#if this was a friend's outline for a fanfic in a google doc i could sit down and straighten it out in two hours.

[thegeminisage]

the thing is like all the good bones were there. having your protagonist turn evil specifically because of the actions of good guy obi wan character. the good and evil twins swapping narrative roles foreshadowed by the clothing change. killing off characters for real including children, brutally. having the jedi coming in like cops to take kids away from a lifestyle they don't condone or understand. the bad guy actually being so nice and understanding and also naked sometimes??? and he has a really cool helmet we can all be scared of together. the jedi padawan killing himself because he knows he participated in an atrocity the order keeps trying to cover up. that senator guy's sarcastic "may the force be with you" with the exact same petty bitchy energy of quinto's "live long and prosper" in 2009. the subversions. the charisma. the fight scenes. all the major beats were there but none of it made any GODDAMN sense like that plot was UNFOLLOWABLE the connective tissue was WORD SALAD. half of this show took place in a forest with giant moths who carried off a sith lord like WHAT were we DOING

[nerdieforpedro]

Heyy Nerdie <3

So since I'm relatively new with writing, I wonder how other writers manage their docs, like what tool is good for writing stories with multiple chapters. And I know everybody will have a different answer and solution for their writing process but I was just wondering if you had any tips for a newbie like me (I'm writing in my notes but that doesn't works so great, also no word count etc.)

Thank you in advance!

I appreciate you ❤️

Ooh! I'm excited1 A writing question! I feel honored that you're asking me. Full disclosure: I'm not the most organized person, even with my fanfic. I am trying to improve though.

I have found for all my fics, no matter if they're one shots or chapter series, I write them in Google Drive. The only reason I don't use Word or my notes app is because I find it easier to edit on my phone when I'm out and about having ideas randomly. (Always happens in places that aren't great to write in which is why I try and stay ready. Only works 50% of the time because of driving. 😭) I also tend to keep each fic even with all their chapters or parts in one very long document instead of a separate document for each chapter. That's just so I will be less confused. I get confused easily. 😳

Many writers use Google Drive so if you're brave enough to ask, you can usually send them what you have to review and they can either just look or comment on different parts depending on permissions you give them. To give your fic a good once over, you can pop it into Word for grammar and spelling corrections. Google docs does do that as well, but sometimes it misses things that Word catches. It's weird.

For on the go notes about vibes or random ideas, I feel your notes app should be good for that and also outlines if you want to plan out chapters or your one shot before writing it out. That way if you have it on your phone in your notes app, you can type in Word or Google while looking back at your bullet points to keep the story flow going.

Also if you like music, I highly recommend a writing playlist. It can be just your favorite songs, set to the mood of what you're writing, instrumental, anything that will help you focus and get your story out. it also could help inspire things (there's numerous fanfics written from songs - hundreds).

Maybe yourself a comfy space, enjoy a nice beverage (I like tea, hot chocolate or coffee if it's in the morning and a snack while writing) and remember it's supposed to be fun.

Sure frustrating sometimes especially when it seems like you have no ideas or the idea isn't coming out quite like you wanted. Take a break, might be hours, days or months, however long you feel you may need for it not to see like a chore. Writing, drawing and crating in general should be fun - in can require focus and work, but should still be enjoyable.

Try out some prompts, challenges or toss some ideas out to friends or people if you feel your creativity is lacking to you just want some different perspectives. We're all different, have histories that make us who we are so there can be as many ways to write a fic as starts in the sky. No one has thought of all of them, many reuse tropes (myself included) because they're fun and provide a template to work from and all sorts of themes can be explored. If you like to edit graphics and/or create moodboards, that can be a good way to distract yourself from writing while also focusing on a different aspect of your fic - visuals. It could help spark something too.

I truly hope I answered your question and didn't ramble too hard. Like this is... 8/10 rambling. 😆

[sugdenlovesdingle]

hi bijou!

💕 What is your favorite fic that you’ve written?

🚀 Do you like to outline your fic first or create as you go?

📚 Is there a fanfic or fanfic writer you recommend?

🎨 If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

for the writer asks! :)

Hey Rachel! 💕 My favourite fic is probably Love and Lou - it was a lot of fun putting Carlos Through It with TK and Lou! And the sarcastic lines that came to me at 4am actually work really well in the fic! 🚀 Anyone that's seen the state of my docs knows me and planning do not match AT ALL. it's usually just ~vibes~ or a line or two that I end up writing a fic around. Which is also why I'm so 'bad' at the WIP tag games - I make most of the fic up as I go. So some of the snippets I've posted we're written approx. 5 minutes before posting! 📚 I'm bad with remembering titles and usernames! When I'm in the mood to read something i usually go by the AO3 filters for whatever I want to read. I love your Nancy/Marjan fics (I'm bad at commenting but I WILL get around to it!!) I just had a look through my AO3 history and bookmarks and there is this RWRB fic: Growth is Uncomfortable (because you've never been here before) by Jaistiel that's amazing. It's basically the whole story but with a redemption arc for Philip. It's really really good! Read me in my original language by rakketyrivertam - a fic about TK being Jewish and sharing it with Carlos and a little look into Judaism/Jewish culture. I've thought about writing something like that myself but I'm not Jewish and the amount of research I'd need to do to even come close to doing it justice makes my head spin so that's not going to happen. But this is an absolute wonderful read! And (I spent ages looking for this) Déjame Ver Cómo Es Que Floreces by 14carrotgold - a RWRB fic where Henry meets the Diaz side of Alex's family, learns some Spanish, and a little look into Mexican/Mexican-American culture. It's a beast of a fic but I love it. I just love stories that give me (some) insight in other cultures - told by people *from* that culture. Google only tells you so much, but someone who is actually speaking from personal experience can 'show' you things that won't appear in a "5 things you need to know about x" list. 🎨 Anyone who wants to make any art for ANY of my fics will be my new best friend and I'll love them forever. Just FYI @ all artists Though Carlos and TK talking to a group of middle schoolers in Austin TX First Responders Week could be fun. Or Carlos dressed as a luchador and TK as a cop in Carlos' uniform in The Perfect Costume (or Nancy and Marjan as Gomez and Morticia Addams!) Or the boys riding a mechanical bull together like in Love online

Thanks for asking 💜 (and sorry this took forever!)

[acertainmoshke]

Happy STS! What are your go-to/preferred writing tools? Favorite pen types, notebooks, keyboards, etc, but it doesn't have to be limited to just those things. Writing programs, favorite reference books, thesauruses, dictionaries, TTS software, whiteboards, corkboards, flash cards, encyclopedias, anything goes!

Nooooooooooo Nopal you don't know what you've done! How could you know I have an actual special interest in this??

So I am obsessed with notebooks but also REALLY picky about them. My handwriting is teeny so I don't like big lines, and I think it looks neater and prettier with smaller lines anyway. The covers can have a cool pattern or be plain if it's a nice color and high-quality enough. I do occasionally make exceptions; my current journal is fairly cheap with large lines, but it's a rare older Batman one in my favorite color with bat-tech designs on all the pages and a light-up bat signal on the color, so it was worth it. My newly discovered favorite notebook aspect is ones that are designed so the pages lay flat and it's easier to write. Oh, and I LOATHE spiral notebooks. The big school-style ones are ok for random notes or anything unimportant, but the smaller little ones that are normal book size are absolutely worthless. The spirals always come undone before I'm done with them.

I'm also picky about writing utensils. I keep a journal strictly in pen so it can't fade and I can't get embarrassed and erase it. I write stories strictly in pencil because I WILL need to erase and try out lines. But, although I'm using one currently for my big-lined Batman journal, in general I can't stand large ballpoints. By which I mean 0.7, which is pretty standard. 0.5 is ok, but I much prefer the rarer smaller pens. I used to have a Japanese friend who I would get to send me 0.35 pens because they are normal there but expensive over here. In pencils anything under 0.5 is impractical, but I like the fancy mechanical pencils with a nice grip and a dent that lets you dig out the eraser even after it's erased down. My current one is teal.

None of that answered your question but it was necessary anyway. And this is getting too long so the actual answer is going under a cut.

We'll see how long I can keep it going, but I like to write my stories on paper. Of course, it's not worth starting a nice new notebook if I'm unlikely to finish it and it's impractical if I don't have a clear idea of the basic story, because jumping around out of order is impossible. I like it though because it forces me to slow down and think about each scene; I can't rush the way I do when typing. It also gives me a built-in edit when I copy it up, so by the time I'm editing a full draft it's already technically a second draft. And it's convenient because I can take it to work and write on my breaks, or if I'm waiting in line at the post office, or anywhere I happen to find myself.

I do still write on the computer, of course, for fanfiction or just-for-fun things I'll never finish or stories I'm still figuring out. When I do truly long-form things I like to use work because I hate the way Google docs looks (controversial, I know). But for short things, or worldbuilding, or fanfic, I like to use Notion. I like that I can nest pages within each other endlessly. It makes my autistic organizing brain buzz.

I recently discovered that I enjoy using actual notecards pinned to a corkboard for initial plot planning. I can't always do this, and I make outlines too for more detail, but being able to physically move stuff around in real space helps my brain focus on what is actually important to include.

Thank you sooooo much for giving me a chance to ramble about this!!

[thegirl20]

actually i wanna ask all of them but i narrowe them down ❤️💥✨️✍️🚀🥳🦋🦈🔎🤩🤖💛🎨 but feel free to skip i know it is many!

❤️ What is your favorite line that you’ve written in a fic?

“I told you, my mother-in-law is moping all over the place, weeping and wailing like an Italian.” Bree Van De Kamp in this fic.

The reason I like this line is that in the episode the following week, Bree said to her mother-in-law:  “Even Italians take a break now and again.”  So I felt like I’d got the character right.  That’s my favourite kind of dialogue - when it feels right for the person saying it.

There are probably more recent things I’ve written that I quite like, but that’s the one that sticks in my brain for some reason. Despite it being like 17 years old.

💥What is one canon thing that you wish you could change?

Can I say the last three and a half years of Emmerdale? 😉

✨️Out of the comments you’ve received on your fics, what are two or three of your favorites?

I can’t answer this one. I enjoy any time people tell me they’ve enjoyed a fic. I love when people pull out the bits they liked the most. I love it when people tell me they can ‘hear’ the characters in my dialogue. Those are my favourite kinds of comments, because I enjoy writing dialogue so much that when it sounds right to people, I feel accomplished.

✍️What’s your ideal writing setup?

I used to write long-hand. I would jot notes down in my work notebook or whatever and then type it up, editing and enhancing as I did so. I stopped doing that and now I mostly just capture snippets of notes in google docs and build things around them. But I used to quite like the tactile sensation of writing by hand.

I don’t really have a set-up as such. I have a room that I use as an ‘office’ and sometimes if I know I need to get some writing done I’ll go in there so it feels more official. But I can write anywhere my laptop is, really.

🚀 Do you like to outline your fic first or create as you go?

It depends. Mostly my fics grow out of a single line of dialogue or a single scene I have in my head. So I’ll jot that down, then write around it. If I know the story I want to tell is longer, generally I’ll still jot down the scene or scenes I have in mind first, but I’ll try and do some bullet points outlining a vague structure and the things I know I want to include. But if it’s a short fic I just sit down and write it, generally without knowing much of what will be in it beyond the initial thing that inspired me to write it.

🥳 Why did you start writing fanfic?

I’ve always enjoyed creative writing. When I was little, like 8 or 9, I would write out scripts for my dolls or for my friends to act out. I enjoyed writing stories whenever we had to at school. So I suppose when I discovered that people wrote stories about shows I liked, and could make the characters do whatever they wanted them to do, it appealed to me.

🦋 Which character is your favorite to write?

Charity Dingle. No question.

🦈 Which character is the toughest to write?

I find a lot of characters difficult to write. When people don’t have a distinctive voice or way of speaking, I struggle, because I rely on dialogue a lot for characterisation. Yennefer, for example, I find difficult to write and I don’t think I really capture her a lot of the time. I tend to shove her into modern AUs and use that as a bit of an excuse.

🔎 Does anyone beta read or edit your fics?

No. Not even me!

(That sounds flippant, but it’s the truth. This is because I write because it’s fun, and it’s not fun for me to have someone essentially ‘mark’ my work. And I know this isn’t how a lot of people work with betas, and I know it can greatly enhance both the experience and the end result, but for me my brain wants to be done with something when it’s written. It doesn’t want to go back over things. That’s why I tend not to plan things out very much either - if I had written an intricate plan for something, my brain would think it was done and wouldn’t want to do it again)

🤩 What led to your interest in the fandom?

Depends which fandom, really. I’ve been known to check things out because of gifs. I have a friend who I watch a lot of tv with and she recommends things to me and vice versa. Although, just because I watch something doesn’t mean I want to get involved in the fandom. Usually I get into a fandom, and particularly writing for a fandom, if there’s subtext involved. Or if people aren’t together yet. I like to have scope for creativity.

🤖 Are non-fandom friends aware that you write fanfic?

No. Absolutely not.

💛 What is the most impactful lesson you’ve learned about writing?

That people can take joy from my wee stories. Even the ones I don’t particularly like, there will be someone that likes them.

🎨 If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

This is quite funny, because @ehay offered to make art from my fic and I was unable to think of a scene that stood out. And that’s because I��m not a very visual writer at all. I don’t describe scenery or clothing or even people very much. I write dialogue. So it’s hard for me to think of scenes that I would like to see immortalised by the talented artists out there.

Incidentally, @ehay did create some scenes from one of my fics, and it is gorgeous and far more beautiful than I could ever have described: The hour of hush and wonder

And people got pretty excited about Cara Lannister back in the day.

I guess it's exciting to see fan art of AUs because I'm never going to get to 'see' the characters in those settings in canon.

[amywritesthings]

fic writer interview.

found this in the tags while I was browsing & thought it could be a fun way to end 2022! i am not tagging anyone, but if you'd like to fill it out, then feel free to copy + paste it to a new post!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Eleven, soon to be twelve!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

113,915

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Marvel (The Avengers, Moon Knight), Star Wars (The Mandalorian, Andor), The Last of Us, The Bubble, and Stranger Things

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Point A to Point B (493)

Where Shadows Meet Spaces (356)

Meet Me at the Usual (277)

A First for Breathing (226)

Meet Me On the Other Side (118)

5. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Every single one, no matter how long or how short! Reblogs on tumblr and replies/comments under the posts are literally my life source to keep me going through the day. I try to make sure I don't miss a single response if I can help it.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

It isn't finished yet, but I have the finale outlined for Famous Last Words as I only have two more parts to go. (That I intend to finish some day I promise!) Same Old Mistakes will have the angstiest ending out of all of my fics.

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I do not. I totally could one day, though. Just has to have the right mood.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

No! Luckily I am fortunate enough to say that I have been given only constructive criticism to my fics, which is not equivalent to hate.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do! I actually really get nervous about writing smut. Like it'll take me eons to write smut chapters versus normal chapters because they're the pieces of writing I'm most self conscious about. (Even if... nearly all of my works constitute as smut-based fics.) I primarily write f/m smut just because... well, it just happens that way? And I write smut for me, so I don't primarily write things that I don't find hot. Because fic-writing it's about self-indulging, baybeeee.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No! Not that I am aware of, anyway. Hopefully not, because stealing fics is lame.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I'm aware of, no.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I'm actually more well-versed in roleplay writing than I am with fanfics, so I want to say... yes? Because I've written collaborative stories with friends that I've just never published to the public, but it's a long-winded way of say yes and also no.

13. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

I don't know if I have one? I write mainly reader insert because I would be writing original character x canon fic, but they don't typically sell well, so I adopted 2nd person writing to get with the times.

