#cullen x trvelyan

[laurelsofhighever]

For the kiss prompt Cullen x Maigherd (spelling? sooorry) 20

Thank you for this prompt as well! I really didn't expect it to take so long to get to it. Have some Cullen x Maighread fluff.

20. Kissing in a stairwell, giving them an artificial height difference.

Kissing in a stairwell, giving them an artificial height difference. (CxM)

A lifetime of training and practice for vigilance, and his responsibilities as Commander of the Inquisition’s forces, means it’s a rare moment when Cullen gets caught by surprise, his awareness of his surroundings keeping him ready to react with swift, decisive action in any situation. There’s little to be done in a surprise meeting on the back stairs to the kitchen, however, especially not when he has a stack of papers in one hand and a half-eaten cinnamon pastry in the other, and the person standing above him is one his heart leaps to see. Maighread’s shock mirrors his own, the blush rising furious across her face visible even in the low light of the servants’ corridor.

His training serves him well; he recovers first. “Inquisitor.”

“Commander.” Her gaze drops, the tilt of her head obscuring the shy quirk of her lips. “Cullen.”

He swallows. It’s still new, the thing between them. A few kisses and stolen looks across the war table, messages delivered in person with a lingering brush of fingers, are all their time allows them, and while they haven’t had chance to talk about any… expectations, the sight of her so discomfited is enough to make his mouth run dry.

“Are you… on an errand?” he ventures, determined now that the astonishment is wearing off to make the most of even this brief bit of time alone together.

A shrug. “Just avoiding some dignitaries on a tour.”

“You have my sympathies.” He grins, but the pause is awkward.

Maighread takes a step downward, closer to him, and licks her lips. “I’m surprised to see you away from your desk at this hour. After the midday shift change you usually brief the training masters on the next day’s exercises.”

“You know my schedule?”

“I –” She looks away, twisting her fingers together. “Only so that I’d know when not to bother you, and only a little. And you do tend to have a pretty steady routine –”

“It isn’t a bad thing,” he reassures as he reaches out to stop her fidgeting. “I only… I did not know you paid such close attention.”

“You don’t think it’s creepy, do you?” she asks. “It’s honestly not like I set out to learn people’s habits, it’s just… a knack. In the Circle –” He hates the worried, almost fearful way she glances at him then. “Well. People didn’t enjoy the reminder that they were being watched all the time.”

He squeezes her fingers. “We aren’t in the Circle. I’m glad you’re so vigilant, it means you’ll be safer out in the field. And… you are right about my schedule, but I decided to give charge of the drills to one of my lieutenants today. I came to see Cook about expanding our supply chains.”

“Is the supply of fancy Orlesian cakes running low?” A sly look, and a smile as she gestures to his face. “You have powdered sugar around your mouth.”

His own cheeks heat now as he tucks the papers under his arm to wipe away the evidence of his secret sweet-tooth. Maker, he might have made it all the way to the battlements without noticing the slip, and it was easy enough to imagine how quickly news of the spectacle would have travelled through the barracks.

He moves his hand away. “Better?”

“No, it’s –” Maighread frowns, chewing the inside of her cheek, and he barely has time to register how her gaze flashes to his before she’s leaning forward, brushing her thumb over his mouth and chasing the movement with a swift press of her lips. “There. Now it’s gone.”

She pulls back. He watches her smile, small and nervous, hopeful that she hasn’t overstepped some boundary, and standing looking up from a few steps below her, Cullen realises that this is the first time she’s ever initiated a kiss with him. Whenever he comes to her, she reaches out like one drowning, but otherwise always so careful to keep herself contained, to smother all signs of affection like a feral cat hiding an injury. The trust behind this new gesture… his heart thunders with the hope he might be worthy of it.

“Are you sure?” he teases, grinning encouragement.

“Well I can’t see any – oh.” Her frown lifts, and once more her cheeks darken with colour. “Would you, uh… like me to have a closer look?”

He answers with as much solemnity as he can manage. “I would be very grateful, Inquisitor, if you would.”

