#VSGTSAS

[caeli0306]

hello hello! a blurb from the first chapter of a fic that I absolutely have never ever talked about that definitely probably won't be published this weekend

===

A familiar thrill skitters down my spine as her glare narrows on me. Then I smirk, because I know exactly what to say to piss her off even more. “Are you talking about yourself?” I ask, unable to help myself. “From the looks of it, you’re still five foot nothing.” “I can’t stand you,” she sputters, crossing her arms and glaring. I lean in more, let the smirk fall away and replace it with something a little colder. It’s time to wrap this up. “Don’t you worry, Sorrengail, the feeling is absolutely mutual.”  It’s not, but I want her out of here, and this seems like the best way to accomplish that. I need her pissed off and more-than-ready to never see me again.  “Now, can you wrap up your tantrum so I can get back to winning an election?” I glance back in Liam’s direction, where he’s wide-eyed and slightly horrified, no doubt because his plan has failed. I look back to Violet. “I have better things to do than stand with you and your friend while you bitch out Mairi over here, so wrap it up.”

[skyfallscotland]

STUNNING 🤩

Violet Sorrengail's Guide to Spinning a Scandal by/for @caeli0306

[caeli0306]

fuck it what if i write an entire fic of VSGTSAS from xaden’s pov

[caeli0306]

ok I KNOW I said the last chapter would be done today... but im tired and frankly it needs a solid copy read and more edit time before I'm comfortable posting it and I want to go to bed lol. since its the last chapter I really want to make sure its good and that I've tied up all the loose ends that need tying before I put it into the world. BUT as a reward for being so freaking patient with me as I've been navigating the craziness of life recently, here is an EXTRA LONG, EXTRA FLUFFY BLURB. dedicating this one to @skyfallscotland bc apparently im getting her (non-existent) therapy bills now for all the angst in the last chapter

===

“Violet?” he mutters, voice rough with sleep. “Good morning,” I respond, my hand moving to his tattooed arm. “I have coffee for you.” “Black?” “Obviously.” He shoves his face back into his pillow. “What time is it?” I glance at the clock on my bedside table, then back at him. “About 7:30.” He curses, then uses his arms to push himself upwards. The sheets fall away, and I’m greeted with the sight of his muscular chest. My mouth waters, because damn. I deprived myself of this for a year? Un-fucking-believable.  Xaden catches my eye, and smirks. “It’s a little early to be looking at me like that, Violence,” he says, his voice still low and rough from lack of use. I don’t miss how his own eyes have flickered down towards my mouth. I immediately feel flushed, and not in the bad way. Oh, the things I want to do to this man. “It’s never stopped you before,” I point out. My voice sounds a bit breathy even to me. “I seem to recall a very interesting meeting in my office in New York back during the campaign that would be proof of that.” “Don’t tempt me,” he warns as he swings his legs over the side of the bed. I scoot to the side so he has room, but he merely follows me, our thighs pressing together. “You say that, and yet you keep putting yourself in situations to be tempted.” I raise an eyebrow in his direction. Xaden laughs, and leans down, pressing his forehead against mine.  “Maybe,” he admits. “But I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

[caeli0306]

in other news i read through vsgtsas from start to finish for the first time this morning bc im planning out what scenes i need to add to xaden’s ver. that wasn’t in violet’s version and damn. i did that. i wrote that.

i love them your honor!!!!

related question: what scene are you guys most looking forward to reading from xaden’s pov, or which scene was mentioned in violet’s version that you want to see fully in xaden’s version? everyone who has followed me for a while know im all about ~democracy~ when it comes to making decisions for my fics, so lmk so i can take it into account in my outline ❤️

[caeli0306]

oh. oh no.

[caeli0306]

I just did one of these and now I'm obsessed. So in honor of the election and Xaden's version, I made a moodboard for Spinning a Scandal.

Hope you make it through this election cycle with a moderate amount of rest!

the hand holding??? the different apartments???? the spaghetti??????????? PERFECT

[caeli0306]

another short lil blurb from xaden's ver. chapter 2! knocked out about 1k words tonight, which I'm pretty happy with, so I think I'm going to leave it at that and maybe work on top gun au chapter 2 for a bit :)

===

There’s a moment of tense silence as I debate whether I should eat my pride and tell him. I don’t want to. But hell, I’m already going to have to in order to get Violet’s help, so what’s one more time? “I need her help,” I finally admit. Liam stays quiet, a silent invitation to continue, to explain what’s caused my about-face. I take it. “Catriona called. She made her move.”

[caeli0306]

I hope people enjoyed chapter 1! blurb time!

===

“Give me Sorrengail’s number.” The demand is growled out, as if there’s a subconscious part of me that’s still resisting asking her for help. There’s a pause on Liam’s end, the sound of shuffling as he sits up. “What?” he asks. Another pause. “It’s 5 in the morning, dickhead. What is so important that you need to call her now?”

[caeli0306]

getting the AO3 ready bc we’re CLOSE!! only like one or two more scenes to write for chapter 1! maybe tomorrow, if im not dead after work? no promises tho.

[caeli0306]

chapter 1 of Xaden Riorson's Guide to Surviving a Scandal now posted!

Chapter 1 - Admit Nothing (Xaden's Ver.) is now up on AO3: READ HERE

AHHHHHHH after all this time we finally have the first chapter of VSGTSAS (Xaden's Ver.)!!!! I'm so excited about this one guys. Chapter 1 starts out a bit slow but we'll really begin tying up some of the open ended stuff from VSGTSAS in the next chapter :) I'm trying to be less critical of my own writing, so I posted this one without doing my usual 16 rounds of proof reads, so if you notice a plot hole, lmk so I can fix!