In terms of readership, I loved Buffy/Spike from BtVS as a kid, Garrus x Sheppard from Mass Effect 3, Zutara from ATLA, Jack & Elizabeth from POTC, Obidala, Dramione, Reylo... I'm typically a big proponent of enemies to lovers, if that hasn't been obvious yet, lol.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I have a Succession fanfiction that is extremely dark and 'dead dove don't eat' territory that I've had sitting in my google docs for over a year now. I think it's some of my best writing, but I know that it's extremely taboo and very much not safe for work, so I struggle with posting it despite how I go back to read it all the time lol. I write a really good Kendall Roy, guys!

15. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue. I went to school and have a degree in pre-production motion picture and television writing, so screenwriting is my niche little hobby that I wanted to turn into a career and never did. That being said, I think that I can really pick up on dialect of characters and actors very well in order to translate them into original pieces / fanfiction, so I think most of my strengths lie within my verbal writing.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Description. I absolutely loathe writing long paragraphs and descriptors and tend to gloss over when others write very long paragraph writing. My attention span just cannot handle non-quippy and whippy writing, and that goes for myself as well. I'd rather just write the dialogue and the drama going on between interpersonal relationships, and tend to struggle with setting up locations and atmospheres in a broader, descriptive sense vs. abstract.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I don't do it because I would have to use Google Translator and that's a total gamble, but I admire those who can and do fluently. I can read Spanish, but I cannot write it. The closest we get is me writing Din speaking in Mando'a and quite honestly I do not know if those translations are even real / up to Wookiepedia code lol.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Y'all are going to lose. your. shit over this.

Jimmy Neutron. I was nine years old. A 12-part story I still say is my best work 😂

19. What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

Point A to Point B will likely be my favorite. I have put so much of my heart and soul in that storytelling and world crafting that I'd be remiss to suggest anything else.

[stevethehairington]

22, 29, 32 for the writers questions!!

ty for sending this in!! <3

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

hm this is. this is a funny one to answer bc i feel like i am part incredibly organized and part chaotic mess lmfao. bc like i use google drive for my fics and i have a RIGID organizational structure for that. like i have a folder for each of the fandoms i've written for and within that fandom folder i have a writing folder and within that writing folder i have my docs. and those are organized by docs i've started and are either waiting to be written or are in the middle of being written which kind of hang out in the folder loosely. but then i have a separate folder for my finished fics, a separate folder for my finished fics' plan/outline docs (if they have one), and a separate folder for each event/challenge/project i've participated in. so like for steddie i have a folder for each of the zines i'm in and a big bang folder.

but then when it comes to what i'm actually writing... that can get messier lmao. i kind of write across like 3 different platforms? like i use google docs for my main document to write in, but i also write in the notes app on my phone, and i handwrite a lot of things too (mostly bc i cant use my computer at work to write fic so i resort to good ol fashioned pen and paper lol). so it can get tricky trying to remember WHERE i wrote that one piece i'm looking for lol and i have to dig and dig through sheets of notebook paper and my insane amount of notes on my phone and the docs that i have (bc sometimes if it's getting too long i'll split up the doc too just to get a clean work space).

i also have a binder that is full of like old fic stuff i've jotted down, whether that be old snippets i've written, or ideas i've scribbled onto a sticky note, or something i printed out to edit. that binder has stuff from sooo many different fandoms in it lol. i've tried organizing it by fandom and i've bunched all the stuff for one specific idea into a paperclipped stack or i've put it in one of those sheet protector pages lol.

but yeah it's like organized chaos i guess you could say. but it works for the most part so! here i am! lol

29. Where do you draw your inspiration? What do you do when the inspiration well runs dry?

ooh! easy question!! i draw inspiration from literally anything and everything!! the world is full of stuff that makes GREAT stories!! so yeah i absolutely pull from everything around me - whether that's looking up prompts on tumblr, watching a show/movie or reading a book and wanting to au it, something a friend/coworker/someone random on the street said, an object i see that sparks something in me, a color, a weather pattern, a mood, a song, a recipe, my own feelings, other people's feelings, my life experiences, other people's life experiences.

inspiration really truly comes from everwhere!

when the well runs dry i try to dig deeper. i try to look through prompts that might spark something, even if it's a tiny little ficlet. oh i also like to look through old ideas i've had for other fandoms when this happens bc sometimes the best thing to do is to recycle!! bc like the inspiration was there at some point, and looking back on it helps to respark that and bring it back! and trying to revamp it to fit my current fandom/pairing really helps get the gears turning again too.

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

you can find the answer to this one here!

weird questions for writers

[bardofavon]

🚀 ❤️ 🎁

🚀 Do you like to outline your fic first or create as you go?

somehow both and also neither. i have the vague plot beats sketched out usually before I start the story and i always always always write out of order, which is why i've got like 25,000 unposted words of my story and know about the ending and major moments but sometimes struggle to get the next chapter out on time. because I'vE GOT IT ! i know what's GOING TO HAPPEN! i do not know how we get there! i don't have a structured outline. and then, of course, i'll be halfway through a story and i'll go "oh shit what if ___ happens instead" and things will change. but the broad strokes of it are usually set from the beginning and i tend to be heavy handed with foreshadowing because of this. i love foreshadowing. i like my endings to feel surprising yet inevitable which means someone could probably take enough of what's already happened to go "i bet this is how it's going to end" and get it right.

so anyway, i don't go at it chapter by chapter and outline exactly what's going to happen. usually when i start a story i don't even know what's going to happen in the second chapter. but i DO always have a hefty google doc (or a few longsuffering friends' DMs) with most of my major ideas in it. i do everything this way, the p5 figure skating au, kaz sun summoner, my old star wars force awakens high school au, my novels, it's all plantsing (planning + pantsing combo)

❤️ What is your favorite line that you’ve written in a fic?

very partial to this one from a good myth:

and these two from ‘this last of meeting places’

🎁 Have a piece of a WIP you want to share?

i've answered this here!

and the other WIPs i had were getting into massive spoiler territory so instead have a WIP from an original work i've been sitting on unfinished for 4 years <3

fanfic writer ask game

[fandomsareforlife]

KOTLC soulmate au

So, this is the Sokam fanfic that I have been talking about for a while. It kind of just ends abruptly, but that's because I am so unmotivated to finish. I might finish it eventually, but this is the entire google doc I made of it. I also included my remaining outline, and that is definitely a rough thing. This almost a year old, so I am probably a better writer. But I know that definitely wrote somethings differently than I would today. Also, the formatting is weird since tumblr is so sorry about thatz

Also, this includes some headcanons for me including genderfluid Tam (he/they/she/xe), trans Keefe (he/him), trans Linh (she/her), and nonbinary Sophie (they/them).

So, trigger warnings. This includes things like abuse (of all kinds), violence, suicide, outing someone without permission, hiding injuries and trans/homophobia. More details under the cut. Please let me know if something needs to be tag.

Now, onto the story.

Spoilers: The trans and homophobia thing comes from a term that the lost cities uses, "moonchild," that describes any elf that is LGBTQ+, and it is not seen as a good thing. Forkle, Quan and Mai, Keefe's parents are the most prevalent. Fitz outs Sophie to Della unmaliciously, and Della outs Sophie to Forkle. Also, Tam tries to jump out of a window, but is thankfully unsuccessful.

Tam hated the stories his parents told about how they were soulmates since they were thirteen. He hated the fact that they always told him and Linh that they will never meet their soulmates.

However, that didn't stop him from hoping he had one. Even if he never met them outside of the dreams they would share, it would be nice to have someone else besides Linh to care about.

His life was a mess of thinly veiled insults and threats and comforting Linh after she was hurt.

Ancients, please send me a sign, Tam pleaded as he held Linh through another nightmare.

—-

When he was eight, Keefe had a weird dream. It started out with him being in Candleshade's foyer, a room he hated with a passion. It had one of the few paintings in his home, with a painting of him and his parents. Of course, it didn't show him the way he wanted it to but he couldn't do much about it just yet.

Looking around, Keefe became more and more confused. For one, this dream was extremely realistic, with no detail out of place. His dreams were never this detailed. They also didn't feature him in the wrong body, instead putting him in the right skin, for however long his dream lasted. For another, there were two figures sitting on a set of chairs, one blonde and another black haired. They both appeared to be wearing their pajamas.

Keefe, against his better judgment, walked up to them.

"Hi, I’m Sophie, she and her. This is Tam, he and him. He doesn't talk much,"the girl, Sophie apparently, greeted. I

The boy, Tam, next to her waved his hand shyly. They both looked to be his age. However, something was off with Sophie.

It wasn't until Keefe got closer that he realized why. She had brown eyes. She was a human.

Keefe had to stop himself from gasping. This had to be a really weird dream. While he had briefly entertained the idea of being a soulmate dream, the fact that Sophie had brown eyes removed any possibility of it from his mind.

"You have brown eyes," Keefe dumbly stated. Great going Keefe, now they will never want to be your friend, a voice taunted.

"Oh. You're from the same place Tam is from, then. Um brown eyes are common where I am from. And apparently, mansions are common here. Um, if you don't mind, what is your name and pronouns? Also do you know where we are?" Sophie, who was surprisingly mature for a human her age, responded.

"Um, my house. I'm Keefe, he and him,"Keefe stuttered. He didn't know why but he felt like he could trust these two with his deepest secret, one that he had kept in the back of his mind.

"Um I am sorry but um is this place, um are you guys real?" Tam,who up until this point had been silent.

"Um yes I am real. Although I thought dream sharing didn't start until 13?" Sophie responded.

By now, Keefe had started to get his head around the idea of this being a shared dream. Maybe an elf and a human can be soulmates. That last comment was however the cherry on top.

"Well maybe we are special," Keefe tried to comfort. He really wasn't one for comforting but he was going to try his hardest.

Luckily, that seemed to be good enough for the others, simply nodded.

After a few moments of silence, Tam asked," Can we go exploring?" in a soft voice that if Keefe wasn't listening for it he would have missed it.

"Yeah we can," Keefe responded, his voice just as gently, not wanting to frighten the boy.

——

"Mom, what does dreamsharing feel like?" a young Keefe asked his mother, who was sitting in the kitchen.

"Well, child, it felt like I was in a familiar yet completely new place all at once. It was so vivid yet I had never been there before," Lady Gisela explained, not particularly patient but she didn't snap so that was a good thing.

While Keefe occasionally has trouble differentiating between a vivid dream that was of pure imagination and one from his photographic memory, he was sure he had never seen Tam and Sophie before. Even if he had his doubts at first with Sophie's brown eyes, Keefe figured he was just special.

"I think I dream shared mom," Keefe admitted, gently putting his hand on his mother's.

"She must be so lonely that she's imagining fake friends. Pathetic," was the muttered response to his admittance. "Maybe she is too broken to be my legacy."

While Keefe couldn't completely understand the last sentence, the first shattered him. While he had a habit of making fake friends, he had never made a friend as detailed as Sophie and Tam. They were real, even if no one else believed them.

—-

A while after the first dream, about two weeks, was a second. Sophie was grateful for it, both because the noise of the thoughts people had were not existent and since she got to see her only friends.

Wow, that's sad,Sophie thought.

It wasn’t like Sophie didn’t try to get along with the other kids, but between hearing everybody's thoughts and her intelligence, it was tricky. It had been years since someone tried to be her friend. It didn’t help that she could hear their thoughts and it hurts more than it should. She was just grateful she couldn’t hear thoughts in her dreams, that would make her friendship with Tam and Keefe all the more harder.

She looked around the room she was in. It appeared to be a very luxurious home, almost as much as Keefe's. There was the same amount of crystals it seemed.

"Hi, Sophie," a small voice called out to her. Sophie turned around and smiled.

Standing by the entrance to the hallway was Tam. He looked even cuter than last time, especially with his tired eyes.

"Where are we?" Sophie asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"My home. We're in the foyer right now. Wanna find Keefe and see if he wants a tour?" Tam explained, a small smile gracing his lips.

"I would like a tour but only if you want to do it," came a voice from behind them. Looking up, Sophie realized that Keefe had entered the foyer, a smirk on his lips.

Tam ran up to him, asking,"May I give you a hug?" After getting confirmation that he can, he took Keefe into his arms and squeezed him so hard that Keefe pretended to choke, but the effect was ruined by the fact that he was laughing.

Tam took Sophie's and Keefe's hands and led them out of the foyer, into a glimpse of his world.

—-

Sophie might have almost slipped up during the tour though.

They were sitting on Tam’s bed, when the boys tried asking about her day.

“Oh, it was good. My teacher pretended to get mad at me for being right on something he was wrong on, but I read his mind, and he was impressed!” Sophie cheered, jumping up and down. She was so excited she hadn’t noticed her slip up.

“Wait, read his mind?” Tam asked, leaning forward to look at her. Sophie felt the urge to tug her eyelashes out, but resisted.

“I, um, I,” Sophie stammered, her hands wringing. “I read his body language, and read some of his notes. I didn’t read his mind. I mean how would that even work right?” she laughed, even though her stomach wanted to jump out her throat.

It was clear from Tam and Keefe’s faces that they doubted her, but she didn’t care. As long as they dropped the subject it would be enough for her.

Luck was on her side and they dropped it, although they gave her glances every once in a while.

—-

Tam felt as though his heart would explode out of his chest.

His parents had tried to convince him and Linh that they should pretend that they weren't twins. It wasn't anything new. They've been doing that for as long as Linh had said she wanted to be a girl, and it was easier to pass them off as two siblings with Linh a year older.

However, after the last dream he shared with Keefe and Sophie, he wanted to change something. He was tired of living a lie, like Keefe was forced to.

However, when he brought the idea to Linh, she told him that she wouldn't follow him through with it. While Tam knew she was entitled to her opinion, he could not help but think her opinion was stupid.

Luckily, a few days after he brought up his idea to Linh, he had another shared dream.

This one started in a very basic home. It was the most depressing room Tam had ever been in his short life. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration but it was very sad compared to the, admittedly limited, places he had been in his eight years of life.

Tam suddenly remembers that Sophie didn't live in the Lost Cities. Perhaps this was her home.

"Sophie? Keefe?" Tam called out, wanting to reassure himself that they were safe.

Suddenly, a body came running up to him, and tackled him. Judging by the fact that there was maniacal laughter and a wide smirk, Tam guessed that it was Keefe.

Pushing the shorter boy off of him, and mentally reminding himself to ask Keefe why he had such long hair, Tam smiled at Keefe.

"Hi Keefe. How are you? This is a change. Where is Sophie?" Tam greeted, while definitely not blushing. It seemed he was unsuccessful if the blonde's laughs were anything to go by.

"Hi hi Tammy. I'm fine. Better with you. Yeah no Sophie is weird," Keefe responded, his voice lacking his usual enthusiasm. That alerted Tam, since although he had only known the younger boy for a little while, he had thought that he was a ball of energy.

"Hi guys," a chipper voice behind them yelled. "I guess we're in my house this time."

Standing in what Tam presumed was her night clothes, Sophie was bright eyed and bushy tail.

Forgetting to ask Keefe why he looked so sad, he allowed himself to be dragged around the house that was so different from what he was used to.

—-

Keefe was getting older, almost old enough that his parents were thinking about allowing him to get out of the house. After all, he was 10 years old.

However, there were many obstacles to overcome. For starters, he was considered a disappointment in every way imaginable. Another was that he was known as a girl, not as the boy he wanted to be viewed as.

Keefe knew what people who felt like him were treated. Other people called them moon children, both under breaths and to their faces. Keefe couldn’t choose what was worse, the hatred or the lie.

Luckily, Sophie and Tam knew. They didn’t know the whole story, but that was okay. They weren’t going to learn the truth for a while.

