#all of mine are wips except the Single Adopt i got

[acevity]

joined a wc rp for the first time in forever and look. look at the creatures

[amyscascadingtabs]

2020 in writing

tagged by the wonderful @feeisamarshmallow and @b99peraltiago! thank you, this took me seriously three hours but it was fun. 

tagging whoever has three hours to spare!! but i’d love to see @amydancepants-peralta, @letsperaltiago, @johnny-and-dora, and @fezzle do this, although no pressure because this took me the entire evening. 

1. List of works published this year

oh god this is going to take forever...

i’ll walk through hell with you, chapter 5, 6 & 7

all the kingdom lights shined just for me and you

a single kiss and i’m under your spell

paper cut stings from our paper-thin plans

dust off your highest hopes

i can’t see the future, but i know that it’s there

look now, the sky is gold

look at where we are, look at where we started

bracing for the winds i always summon

just know that i’m already home

there’s magic everywhere you go

we’ve found a love to cross the ages

all my days, i’ll know your face

hell was the journey but it brought me heaven

(three times ‘cause) i’ve waited my whole life

if devotion is a river, then i’m floating away

when all your heroes get tired (i’ll be something better yet)

evermore

i am not a stranger to the dark

in the cracks of light, i dreamed of you

rare as the glimmer of a comet in the sky

21 works!! 

2. Work you are most proud of (and why)

I am really really proud of finishing i’ll walk through hell with you, that’s still one of the highlights in my writing “career”. bracing for the winds i always summon and (three times ‘cause) i’ve waited my whole life, because they were both longer works with a lot of introspection that focused a lot on jake and amy’s feelings about upcoming parenthood. especially the last one I still love dearly. i’m also really proud of the fics i wrote all from rosa’s perspective (paper cut stings from our paper-thin plans and when all your heroes get tired (i’ll be something better yet)).

3. Work you are least proud of (and why)

none! I guess a few of them are shorter and written way quicker than some others, but I always take that into consideration when “evaluating” how proud I am of them so no. personally, I’m proud of everything in different ways. 

4. A favourite except of your writing

referring to the creator tag meme for this where I posted excerpts from the five works I’m most proud of!

5. Share or describe a favourite review you received

questions like these remind me that I need to start saving my favorite reviews somewhere! that’s a goal for 2021, haha. but every comment that have listed their favorite moments in the fic I reread like five times over and smile every time, and all the comments people left me on the last chapter of i’ll walk through hell with you were so wonderful. and the rosa fic. and the -

you know what, I just started reading through old comments and I can’t pick one, it feels too unfair to all the other incredible ones I ’ve gotten. so. all of them!!!! I love you guys!!

I will mention this one that someone sent me in the middle of summer, during a period when I wasn’t writing or publishing so it ended up meaning that much more for that reason as well. comment on look at where we are, look at where we started (in the brief period of time when we thought peraltiago baby would be named Leo)

“Idk why, but the way Jake was talking to Leo made me wonder if my parents ever talked to me like that right after I was born. I've been told the story of my birth every birthday since I was born, so I know it by heart, but despite the countless Peraltiago baby fics and other fandom baby fics I've read, this is the one that made me wonder what my parents were thinking when I was born. And then it made me wonder what I'm gonna think when I give birth to a kid, or if I adopt a kid.” like, I was just so floored that something I wrote made someone reflect so deeply on their own life. and I want to underline that I have so so many favourite reviews but yes, this one stuck with me!

6. A time when writing was really, really hard

this summer was the hardest it’s ever been. first the (rightful) hesitance and reflection that followed the BLM protests and then some trauma and deep depression added onto that for me was… yeah. it took a really long time to find real joy in it again. 

7. A scene of characters you wrote that surprised you

Jake and Rosa’s friendship in i am not a stranger to the dark! I’ve written a bit of Rosa and Amy and feel quite comfortable with their friendship and dynamic but far less of Jake and Rosa! 