The breath that fans across his cheek wobbles slightly, but his hand goes to steady her waist as her fingers flutter against his jaw. His other hand, still holding the pastry, stays far back to keep any crumbs from falling on her clothes. There’s an instant where she opens her mouth as if to say something more, but then she dismisses the thought with a shake of her head and darts forward again.

He feels the earnest tension in her closed mouth, the moment when she relaxes because he hasn’t pulled away. Part of him decides he should, if only to protect her from the soldiers’ gossip should anyone interrupt this unplanned tryst, but his sense of duty lies forgotten in the wayside of Maighread’s touch, the way she moves closer to him. Their respective positions on the stairs create a strange angle, the unfamiliar craning of his neck conjuring images of other positions that might replicate it. But that can come later, if they both want it. For now, however, it’s enough to steal a moment with her in a hallway, with the sweetness of sugar on his tongue.

[chaaistheanswer]

Family Portrait

[bitchesofostwick]

a, j and t for cullinor 😏😏😏

😏😏😏 thanks maia!!

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex): they’re soooooo cute 😭 obviously i’m biased but w/e. ellinor is a bigggg cuddler, and cullen has been so deprived of physical affection that it comes as both surprising and very welcomed after their first time together. but then it becomes something they really look forward too. they’re slow to move around afterward (if at all) and usually spend time snuggling, kissing slowly, talking softly, or dozing off. or combinations of those. or all of it. if they did anything especially ~spicy~ then they are extra soft with that as well, taking extra care with any areas that may be sore or sensitive.

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon): HEH. honestly i hc that cullen didn’t do a lot of jacking off before his relationship with ellinor. like maybe here or there but not often? i don’t think he would’ve felt comfortable with it. like i think he would have felt like he was doing something bad. but i imagine that ellinor helps him grow more sexually confident in many ways, and that he’d be more apt to jack off when he has someone he’s into in mind, so i do think he’d do it more often after they start their relationship. but not like, super often. and maybe even most often when they’re together already! because i bet ellinor would be into that haha. meanwhile ellinor has no issue with getting the job done herself if she’s alone lol. it’s also kind of how she teaches cullen how to pleasure women anyway? i mean...he needs a demonstration sooooo.

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?): have i mentioned that ellinor pegs cullen? did i mention that ever? did you know cullen likes to be pegged? 😁 so yeah, they do have a strap-on. :) college!ellinor also DEFINITELY owns a vibrator, because you gotta go to school equipped with the essentials, and although she mostly uses it when she’s alone, i don’t think she’d feel bad at all about bringing it into her relationship with cullen. cullen’s not the most skilled guy around, and everyone needs a helping hand once in a while. no harm done. it be like that sometimes!

A–Z nsfw headcanons

[jeweledfaith]

Well my first fanfic reading of @siriusdraws comic. Enjoy cullenits

[veridium]

OC Meme Info  ⭐ Olivia Sinclair

I was tagged by the wonderful @sunwarden to do an OC info tag! Thank you for the honor, friend. 

I am tagging @daydreamingdragonage, @bitchesofostwick, @dirthara-mama, @trvelyans, and @haloneshiral if ya’ll want to partake and have not already!

BASICS

Full name: Olivia Berenice Sinclair

Gender: Woman

Sexuality: Bisexual/Queer

Family: She was the only child to a minor noble couple in Orlais, Apolline Sinclair (’nee Charpentier) and her father, Ruben. 

Pronouns: She/Her

OTHER

Birthplace: Val Royeaux, 9:15 Dragon. 

Job(s): Nothing really besides being the carrier of her family’s sociopolitical ambitions (jinkies). Then, Mage apprentice at Ostwick, and now Inquisitor. 

Phobias: She hates snakes but does not run from them. She is frightened of wyverns as well (something about the teeth).

Guilty pleasures: Can one say emotional evasion and laughing like everything is fine? No? Okay well. Bore benign guilty pleasures would be chocolate, a good plate of cooked meat (whatever it is), and frilly lingerie.