Keefe could not wait to dream share again with the two most wonderful people he knew.

(So what if he didn't know anyone else who actually cared about him. They still were the best.)

Luckily he didn't have to wait long. Only until he fell asleep that night.

Keefe found himself in Atlantis, a place he had never been to but he recognized it from the water surrounding him.

Keefe took a glance around, noting that he was standing in front of the matchmakers office.

(A bitter feeling rose from within him, as he thought about the fact that he would never get a match list.)

Keefe was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realize someone was behind him until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Ah!” he screeched, confusion filling his core before he realized who it was.

Poor Sophie was so terrified she almost fell. Fortunately Tam was close enough to grab her but it still was a close one.

"I don't need you to fall for me Soph," Tam teased, looking brighter than ever. "I know I am good looking. By the way, we're in Atlantis. It's like New York where me and Keefe live."

Keefe was impressed with the amount of knowledge Tam had, both of humans and Atlantis.

"Oh cool! It's really cool that you guys still have places based off of the legends!" Sophie gushed. Her hands were waving wildly, like they had a tendency to do when she was excited.

Keefe wanted to just soak up the goodness of the interaction, when Tam turned to him suddenly.

"Hey, you wanna go on a tour? I don't know if you've been here before but it's really cool," the black haired boy rushed out.

Keefe nodded, and allowed himself to be dragged along with the two other children into a world he had never known.

—-

Sophie was in complete and utter awe in the way the city, Atlantis, was.

It looked to be entirely made of crystals and the buildings were as tall as could be. There were some strange things here, like the blue fire, but she brushed it off as a very elaborate light.

"My parents took us here for shopping ," Tam explained, his voice surprisingly neutral throughout his sentence, despite the smile on his face. He was the unofficial leader of the group , leading the other two through the city that looked just like it’s namesake.

Entering one of the stores, Sophie was surprised at what she found. Instead of the usual shirts and pants she found at stores, there were tunic and some sort of jacket. It seemed to be made of leather, and had a very medieval feel to it.

"Can I go try one on? My parents won't let me wear anything like that, only dresses," Keefe asked hesitantly. He was fisting his pajama top, not looking up at either Sophie or Tam. While she did wonder why his parents would make a boy wear dresses, she passed it off as a weird parent thing.

After Tam gave the confirmation he could go, Keefe ran towards the tunics, and gestured to Sophie to come follow.

"What kind of fabric are they? I've never seen this before?" Sophie wondered out loud.

"I don't know," Tam stated, looking down at his knees.

Trying to look for a tag, Sophie realized all she could find was some odd sort of lines.

Asking what they were got her a panicked and confused expression, from Tam and Keefe specifically. The dream then suddenly faded to black, and Sophie woke up. gasping. She would later learn that shared dreams could end if one was too close to learning where their soulmate lived before they met. She cried for hours after that.

That was the first time they ended a dream on her.

—-

Tam, after two years, had gotten used to having dreams in places she had never been before.

(She had also gotten used to the knot in her stomach on some days, the days when she wanted to not be a boy, but someone. It wasn't all the time, but it hurts.)

It was a medium sized room, with about 20 of one of the most uncomfortable chairs with a desk in front of them.

Tam then realized that she was also sitting on a rug, with some strange symbols on it.

"Hi, Tam," Keefe greeted, a smile stretched across his face. He had snuck up to Tam when she was distracted with trying to figure out what those symbols were. "Is this one of your places or no?" Keefe's hands were twisting his tunic, a long black one with buttons.

Keefe quickly sat down by Tam and cuddled up to him.

"Hi Keefe," Tam greeted. "No, I think this is one of Sophie's dreams. Do you think it's some weird human thing?"

Keefe had come to Tam with his suspicions that the third member of their group was not an elf about a year ago. While there had been some evidence to the contrary, specifically the second dream shared, the fact that Sophie lived in the Forbidden Cities was enough to cancel out any other possibilities. They had decided to not say anything to her as to not hurt her feelings, since they would never meet, or accidently reveal something was amiss.

Just then, Sophie walked up to them, from somewhere. She then sat on the floor by Tam and gave her a big hug.

"This is my school. We're learning about right triangles and it's really fun!" Sophie chirped, a smile on her face. "Of course the other kids are kinda mean since I am two years younger than them, cause I moved up two grades," she then frowned, obviously upset about that fact.

Tam was still confused. Sophie was only eight, why was she in school so early. Although she had mentioned that she was with kids two years older, that still didn't clear anything up.

"Why are you in school when you're so young?" Tam blurted out, interrupting Keefe's interrogation as to what right angles were.

"We start school when we're five, what do you mean young?"

Keefe cleared his throat. "Well, where me and Tam are from, we get homeschooled until we are about eleven, which we then start school with other kids. Only, I think our school has only one desk in a class, since we have one mentor for a prodigy."

Sophie's expression was so confused it almost made Tam laugh, but she decided to take pity on the blonde girl.

"How do your teachers deal with," Tam quickly counted the amount of chairs,"25 kids?"

Sophie laughed and confessed she had no idea. They laughed, when Keefe started coughing.

"Are you okay?!" Tam and Sophie cried out, concerned about their friend. (Well you want him to be something more, taunted the voice inside of Tam's head).

"No."

"Do you need something?"

"Yeah, for this to get off my chest." Keefe then tugged his tunic off, showing a tight cloth around it, binding his chest flat.

Sophie gasped, and immediately started lecturing him about how unsafe this was, and forced him to take off the bandages. Tam also helped, even though he felt numb. Why would his soulmate do this to himself?

Eventually, they managed to calm down enough that they could get in a comfortable position. They ended up with Tam sitting on what Sophie called a beanbag, Keefe on her lap, and Sophie sitting on the edge.

After some gentle prodding, they managed to get Keefe to open up.

"Because it is just too much. And, And if my mom found out then she's going to start harping on me about being a girl... I'm not a girl. But if I say something I'm going to be in big trouble,"Keefe gasped through his sobs. He was wearing his tunic again, and wrapped his limbs around Tam.

Tam noted that Sophie was at a loss, but he knew what Keefe was talking about. It wasn't a well known fact, but in the lost cities, anyone who wanted to be a different gender was not treated the best. They were almost as bad as twins if they were talentless, but just as bad if they had an ability. This was because they couldn't have children, so they were less likely to be matched. She still remembers the times her parents would yell at Linh about being a moonchild.

Tam pushes those thoughts out of her head, and focuses her efforts on Keefe. She also promised to make sure to punish whoever made Keefe feel like this one day.

-----

Keefe couldn't believe he was going to do this. He was sitting on a plush sofa, across from his parents, in his room. He was close enough to smell his mother's perfume, a lilac scent. Gripping his tunic, he forced himself to make eye contact.

"Well, get with it, love," his father ordered, his eyebrow raising slightly.

Keefe forced himself to take a deep breath, through the tightness in his chest. He wasn't using a cloth to bind his chest, not after the dream he had a few days ago.

"I have something to tell you," Keefe stammered, watching his parents become more and more irritated with how slow he was taking. "I'm a moon child, and I don't care if you hate me, or if getting a match is impossible. This is who I am, and this lie that is my life is getting tiring." Tears were streaming down Keefe's face, as the emotions that were threatening to spill over spilled.

His father sighed, as he walked towards Keefe.

Placing a hand on Keefe's, he sighed,"Well. You seem to not be lying. Well, man up, boys don't cry. I'll have the gnomes make your clothing fit for a gentleman of your stature." Cassius then walks away, leaving his wife to mull over what just happened.

Keefe felt a grin, then a laugh, bubble up inside him, threatening to escape. His mind just couldn't wrap around the idea that his father would accept him with such ease. Little did he know that his father didn't truly accept him, and wouldn't for years to come.

—-

There was a bundle of nerves in Sophie's stomach. Today was the day. The day they told her the two people closest to them, besides their family. one of the biggest revelations in her life. One they haven't told anyone before.

They took a deep breath, eyes scanning the room the dream had started in for them. They were in their home again, with them being in the living room. There was a half-eaten cake, with a few presents scattered around the room. Their favorite blanket was on the back of her sofa, as though their dreams somehow knew what she would need.

A few moments passed, before Tam and Keefe walked in, holding hands. Sophie wasn't jealous of the fact they were together when the dream started. In fact, it was a good thing because it so rarely happened. Usually, Keefe would start his dream by himself.

"It repeated," Keefe stated, in what some would assume was a deadpan, but they knew that they were just giving an observation. Sophie could empathize. It was rare to have a location for a shared dream to repeat. It typically only happened in dire cases.

Tam nodded, then turned to Sophie."What's going on?" he asked softly, his eyes glancing at the cake in front of them. They couldn't blame him.

"Well, today was my birthday so we stayed in and played a lot of board games, and ate cake. Also, I have something to tell you two, but you have to promise to not hate me." There. That was a great way to start this conversation.

Keefe nodded, then asked,"Do you want us close or far away from you?" Sophie thought for a moment, weighing the pros and cons. She then gestured for them to sit on one sofa next to them, which they did.

"So what's going on?" Tam asked surprisingly gently, his hand on their side.

"Um, well I kinda realized something recently and wanted to tell you. You know how Keefe is a boy despite not having a boy's body?" Sophie ventured, desperately hoping they didn't hate them after this. They accepted Keefe, but he fell into a nice neat little box that Sophie didn't.

"Yeah. What does that have to do with this?" Keefe questioned, genuine curiosity in his voice.

Sophie took a deep breath, and started to explain.

"Well, I don't want to be a girl, and while being a boy is kinda better, it's still not okay. Like, I'm in between two water falls, and I need to drink from them once in a while, but drinking from one too long is really bad. I know it is weird but it's how I feel. It's called being non-binary, in the human world." Sophie rushes out, their voice steadily becoming thicker with tears. They were so out of it they barely registered Tam lifting her on his lap.

"Hey, it's okay. We don't hate you. Want us to use different pronouns?" his voice soothed, although there were some tears streaming down his face. Why? Sophie thought.

"They and Them. Why are you crying?" their voice responded, after they crawled out of the mud her mind was in.

"Um, because I kinda feel like that sometimes. But not the same. It's more like I have a closet, with a lot of different clothes, some super similar, but some different. Sometimes I want to put on one thing but the next moment I want to put on a completely different thing. I'm not doing a great job at explaining it, but it's how I feel," he whispered, his hand clutching Sophie tighter. They felt Keefe's hands settle on their bodies, pulling them closer.

Sophie thought they knew what he was going through, but wanted to check first. After getting off Tam's lap, they went to grab their iPod, opening the internet. While Keefe and Tam couldn't see the screen, it still worked in their dreams.

"So, um I think I found out what you might be. It’s called being genderfluid, and it’s basically when your gender changes. I found a quiz that is supposed to help you get a start on understanding it.. There’s a bunch of questions so I am going to read them off to you and you can answer them okay?"

After getting confirmation from Tam, Sophie started reading off the questions they found. After asking all the questions, Tam put his head in his hands, and Keefe, who had been quiet this whole time, stroked his back softly.

"Do I need to make a decision now?" he whispered.

"No," Sophie and Keefe responded simultaneously.

"You can go at your own pace. If you ever want to tell us, you can," Keefe declared, his voice filled with confidence.

"Okay. I'm going to be thinking about this, so I'm going to tell you later. It's kinda sudden, you know?"

"Yeah, that's cool. I get how you feel," Keefe responded.

---

Shortly after the conversation, Tam had come to a decision. Xe were not completely sure of the term gender fluid describing xem , but it seemed to fit how xe felt. Xe were Tam Song, the rowdy spawn of Quan and Mai Song, and Linh Song's twin.

"I have an answer."

"What?" Keefe asked, from his side. They were playing Mario Kart, and he was winning.

"I think I am genderfluid. Use Xe/Xem right now, let you know if it changes,no new name," Tam smiled, feeling freer than ever.

"Okay," Sophie smiled, then proceeded to hit Keefe with a blue shell. Keefe yelled, and pushed Sophie causing them to laugh. Tam chuckled softly as a soft, bubbly filled xem right up.

—-

Linh had manifested the day before her and Tam's tenth birthday, and since then she hadn't been out of Choralmere for long periods of time. It's been ten months since she left her home for more than a few hours, since the twins could convince people that she and Tam were in fact twins. It had been an uphill battle for Tam to get her to tell other people that they weren't twins, but eventually she cracked. It was when he admitted that he told his soulmates they were twins that did it. Linh hadn't realized that he had even begun dreamsharing, and judging by Tam's reaction, he didn't want to tell her. Their scheme was only in motion for two months, up until Linh had stopped leaving their house.

However, today things were looking up. The day before was when she had her Foxfire entrance exam, in which she was able to keep control of the water long enough to impress the examiners. Her parents were so proud they promised to take both twins to a surprise place as a reward.

They had taken the twins to Atlantis, both because they needed school supplies for Linh but also because they knew that the twins were much more subdued in the bustle of the crowds.

Tam had a deathly grip on Linh's hand, as he tried to keep them close to their parents. Despite publicly being the oldest, Linh was more often than not treated as though Tam was older. He was just naturally braver.

However, Tam was holding something secret from Linh. It hurt Linh that her twin would hide something from her, which was definitely strange considering they never did before. Linh was determined to find out what.

Eventually, they made it to the bookstore, which while having a good crowd, was emptier than usual. That was a good thing for Linh's plan.

"Me and your father will get your books while you two go get some books for your free time,"'Mai told them briskly. Linh nodded rapidly, and grabbed Tam's wrist, dragging him towards the children's section, which was not very crowded.

"Linh, what are you doing?" Tam asked, irritated. He was tugging at his bangs, a nervous habit.

"What are you hiding from me?" she whispered, yelling, desperately.

"What?"

"Don't act dumb, you're hiding something."

Tam took a deep breath, as though preparing for a fight.

"You know how you're a girl, despite mom and dad saying you're a boy? I'm kinda like that, but it's different. Sometimes my mind feels like a girl, sometimes it's a boy and sometimes it's neither. It's not fun. Go ahead and laugh," Tam sobbed, almost silent.

Linh was shocked, at the idea that her twin felt that she would laugh at him for something he couldn't control.

"Hey it's okay. Do you want me to use different pronouns?"

"Um, yeah, it's She/Her right now," Tam laughed, his - no her - face ecstatic.

"So they change?" Linh clarified, feeling so much lighter than before.

"Um, yeah, but I'll tell you when they do."

Linh nodded, then grasped Tam's wrist and strolled around the book store, getting a good load of books. Linh was feeling so giddy, she didn't know how to control herself.

When they went back to their parents, they gave the twins a single look and looked away again. It hurt Linh, but she forced herself to keep going.

She should have known that was the beginning of the end.

When they walked outside of the bookstore, Linh almost cried out. The water, which usually was a mezzo forte piano and violin, was now an orchestra playing their loudest most extravagant piece, wanting to draw your attention. It was quickly becoming too much.

Tam, god blessed her soul, tried to help. She forced her shadows around Linh, which made it a bit better, but still wasn't enough.

It happened so fast, in the blink of the twins light blue eyes. Water splashed around everywhere, terrifying people. It shocked Linh's whole body.

Linh could vaguely hear the words of everyone in her ears. The yelling voices of her parents, her twin uncharacteristic soft voice in her ear, the panicking sounds from everyone else that dissolved into anger. She heard it all.

It was all mild nuisances compared to what would follow.

—-

Sometimes it was just a few days between the shared dreams, sometimes it was over a month. However, after hearing what had happened in Atlantis,Keefe wasn't surprised that he shared a dream.

It was in Atlantis. Everything was wrong though. There was water everywhere, and shops were destroyed.

