire Adam to dispatch it despite the threat to the surrounding farmland. The whole situation smelled of too much trouble for not enough coin, but of course Prince Gansey couldn’t leave a good mystery alone.

- 💥 Break and Enter meet-cute (a pynch fic which I can’t explain any better than that I think??) No text written yet, but some general chapter planning and now I’m just trying to figure out what it wants to be 

- 🌳🌲 Blue sacrificial bride - a bluesey fic, but Hear Me Out. Set in ~old medieval fairytale times~ and there is a Beast in the woods that demands human sacrifice every solstice etc etc and one day Maura is called to the Lords Manor or whatever and when she doesn’t come home Blue figures that she has been chosen as a sacrifice to the Beast. She rushes off to save her mom, but people who go into the forest Don’t Come Back dun dun duuun. Blue rolls up on a falling down castle in the woods etc etc meets a boy who is just Confused About Being Here but Having A Good Time (Gansey) and she has to work with him to try and escape the forest that is magically keeping them there. (It is Very Extremely ‘YA novel retelling of beauty and the beast’ meets ‘any weird folktale i want to include’). I haven’t written much yet because it will be Blue POV and I am not confident in that POV yet haha

- 🏫 A wip with no title (I am open to suggestions) that I’m hoping to post this fall that is a no-magic, Adam meets the gangsey post-university with the premise “What if Matthew was a lot younger and Adam was his tutor and Ronan has to pick him up from school but Adam is just like ‘You are not Declan’ and Ronan was like ‘No, but you are hot.’” I AM ONE MAN WITH ONE WISH and it is doting older brother Ronan who is a fool over an aloof Adam

-  💅 A series of notes I frantically wrote one night here is the most coherent part of them: 

Adam and Ronan are in a sort of paranormal fbi situation and are deployed undercover as a married couple. Adam doesnt know what Ronan's powers are (redacted) but he's got a (somewhat false) reputation as "the muscle" and Adam is like "ugh, they are going to make me stay in this house w this uncomfortable hetero dude". 

Ronan starts setting off fireworks in the backyard, and Adam thinks it’s gunshots and is like “Do you understand that we are UNDERCOVER??” 

And they have to be domestic and pretend to be married while they basically gather intel about a dangerous magical object in suburbia?? Gansey is their handler and just wants them to stop fighting and endangering the mission???

I will stop there, please, anyone is welcome to come STRAIGHT into my ask box / dms to talk to me about these.

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway) 

Bet you didn’t think I have any more ideas after all that, right? BUT here’s a snippet from a character study oneshot for an Adam headcanon that will probably never see the light of day: 

It started when he had the graveyard shift at the factory, taking breaks with the exhausted moms who didn't mind sharing a smoke with him because he wasn't their kid. He kept it up because it calmed his nerves as he frantically tried to get the grades for the Aglionby scholarship, sneaking smokes out of Boyd’s jacket that always hung off the back of his office door. The double wide was always acrid with the smoke and old beer, so his father never noticed. He quit after starting at Aglionby, too worried about the smell of car oil on his uniform and he didn’t like what nicotine would signal to the other boys. At Mountainview, hanging around on the sidewalk behind the school with cigs was its own place in the social hierarchy. He didn’t want to find out what rung that would string him up on at Aglionby. 

Car oil might just mean that he was handy, had a useful hobby. At seventeen, new to the pristine halls of Aglionby, nicotine just meant trouble.  He didn't want trouble, he wanted to get out of Henrietta. He never told Gansey. Not because he was ashamed, but because Adam didn't have to tell Gansey everything. 

Adam was grateful that smokes seemed to be the only habit Ronan didn't pick up from Kavinsky. The smell curling off the Mitsubishi made his skin itch  with nameless wanting. (Near first semester midterms at Harvard and ronan came up to visit adam and "Did you smoke?" Adam asked, feeling immediately embarrassed. What was he doing sniffing Ronan's collar like some sort of dog. "Huh?" Ronan's brain hadn't caught up with the idea of talking instead of kissing and his only response was grunt and an insistent kiss to the corner of Adam's lips. Adam leaned back, now feeling like a jealous wife, "you smell like cigs." He wasnt sure what he was asking.

7. What do you think are the characteristics of your personal writing style? Would others agree?

Not totally sure since I don’t think I can consciously control the characteristics or style of my writing. I also try to avoid noticing if I repetitively use the same words or phrases, since I’ll probably just become self-conscious. 

I do try to remember to keep a character’s physical surroundings present (even though I find a lot of place descriptions boring to read and write 😂) So I try to keep whole passages from feeling like just ‘talking heads’. Also I try to show the emotions of a character whose POV we’re not in, instead of having the ‘close 3rd person’ narration spell it out explicitly. 

I’ve also gotten a lot of comments on HtM that the writing style is ‘mysterious’ which is a HUGE compliment and I have no idea how I made that happen. 

I can’t speak for anyone else if they agree with how I’ve described my writing so feel free to reply / dm me to let me know 😂 you can give me a reality check.

25. What part of writing is the most fun?

I have answered this here too, but another part of writing I find fun is dialogue between friends when they’re just hanging out. The cadence of how people talk and the weird shit friends will joke about... Just love it!! 

CONGRATS if you read this far!! 

Here’s the link to the questions if anyone else wants to play