#i've literally been writing a companion piece to some of the scenes from that fic in my head

[to-the-all-blue]

“Run?” With a rapid twist of the wrist, Zoro flicked the blade. A line of red cut across the golden fibers in the opulent carpeting. “I’m not done with you yet.”

So I read Sabaody Shambles by CoffeeTimeWorks on the plane last night and have not known peace since coming into contact with this bad ass Zoro moment.

[astatia-ghast]

Hey, folks! I have a couple things I want to talk about today.

The King's Quest Continues

First, I want to offer a huge thank-you for the response "The King's Quest" has gotten. When I wrote this story, I didn't have the broader audience in mind; my only goal was to write something @hailsatanacab would enjoy. So when I woke up to a flood of kudos and comments the next day, I was truly taken by surprise.

And then they just kept coming. "The King's Quest" still gets a couple kudos every day, and some of the comments I've received have been just... beyond flattering. They all mean so much to me and fuel my drive to write. So really, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

As a token of my appreciation, I wanted to give you all, and particularly hailsatanacab, a little somethin'-somethin'.

I have a sequel in the works. It'll be about triple the length of "The King's Quest," and it's primary purpose will be to explore why Clockwork made the decisions he did. And I want to share the first scene with you today!

For full disclosure, I'm not 100% sure this sequel will be finished or how quickly it will be written, because I'm drawing a blank on some sections, and I have other fics I want to work on, too. But I would really like to see it finished this year. I think it would be a fun companion piece, especially since Clockwork's behavior raises so many unanswered questions in "The King's Quest."

So here's the first scene! Fair warning: this is in very early draft stage, so it won't have the polish my published fics do. But I hope you still enjoy. :)

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Clockwork drapes a cape over Danny's shoulders. It is thick and soft and heavy, made by the yetis of the Far Frozen as a coronation gift. The outside is a sleek black fabric, and the inside is fluffy white fur.

Clockwork smooths out the wrinkles on Danny's shoulders, and then his hands just stay there. It reminds Danny of when he did the exact same thing all that time ago. The weight around his soul grows heavier.

"What do you think?"

Tears well in Danny's eyes. They are plastered to his reflection in the mirror, which is slowly being adorned with all the regal clothing and treasures that will mark him as King. His coronation is around the corner, and the whole of Clockwork's tower, usually so silent, is now bustling with ghostly allies working to prepare. They sing and laugh, but Danny shares none of their mirth.

Gently, Clockwork turns Danny around and sinks to eye level. He is handsome today; his hair, white like Danny's, has been pulled back into an elaborate array of braids. He gently brushes a strand of hair out of Danny's face.

"Remember: you just need to get through today." Clockwork's voice is low and soft, meant for Danny's ears only. "Get through today, and the Council of Ancients will take things from there. And then you can focus on your mortal life until you are ready."

Danny feels like he should say something, but he can't; he knows that the moment he speaks, those tears are going to fall. Except then, in a cruel rebellion, one tear falls anyway. Clockwork procures an embroidered handkerchief, and with remarkable softness, he wipes the tear away. Danny puts up with the first dab, but when the second one comes, he pushes Clockwork away.

Clockwork doesn't fight him; he stows the handkerchief away. He seems to be teetering on the verge of action, but he stays still, keeping his hands in his lap. Danny turns away, trying to wipe his eyes as casually as possible, even as he knows there is literally no point in pretending. Frustration grows inside him as he wills himself to stop crying, but the tears only fall more steadily.

Fuck the mirror. Fuck the cape. Fuck this coronation.

A yeti peeks his head inside the room and asks Clockwork a question about something or other. He answers his question and follows up with, "We'll be just a minute." The yeti nods, peering at Danny curiously, as Clockwork closes the door. At once, the tower is quiet again; Danny is thankful for the privacy.

A necklace settles around Danny's neck. He jumps, thinking Clockwork has soldiered on with his preparations and dropped his own coronation gift around Danny's neck, but then he notices that it's just a normal time medallion. He looks up at Clockwork in askance.

"Take all the time you need," he says. "I will be waiting right outside when you are ready."

Clockwork opens the door, revealing yetis frozen in the midst of carrying streamers and delivering food, and closes it behind him.

[lunapwrites]

ask game: 13, 14, 21!

sooooo tempted to ask 18 but I shan’t be rude LOL

6 if you can be bothered to look it up (just so i can go give it some love)

Hiya!! I'm still gonna answer, I am pretty reasonable about it haha.

SO.

13: favorite writing song/artist/album of this year

Well if you listen to my Spotify Wrapped, it's Cocteau Twins' album Garlands, specifically "Shallow Than Halo." I apparently drilled that song into my head a whopping 129 times while I was writing a particular, erm... scene. In LTL. It also slaps so I'm not mad about it lol. If we're talking about what has most inspired my work, Pearl Jam's Ten has been THE work. literally spawned the entire series. But if we're talking about which album decided to just yank my heart out and stomp on it and say THIS IS THE MOOD YOU'RE WRITING IN NOW PEASANT then that honor goes to Ruin by The Amazing Devil, which has only been out for a month. Specifically the song "The Old Witch Sleep and the Good Man Grace." It came out while I was writing Chapter 16 of LTL and how very dare they. Seriously though I recommend it.

14: a fic you didn't expect to write

That honor goes SOLELY to three knocks upon the door. I... kicked open the door on a whole new ship and genre for myself and I legitimately feel like I knocked that one out of the park. If you had asked me at the beginning of the year if I was going to write something like that I'd have been like "hmm, intriguing idea, but no." And yet here we bloody well are lmao.

18: (because I will answer this) current number of WIPs

A non-extreme number! At present, I have Louder Than Love which is my main fic, and I could sort of wrap the sequels/prequel up into that bubble as well. But it's part of what I am aiming to make into a tetralogy. We'll see how it pans out! As far as things I'm actively writing now, I've got my academic war AU, Applied Theory, which I'm working on another chapter for. I've got a deaged Remus fic that I've been poking at when I can spare braincells (the working title for which is put that thing back where it came from or so help me) and then I just signed up for a prompt from the Remus Lupin Fest which is I think going to nest in very nicely with LTL and be a fun(?) companion piece, or alternate-reality version or something. Idk, most everything I write takes place in that universe lol. So yeah, just those 4, and one of them isn't even properly started. :P

21 I answered in another ask, so refer to that one XD

6: Least Popular Fic This Year

So, I am going to immediately disqualify anything in my Out of Orbit series, since that's effectively my trash bin -- please don't perceive them. Otherwise, I am unsure how to parse this exactly, BUT I can say that probably my least popular fics seem to be the drabble sets, with very few exceptions. But the saddest one is Song of the Shepherd's Dog - grand total of 13 kudos since I finished posting it on 2/19. :deadinside: It's 5 horror drabbles about Remus Lupin, pretty much all surrounding his Lycanthropy in one way or another. There's some Dean and Peter POV in there too. It was a cool writing exercise.

Satellites (series) and Lost Dogs also haven't gotten as much play as I'd have liked to have seen -- especially Lost Dogs, which has barely seen any movement since I posted it a year ago. It won the competition, and then no one touched it again (which is where I feel three knocks upon the door is headed, sadly.)

Anyway, that's it! Thanks so much for the ask!! <3