In the middle of a street was Tam and Sophie. They were sitting down, Tam curled up in a ball, Sophie running their fingers through Tam's hair. Keefe walked up to them, making sure to alert them of his presence. He sat down beside them, which got both of his soulmates attention.

"They. I'm sorry, this was my fault," Tam mumbled, their eyes glazed and their voice dead.

"I don't even know what happened, so why should I hate you," Keefe retorted, cursing himself for the joking tone his voice had taken on.

"I caused this," Tam declared, gesturing with the arm that wasn't curled around their knees. They had also started rocking back and forth. Keefe wished

"I tried telling him that it isn't their fault, but they aren’t listening,” Sophie explained, their brown eyes filling with tears. Their hand was still petting Tam’s hair. It was times like this that Keefe wished he could feel their emotions. It would have made this a lot easier. However, your abilities didn’t work in dreams, annoyingly enough.

Eventually, Tam was able to calm down enough that they uncurled himself. Their face was tear stained, but no one mentioned it.

“Want to tell us what happened?” Sophie questioned, their hand still in Tam’s hair.

“No,” Tam spatted out, and turned away from them.

Keefe knew why Tam didn't want to talk about what happened. He had heard, everyone had heard, when Atlantis flooded. It was terrifying, and Tam might not want to relive those moments.

"Soph, maybe we don't force Tam to tell us anything he doesn't want to, okay?"

Sophie gulped, "Okay.”

Keefe then turned towards Tam and tried comforting him again.

"I'm sorry for being such a baby about this."

"You have nothing to apologize for."

"It's just, me and Linh have to go to trial, and we might be kicked out."

"But, your what, ten, eleven?" Sophie gasped.

"Um, ten. Technically, I don't have to go, but I do. I can't leave Linh alone. She's my world, so I need to keep her safe."

"I wish I could do something. Even if it's just changing the dream so it's happier."

"Yeah, me too," Tam sighed, his eyes looking hazy as he took Keefe and Sophie's hands.

---

The next night, Sophie dreamshared. It was different from usual, with Keefe standing next to them when the dream started.

They were in a spacious area, with what seemed to be thrones all around the room. There was little light, and benches everywhere.

In the middle was Tam, with silver bangs and a sweet lilac smell. Sophie and Keefe were wise enough not to comment, especially since there still were tears stains on Tam's cheeks.

"This was where the trial took place," Tam whispered. "They banished Linh, and I'm going with her." Sophie didn't know what happened but they felt Tam's shirt under their fingers. They felt Tam's chest heaving, with soft sobs escaping from Tam. Sophie wished that their ability to read minds still worked in the dreams.

"Will you be okay?" Keefe questioned. Sophie cursed themselves for not realizing that was a valid concern. Tam and Linh were only 10, they needed things like food and shelter and clothes. They couldn't get a job or anything. They hadn't even started school.

"Yeah. Linh and I get our own place, and we will interact with whoever brings us our food, at least for the beginning,” Tam admitted. Sophie felt their shoulders relax, and Tam started to calm down.

“So, it’s not as bad as it could be?”

“I guess, but the place me and Linh have to go to is a place for bad kids,” Tam muttered, eyes cast on the floor.

“Well, do you think you are bad?” Keefe asked.

“No, but most bad people don’t realize they are bad, so am I a good judge?” Tam whimpered.

Sophie took Tam into their arms again, “ I know I don’t like where you and Keefe do, but I want you to know that I think you are not evil. Everyone who says otherwise is wrong. Okay. They are wrong.”

Tam gave them a watery smile,”Thank you, Sophie.”

Sophie wished she could believe Tam fully but she knew Tam didn’t fully believe it.

—-

Tam was not in the greatest of mental states.

No, wait, scratch that, his mental state was worse than Exilium. At least that had some predictability. Tam was just wild.

If one were to ask him when his mental degradation started, he would have said their first day of Exilium. However, it had started much earlier than that.

It had started the appointment with the doctor the council had hired.

Tam still felt his hands on him, his hands ghosting his body. He felt the tears filling his heart, which was still filled with them.

He remembered everything.

Tam tried to be strong in front of Linh. However she wasn’t fooled. She kept trying to get him to talk. Tam was grateful for her attempts to show she cared, it was just...

Talking would make it real. It would require it to be in the front of his mind, forcing him to confront it. No, Tam could ignore it, that would work.

It wasn’t until the next shared dream that he realized that plan wasn’t perhaps the most sane.

It started out in Keefe’s room. Due to both their age and the amount of time they had been dreamsharing (almost 3 years) the places had started repeating.

Tam was on Keefe’s desk, not an unusual place for him to start.

Sophie was on Keefe’s bed, their eyes looking at the ceiling as they kicked their legs.

“Hi Tam!” they cried, when Sophie realized that Tam was on the desk. “How ya been?”

Tam shrugged, as a soft click filled the room from his fingernails against the desk.

“Are you and Linh okay?”Sophie prodded gently, walking towards Tam. They grabbed his hands, startling him as he realized he had been scratching at them again.

“We are as fine as possible, given our situations. It’s tiring though, because our new school makes us do a lot of exercise,” Tam replied. It wasn’t the whole truth, but it wasn’t a lie either.

Sophie nodded, then turned around. Standing behind them was Keefe, in his new tunic and smelling like pine trees.

“Hi Tam, Sophie,” he greeted, walking over to them. “How are you two?”

“Good,” Sophie replied, leaning into Keefe’s gentle touch as he petted her hair. Tam couldn’t believe he was so gullible once upon a time to allow someone to touch him like that. It only hurt him.

“I’m as good as my situation allows me to be,” Tam replied. His throat was closing up, and he eyed the window across the desk he was still on.

Wouldn’t it be easier to just jump? To let go of everything? To let go of this pain?

It was the moments after that cracked Tam’s mask. It should be noted he has no intention to blame Keefe and Sophie, as this might have happened with anyone else.

Keefe tried to take him into a hug, and Tam jumped away from him. When neither Keefe or Sophie tried to touch him again, anger and desperation clouded his mind.

“Why aren’t you touching me? Is it because I am used goods? I didn't want it, okay!” Tam roared. He felt his nails digging into his hands, and barely allowed himself to register Sophie and Keefe’s gasps.

Tam ran towards the window, and pried it open. He could still feel his soulmates running towards him, but he was quicker.

Tam sat on the windowsill and pushed himself off.

What happened was not what he expected.

Instead of hitting the ground, Tam felt a gentle pull, almost like a rope on his stomach, pulling him back towards the window.

When he got back into Keefe’s bedroom, he felt both of his soulmates hand all over him, with one of them whispering sweet nothings in his ears. It was too nice for him.

“Why?” Sophie whispered, making Tam shudder with how innocent she sounded.

“Because it’s too much,” Tam muttered, causing Keefe to force Tam to look him in the eyes.

“What can you do to make it not as much?” he asked , his eyes softening as he grabbed Tam’s hands in his own. Tam resisted pulling them away.

“I don’t know. It’s, like, touch is hard. Even now it is. It’s dumb,” -Tam wiped his eyes -“but I can still feel his hands on me.”

Keefe and Sophie didn’t say anything, but Keefe does squeeze Tam’s hands harder.

“Maybe,” Sophie started,”we could start small. Asking you if touch is okay, making sure you are still here, stuff like that. Is that okay?”

Tam couldn’t believe it when he started crying. It was just...

The way Sophie looked so sincere when they said that made Tam’s heart flutter. They weren’t saying it to be polite, they meant it.

“Yeah, that’s okay,” Tam replied, trying to push the darkness away and bask in the light.

In Keefe and Sophie’s arms, he felt slightly lighter.

——

Fitz didn’t get Sophie.

It wasn’t personal or anything, it really wasn’t. It was just little things about her that quelled his interest.

For one, when anyone made references to her being a girl, she cringed. Not enough to be extremely visible, but it still was noticeable. For another, her reaction to different locations. It almost was like how Biana reacted when she started her education at Foxfire. Both girls were in awe at the sights, but weren’t shocked. Fitz figured she must have seen the places from his memories. She also seemed more curious as to how things work than the fact that elves existed.

Little did Fitz know that the mysterious girl was actually a lot more different than his predictions made her to be.

—-

Keefe's dream was shared that night.

It was in Everglen, but he didn’t go to it today. So why was their shared dream there?

Keefe had started in front of the gates, in all of its shining glory.

A few moments later, he felt a pair of arms grab his shoulders. He didn’t even need to look up to know it was Sophie.

“Hi Sophie,” Keefe greeted, a smirk playing on his lips.

“Hi,” Sophie smiled, but it wasn’t like usual. It was the smiles from when Tam was at their worst, when they didn’t really get how Tam could feel so hopeless.

“Hey what’s wrong?” Tam greeted, limping towards them.

(Keefe wanted to curse the silver banged teen, but recognized that Tam might not have the proper medical care he needed available. It wasn’t unusual for the blondes to patch Tam up, since anything injured or healed in a shared dream is mirrored in the real world. They had been able to do this more often after Linh was informed of their bond, shortly after they were banished. From what Keefe could gather, she had taken it surprisingly well.)

“Nothing,” Sophie replied. “Pronouns?” they questioned, grabbing Tam’s hand and helping them sit on the ground.

“Xe,” Tam replied, wincing as Sophie removed xer shoes (xe must have slept in them.)."Also, you are totally hiding something, so fess up.”

Keefe saw Sophie’s face fall, and heard Tam’s quick reassurances that if they genuinely didn’t want to say anything they didn’t need to.

“No, you’re right, I’m hiding something,” Sophie confessed. “It’s kind of a big deal, and it could change the entire way you look at me and I'll Understand If Hatemepleasdon't,” Sophie rushed out, chest heaving as their hands trembled around Tam’s ankle. Tam started stroking their arms, trying to get them to calm down.

“Okay, so how familiar are you two on unnatural things?” Sophie asked.

“Pretty familiar,” Tam groaned, as Sophie tried moving her ankle.

“Okay,” Sophie took a deep breath, moving their hands away from Tam. Keefe scooted to be by them, just in case.

“I’m a telepath. I have been since I was five years old and I just met another telepath today, and it turns out I’m an elf. Please don’t hate me!” Sophie rambled, hands flailing as they tried to calm themselves. Keefe grabbed their shoulders and started soothing them, eventually calming Sophie enough to have this conversation. It’s at that moment Keefe realized something. He could feel Sophie and Tam’s emotions. He decided to put that thought to the back of his mind, instead calming the others down.

“Well, you’re not the only one who is hiding something,” Tam blushed, then Keefe felt a sharp cold on his back. All of the shadows were surrounding them, covering them. He’s a Shade. Tam was twisting and flicking his wrists in such a pattern Keefe couldn’t help but be awed.

“I’m a Shade,” Tam spat out, sending the shadows back to wherever they came from.

“I don’t have anything as cool, but I’m an Empath,” Keefe confessed, shame trying to peek through but pushed down quickly.

Sophie was wide-eyed, and questions were running a mile a minute, as she patched up Tam’s ankle the best they could.

(Keefe could still remember the first time that Tam hid an injury from them. There were cuts all over xe’s arm, not all of them unwilling. Sophie would cry for years after, as would Keefe. It was also a recurring nightmare, as were many others.)

“Do either of you know Fitz? He’s the one who introduced me,” Sophie wondered.

“Um, funny story. He’s my best friend,” Keefe chuckled. With that response, he was bombarded with interrogations

“Wait,” Sophie suddenly paused. “If it’s not too hard, can you tell me what happened that day in Atlantis?”

Tam sighed, which made Keefe think xe wasn’t going to tell the story. However, xe began.

“It was technically my fault what happened in Atlantis You know how there’s force fields around Atlantis? Well, I can break them or weaken them using my shadows. That day in Atlantis was also when I came out to Linh as gender fluid, so I was letting my emotions and instincts take control and I weakened the force fields. If I didn’t, then Linh couldn’t flood Atlantis. I’m sorry,” Tam whispered, the last bit so soft if Keefe wasn’t so close he might not have known. Tam was feeling powerful emotions, but the main one, which was a cause of concern, was guilt and shame.

“Hey, listen. Tammy, you’re not allowed to blame yourself for stuff that you don’t have control over. It won't help," Keefe comforted the silver-haired teen. Tam sniffed again, but nodded, xer movement jerky.

"Sophie, if you want, me and Keefe could try and explain things to you about the lost cities. I mean, maybe I'm not the best person, but I could help with the basics," Tam offered.

"That would be great. Like, do you either know Fitz? He's the elf who brought me to the lost cities, we're at his house right now," Sophie stated. Keefe couldn't help but snort at the fact his best friend outside of the two in front of him met his soulmate before he did.

"What?" Keefe questioned, "it's funny how Sophie met my best friend before they met me."

"Fitz is your best friend?" Sophie questioned.

"Yeah, it has been for a while. I mean, we're both kinda outcasts," Keefe chortled bitterly.

Then, Sophie started laughing, which made Tam and Keefe laugh, which made Keef think that would be okay.

---

Adjusting to the Lost Cities wasn't as hard as Sophie anticipated. It did have its ups and downs, though.

For one, the elves kept preaching about how amazing they were. However, Sophie knew some of the many unfair things that the elves did with no one calling them out. They knew about how they treated anyone who wasn’t up to their high standards, and didn’t care at all about anyone except a select few people.

There were a few good things though. For one, Sophie and Keefe finally met in real life, and it was just as hysterical as they imagined. Getting accused of ditching was always fun.

“I’m Keefe,” the blond boy, who had accused them of ditching, introduced himself.

“Sophie,” Sophie replied, then mentally slapped themselves. Of course this blonde, seemingly popular boy, would have heard of her.

“Do you have a sister named Amy?” Keefe suddenly blurted out, eyes widening. Sophie was shocked at his question. Surely this wasn’t the Keefe they dreamed shared with, right? Sophie sighed, realizing there was only one way to find out.

“Yeah. Is your soulmate a Shade named Tam?” They asked, preparing for a no.

“Yeah,” Keefe whispered, realization flooding his features.

The two stared at each other, until Keefe grabbed their hand.

“What happened?”

“Accident. Had Alchemy and burned Lady Galvin’s cape and my hand,” Sophie blushed.

“No way! I Wish I could have seen it!” Keefe cheered, until he realized he was making Sophie feel bad. He then took Sophie to the Healing Center, and refused to leave until they were let go by Elwin for their next session.

Sophie was also gaining other friends, like Dex, Biana, Fitz, and, yes, Keefe. It did hurt, however, to not have Tam with them and Keefe in real life. They had been dreamsharing less and less, but Sophie wasn’t too sure of why at the time. It wouldn’t be until later they realized that the nightmares and not sleeping would affect it all.

It seemed like the elves wanted the lost cities to be perfect. They were not successful. They had so many issues, from their treatment to the Talentless to the LGBT+ community. Keefe and Tam were not sugar coating anything when they told them issues that plagued, although they were holding back some information. Sophie didn't particularly care though, since they did tell them the truth, and not a filtered down version of the truth.

It was hard, but having people to rely on was good.

----

Tam was livid. Plain and simple.

She had just been informed that Sophie and Keefe went to the Black Swan (why did they still trust them, they had done nothing good?) for a chance to heal Sophie's abilities. Of course, it went as well as expected for a bunch of dumb idiots who thought abandoning two twelve year old in London was a good idea.

“Let me make sure I have this right. You two idiots decided to go to a random island, to a weird old guy who made Sophie take an ounce of limbium, which she is allergic to, to reset their abilities. Then you two were attacked and now you get to heal Alden’s mind?” Tam questioned, hands gesturing rapidly.