“At least this is still way better than... that.” “Literally everything is better than prison.” “True that.” Rosa looks up at the tv, realizing she’s missed at least ten minutes of the movie already. “I’m glad we got out.” “Sometimes it still feels like a part of me didn't,” Jake says, quietly. “You ever feel that way?” “Sometimes,” she admits. “We did, though. That's what's important.”

Rosa can hear someone talking in the background on the other end, and Jake mumbling something back in reply. “I have to go,” he tells her, and it makes her a little sad, because he's good company. “I can't miss dinner. Wouldn't want to piss off the entirety of my fiancées family before I’ve even married her, right?”

8. How did you grow as a writer this year?

I wrote more Rosa! that’s probably the single thing which helped me grow most, because she’s arguably a much harder character to write than Jake and Amy, since most of the time you really have no clue what she’s thinking. I have to think a lot harder about how Rosa thinks and feels and reacts to things and I feel like that makes me a better writer overall. 

9. How do you hope to grow next year?

I don’t have any big expectations tbh. I know next year is going to take so much of my energy “”professionally”” or well, study-wise, so I think it’s the wrong year to set ambitious creative writing goals for me. then there’s also the inevitable fact that I’ve written a whopping ninety-nine stories for this show now and I’m always asking myself for how long it will last. there was a point in april-may where I thought it was going to be the end and during the entire summer as well. so… we’ll see. I don’t have any WIP I’m aching to finish right now. 

10. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta of cheerleader or muse etc. etc.)?

@fezzle, @johnny-and-dora, @vernonfielding, @amydancepants-peralta, @feeisamarshmallow, @amazingsantiago and @letsperaltiago all deserve their own shoutouts here for various reasons!! (if you want to know more about why just message me!) 

11. Anything from real life show up in your writing this year?

always, in different ways in how I relate to the characters and different feelings and moments and experiences that would take way too long to explain. but if I could choose one fic it would be paper cut stings from our paper-thin plans. I worked through a lot of feelings about a breakup I went through in this one and they were ones I hadn’t really had the chance to let myself feel before writing this. It isn’t similar to how my breakup went, at least I didn’t mean for it to be and haven’t put any intentional similarities in there (although I guess there are a few if you look for them) but some of the things Rosa thinks, says and feels after being broken up with were quite personal. i am not a stranger to the dark and the way it focuses on healing after trauma was also partly personal although way much less obviously so because the experiences are quite different lol.

12. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers?

make writer friends! talk to other writers! you’ll both learn so much and it makes writing and developing fics so much more fun!

13. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year

I currently have zero WIP and zero real plans so genuinely who knows. all depends on what my life will look like and what s8 will bring us! 

14. If you could recommend only one work from yourself published this year

all the favourite five, but maybe when all your heroes get tired (i’ll be something better yet). I think it’s a great complement to the Rosa and Amy action we saw in season 7 and it has a lot of peraltiago from someone else’s viewpoint as well. 

15. Year word count

are you kidding meeeee okay here we go.

okay, so adding everything I’ve published this year together… 111 283 words.

😳 😳 😳 

DEAR GOD.

additional trivia: the shortest fic was 651 words (evermore), the longest if you exclude the three chapters of i’ll walk through hell with you (they are 24.6k together though) (three times ‘cause) i’ve waited my whole life, and the average word count for a fic of mine this year was 5 299 or 4 838 words, depending on whether you count the chapters of i’ll walk through hell with you as one or three works. that makes sense because i feel like i’ve written a loot of fics around that length this year! 

[soldouthaz]

Hey love! Can you give us a quick summary of all the fics you’re currently working on and also of those you kind of have ideas to write about in the future but haven’t started yet? I’m so interested in your writing 💕

ahh of course!!! I'll put it all below the cut in case anyone wants to be surprised :) thank you so much for your interest! I hope you’re doing well! 

okay, so aside from a couple that I'm keeping secret for now, these are all the ones that I'm currently working on! (I'll put my other ideas that I haven’t started yet near the bottom of the post! 