Hobbies: Olivia loves to read and learn, so she spends her free time either studying or practicing her theories somehow, some way. She also loves to horseback ride and is an excellent rider.           

MORALS

Morality alignment: Chaotic Good

Bad qualities: She is, as I said above, emotionally evasive -- it’s hard to determine at times whether she is genuinely happy. She is also impulsive, stubborn, and prone to losing her temper when she feels belittled or demeaned. She’s hard to hold and harder to pin down. 

Good qualities: Extremely loyal and patient despite her feisty nature. Her friendships are pivotal and she will follow someone she loves to the ends of the Earth. She loves possibilities and creativity in the face of adversity. She never gives up.

THIS OR THAT?

introvert / extrovert

organized / disorganized

close-minded / open-minded

calm / anxious / restless

disagreeable / agreeable / in between

cautious / reckless / in between

patient / impatient

outspoken / reserved

leader / follower / flexible

empathetic / unempathetic

optimistic / pessimistic / realistic (a mix of both)

traditional / modern / in between

hard-working / lazy / unmotivated

RELATIONSHIPS:

OTP: Olivia x Cassandra (woot woot!)

Acceptable ships: I would be amiable to a Olivia x Blackwall romance but I would have to see their bond rewrote from how it is now, because it is very much a uncle/niece dynamic. Other than that, it’s hard to say any other romance would as fluid of a development as the friendships are (her and Sera for example are amazing as friends, but they have an unspoken understanding from the get-go that they are their best selves as friends).

OT3: None!

BroTP: Besides her circle of friends (Theia, Naomi, etc.) she is extremely close with Sera and Vivienne, close secondarily being Dorian and Varric. 

NOTP: Her and Cullen is just a non-starter. Look, I gotta pull hairs to forge their way to friendship, alright? Love is not in the cards. 

[vancalox]

OC INFO MEME | ASHARA LAVELLAN

tagged by: i was retagged by @falkreathh bless <3 tagging: @trvelyans @nordxz @noonvraith @synthzander @denerims @vesuvius @the-elves and u aka the person reading this !!!

BASICS

Full name: ashara dhavise lavellan ( dhavise is her family name, roughly translated as “kissed by fire” )  Gender: cis female Sexuality: pansexual Pronouns: she / her

OTHER

Family: numina lavellan ( mother, deceased ), arlan lavellan ( father, made tranquil ), mithra lavellan ( twin sister ) nadaia da’eralen ( daughter, post canon ) Birthplace: the free marches, within clan lavellan Job(s): first to clan lavellan’s keeper, leader of the inquisition, and later a professor of elven history at the university of orlais Phobias: she has a fear bordering a phobia for despair demons. they’re what inadvertently killed her mother so she is terrified of her own sadness and the actual spirit of sadness in general. fun times :3 Guilty pleasures: dancing ! she always dances when she’s drunk gthugtrhugtrh. she also likes taboo magics and studying frowned upon topics but she doesn’t exactly feel guilty about it so Hobbies: she loves writing and brings her journal with her EVERYWHERE, and is constantly scribbling down notes and memos etc. she loves reading and practicing magic as well, basically anything she thinks will help to better herself. she also likes ice skating, just because <3

MORALS

Morality alignment: chaotic neutral Sins: lust/greed/envy/gluttony/pride/wrath/sloth Virtues: charity/chastity/diligence/humility/justice/kindness/patience

THIS OR THAT?

introvert / extrovert organized / disorganized close-minded / open-minded calm / anxious / restless disagreeable / agreeable / in between cautious / reckless / in between patient / impatient outspoken / reserved leader / follower / flexible empathetic / unempathetic optimistic / pessimistic / realistic traditional / modern / in between hard-working / lazy / unmotivated

RELATIONSHIPS:

OTP: solas x ashara  Acceptable ships: ashara x alistair, ashara x krem, ashara x cullen ( they have a very brief Thing between inquisition and trespasser ) and ashara x freya who is my skyrim oc but idk, if freya was a da chara they would have such chemistry sorry ( EDIT - also ashara x celandine trevelyan aka maia’s inquisitor who i love more than life itself. they are.....so alike its uncanny and i would die for them ) OT3: hmm i mean romantically non that i can think of, but i really like the friendship between ashara x solas x cole. v cute and good BroTP: ashara x vivienne ! friends that judge together stay together ;) ashara x cole, ashara x leliana which is a dynamic ive only just recently started appreciating NOTP: ashara x blackwall ( they HATE each other ) ashara x sera probably altho they would be a pretty funny/cute dynamic now that i think abt it 

[bitchesofostwick]

for tmi tuesday - what are all ur gal's fave things to do with their romantic partners In Le Bed ;)

oh le bed hon hon ;)

okAY i hope you weren’t expecting anything ~kinky~ because you could be in for some disappointment, the girls are a bit vanilla when it comes to this BUT i will answer nonetheless!

for emilia it’s less in le bed and more against le wall if you know what i mean. alistair’s come to her with a few ~ideas~ to try every now and then, but they usually end up with a minor injury, em getting fed up when they can’t logistically or spatially figure a position out, or alistair bursting out laughing because something that was supposed to be sexy just ends up being ridiculous. but some good, clean, hard wall sex? em’s into that. she’s got a broad-shouldered, strong warden boy with youthful stamina and the muscular physique to make it work, no problem. what’s not to love?

okay okay aurelia and fenris don’t have an especially sexual relationship. it’s a personal headcanon i have for them, but basically we know that canonically, fenris experiences traumatic flashbacks the first time he sleeps with hawke. i just think that while aurelia as an individual may be adventurous, she’d also be very conscious of how fenris approaches or does not approach sex. they have other ways of showing their love for each other, and she’s fine with that.

aaaaand for ellinor, let’s just say...well, okay, we all know that any mention of anything even remotely kinky would probably turn cullen into a mumbling blushing mess, HOWEVER, we do know that canonically, cullen is a man who takes direction pretty well. if he’s got a strong leader, for better or for worse, he can be a strong follower. he’s a man who wants to be told what to do, but he’s also someone who doesn’t sleep with the inquisitor until he’s ready to be completely emotionally vulnerable around them. am i saying cullen is submissive? (ding ding ding). i’m not saying that ellinor takes the lead every time they have sex and i’m not saying that she’s some sort of dominatrix because she’s definitely not. they’re like. soft dom/sub. really soft. like dom/sub Lite(TM). like sometimes cullen just wants to get pegged and told he did a good job and ellinor likes being the person to do that for him idk

[bitchesofostwick]

end of the year fic roundup

thank you for tagging me, @thejeeperswife! honestly, it’s been...a crazy year. more writing than i’ve done possibly ever in one year of my life? wow. anyway!

total word count: 233,195

a world alone (179,859 words, of which 156,432 were written this year) my main longfic, my labor of love.

day and age (many total words, of which 20 chapters and 53,900 words are mine) a modern au that started as a complete joke and has now become the beloved child of my and @veridium-bye​

and ~20 one-shots and ficlets totaling 22,863 words

number of smut scenes: only two! one being chapter 31 of AWA and the other being a short ellinor x cullen one-shot, “cullen, marksman.”

new things i tried this year: honestly, the modern au was completely unexpected. i used to be so anti-modern au haha and now here we are! complete in a university setting with shenanigans only stupid college student versions of cullen, cassandra, ellinor, and olivia could get into!

favorite thing i wrote this year: all of AWA, really, although if i could pick a part, it would be chapters 30 and 31, when cullen and ellinor finally admit that they love each other. it came after a wave of arguments and denying their feelings and it was so satisfying and sweet to write.

favorite fic i’ve read this year: i am awful at reading! i am so awful at keeping up with fics. it’s one goal i have for 2020 actually--to read more friends’ fics and read more new fics. but if i had to pick one, i would have to say @melaena ‘s ongoing “journals of cullen rutherford” series. no one has conducted a more thorough and consistent character study of cullen--and all while staying true and canon to her own fics with her beautiful OC valerie trevelyan. reading it every morning is one of my favorite parts of the day!