The soulmates were in Sophie’s room at Havenfield, with Tam on Sophie’s lap and Keefe next to them. During her rant, Tam wasn’t paying attention to her soulmate's feelings. Now, she realized that she might have gone too far. Tam started to apologize, but Sophie spoke up.“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault you’re super overprotective of us, especially because you only have Linh otherwise. We knew the risks, and I wanted to have my abilities fixed. Also, we both knew that the Black Swan might not be all bad,” they stated, running their fingers on Tam’s arm.

“I guess, but you are still idiots," Tam mumbled, curling into Sophie.

"Yeah, but isn't everyone?" Keefe pondered. Tam shrugged, her pride still a bit hurt.

"So are you going to heal Alden's mind?" Tam asked.

"I guess," Sophie mumbled,"the council wants me to."

Tam was still mad at these two idiots, but hearing the crack in Sophie's voice made her a bit less mad, and she decided to comfort them first then deal with her anger at them later.

----

(Dex Finds Out About Keefe Being Trans)

Dex was completely and utterly baffled at the situation before him. It wasn’t the situation itself that confused him, but the fact he had gone through it twice.

Dex had gone into Keefe’s changing area during physical education to check up on him. While Dex wasn’t entirely sure what Keefe and Sophie’s relationship was, he knew having Sophie wear an ability restrictor definitely affected Keefe somehow.

However, when Dex walked into Keefe’s changing room, the only thing he could do was shut the door and stare at Keefe.

Around Keefe’s chest were layers of bandages, tightly wrapped. While it might have been an injury, Dex was sure someone would have told him Keefe was injured.

Dex was reminded of an incident when he was younger, with Rex in Keefe’s position. The technopath decided to try the same approach this time.

"Wanna tell me what's going on, or what?" Dex tried to joke, but he really wasn't the jockey type with something this serious.

Keefe slammed his shoulder into his mirror, breath erratic. His eyes were panicked, and Dex had a bad feeling that he was one of the few people in Keefe’s life who wouldn’t hate him.

“No, thank you,” was the cold reply Dex got. It was an out of character move for Keefe that Dex didn’t realize the other elf had put his shirt on.

“Okay, fine. You’re not going to answer my questions verbally. How about I give you yes and no questions, and you just have to nod your head? Sounds good to you?” Dex hopes that the prospect of not needing to talk would convince Keefe to answer more honestly.

Keefe hesitated, but eventually nodded. Dex hopes they won’t be noticed for being late.

“Have you done this before?” A nod.

“More than a year?” Another nod. Shot.

“Do you always do this?” Nod.

“Even while sleeping?” Dex whispered. Thankfully, Keefe shook his head.

Dex took a deep brea and asked the question he knew Keefe was dreading

“Are you a moon child?” Keefe didn’t move for so long, Dex almost repeated himself. However, Keefe nodded, but it was as though he was weighed down by a bag of rocks. Tears fell from Keefe’s eyes, but the other boy made no movement to remedy that. The blonde’s chest heaved, as he tried to keep his sobs silent.

(Dex cursed whoever it was that forced Keefe, his soulmate's best friend, to learn how to keep quiet when he was in pain.)

Dex hesitated, but walked towards Keefe, taking him into his arms. He felt Keefe tense, but slowly relaxed. His breathing even out, as did his sobs.

“‘m sorry,” was the first words Keefe spoke in ancient times. Dex was surprised no one came to find them. “Don’t tell anyone. You and Sophie are my only friends who know.”

Dex was shocked. It wasn’t just at the fact that Keefe thought Dex truly hated him that much to out him, but the fact that he also considered Dex his friend. Keefe always was teasing him and pranking him.

“Is that why you are always pranking me? Because we’re friends?” Dex asked, pulling away. Keefe’s cheeks turned pink, but nodded softly.

Dex laughed, and gave the other boy another hug, then realized something.

“Why does Sophie know?” In response to that, Keefe backed up against the sink, and shook his head.

“It’s personal, isn’t it?” A nod. That made sense actually. If it was personal to either Sophie or Keefe, of course they wouldn’t share it without the others permission.

Eventually, a knock was heard from the door.

“Okay, listen, I get you two are in love with each other, but session is over. Get out,” came the smooth accent from Fitz Vacker.

“Fiiine,” Keefe sang-singed, pulling his shirt back on.

They exchanged one last glance, and left.

------

(The gang is at Alluvetere (The common room in the boys' treehouse is decorated like a campsite, complete with indoor trees, a ceiling glittering with stars, and an enormous fire pit in the center with flames that burn in every color of the rainbow along with a few boulder shaped bean bags.))

Keefe was scared and he wasn't afraid to admit it. After all, he had come out of tricker situations.

Of course, none of them involved him going on the run into the forbidden cities cause his soulmate did something completely unforgivable in the eyes of the public.

He didn’t blame Sophie, it was just that he wished they didn’t have to deal with all the stuff that they had to.

Of course, it wasn’t like Keefe didn’t also have some emotional trauma from his mom being evil. That would be fun to unpack whenever the next shared dream may be.

Currently, he was in the treehouse he was supposed to share with Dex and Fitz. Keefe silently thanked whoever gave him the luck to not be in the girls’ treehouse.

“This is so cool!” Dex cried, circling around the fire. “You guys never had to live with my siblings. It. Was. Torture,” Dex singsonged. He was leaning on the bean bag, his head tilted back.

“Hey, I call shower first,” Keefe yelled, walking towards the bathroom door. He got an affirmation from both Dex and Fitz that it was okay as he walked into the door.

Keefe leaned against the door, taking a deep breath. Or, as deep of a breath as possible. His chest ached, from the tight bandages around it. Keefe knew it wasn’t safe to wear any sort of binders for more than 8 hours, but he couldn’t risk it. He couldn’t risk having Fitz find out. It was bad enough Dex knew. If anyone else found out, Keefe thought he would die.

The empath covered up the mirror and turned off the lights. He had dealt with this enough to know that the inability to see himself would make the whole situation that much more bearable.

Quickly taking a shower, Keefe walked towards the trees. He was debating on whether or not forcing someone to cut his hair would be worthwhile.

He then paused, almost falling backwards. What was in front of him made his cheeks tingle.

Dex was kneeling on Fitz’s lap, and he was sobbing into the teal-eyed boy's shoulder.

Keefe backed away, wary of the branches.

It wasn’t his business. They probably were going to tell him in their own time, and Keefe wasn't going to pressure them.

------

(Sophie freaks out to Tam And Keefe about becoming Cognates)

When Sophie was given the reveriebells by Calla, she was dishearted at the idea that they wouldn't get to dream share that night. While they had stayed up all through the night before, they tried to avoid it at all times.

Thankfully, the reveriebells didn’t affect their ability to dream share.

This particular dream was in Alluevetere, and Sophie was on top of the table in the communal dining room.

“Will you read it?” came a voice from behind her, accompanied with footsteps. Sophie turned around, and felt her heart quickened.

Tam was currently getting a piggyback ride from Keefe; with Tam in his Exilium uniform and Keefe in a red version of her green fuzzy onesie.

“Why?” was Keefe’s reply to Tam’s begging.

“Cause you’re sooo good at it,” replied Tam, a grin on his face. The Shade then leaped off of Keefe’s back and climbed onto the table with Sophie.

“Hi, Sophie. Xe,” Tam whispered into their shoulder, as xers arms wrapped around Sophie. Sophie felt relaxed for the first time all day. Tam and Keefe’s hugs were the only ones they could stand for more than a few seconds. They had this way of hugging Sophie around their shoulders and slightly squeezing to make them feel secure but not surrounded. Most other beings struggled with that.

“Temperature on the feelings thermometer?” Sophie asked, gently pulling away from Tam. They sat down on the table, and guided Tam to lay on her lap.

The feeling thermometer was a technique Sophie’s old councilor used with Sophie. She had a picture on her wall of a thermometer, and every time Sophie was in her office, the first thing she asked was their temperature on the feelings thermometer. One was the best mood ever and ten meant Sophie was going to boil over.

While Sophie disliked their councilor, they could acknowledge that the feelings thermometer, while cheesy, was a good idea. It was specially helpful for when one of the trio was nonverbal, or on the verge of collapse.

”I’m a 5,” Tam mumbled, grabbing Sophie’s hand. They rolled their eyes, realizing that they wanted to be petted. This wasn’t an unusual request from Tam, as well as other touches. While xe apparently wasn’t as touchy during the day, xe was during the dreams. Sophie’s heart warmed at the idea Tam trusted Keefe and Sophie enough to relax.

“Can we do anything to help?” came Keefe’s voice, startling the other two.

“No, but maybe you can help yourselves by asking whatever you’re not,” Tam replied, pulling xer head onto Sophie’s shoulder.

Sophie felt their faces heat up. Keefe gave her a glance, one that comforted Sophie more than they wanted to reveal.

“Fitz and I are cognates,” Sophie blurted out. “I mean, the Black Swan said we could try training to become Cognates.”

Tam’s eyes widened as he wrapped xemself around Sophie.

“Do you want to be Cognates? It requires you sharing everything with each other,” Tam reminded Sophie, as xe kneeled in their lap, arms wrapped around their neck.

Shoulders shuddering, Sophie replied,”I know. I want to be Cognates with Fitz, but I wanted to check if you two think it’s a good idea.”

Keefe spoke up,” I am game. It’s just that one of us needs to tell Fitz about us being soulmates.”

Tam threw in xer two cents,”Yeah, that’s what I was going to say. Also, he will know about all of us being moon children and our childhoods. Are you sure that’s okay with you Keefe? Because I want Sophie to have this opportunity but if you think it wouldn’t work say something.”

Keefe looked conflicted. “It just that we never get to talk about a lot of issues from our childhood, so Fitz might get the wrong idea about what happened.”

That was a good point, A very good point. Sophie loathed to admit it, but their soulmates had a point.

“So why don’t we talk about it?” Let everything out,” Sophie suggested, not expecting to be taken seriously. To Sophie’s surprise Keefe and Tam nodded.

“Okay, but how?” Tam asked, pulling Keefe to sit next to Sophie. Xe then laid down on their laps. Xer hair was by Keefe, who took the opportunity to play with it.

“How about we ask each other questions?”Sophie replied, mentally coming up with as many questions as possible.

“Can I ask first?” Tam requested, cuddling closer to them. After getting a confirmation, xe took a few moments to presumably deliberate xer question..

“Okay. Got it. What scares you the most?”Tam’s voice trembled.

Sophie had to think about that one, truly thinking about it.

“Trusting my mom again. It’s dumb, but sometimes I miss her,” Keefe whispered, looking at Tam’s side. It was abundantly clear he was ashamed of it. Sophie grabbed the blond’s chin and forced him to look them in the eyes.

“I know it’s a lot to deal with, and I know it’s scary to think that she might make you trust her again. But you are stronger than her. The fact you love her means that you aren’t all bad, okay? It just means your emotions haven’t settled down about it. But you are not your parents. You’re so much more than they will ever be,”Sophie reassured Keefe. It was clear their words hadn’t penetrated through the hard shell Keefe put up, but Sophie was determined if nothing else. They made it a goal: reassure Keefe he is not his parents. It would take a significant amount of work, but Sophie was nothing but determined.

“What about you, Soph?” Tam asked, voice muffled by Keefe’s pant leg.

Sophie felt their heart race, as they tried to figure out something to say.

“We won’t hurt you,” came a voice in her ear. “We’re not the Black Swan.”

Sophie forced their breath to slow down, and reached to pull an eyelash out. Keefe grabbed their hand, and he held it tight. That was something they were trying out, to see if it helped with the eyelash pulling. So far, it had not.

“My greatest fear is of sleeping.” Sophie’s voice was so soft they weren’t sure if they actually spoke out loud.

Tam had pulled xemselves up from their laps, and gave Sophie a hug.

“Why?” was the question. It was said in such a way that it didn’t demand to be answered.

“Because, because every time I try to sleep, except for this-“ Sophie gestured around-“I have nightmares. And I refuse to take Sedatives, I spent enough of my life drugged up.”

“That’s fair,” Keefe responded his hands threading Sophie’s hair. “What about you,Tam?”

Tam’s face paled, and he bit his lip.

“It’s...dumb. I’m scared of adults, but especially authority figures,” the Shade stammered out. Sophie felt xer hands grip theirs.

“Is this something to do with being banished?” Keefe asked. Tam nodded, and xe tugged xer bangs.

“When we were banished, the doctor... touched me somewhere I didn’t want to be touched. I felt so icky that I still have nightmares.” Tam was visibly trembling at this point, and furiously trying to wipe xer tears away.

Sophie scooped up the Shade into their lap, and they made sure Sophie could look into xer eyes.

“As long as I have breath in my body, I will never hurt you.” Sophie’s words were punctuated by a squeeze from Keefe, who was surprisingly quiet.

“Can I ask the next question?” Keefe asked, hands twisting.

“Of course,” Sophie responded.

All of a sudden, a voice yelled.

“Tam, wake up. We’re going to be late!” a high voice yelled.

Tam blushed, pushing xemslf off of Sophie’s lap.

“That’s Linh, it’s time for Exilium to start,” xe explained, running off into the distance.

Sophie closed their eyes , bracing themself for the inevitable nausea that came from ending a shared dream before it naturally ended.

When Sophie woke, they forced their tears to fall silently.

——

(Cognate training. Fitz finds out about Sokam)

Fitz had to admit he thought Sophie would be more excited for Cognate training. After all, it was an amazing opportunity and they would have an even better chance of beating the Neverseen.

Of course, her unenthusiastic response might have been caused by everything she must be going through. She had the stress of being a member of the Black Swan, Keefe, and a lot of other things. She also probably recently started dreamsharing. Fitz knew that when you started dreamsharing it could feel a bit embarrassing admitting who you’re dreamsharing with. Especially if your families didn’t get along.

Like me and Dex.

Fitz had to admire how collected she was in the face of all this stress.

The young telepath shook his head, for he was suppose to focus on the Cognate trust exercise Sophie and him were supposed to be doing.

Fitz looked at the list of questions that Granite gave them. He seemed very conflicted about giving it to them but eventually gave it. It was a short list, with only two questions. Both pertained to soulmates, and that was a topic they had never discussed before.

Fitz asked Sophie for permission to enter her mind which she allowed. There was more resistance to his entering than usual, but it was brushed off as a side effects of nerves.Although, they had been doing this for a while so Fitz wasn’t entirely sure why she was nervous.

“Do you want to ask first or should I?” Fitz asked with the respect he knew Sophie deserved. Even before he had started dreamsharing with Dex, Fitz always tried to give Sophie a good deal of respect.

“You ask first.”

“If you have started dreamsharing, describe your soulmates.”

Fitz felt a surge of panic flow from Sophie, and was about to call off the question. It wasn’t like he was completely thrilled about this question either.

“Fitz, I need to tell you something. And I need you to not freak out,” Sophie begged.

Fitz assured her that he wouldn’t freak out. The panic Sophie was feeling ebb and flowed as she gathered her thoughts. Fitz gave her time.

“I’ve been dreamsharing since I was eight years old. And I have two soulmates. One is attending Exilium and the other one is Keefe.”

Fitz wouldn’t lie. He was not expecting that.

He also wasn’t as mad as most people expected. There had been some theories bouncing around regarding Keefe and Sophie’s relationship.

“If it makes you feel any better, my soulmate is Dex.”

“Are you freaking joking?” Sophie yelled, as her emotions became much more positive.

“Nope. Are you?” Fitz shot back.

“Unfortunately no,” Sophie stated. Then, she proceeded to read the next question,”What’s one thing only your soulmate knows?”

Fitz felt his insides squirm as the image of bruises on his shoulders as Dex tried to help him arose.

“Wow,” was the only thing Sophie said, as she pushed energy towards Fitz.