1. single dad fic 

this one and the next one will most likely be out sometime in the beginning of 2021 since I’ve already got a bit of them written! this one is abo too, which is also still kind of new to me! L moves in next door to H who has a daughter, and quickly becomes caught up in their lives, getting attached to both H and the little girl. there are a few twists and turns along the way though because I can’t help but write in some angst, and I’m excited to write these characters! I don’t think I've ever written a kid fic before, so this one is full of new concepts for me! 

2. look after you iii 

this one has been a long time coming, but I'm hoping to get it out sometime before march 2021 if all goes well! it’s the final addition to my look after you series, and I feel like it wraps everything up really nicely. it also shows a more serious and domestic side to those characters than any other part of that ‘verse, and touches on some important aspects of my own life like adoption and a few other things yet to be revealed. I always say that this series began as an excuse to practice writing smut, but it’s turned into so much more to me :) 

3. science & faith

I've mentioned this one a few times before as well! it’s STEM major L who has dedicated his career to proving that love doesn’t actually exist. H is a philosophy major that challenges him from the beginning, and through several interviews they become unexpected friends. cue major character development and wayyyyyy too much psych/philosphy conjecture because it’s my guilty pleasure. some of my favorite fics are the ones where they’re both insanely intelligent and debate a lot, so I've tried to mirror some of that in this! 

4. sitcom au 

okay, this is the first of several long fics that I want to write this coming year! this one is an idea that I've been obsessed with for nearly two years now, and I'm finally getting around to writing some of it! it’s loosely based around Friends, but very different I'd say. the entire gang are on a new-age sitcom and the fic explores their lives both on and off screen. it’s enemies to lovers (sort of) and has a bit of side ziam because it’s my guilty pleasure, and I feel like it’s one of the most real, raw, emotional pieces I've ever written. I am so so so so excited about this one, and I feel like people will really be able to relate to many aspects of it!!! 

5. love & monsters 

this au is loosely based around the movie that came out earlier this year (Love & Monsters) in which the world ends, but not entirely. I'm changing quite a few details about it though! the vibe here is very dystopian, everyone lives in bunkers, and there are giant, radioactive insects as a result of the world ‘ending’ (lots of world building which will be explained in detail in the fic!). this one features bunker leader H and traveler L, and it’s another one that is unlike anything I've ever written before! I have so many ideas for this one, and I've always wanted to try my hand at a dystopian type world! 

6. speakeasy au 

this one was inspired by the lovely, talented @loubellies !!!!!!! her fic was phenomenal, and it immediately inspired me to want to write a fic that took place in a similar ‘verse! mine will take some slightly different turns and hopefully won’t be too similar! as the rough title suggests, it’s based around a speakeasy and it’s also a historical au (I am going to try my best to make everything historically accurate, but I made a B- in history in school so - we’ll see!) so far it’s got lots of prohibition-era type themes, suspender-wearing H, and one of the most interesting L’s I've ever written, I think. oh, and LOTS of alcohol! I'm excited to try to write some crime/action more in depth! 

7. married in vegas au 

for this one I wanted to go back to my roots for another road trip fic! it’s strangers to lovers to enemies and then back to lovers (sorry for the slight spoiler, but you know I'm incapable of writing anything other than a happy ending) and features H&L both flawed and at some difficult parts of their lives, and they both find themselves in vegas hoping for a distraction. on the trip back to their old lives they both are forced to confront some things and improve themselves, and maybe also learn to love again while they’re at it. I adore road trip au’s and character development, so this is another one I'm really excited about! 

8. abo royalty au 

the last I'll share of my current wips for now is one that I've had in my idea list for a while, but randomly wrote a few thousands on over the past few weeks! it’s a historical royalty au that’s abo, featuring royal H. I don’t want to give away too much of L’s storyline just yet, but his character is one of my favorites in this one for sure! also, may or may not be written with my lovely friend @falsegoodnight .... let me know? ;) 

that’s about it for now! I have nearly 30 wips but I only counted the ones that have significant word counts here, and I'll put some below with the ideas! 

and then here are some in my list that have 10k or less that I want to write in the future (feel free to send me ideas or things you’d like to see in them, or to ask me for more info if you’re curious!): 

- ziam au 

- sterek au 

- fashion designer!L 

- rival CEO’s (this one has over 10k but it’s been abandoned for a bit! I need to get back into it!) 