writing goals for 2020: finish AWA. i mean it this time. it was a tentative goal for 2019 (as i realized when i found my roundup post from last year), but this time, the end is in sight, and i know i will complete it. afterward, i want to take time to read and to write one-shots for ellinor, aurelia, and emilia. and then i’d like to start the (shorter) AWA sequel, which will begin after the events of inquisition and go through and after the events of trespasser.

i think a lot of friends have been tagged already! but i’ll tag @ginnyq @melaena @trvelyans @sarenkascrawls

[veridium]

2018 Writer Review

I was tagged by the incredible @apostatetabris to reflect upon my writing in 2018. It was my first year in fandom and writing fanfic (I started this blog in July) and it’s been a wild ride ever since, so I’m delighted to look back on such an important year for me milestone-wise. 

Words written in 2018:  560,680 (oh...oh my god)

Number of short fics/drabbles written in 2018: Oh man, I would have such a hard time tracking this down. I tagged kinda messily in the beginning. I know I have about 20 stored on my wordpress, and that was from both prompts and my own volition...so, I’m gonna estimate anywhere from 30-45ish? I know I have some in my tumblr archives untagged or mislabeled. 

Number of fic chapters written in 2018: 126 Chapters! Oh boy, you can tell now I prefer my longer ordeals when writing...sheesh. 

Number of chaptered fics completed in 2018: I finished...5, according to my Ao3. A small multi-part Trev x Cullen angst fic was my first and boy do I cringe reading it -- but I do just to remind myself of how far I’ve come. The others are Olivia x Cassandra’s romance fics. 

Fandoms: Dragon Age 24/7 because that is all my emotional pea brain can handle at the moment, haha. 

Pairings: Theia Trevelyan x Josephine Montilyet // Olivia Sinclair x Cassandra Pentaghast // Veronica Crespin x Cremisius Aclassi // Naomi Ambrosia x Lace Harding 

Proudest achievements:

I started writing, period. I remember being so intimidated, like a fish out of water. I had no idea what the “rules” were, what constituted decent fic, stuff like that. The fact that I started and kept at is is a achievement for me in and of itself.

I started two Inquisitor long fics (because I’m obviously mad). But they are stories that I love and deeply care about, and to me that is an accomplishment, too. 

Honestly, it isn’t my largest or most prolific chaptered fic, but “All That Glitters” is still to this day one of my favorite things I have ever written. It’s a wild plotline but I loved getting to write a thrilling piece, and a romantic one, and really challenge myself to explore the psychologies of my characters. I love it so much and am so proud that I stuck with it. 

Writing goals for 2019:

I want to write shorter pieces more often (haha). I want to do more drabbles and ficlets instead of just burning myself out on my long fics. I think I wrote quite a few in 2018 but I didn’t dedicate nearly as much energy to them as longer, multi-chaptered pieces. 

I want to allow myself to take breaks and breathers more often instead of hyper-fixating on storylines. I think it would be better, and my narratives would improve if I gave myself more time to formulate them.

 Finish at least one of my long fics (Lord have mercy).

Tagging: @trvelyans, @fen-harel, @sunwarden, @bitchesofostwick, @daydreamingdragonage if you haven’t already done it! Thanks for the tag!

[bitchesofostwick]

oc meme info: ellinor trevelyan

thank you for the tag, @veridium-bye​!! i’ll tag @a-shakespearean-in-paris​ @gingerbreton​ @occorner​ @trvelyans​ @dickeybbqpit​ @mocha-writes​ @ladymdc​

BASICS

full name: ellinor aria trevelyan

gender: woman

sexuality: straight

family: ellinor is the youngest daugher of bann jaime trevelyan and rosalind treveylan. she has a twin brother, avery, and three older sisters, bryony, lyssa, and reilly.

pronouns: she/her

OTHER

birthplace: ostwick, born 9:15 dragon

job(s): she was more or less expected to become a socialite like her sisters, lyssa and reilly (because she definitely wasn’t going to follow bryony and become a templar). pre-inquisition, she spent her time idly, either being courted, playing harp during chantry sermons, or riding her horse, whinny. so the inquisition was definitely a step up lol.