An image of a younger Sophie and two boys formed. Sophie was handing the two boys bracelets. One bracelet was blue, pink, and white while the other was (insert colors of gender fluid flag). Sophie has a similar bracelet, but it was in (non-binary pride colors)

“What are you guys doing?” Fitz asked softly, as the levels of panic ebbed and flowed.

“Humans have this thing called Pride, where they honor the lgbt community. The bracelets were in the pride flags for our gender identity,” Sophie explained, although she was incredibly anxious.

“What is the lgbt community? And what are gender identities?” Fitz questioned, for his curiosity was peaked.

“Gender identities...they’re basically are what gender you identify as. For example, if you might have parts that are assigned female at birth but feels like a boy. That’s called being transgender, trans for short. Or someone doesn’t feel like a boy or a girl, and that’s non-binary. It’s massively more complicated, cause there’s genderfluid, agender, demigender, bigender,, and a lot more, but that’s a crash course, "Sophie explained.

“So it’s like being a moon child? Are you one too?”

”It’s kind of being a moon child, I guess. And yeah I am a moon child. Nonbinary specifically, and I use they/them pronouns. Are you going to blow up now?” Sophie got incredibly defensive at that last part.

“No, no, no I’m not going to hate you. If you want me to I won’t say anything,” Fitz promised. Sophie calmed down at that and exited his mind.

“Thanks Fitz,” she told him. “Just know if you hurt Dex I can and will prank you to the max.”

“I expect that and will reciprocate if you do anything to harm Keefe,” Fitz promised, and he walked back towards the boys treehouse.

He had a lot to think about.

Fitz walked towards his mom's room. He should definitely tell her about this. Maybe she could help Fitz with coming to terms with this.

Della promised to tell Forkle, and thank Fitz for telling her.

——

(Keefe with fathomlethe)

Keefe couldn’t keep up with the influx of thoughts coming into his head. His hand was sore from all of the writing, but he forced himself to keep going.

Keefe didn’t know how long it had been since he took the fathomlethe, but he knew it had been days. Days since he left the room he was undeserving of for more than meals. Days since he had seen the walls of said room.

Keefe knew he should leave. Leave the madness of everything, and allow himself to recuperate. But he couldn’t allow himself to. To do so would be admitting weaknesses he tried to hide.

A harsh knock startled Keefe.

“I’m not leaving until you talk to me,” a voice yelled. A voice Keefe was so painfully familiar with it hurts. Sophie Foster.

Keefe rose up on unsteady feet and made his way to the door. Sophie ducked under him, and froze.

Keefe wished that he didn’t know why they froze. The reality of the situation was that his room was like Tam and Linh’s room at their parents house only this was slightly more disturbing. There was notes with questions everywhere not drawings. He also had very little belongings scattered around, unlike Fitz and Dex, so that just made the room even more impersonal.

“So...wanna tell me anything?” Sophie asked, their voice so even, if it weren’t for the unease flowing off of them, Keefe would have been fooled into believing they weren’t disturbed by this.

Keefe mumbled,”I got a surge from the fathomlethe, but almost everything was me just fooling around.” Sophie nodded, and they walked towards one of the walls, and Keefe had to restrain himself from yanking them away.

“It’s a lot to go through. Photographic memory and all,” Keefe stated, even though it was super obvious, because he needed to fill the space. Sophie, thankfully, didn’t comment but just kept looking. They were so furious but determined at once Keefe couldn’t keep his eyes off them. He was about to tell Sophie that he wouldn’t be made if they left when they spoke up.

“Can I help?”

Keefe couldn’t help the warm feeling that shot through his heart. But he had to shake his head.

“I don’t know how. It’s my memories, and you got a sanitized version of my childhood,” Keefe replied.

“So? I’m a telepath. Wouldn’t it make more sense to use a memory log so it is all in one place? Not that scraps of paper with scattered ideas don’t have their benefit,” Sophie countered. That was a good idea.

Unfortunately.

Keefe shook his head, but Sophie wasn’t having that.

They pulled Keefe into their lap, and whispered,”Let me help you.”

“I can’t. It wouldn’t be fair.”

“You know, that’s what I used to say. Until someone forced me to include them,” Sophie teased, but it had a glint to it that removed any bitterness in Keefe. Keefe breathed in trusting that it will be okay for a moment.

“Sounds like a genius? Are they shockingly good looking even with dumb bangs?” Keefe asked. He knew that Sophie liked Tam more, but he would take what he could get.

“No, but he is good looking but also pretty stupid. I’m talking about you, Keefe,” Sophie gave him a confused look.

“Why?”

“Because you were there for me when I had to heal my abilities, and when I was going to kill myself about Alden. You and Tam are so important, and I am trying so hard to get to Tam. But I want to help you. May I?”

Keefe couldn’t help it, and a sob forced itself between his lips. A broken cry escaped his lips.

“Please. Don’t. My head is not in an awesome place right now,” Keefe admitted. Shame filled up in his head, but he knew that it needed to be said.

“So? I’m used to not great minds. Remember all the times I had to go through broken minds? And Lady Galvin?” Sophie tried to convince him. They pointedly did not mention King Dimitar.

“Great, I have a mind like a psycho.”

“I’m saying you can’t surprise me.”

Keefe distantly felt him being put down, and Sophie got up to look at the wall. His chin was suddenly tilted up. Sophie was holding a piece of paper, and on it was Who am I. “Easy question. You’re Keefe Sencen. Prankster extraordinaire. Master of mischief. The elf embodiment of Hermès. The best boy a non-binary and gender fluid messes could ask for.” The statement was said was with so much conviction that Keefe felt compelled to believe with and let down the weight on his shoulders. “You and Tam are not messes,” Keefe protested as he was hauled up to his feet. He couldn’t stay upright by himself , however, so he collapsed onto Sophie. “I don’t know about that, but I do know that you need to sleep,” they chided, as they guided him to bed. “I don’t know if I can,” Keefe whispered. Sophie nodded, and silently made their way around the room tearing paper down. Keefe took a deep breath before closing his eyes.

Maybe it won’t turn out okay, but he wanted to be the best soulmate he could before his time ran up.

-----

(Tam realizes Sophie and Keefe are at Exilium) Tam had a feeling about this day. It wasn’t clear if it was good or bad. The last time xe had felt this was when the plague struck. The day had started with Tam shaking Linh awake. Xe normally didn’t need to go wake xer twin, but today she had been dreamsharing with her soulmate, Biana, so she slept in. Thankfully, they were able to get to Exilium in time, but they couldn’t even get to the torture because of there being a Dividing for five kids. Five. How they managed to get five kids at once was a question in its own right. It was a standard Dividing test, albeit with five people, for Tam at first. It only got weird when one of them talked. It sounded exactly like Keefe. The Keefe voiced one fell down with his pants still attached to the rope along with his boot. He took it such good stride Tam felt like he was hallucinating. Another one fell, and then one shouted. “It’s Biana,” Linh whispered, her voice trembling. She sounded so sure of herself Tam had to believe her. Another one got free by backflipping and went to help the last one. When the last one spoke, Tam felt xer breathing freeze. That was Sophie Foster. Xe would bet his birth fund on it. “I think our soulmates are here,” Tam shadow whispered to Linh.She was trembling so much she looked like she would pass out, but she gave a shaky nod. “Why didn’t Biana tell me?” Linh questioned, through the shadows. “I don’t know.” There was a fire raging in front of them, and the last one, presumably Sophie, was in the center. “Oh, no you don’t,” Linh whispered out loud as she flung her hands up. Water flowed according to her directions, and it formed a bundle of protection around Sophie. Gently setting Sophie down, Linh grasped Tam’s arm. Xe couldn’t blame her. If it weren’t for the fact xe had to be brave xe would have been grabbing her arm first.

Two of the five were led away to the healing tent while the twins and everyone else were to stay standing.

------

(Keefe, he is taken to meet Linh and Tam for the first time)

Tam couldn’t believe Linh and his soulmates had been at Exilium for over a week. He had believed that they would have managed to get out of it either by willingly leaving or being ejected. He had hoped not, for even though it was grueling work for them they were still there.

Tam knew that today was going to be a bad day as soon as he saw the tents and lake.

Gently, he broke the news to Linh, and she took it better than expected. She just nodded and shakily went to go change. Coming out of the tents, the twins walked over to the water. This time…wasn’t as bad as usual. Nothing had been destroyed, at least, like last time.

Of course, it was still bad. Linh could barely tolerate being even sitting in the water and still having the ability to breathe. Putting her face in the water was to much.

Tam had no idea how long it was until Sophie reached out to them. Their offer to help Linh made Tam internally laugh. The obliviousness needed to not realize you are literally talking to your soulmate was hilarious.

Eventually, Tam felt himself being lifted up from the water, and the coach shouting there was a new record. Tam helped a shaky Linh out of the water as he worked up the nerve to ask her a request.'

“Whatever it is, spit it out,” Linh admonished.

“If I was to ask Sophie to come to Wildwood with us, would that be okay?” Tam shadowed whispered. He couldn’t say why them and not Keefe or Biana, but he knew it wasn’t be the right choice.

“Okay,” Linh replied with no hesitation. Her easy response made Tam want to melt into a pile of happiness. He restrained himself though, for it would not be proper for him to fall apart before asking a pivotal question.

When Tam asked Sophie if they wanted to come with the twins, he didn’t believe they would. Just goes to show how nice they were. Foot steps came from behind him, and there was a figure behind him. “Are you taking Sophie with you?” the figure asked. Tam’s breath caught . That was Keefe.

Linh nodded, as she stepped up. “Yes. You can come with us,” she whispered as she grabbed Keefe’s hand.

Sophie came running up to them. Tam grabbed Sophie and Keefe’s shaking hands, as he whispered, "Are you sure you’re ready?” He felt their hands still. “As we’ll ever be,” Sophie whisper back. Linh held up the leaping crystal that had been theirs for so little time, but it felt like eternity. Stumbling as they landed, Tam guided Linh away as Keefe and Sophie reoriented themselves.

“Where are we?" Sophie asked. "Introductions first," Tam stated, pulling off his mask and lowering his hood. Shaking his head, Tam waited for Sophie, Keefe, and Linh to do the same.

"Are you Tam Song?" Keefe blurted out, and shock filled his features. Tam smirked as he stalked up to the blondes. "Maybe. Shouldn't you know? You are supposedly his soulmate," Linh shot back as she walked up to them again.

"In our defense, Tam never mentioned he was in Exillium. Although we probably should have guessed from the fact you always wore the same thing all the time," Keefe tried to defend him and Sophie, but he was so pathetic Tam took pity on him.

"And before you ak, yes, this is where me and Linh stay. Don't blame yourselves for not doing something about it. I never could tell you because then we would have been woken up and we couldn't talk about it," Tam stated. He knew his soulmates. They tried to take the task of everyone being safe, healthy, and happy very seriously. "It used to be beautiful. We felt so lucky to find it. But that was before the gnomes fell ill," Linh whispered, twisting her hands so hard Tam thought they would break.

"This was the wildwood colony, wasn't it?" Keefe asked, his voice so soft that Tam wanted to scream at him to be quieter. "Yeah. It was nice when they were here. They brought us dinner everynight and I fell asleep to their songs," Linh whispered as she brushed a vine. "Do you two know what happened to them?" "They're in quarantine and alive," was all that Keefe offered. "Were you two the teenagers they found footprints of?"

"Who's they?" Tam questioned, eyes instinctively narrowing. He couldn't truly allow his guard down even if he trusted everyone here. "The council. They're investigating after the frst gnomes came to at Lumeneria."

“Well, they didn’t do a good job at it. They just poked around a bit and left. They didn’t even ask us about the lights,” Tam shrugged. “We’ve been seeing white flecks for a while now, before the plague. They come from across the border, so investigations are hard to do.” “The ogres? Like in Ravagog?” Keefe questioned. He looked pained, and Tam had to fight the urge to wrap him and Sophie in a hug so tight they’ll never get free from it.

“Yes. The pass to it is through there,” Linh stated, pointing towards the mountains.

“Do you think the lights are connected to the plague?” Sophie asked. Tam was surprised at how openly curious they were being. Tam figures Sophie tried to hide her curiosity from others usually. “Maybe. We don’t know,” Linh replied. “Are you always this curious?”

“Is that a bad thing?” Sophie questioned, getting defensive. “Maybe. You’re trying to help the gnomes though so I can’t say. Kind of like you helped me. You must think I am so dumb, by the way. I’m a hydrokinetic afraid of drowning.”

“Abilities don’t mean everything,” Sophie started sagely. “Says the one with four abilities. How exactly did you guys get banished?” Linh questioned. Her voice sounded perfectly neutral. Tam knew how confused she was, however. She still was his twin, after all.

Keefe shrugged. “We finally gave the council a good reason to.” “Did Tam tell you why we’re banished?”

“Kind of. He told us that everyone blamed you for flooding Atlantis, but it was really him destroying the force fields,” Sophie explained. They were fidgeting with their uniform. Linh raised an eyebrow, and she leaned back. “I’m impressed you three trust each other enough to-“ Suddenly, the branches bristled making them all freeze. It was just the wind, though. “This way,” Linh grabbed Tam’s wrist and she led them towards the river.

Grabbing the quilt they had made, the twins settled down on it. So did Sophie and Keefe. “I’m sorry,” Keefe rushes out. “I’m sorry for not realizing how bad it was for you two. I’m sorry for not getting help for you two. I’m so sorry.” By the end of his confession, Keefe looked like he was on the verge of tears.

“Why? You two didn’t do anything wrong. I couldn’t tell you about how bad it is, for if I did then we might not have dreamshared again for weeks, maybe over a month. You two know how much we tried to tell each other, but it doesn’t ever work. I can’t blame you guys cause I made sure to not tell you anything.” By the end of his triad, Tam felt Linh gripping his arm, but he forced it off.

“Tam,” -Linh gripped his arm even tighter this time-“Are you sure you are okay? Can you trust them?” Tam knew she was only trying to help, so he pushed his anger down.

“I know I can. If you don’t trust them, I’ll read their shadow vapor again,” Tam reassured Linh, but something in him revolted the idea that he had to do that again. Last time, it did not go well. Keefe seemed to remember the same particular accident if the way he paled was any indication.

“If you have to check our shadow vapor, I give you permission to do so,” Sophie stated, fierce authority in their voice. Back straightened, they reminded Tam of when he first met Sophie. They were loud and grabbed his hands despite how scared they were.

“Okay,” Tam whispered. He raised his hands and forced the shadows through their minds. Surprisingly, neither of them reacted as terribly as before. The results were also the same. “Now, you two need to know what I’m about to tell you is treason. If you want to leave, I won’t be offended,” Tam explained.

““When the Council was here gathering samples, they didn’t think I could hear them. But I used my shadow to carry my consciousness to where they were working. I couldn’t tell which Councilors it was—only that it was a male and a female. And the female Councilor said, ‘We should’ve warned them this could happen.’ Then the guy said, ‘No one can know.”

Tam braced himself for the yelling and the tears, but he did not expect a single gasp.

“How could they?” was the only thing Sophie said. “If the Council knew what was going to happen, why didn’t they say anything?” “We all know the Council is good at cover ups. They didn’t even try to make sure all the banished kids would be safe. They don’t care,” Tam growled. “Because they don’t care, no one else will either.” It was a sad but true thing in the world that they all were aware of.

“Doesn’t this violate the treaty with the gnomes? The Council is supposed to protect them, but they are just hurting them by withholding information,” Keefe stated wisely.

Tam had no happy response to that. Keefe was unfortunately right. The Council was not the perfect leader and never will be. “Is there anything else we need to say to each other?” Linh asked, perfectly poised.