Summary:

Xaden Riorson - savvy businessman, senate candidate, rising political star - has many problems. One of them being Cat-sized.

Enter Violet Sorrengail - hotshot political crisis consultant, former college classmate/rival/flirtation/frenemy, general distraction when he can't afford one. His burgeoning political career depends on her making sure fake stories don't make it into the press. One minor problem - she hates his guts, which doesn't make pulling off the biggest spin of the election cycle any easier.

Xaden never could get a grasp on where Violet's animosity towards him came from, even though now he's certain it's deserved. But after years of separation, he quickly learns that some fires haven't cooled - for either of them. And it doesn't take long for him to realize that the thin line between love and hate that's always seemed to separate them is disappearing faster than the time to Election Day.

or

Violet Sorrengail's Guide to Spinning a Scandal (Xaden's Version) :)

===

I immediate discover the meaning behind Liam's text message when I stroll into the room just as the clock strikes 1 p.m., stopping at the threshold to survey the gathered people. I recognize just about everyone; all familiar faces – including one that I haven’t seen in years that nearly makes me stop in my tracks.

Violet Sorrengail.

I’m going to kill Liam.

And the textbook throwing fiend is glaring at me like I’ve killed her damn dog. Of course she fucking is. 

I school my expression before I can give my surprise away, but the way those hazel eyes narrow on me tells me I was half a second too late, and that she picked up on my reaction. 

Looks like her powers of observation haven’t dulled a bit. Just my luck.

[caeli0306]

blurb time! trying desperately to finish writing tonight but idk if it'll happen. stay tuned!

===

Violet occupied her own little corner of my brain in college, neither friend nor enemy – something else entirely that I’d never been able to quite put my finger on. If someone asked if we were friends, I’d deny it – we didn’t quite like each other back then. But if someone asked if I didn’t like her, I’d deny that too. The strange, tangled mix of emotions she always managed to bring out of my younger self indicated some unknown, third option.

[caeli0306]

no chapter tonight, unfortunately, but here's a blurb from what I was able to write :)

===

“You want to what?” My cousin is staring at me slack jawed as lean back into Dad’s– my chair, in my apartment in Manhattan. Neither of us have changed out of the black suits we wore to my father’s funeral. There were hundreds of people at the church to send off Fen Riorson, but they weren’t there for Fen, father of Xaden – they were there for Fen Riorson, the senior U.S. senator from New York. That was who was laid to rest in that casket. Despite the moving eulogies and music, I didn’t shed a tear. Not during the service. Not when the casket was lowered into the ground. Certainly not when I got back to the apartment, the stony silence in the empty rooms almost unbearable. My dad died a long time ago. The person that was buried today isn’t someone worth mourning. I shrug. “You heard me.”

[caeli0306]

i am counting down the hours to my weekend so i can spend 6-8 straight hours writing chapter 17 of castles and chapter 1 of xaden’s pov (iykyk) or finishing the top gun au. we’ll see where the winds take me

[caeli0306]

Chapter 5 of Violet Sorrengail's Guide to Spinning a Scandal is now up on AO3!

Chapter 5: Make Counter-Accusations is now posted on AO3: READ HERE

WAIT THIS IS SO CRAZY DID WE JUST FINISH WRITING VSGTSAS? WE TOTALLY DID! Hope you enjoy this 22.4k chapter bc hoo boy was it not fun to edit. On a more serious note, THANK YOU to everyone who loved this fic and cheered me on as I wrote it. It's such a privilege to be a part of such a supportive fandom. See my end note for full thank you :) For those unfamiliar, this is my @rq-gift-exchange fic for the wonderful @witch-and-her-witcher who has been so insanely patient waiting for their gift fic to be finished! I'm going to go sleep for three days straight now, brb.

Summary:

Violet Sorrengail is a highly effectively political crisis consultant. Xaden Riorson is poised to win his late father's old senate seat. The hatred between the two runs deep, but its been years since their fiery classroom debates in college, and Violet was certain she'd never cross paths with him again, until her expertise is required to keep doctored stories that could sink Xaden's campaign from gaining traction just before the general election.

The chemistry is off-the-charts, the tension has every other staffer fleeing when the two end up in the same room, and the fire that existed between them is as hot as ever. But as time goes on, Violet begins to realize exactly how true the saying, "There's a thin line between love and hate," really is.

===

I lean forward, closing the short distance between us, and strain upwards to brush my lips across his forehead the same way he’s taken to doing. When I pull away, I see my own feelings reflected on his face. Once this is over, once I’ve pulled off this final spin, I need to give him the answer I should have given him a year ago. “Thank you,” I say softly, not breaking eye contact so he knows how much I mean it. I’m thanking him for so many things, and I’m not even sure he knows. I twist my hand in his grip, so our fingers intertwine, and I squeeze just a bit. The smile Xaden gives me in response is soft – a word I rarely use to describe a man like him, so full of sharp edges and jagged lines. But with me, when he’s just Xaden and not the businessman or politician people expect him to be, the word fits in the best ways. “Like I said, Violence – I trust you implicitly.” His free hand comes up and boops my nose, and my face scrunches up on instinct. He smirks. “Besides, solving problems is what you’re good at. I can’t be sidelining you from what you do best.” I grin. “Truer words were never spoken.” Xaden’s thumb begins moving back and forth against my hand, a soothing motion. 

[caeli0306]

me after editing the chapter that i thought would be 16k words max and ended up being 22k words (i am exhausted. chap will be up shortly.)