-superpowers au 

- ghost writer!L / popstar!H au 

- *possibly* a triplet fic (nothing weird! strictly X/L | X/L | X/L) 

- witch!L 

- more vampy drabbles 

- a pride and prejudice au where L is mary

- phone sex operator!H but the hotline is for aftercare

- H is engaged to someone else (although ris @falsegoodnight knocked this trope OUT OF THE PARK and I don’t think I could ever do it justice after reading hers!) 

- some modern day fairytales 

- I'd like to do some more uni au’s as well! 

- a loosely inspired reversed Grease au where L is preppy and pretends he doesn’t know H when they get back to school, and H is from the ‘wrong side of the tracks’ and falls head over heels for L 

alrighty, I think that’s about it! these are most of my plans for the next two years or so, with the exception of some drabbles/pwp’s/some other works that I'm keeping private for now! if you see anything you’d like more info on or make any suggestions for, please don’t hesitate to reach out or send me an ask! 

and thank you again for asking me this, I've really been uninspired recently and I feel like I'm kind of dragging, but getting to talk a little bit about them has made me very happy tonight! thank you so much again for your interest, and I hope you have a lovely rest of your day/night! <3 

[pens-swords-stuff]

WAIT WAIT WAIT please PLEASE TELL ME MORE ABOUT VANESSA!!!! do you have like a mood board or anything for her? like----- where can i get a description of what she looks like/read about her bc i just saw the last ask you did and read abt vanessa and i LOVE HER i think i got a crush immediately.................... im fr gonna Sob omg.

OKAY FIRST OF ALL @yeraswifey!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I wasn’t actually sure whether people read these ask games, and Vanessa is one of my newer characters that I’m sometimes concerned about so this?? honestly made my day!! this is one of the nicest things people have said to me and I’M THE ONE GOING TO CRY

So to answer some of your questions… Here’s what she looks like! Her face claim is Kassi Smith. The only other detail I would mention about her looks is that she’s about 5′7″, but she’s always wearing heels so she can look taller.

She does have an aesthetic board on pinterest here. I have to warn you though, it’s a really bad aesthetic board — one of my worst ones. I know exactly what her aesthetic is, but I haven’t managed to find the right search terms for it yet. Her pinterest board is in dire need of reconstruction, and it’ll happen at some point, so everything here is subject to change.

She also has a playlist!

So I’m really sorry in advance, because this post is going to end up long. It’s not very often I get asked to talk about an OC, and I’m going to milk it for all it’s worth. Also, she’s a part of two main WIPs I have right now, and she definitely differs in them so I’m just going to give you a rundown of both if that’s ok!

Of course, if you have any questions about her, definitely let me know! I’ll be happy to answer them.

General Vanessa facts

Here’s a couple personality paragraphs I wrote for her when I first conceptualized her:

Fiercely independent and ultimately self-serving, Vanessa exists on her own terms no matter what anyone else tells her. She breezes in and out of everything as she pleases, often finding a person or a hobby of the month due to her fickle nature. Commitment is an unfamiliar concept to her, and there is very little that she returns to regularly — feeling trapped or obligated is not something she takes to kindly. She’s power-hungry and ambitious, Notoriously shallow and indulgent, Vanessa can often be found partaking in activities that shouldn’t be mentioned in respectable conversations. She’s rather flirtatious, though she’s very careful to not reveal too much or let people in too close. Aside from a few exceptions Vanessa is very guarded, preferring the casual relationships that she’s not expected to maintain. As much as Vanessa pretends to not care, pretends that life right now is exactly what she wants, she wants to care and there’s something missing. After five centuries or so of immortality, she’s far too jaded to become involved in anything temporary — romantic or otherwise.