“Linh? Can you move like four meters that way?” Tam whispered as he gestured towards the trees. He couldn’t risk her stopping him or his soulmates during this next part. Linh looked apprehensive, but she quickly made her way towards the trees.

Tam forced xemself to take a deep breath and wipe xer hand on xer pant leg. This was the moment of truth. “Hey guys. Nice to meet ya in person,” Tam chuckled awkwardly. Sophie let out a soft squeal as their eyes widened. (Tam still remembers how bad they felt about not having blue eyes.) “There’s the elf we love,” Keefe teased. “Hug?” Tam grinned softly as xe moved closer, and allowed Keefe to wrap his arms around xem.

This. This was good. Xe didn’t know how long it had been since xe felt this secure in the real world since xe been banished. “Your feelings are all wiggly,”Keefe mumbled, and he just squeezed Tam tighter. Tam felt xer soul soar. It had the softness he expected to have when the soulmates met in real life.

Tam felt fingers running through xer hair, and xe just let them. “Are you okay?” Sophie asked. Their voice was filled with concern for xem, and Tam could find it in xem to care. “I’m okay. Just tired,” Tam admitted.

“I bet. I can feel it rolling off of you like waves,” Keefe stated. The trio sat like that for a few moments, for they just wanted to gather their thoughts. “I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you,” Sophie started, but was shushed by Tam.

“Don’t. It’s not your fault. Shadows change how your voice sounds, and you can't see my face. That’s out of control.” Tam let that sink in for a moment. Xe knew both of xer soulmates were stubborn when it came to forgiving themselves. Tam then started to maneuver xemself out of Keefe’s and into Sophie’s.

“This is nice,” they gasped. “You’re so warm?” Tam had to chuckle at that comment. “Yeah, I am. So are you two.” “Are you and Linh going to be okay if we leave?” Keefe awkwardly asked. Tam knew he noticed the setting sun and how the elves they were staying with would be worried. “Yeah. Go,” Tam nudged xemself off Sophie as they got up. “Do you need a cliff?”

Sophie shook their heads as they held up a crystal. “We’re good.” “I guess this is goodbye.” Keefe looked detested as he uttered those words. “No It’s just a see you later,” Tam amended. It had to be, was unspoken.

Sophie grabbed Keefe’s hand and leapt away. Tam tried to ignore how xer heart fell. —— Linh liked to think she was a pretty serene person in most cases. This was not one of those cases.

“You met your soulmates!” she cheered. Tam was blushing so bad that she chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah, keep it down,” Tam chuckled as Tam scooped Linh into a hug. “Xe.”

Linh nodded as she backed up. “How do you feel?” “Kind of overwhelmed. But not bad,” Tam nodded. “How do you approve of my soulmates?” If one didn’t know Tam as well as Linh did, they would have thought that xe were being snarky. However, Linh knew that xe were just really nervous.

“I like them. Are they scared of me because I’m your sister or because of what I have done?” Linh inquired.

“They were probably terrified of the idea you would disapprove of us being soulmates.”

“Probably?”

“We had a lot on our minds!” Tam defended xemself as xe put xer hands in the air.

“Fair point. Next time you see them, ask,” Linh conceded. She wasn’t honestly that disappointed, for she thought that if she met Biana she wouldn’t bother asking if she liked her brother.

“They were blaming themselves for not recognizing me,” Tam stated after a period of silence. “Oh?”

”Yeah. It’s not really their fault because they know my face better than my voice,” Tam elaborated. There was a clear defensive tone to it as xe waved xer hand frantically.

“Tam. I’m not going to blame them for not recognizing you. That’s not fair to anyone,” Linh reassured. “Now tell me. Did y’all do anything?” Tam’s blush simultaneously made Linh feel both bad and giddy. It was always fun to find new ways to embarrass Tam. Tam replied,”No. They traded me between their laps, but then they had to go back.”

Linh shook her head, and she grabbed Tam’s hand to drag him back to the tree they called home. Maybe someday she would be able to meet Biana. --— (Forkle, meeting Linh and Tam/Confronting Sophie about it) Forkle couldn’t help but be wary of taking the moonlark and her friends to meet two banished twins. He had done significant research, but he took all of his findings with a grain of salt.

Walking into the forest, Forkle did not expect a boy running out of some trees behind a river and commanding shadows to come out. “STOP!” he shouted as the shadows gathered around him. “We won’t hurt you,” Keefe stated as he strode up to the front. “They’re with me and Foster.”

The Shade flicked his wrist, which sent the shadows across the river, as he growled,”I didn’t say you could bring people here.” Forkle took a deep breath as he realized that there needed to be some damage control done.

“There is no need for your darkness tricks, child,” Forkle tried to calm the Shade down. “We just want to talk.” “These are not tricks,” the Shade responded. “Unlike your disguise .” The last part was said in such a scoffing tone that Forkle felt almost a bit offended. However, he could understand where the Shade was coming from. The council was not kind to the poor children.

“Anyway, it’s not like anyone besides blondies over there are getting by without reading,” he declared. “Um, what?” the Vacker boy cried out. (Fitz was his name. It’s Fitz.) “Don’t worry, Fitzroy. It doesn’t hurt. It’s really cold but not painful,” the Sencen boy soothed. “Well, even if my brother is being a baby, you can do your reading on me,” the Vacker girl declared as she stepped closer to the Shade. A foolhardy move, Forkle mused, but a sign of a leader. However, he needed to get this meeting back on track.

“If you must, Mr.Song-“ Forkle started out, but he was cut off once again. “How do you know that name?”

Forkle massaged his temples as he wished for lightning to strike him. It would make his life significantly less complicated.

“You’re not the only one who likes to make sure they can trust someone before talking with them. I know that your sister was banished after flooding Atlantis by accident. A foolish choice on your parents' part.” Forkle tried to refrain from calling others foolish, but the Song parents were an exception. They were idiots through and through. “What do you mean, foolish?” the Shade questioned, as he tensed up. While he wasn’t obvious, there was fear radiating off of him.

“To bring a fledging Hydrokinetic to Atlantis and expecting it to not be flooded is as bad as bringing a guster to a hurricane and expecting them to leave the wind alone. No one sensible would. It is also to my understanding clear that your father had no love for the fact you two were twins?” Forkle knew that his facts were straight, but he wanted to learn the child’s opinion on the matter.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have much to say. He simply muttered, "If the pretending that Linh is older than me doesn’t say something, I don’t know what will.”

Forkle nodded, trying to seem wise, and decided to try and speed the meeting along a bit. While they weren’t pressed on time, he needed to gain some more control over the situation. “If you don’t mind, where is your sister?” Forkle was truly more interested in the girl than her brother. While they were both incredibly powerful, it didn’t mean anything if they weren’t willing to work with him.

Suddenly, the shadows around the trees shifted slightly to reveal the Hydrokenetic.. Interesting. It seemed the boy had enough skill to preform some of the more advance Shade skills. Most Shades took a few decades to achieve that much control.

The Vacker girl made a comment on ‘how cool’ that was, but Forkle ignored her in favor of examining the Song girl. She seemed slightly more fed then her brother, but she still looked malnourished. Her hair was longer than either of the other girls, but she seemed like it was not well taken care of. The same could be said of her uniform. It wasn’t as nice of quality as the others, but it still looked presentable.

She shyly introduced herself as Linh, and Forkle was glad he refrained from calling the Shade any sort of first name. He had known that the girl’s name was Linh, but not her brother’s. Now he knew that it was Tam.

“So, who exactly are you guys? And what do you want?” Tam demanded. He had been doing an admirable job of keeping his cool, but Forkle knew that every teenage boy had their breaking point. This was Tam Song’s, apparently. “Well, you know me and Sophie. Brown hair princess is Biana, inferior blond is Dex, brown hair idiot is Fitz, and Forkle is the old guy,” explained the Sencen boy. It was a surprisingly effective way of introducing people. It reminded Forkle of Prentince.

“I love your hair,” Biana told the Song girl. She blushed, but she still gave a polite nod.

“So, why exactly are you here?” questioned the Song boy. “You still haven't told us."

Forkle nodded. "Ms. Foster has made it a point to tell me how useful you two would be for the Black Swan. Should I assume that you don't know about the Black Swan?"

The Song girl looked at Forkle with a confused look. "First of all, doesn't Sophie use they/them pronouns? Also, we know what the black swan is."

Forkle felt a headache coming. The insistent nature of moonchildren were always draining. "I assure you that is just a phase. After all, moonchildren are just like the moon. They change. But the fact that that you two know what the black swan is very helpful. Would that be something you are interested?"

Tam glared at Forkle. "I don't know."

-------

(Sophie, telling Tam Keefe betrayed them in person {Keefe betrayed them because they threatened Tam and by the time they met Tam it was too late to back out})

(Tam,Shared Dream, this is when Sophie and Tam learn why Keefe betrayed them {Where? Alllueverte?})

(Grizel finds a journal in Keefe's room at the Neverseen base describing all of his dreams with his soulmates, but due to presuming they are just his imagination, throws them away.)

(Keefe, at Lumenaria)

(Sophie just breaks down about Amy with Tam and Keefe in a shared dream. She wakes up and realizes she sleep talked, and since she was with her parents, they heard her sleep talking)

(Lady Candence, Tam manages to go to Ravagog, and is impressed with how calm 'he' is)

(Ro, orgres can sense soulmates by scent, but didn't say anything until they are at Keefe's house, with Keefe on bed rest)

(Tam, being in his parents house)

(Bronte overhears a conversation, that will lead into Legacy, that implies Sokam are soulmates)

(Keefe/Tam force Sophie to calm down during Midterms, because yes elves are bad, but you're hurting yourself love)

(Linh, being enhanced and realizing that something must be off with either her ability or atlantis {Cause both times feel similar})

(Biana has a moment with Tam about their shared scars)

(Sophie has a moment with her parents while getting ready for Alvar's Tribunal)

(Tam, w/ shadowflux when Sophie and fitz first get attacked {Think of how this effects him during their visit? Maybe Lady Zillah? Idea: Shades can tell whether or not someone has met their soulmate, she tries to make him say who they are.) —

(Keefe, w/ skills training/ Ro being a pain)

(Lady Zillah realizes that Tam is soulmates with someone, and deduces that they are also a moonchild, which is why he can control shadowflux, at least to her. In reality, any child who experienced childhood trauma can)

(Sophie and Fitz under the tree, only it's Fedex because they're soulmates but can't tell anyone since Alden.)

(Tam, when he has to join the neverseen.)

(Keefe breaks down the fact that Tam is forced to fight against them)

(Sophie decides not to get a match list/ Linh visit)

(Tam being probed, but he manages to not have everything revealed )

(Keefe taking fathomleses, and what the silver journal means is his soulmate dreams)

(Sophie tells the councilors she isn't getting a match list, they are surprised but okay with it. Bronte brings up the idea that Sokam is a thing and Sophie has to come clean)

(Tam has a shared dream and ends up crying because of it)

(Keefe and biscuits.)

(Sophie's abilities are reset much earlier, due to not wanting to know who her biological parents are as much. Similar thing that happens in canon happens here.)

(The final showdown at the king's path. Unlike in canon, Tam is not told what he is supposed to do, Glitter just does it for him. It kind of goes according to plan, but Glitter goes first than Tam, so it kind of backfires and Glitter and Gisela get brutally injured, because Tams hurt Keefe and you aren't supposed to hurt your soulmates so there's a huge backlash. They all escape together, since almost everyone is unconscious)

(Elwin, realizes that they are soulmates by their cells and tells Eda and Grady, who tell everyone else and it kind of spirals. They wake up, and it's like they just manifested {Intense empathy, blacking out from the increased input from the shadows, not being able to block thoughts.)

(Sokam decides to tell the black swan, together. It's a third person omniscient, and that is the climax, with everyone hugging/yelling/slapping them)

({Potential ending}Flash forward, it's their wedding day and they are giving their vows. It's sickeningly sweet. Tam's POV, to end the way we began)

[screadingchallenge]

Behind the Keyboard Volume 37

Behind the Keyboard is a series of interviews with different Schitt’s Creek fanfic authors. The series will last as long as there is interest (from authors) and capacity (from me). If you are an author from the Schitt’s Creek fandom who would like to participate, send a DM to this account.  

Each author was given ten questions. The first five questions are the same for every author, the last five will vary.

If you'd like to do an interview, let me know!

Let’s meet our next author:

@demora00 / Demora00

How many fics have you written?

I have 16 published fics. A few for SC aren’t published anywhere and many more for other fandoms have died with ancient websites or disappeared the way physical notebooks have a way of during various moves.

When did you publish your first fic on AO3?

January 7th, 2022

Describe your writing process from “Oh, I have an idea” to pushing publish on AO3. 

First thing, if it’s a line, or a quote, or a picture, I’ll open my prompt folder and just stick it in there to marinate and come back to when I know how to use it. 

A few times, I’ve been lucky enough to go “oh wait” and open a brand new doc right away and just start writing. Sometimes I’ll take voice notes or send voice memos to friends if I’m driving and tag them #carthoughts for quick reference. 

I rarely write in order. Most of the time, I'll start a scene, get stuck but know how I want another to go, so I'll swap. More often than not there's some frankensteining. I'll moan and whine about it to @doug-judys-blog or Trickiwoo about it throughout. I know it's finished when I've edited it so much I hate it. Finally one or both of them will beta. @doug-judys-blog is the best cheerleader I could have dreamed of. They always know how to get me out of a "no words just vibes" spiral.

Tell me about your most recent fic? What do you love about it? Is there anything you think you could have done better?

The last fic I wrote that wasn’t a drabble was about selective mutism. [Some things I still can't tel you] It’s a physical manifestation of anxiety that isn’t often spoken about except as a trauma response and I feel like I managed to capture all the other little things that come along with it in a very tangible way.  I love that Patrick, who is still a person used to struggling in private with so many things, can trust David and show vulnerability without it being a stress point for their relationship. There's something really soft about that kind of trust that ultimately very romantic to me.

What advice would you give to someone who’s thinking about publishing their fic for the first time?

Do it. Get a beta. Get a cheerleader. (One can do both!) Hell, ask that compatible weirdo you kinda sorta vibe with in that fandom space to be a sounding board. Our fandom is so welcoming and talented, there's always someone willing to help.

In your mind, what’s the most important element of good writing?

I need writing to make me feel things otherwise what’s the point? I don't mean 'tear out my heart' intensity every time, but if the writing doesn't evoke something for me, I'll be hard pressed to keep reading. 

Tell me about a story that you wish you could write but that you’re not quite ready to tackle.

The last night Ted and Alexis have together and the aftermath of that. Really deep dive into Alexis' feels and sit with it for a while. It's somehow more tragic because we as the audience know that they are incompatible, but the love they have is real. But sometimes love isn't enough, and it's a real sign of growth for both of them, if a tragic way of doing it. 

Weirdest thing you’ve googled as research for a story?

Cowboy and rodeo terms. I don’t know that that’s weird in and of itself, but the reasons for the research were unorthodox.

Outlines - yes or no?

Yes, if not in a classic way. I usually do just point forms and terrible broken sentences, vibes, placeholders with attached comments and that works just fine. Sometimes whole conversations that need to happen but I don’t know quite where to put yet.

Tell me about your current WIP if you have one.

I have a few I’m working on and flip between as my attention span wanes, but I’m most involved in my first long fic. I don't want to give too much away, but it's a cerebral sci-fi mystery with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind vibes. I started working on it a few weeks ago and it's taken over. It's completely different than anything I've done so I'm quite nervous about it, but I've been reassured it could be as amazing as I see it in my head. I’ve already written myself into and out of a corner, so you could say it’s going well lol.

[koolkat9]

🛠What tools/programs/apps do you use to write?