phobias: they’re more fears than phobias, but she’s afraid of rodents or rodent-like creatures (sorry, nugs), as well as mabari, at least until she has time to warm up to them.

guilty pleasures: drinking and dancing at the herald’s rest. she’s a bit of a lightweight and can get carried away if no one’s keeping an eye on her.

hobbies: reading, horseback riding, dancing (as mentioned). she’s also skilled at the harp and asks maryden for lute lessons once they reach skyhold.

MORALS

morality alignment: lawful neutral/good. she has a strong moral compass and sticks to it, but whether her choices are truly “good” or maybe selfish could be left up to interpretation.

bad qualities: she’s very slow to trust and slow to forgive. she tends to make very quick first impressions of people and let those define her impression of them for a very long time, sometimes unfairly. she’s strong-willed and can be narrow-minded, sometimes not wishing to listen to those who oppose her.

good qualities: confident, eloquent, will stay very calm under pressure. when she does come to trust someone, she will love them with her whole heart. she is fiercely protective of those who are her friends.

THIS OR THAT?

introvert / extrovert

organized / disorganized

close-minded / open-minded

calm / anxious / restless

disagreeable / agreeable / in between

cautious / reckless / in between

patient / impatient

outspoken / reserved

leader / follower / flexible

empathetic / unempathetic

optimistic / pessimistic / realistic (a mix of both)

traditional / modern / in between

hard-working / lazy / unmotivated

RELATIONSHIPS:

OTP: ellinor x cullen (or as i sometimes think to myself, “cullinor”). they are complete opposites and enemies when they first meet. it has a lot to do with first impressions--ellinor wants nothing to do with a templar and cullen looks at her as an incapable noblewoman. they end up being exactly what the other needs: cullen provides ellinor a sense of stability and support that she never received from her own family, and ellinor gives cullen the determination and strength he needs to atone and to recover.

acceptable ships: kinda rylen because she loves a man who can get his hands dirty to get the job done (and that just screams rylen ok??? also might have a headcanon that while she’s running away from her cullen feelings, she might get a little flirty with rylen and maybe he gives her a tattoo but then he’s like lass i’m not the one for you and then she goes back to cullen idk) buuuuuuuut no one else ahahaha oops. i mentioned in a recent ask post that the only other person who shares the qualities she comes to love in cullen (personal growth, desire to atone for past, dedication, etc.) would be blackwall, but she sees him more as a father/uncle figure and it would be weird to ship them.

OT3: none

BroTP: ellinor + josie, ellinor + sera, and ellinor + dorian

NOTP: besides ellinor x blackwall, for reasons already stated? ellinor x solas. she has a lot of respect for his knowledge, but she’s very outspoken and narrow-minded about some things and doesn’t always have the patience to take his advice or to learn about matters that seem faraway to her. also, you know. solas only wants that good good lavellan love. no room for trevelyans in his heart lmao

[bitchesofostwick]

2018 writer review

i was tagged by my dear friend @veridium-bye​ (thank you love!). i really didn’t start writing fic again until about october, so this is really a review of three months out of this year, but i’m still really proud of what i’ve done!

words written in 2018: 73,770

number of short fics/drabbles written in 2018: 39 (thirty-one of these were OC-tober ficlets, four were art trade/gift fics, and the remaining four were miscellaneous stories for my OCs)

number of fic chapters written in 2018: 11 (three for All of My Walls and eight for A World Alone)

number of chaptered fics completed in 2018: just one! All of My Walls, a three-chapter fic of aurelia hawke and fenris spanning the time between the “a bitter pill” quest through the end of the in-game DA2 events. it was really important to me for two reasons: one, aurelia and fenris are a rivalmance pair, but a lot of rivalmance fics i see are basically...just hate sex? and for fenris, and for aurelia, there are so many more layers and personal history that lends itself to their romance and creates these waves of tension and sadness and anger and heartbreak, but never hatred. i tackle the rivalmance in a bit of an easier (and generally humorous) light in their shorter fics, but All of My Walls is much more serious and i’m so proud of both of them for growing into themselves and each other and slowly allowing themselves love and be loved over the course of that fic. the OTHER reason that fic was so important to be is that it’s the first long(er) fic i wrote in a long, long time, and i consider it my way back into writing. i don’t think it reads as seamlessly as fics i’ve written since then do, but i’m still proud of myself for creating it, and i’m thankfully that it brought me back into the writing world.