So that was the very first draft of her personality. She largely hasn’t changed, except I would say that she’s even more confident in herself than before, she’s more capable, and is perfectly content with her fickle lifestyle — in the newer versions of For Queen and Country, she does have a purpose and isn’t just aimlessly wandering like she was originally.

Vanessa is characterized by her utter confidence in herself, her mastery at manipulation, playful-but-deadly personality, and her intense avoidance of commitment.

She’s a very social person who can fit in anywhere, so she has a very wide network of friends and acquaintances, but she is very careful about not revealing too much about herself to people. As a general rule, she’s very independent and dislikes being tied down by anything, including romantic partners or friends. The only person she’s consistently there for and relies on is her adopted brother, Alistair (written by the amazing @decantae). He’s her best friend and confidant, and they make a fantastic team.

FQAC!Vanessa

For Queen and Country is an urban fantasy story about how the existence of supernatural creatures exist, and what happens when the human public finds out.

So in For Queen and Country, Vanessa is a vampire. She was born in Scotland several centuries ago, and was turned when she was about 34-ish to fight in a vampire war at the time. That was where she met Alistair, and when he offered her an out from the life of an immortal soldier, she took it without hesitation and they’ve been together ever since. Additionally, her surname Queen comes from Alistair as well. Although they’re close, Vanessa gets bored really easily, so while Alistair has settled down in London, Vanessa is off doing who-knows-what all over the world. She comes back to visit every 5-200 years or so though, to stay with Alistair for a while.

Her original plot in FQAC was that she was traumatized from falling in love with a human who died from disease during an epidemic. This was the cause of her commitment-phobia, and her preference for casual, physical relationships over close intimate ones. When she meets a lady fae, she would have to learn how to deal with romantic feelings that went deeper than just sexual attraction, and her subplot was mainly her freaking out and being in denial about feelings.

Now that FQAC’s plot is more focused on how Alistair’s relationship with Blake develops (his love interest, and another OC of mine) and how they work together to fight for the rights of the supernatural, her current plot is now a bit different. Here, rather than just vacationing and running away from her problems, Vanessa is actively networking with and investigating vampire societies and other supernatural creature societies all over the world. This might include a lot of shady underground stuff. Her role in the plot is now providing valuable global intel, and being an annoying sister. Although I know in my heart that if Vanessa ever does end up with anyone, it’ll be with a woman, at this point I’m not sure if she’ll have a romantic subplot because I feel like she’s completely content with being single forever.

Post-Script!Vanessa

So Post-Script is another story about Alistair and Blake — this time in a Harry Potter AU where Voldemort succeeded in killing Harry and never died.

In this WIP, Vanessa is Alistair’s adopted sister once again, except this time Alistair is a pureblood from a notable family, while Vanessa is muggleborn. She essentially plays the part of a pureblood extremely well, and if people dare to point it out, she has enough blackmail material on them to ruin them. In this universe, Vanessa is a natural legilimens. Not only is she adept at the spell of delving into someone’s mind, she’s a natural mind reader (who cannot turn it off, mind you). So she knows a lot of dirty secrets.

In Post-Script, Vanessa’s outward job is a socialite who is on the Death Eater’s sdie, but she’s actually a spy actively working against Voldemort. She’s also involved in the criminal underworld of the Wizarding Society. She doesn’t actively do traditional criminal things, but she has a lot of shady contacts, and enough blackmail material and insider knowledge to effectively navigate her way.

So yeah, if I had to sum up Vanessa:

If she had to be summarized in a trope, it would be femme fatale

She doesn’t trust anyone but Alistair, and has considerable leverage with people she suspects might turn against her via information she’s gained in various ways.

She’s easily bored, so to fix that she plays with fire.

She may seem like an out-of-control slut, but reality is she is a slut that is very under control.

She’s confident and knows exactly who she is, and can utilize that to a deadly degree.

She hates commitment and refuses to get into any serious relationships.

Vanessa likes playing with her food, so to speak. She really enjoys messing with people and getting into their heads — especially if it’s an enemy.