fandoms: only dragon age this year! i haven’t touched my skyrim fic since 2017, and i toyed around with the idea of a kotor fic in the spring, but it never amounted to anything.

pairings: mainly ellinor trevelyan x cullen, emilia cousland x alistair, and aurelia hawke x fenris; HOWEVER, i’m eternally grateful to @fourletterepithet (velthei lavellan x cullen), @haloneshiral (letheia lavellan x cullen), @frecklef0x (anon trevelyan x dorian), and @gingerbreton (ysabelle dryden x alistair) for granting me the honor of writing about their OCs and letting me explore the dynamics of other pairings/relationships! writing for others is a really great experience to grow and strengthen your own writing, so i’m really glad i got to do those stories.

proudest achievements: i’m honestly just...proud i wrote anything at all? it’s so intimidating to come into a fandom that’s years and years old and put your content out there for people to see, especially when you haven’t written leisurely in a couple years and you’re really self-conscious of your work, like i am. but i took the leap, and people have been so responsive and supportive, and i’m eternally grateful for the very kind mutuals/readers i have that continue to inspire me to keep going and creating. some more minor achievements include

starting art trades. before doing this, i truly, genuinely did not believe that the brilliantly talented artists i see on tumblr every day would ever value their incredible work as equal to a short fic written by me. to me, it seemed like trading down. it turns out, i was wrong, and i’ve so far traded three one shots for three beautiful pieces of artwork, and as i mentioned earlier, it’s so refreshing and also so beneficial (in terms of writing skill and practice) to write for OCs that are not my own, so i’m so glad to have done these!

forcing myself to write action scenes. if you’ve been following me for a while, you’ve probably seen me complain multiple times about how much i hate writing action (i even made a meme about it that somehow went viral within the writeblr community lol joke’s on them it was made as a result of me rage quitting a dragon battle scene). the only thing i hate more than writing action is writing mage action, because none of my OCs are mages and all of my friends’ OCs are mages and i cannot understand the dynamics of mage combat no matter how hard i try. but, you can’t get better at something unless you practice it, so i wrote plenty of action in an attempt to get better. and i think (hope?) i did.

starting A World Alone!! my pride and joy!! my first longfic!! my favorite OC!! it’s a slow burn it’s an enemies-to-friends-to-lovers there’s tension there’s sadness there’s powerful female friendships there will be love eventually and i could go on about it for forever but instead i’ll just shamelessly plug it here because i love it so much and it makes me so happy.

writing goals for 2019

i would really love to join DWC but so far it looks intimidating to me because i’m worried i won’t be able to sit down for a night and keep up. but i’ll probably do it. i have so many good prompt posts saved in my drafts that i want to do.

more art trades! i have three already planned for the new year, and i’m very excited about them!

maybe finish A World Alone? i’m writing it at a good pace so far, so it’s a realistic goal.

more one shots. i love my longfic (obviously, as i blabbed about it relentlessly above), but i think shorter fics are such great opportunities to really focus in on a singular emotion and delve deep into little moments that are so brief in terms of plot but so big in terms of characterization. there are a few in particular i’m really proud of from this year (x, x, x, x, x, x), but i’m looking forward to more.

tagging friends (keeping it to friends who write, even a little!! any amount of writing is good writing!) @inquisitorsmabari @fourletterepithet @dickeybbqpit @trvelyans @a-shakespearean-in-paris @star--nymph @cullenvhenan @daydreamingdragonage @gingerbreton