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

🙋‍♀️ Do any irl people know you write fanfic?

🍦 What's the sweetest fic you've created so far?

Fanfic Writer Emoji Ask

🛠What tools/programs/apps do you use to write?

Google docs is where I type up my fics. I also sometimes use docs to write outlines, but I tend to use actual notebooks for that. I also use grammarly to catch smaller grammar mistakes I often overlook when rereading it.

Edit: I forgot this Question -  ⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

There is this smut fic that I just never got around to writing where Arthur messes up a spell and becomes like...ugh what’s the word... anyway, it ends up affecting him like sex pollen and Ludwig ends up showing up and they fuck. I was going to return to it, but I end up using aspects of that outline in a more recent outline that I like a little better so that original fic will probably not be written. 

🙋‍♀️ Do any irl people know you write fanfic?

My sibling and more recently my best friend found out. But only my sibling actually reads them. I don’t plan on sharing my fics with my irl friends lol.

🍦 What's the sweetest fic you've created so far?

I mean...I’m a fluff writer so this is tough, but I’ll say the Frain fic I just posted (Little Piece of Heaven), An Indulgent GerEng Sick Fic, and Lastly Winding Down.

Little Piece of Heaven: Just some teen Frain, unable to keep their hands off each other. A lot of kissing and giggling. I was little flailing as I wrote it out lol. 

An Indulgent GerEng Sick Fic: Touch starved characters my beloved. It’s hurt/comfort in a way because Ludwig doesn’t know how to handle being loved so much. 

Winding Down: It has everything I could want for GerEng. Overworked Ludwig with Arthur taking care of him. Massages, cuddling. Just makes my heart swell. One of my favorites to reread. 

[arbitrarycategories]

Tips on writing chaptered fics? I have no idea how far ahead to plan or how to break things up. Do I need to force myself to make an outline and plan an ending? How long should a chapter be? What if I have half an idea and no idea where it's going? Do I post the chapters I have and hope the external pressure of readers motivate more writing or do I keep what I have on google docs indefinitely until a miracle happens?

I feel like you have come to the Wrong Place but I will do my best!

First off, fanfiction is for fun. It is NOT an obligation. Therefore, planning out your ending is optional. So is making an outline. However, doing those things does make writing go a lot faster, so I recommend them.

My current wip, Once Upon A Younger Year, does not currently have a planned ending, so I'm only halfway following my own advice.

And remember, friends! an outline can be a list of things you want to happen in your story! it does NOT have to be perfect, or clear. Mine includes a ship list and a table. I add things to it all the time.

An example (non-spoiler):

clearly this mess doesn't have any clarity, but it serves it's purpose, which is to help keep me on track with what I'm writing. When I get stuck I look at my outline and there is almost always something there that either tells me what to do next or inspires what I want to do next.

Now, about chapter length... I honestly cannot answer this. It varies fic-to-fic. A oneshot, for instance, is usually going to have a higher wordcount than the first chapter of a longfic, if only because chapters serve multiple purposes that oneshots don't. The length of your chapter should be determined by more than wordcount - I determine my chapter length by which parts of the story I want to see in who's POV, but in original works I've done before this, I've broken up chapters by thematic purpose, plot points, time in-story, and pure Vibes. If it feels like a place you could pause and make a switch to focus on something else (someone elses POV, the next plot point, a different thematic leaning on the same set of events, etc) then you can start a new chapter.

Having said that, most people reading fanfic have a minimum wordcount that they want chapters to be, which I have found is around 1000. So your min wordcount per chapter should be 1000.

If you have half an idea with no idea where it's going, then keep writing! How else will you find out where it's going? I have half an idea with no idea where it's going and I've published over ten chapters of that already!

If you want to post the chapters you have, feel free! But do not let the external "pressure" motivate you. If you are feeling pressured into writing and it's not fun anymore, then stop. Rather, let the external support motivate you! Most comments readers leave are very kind. Additionally, I have taken to periodically refreshing my "my works" page and wiggling in glee as I watch the kudos and hits count rise.

I do vote against letting it marinate in a google doc and waiting for a miracle. Nothing will happen if you do that. If you have something you want to post, then post it!

tldr: go wild go crazy! outline optional but recommended; chapter wordcount should be over 1000. Post what you have and bathe in glory!

[spnfanficpond]

Pond Diving - Imagineteamfreewill

Welcome to today’s Pond Diving Spotlight! We hope that you enjoy this little insight to our members and perhaps even find some useful tips for your own writing. Happy reading!

Want to volunteer, send us an ask! We’re looking forward to learning more about all of you! Not sure what PD is, you can learn more here.

“Don’t Be Koi About It” - All About You

Name: Meg

Age: 20s

Location: United States

URL: @imagineteamfreewill

Why did you choose your URL: I first started out structuring my stories as imagines, and the “Team Free Will” part was pretty obvious.

What inspired you to become a writer: Reading Supernatural fanfiction inspired me to get back into writing, but I’ve always enjoyed it. My mom likes to talk about how when I was in Kindergarten, I drew a picture about how I wanted to be an author and now I write in my free time.

How long have you been writing: According to tumblr, I’ve been writing fanfiction since 2014, but I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember.

What do you do when you are not writing i.e. Job/Hobbies etc? I’m a music teacher, so I sing and play piano, and I’ve played a bit of cello and tenor saxophone as well. I love movies, baking, sleeping, and a few video games.

How long have you been in the SPN Fandom? I joined sometime around Season 8 or 9, I think. I don’t really remember!

Are you in any other fandoms and do you write for them? I really enjoy Marvel and I’ve read a lot of Marvel fics, but I don’t write for them. I like a lot of TV shows (New Girl, Parks and Rec, The Good Place, Outlander, etc), but I wouldn’t consider myself part of the fandom.

Do you do any writing outside of fanfiction? If so, tell us about it? I love to write poetry. I had a poetry blog at truenorth-ink a while ago, but I haven’t updated it recently at all. Most of my poems aren’t published or posted anywhere.

Favorite published author: I love some of the early series by Rick Riordan and I also really enjoy poetry by Nikita Gill and Atticus. Lately, I've really been getting into Leigh Bardugo's books.

Have you ever read a book that made an impact on your life? Which one and why?: I think "East" by Edith Pattou really affected me! I read it when I was in 6th-8th grade and I think about it often. I think it's something that really stuck with me and got me interested in fantasy books so much. I read it at least once a year.

Favorite genre of fanfic (smut, angst, fluff, crack, rpf, etc): I love angsty stuff, and most of the time I prefer it when it has some fluff mixed in. Straight fluff is often hard for me to read because I need something that’s more realistic for my own life and point of view. I also really like whump, but that can be a lot sometimes so it depends on my mood.

Favorite piece of your own writing: I don’t know if I have a favorite, but I loved writing Back to the Start (my mermaid series) and The Switch (a canon-divergent apocalyptic Reader x Sam series). Right now, I'm really enjoying my Consort series (a Goddess!Reader x Dean series). Creating my own rules in my own little universes is one of my favorite things to do, especially since I can’t always do whatever I want in real life.

Most underrated fic you have written: Empire. I loved getting to write Boyking!Sam because it was so different from my normal Sam stories and I did a lot of research for it. I’m pretty proud that the story never got too bloody or gory, too, so if you want some Boyking!Sam that’s not drenched in blood (for lack of a better term), I’m your girl!

Story of yours that you’d most like to see turned into a movie/tv show: Probably Back to the Start or The Switch. I think those two series would be amazing to see with J2, the rest of the cast/characters I included, and special effects! There’s so much I’d want to explore with both of them that I didn’t put into the series.

Favorite Tumblr Writer(s): @luci-in-trenchcoats, @sunlightdances, @supernaturalfreewill, @lipstickandwhiskey, @smol-and-grumpy, @percywinchester27, and @kaz2y5-imagines

Favorite fic from another writer:  I don’t think I could pick just one, but I’ve read all of @sunlightdances Dean fics multiple times. Her works got me through some pretty sucky times in my life and I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of her writing! I’ve also been reading her Bucky fics recently and it’s made me love Marvel fics even more than before!​

Favorite character to write: Sam Winchester

Favorite Pairing to write: Reader x Sam (Reader x Dean is a close second)

Least favorite character to write (and why): I don’t like to write for Crowley or Gabriel. Gadreel is hard for me even though I can do it, but I don’t understand Crowley or Gabriel’s personalities at all because they’re literally so far away from mine.

Do you have anyone you consider a mentor? No, although @lipstickandwhiskey and @kaz2y5-imagines really encouraged me in my writing!​

Do you have any aspirations involving your writing? I would love to write a non-Supernatural work of fiction to publish, but that’s a long way off.

How many work-in-progress stories do you have: Oh Lord, I have so many! I have at least four series and two one shots in the works right now. I've also got over 100 one shots/series plotlines written out in the notes on my phone and various Google Docs.

What are you currently working on? I’m currently working on a Cinderella series, my Underworld series, my Puer Rex series, my Consort series, an Author!Sam fic, and an Author!Dean fic. I also write stories for my Words series now and again.

“Pond Diving” - All About The Writing

What/who has had the biggest influence on your writing? Reading other people’s work. The intense storylines of @luci-in-trenchcoats ’s fics have gotten me to be more bold with my writing and the emotions and description in @supernaturalfreewill’s works have inspired me to let my work have more feeling.

Best writing advice you've been given: Not necessarily writing advice, but I was once told that anything worth doing is worth doing at least a little bit every day. Think about it—if you wrote even just five minutes a day, how much better will you get over the course of a month? A year?

Biggest obstacle you’ve faced in your writing: Repetition of words and commas. So many commas and so many uses of the same word over and over again. It’s a hard balance between using the word and using synonyms without sounding like I’m sitting there googling synonyms for “said”. I also tend to spend a lot of time on things that I think are super important but aren’t really important in the long run. I’m wordy as hell and my writing would be dull if I didn’t edit it as thoroughly as I do.

What aspects of writing do you find difficult when you write fanfiction? A lot of times I have these ideas that I think would make a great series but I don’t think through them, so planning out the plot of a series (or even a standalone fic) beforehand is something I struggle with.

Is there anything you want to write but are afraid to (and why): I would love to write more fics that have the characters dealing with severe mental disorders or that take place in a mental hospital, but I’m afraid that I’ll portray something wrong and solidify harmful stereotypes about what it’s like to deal with those things.

What inspires/motivates you to write: Honestly, just wanting to write things that I enjoy. Sometimes I get sick of reading other peoples’ stuff since it’s not exactly what I want, so I just write my own!

How do you deal with self doubt: Understand that sometimes it happens. You’ll doubt yourself—everybody does. If I’m doubting myself or my writing, I’ll take a break until I remember why I write. Then I’ll remember that yeah, writing for an audience is fun, but I write because I have cool ideas I want to explore, not because I need the attention or love of strangers. Lastly, I’ll reread my old fics, especially the ones I love, and then I’ll go back and edit old fics that I haven’t looked at in a while. That way I can see how I’ve improved and I don’t feel so terrible anymore! Reading my own fics is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine, and I’ll read through my masterlists every once a while just to remind myself of the things I’ve loved, where I’ve been, and where I’m going.

How do you deal with writer's block: Like I said, I reread old fics and edit old fics that I haven’t looked at in a while. Seeing the things I’ve done before always helps to focus me. I’ll also read other people’s stuff or talk about headcanons with some friends to try and find some inspiration.

Do you plan/outline your story before you start: Lately I have been, but only because my periods of intense inspiration and productivity are getting farther and farther apart because of my job. I’ve found planning it out to be more and more helpful, especially for my series. A lot of times if I get a great idea, I’ll outline the whole plot or any significant details I want to put in that one shot/series so that I can come back to it whenever I have the time or I’m inspired for it again.

Do you have any weird writing habits: I write best in places that are unfamiliar to me or in places/times where I shouldn’t be writing. Class? Writing. Airport terminal? Writing. 4am when I have to be up at 6? Writing.

Have you ever received hateful comments on your fic and how do you deal with it? Not that I remember! I feel like there’s probably been one or two over the years, but I probably just got upset about it with my friends for a while and then got over it.

Conversely: what’s been some of your favorite feedback on your fanfic? A long time ago, when I was writing Back to the Start, I had one person who sent me asks for every single series update. I screenshotted them and saved them on my laptop. There’s one particular one where they say that they’re happier because of my writing and honestly, isn’t that what we all strive for? That people’s lives are better because of our stories? I’ve also had some pretty great friends recently who’ve made it a point to reblog and send asks/messages on all my works, which has been so meaningful that I never replied to the asks. They’re sitting in my inbox and I go through and reread them sometimes when I’m feeling down.

If you could give one piece of advice to a new and/or struggling writer, what would it be?  ​Write down everything. If you come up with an amazing piece of dialogue, even if it’s just one sentence or one person talking, or if you come up with something you’d think would be a great title… WRITE IT DOWN. It doesn’t matter if it fits into whatever you’re currently writing or not, it’ll come in handy! I don’t know how many times I’ve gone through my idea list and found really obscure lines/titles/inspiration that didn’t make sense when I wrote them down, but are now exactly what I need to finish a fic. Even if you don’t end up using it, jotting down your ideas is still writing, and that’s good practice!

[shellyseashell]

All the questions for the "get to know your author" asks😎✌️✨

I don’t know whether to love you because I got an ask, or hate you because that’s a lot of questions

Is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

One of my original stories, which I love a lot, but it has heavy themes of imperialism that I feel like I should wait until I have a better grasp on first. Like yeah I could write it now, but at the same time I don’t want to.

What work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

None that I can think of.

What order do you write in?

Usually in chronological order, from the first scene to the last scene, but sometimes when I’m planning or brainstorming and I want to write a certain scene I will.

Favorite character you’ve written?

I haven’t started writing her story yet, but Aisha is my favorite OC.

Character you were most surprised to end up writing?

None that I can think of.

Something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now?

Nothing because I haven’t gotten far enough in any stories that it’s too late to change stuff.

When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

Do you know how little I talk about my stories? I get super excited when someone lets me talk about my stories

Favorite genre to write?

Fantasy and sci-fi!

What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

I listen to music, read the characters info sheet, or watch/read similar stuff or whatever inspired that story.

Write in silence or with background noise? With people or alone?

Alone and with music to concentrate, preferably.

What aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?

My characters! My OCs used to be one dimensional and now I feel like they’re real people. I can definitely do better, but it’s not horrible anymore.

Your weakness as an author?

God I can’t write descriptions for the life of me.

Your strengths as an author?

Dialogue

Do you make playlists for your current wips?

Yes! All my current wips except gold rush have playlists! I want to share them, but there’s still the whole Spotify issue if anyone remembers that

Why did you start writing?

I’ve always liked writing, but I think the first time I wanted to write a story was in second grade and I saw two of my friends working on a story, and now it’s a hobby.

Are there any characters who haunt you?

OCs? Alexandra, I hate her so much what was I thinking. Canon characters? Not really.

If you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?

Give your OCs personalities that aren’t carbon copies of yourself or else.

Were there any works that you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style?

My first fanfic that I like to admit was mine was a Mary Sue pjo thing, so I like to think some of my style comes from that. And maybe the lunar chronicles? Atla has effected how I think of worldbuilding. And I hate to admit it but @salt-warrior’s more poetic writing makes me want to have more poetic descriptions, but I’m not good at it.

When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, etc.?

Okay I’ll usually start a notes page or Google doc that has notes, character arcs, and other stuff I need to remember when writing, while the outline itself is on a Google doc.

Do you write in long sit down sessions or little spurts?

Depends on my inspo, but usually little spurts.

What do you think when you read over your older work?

It’s either “this is so good” or “what the fuck was I thinking” there’s no in between.

Are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?

Some violence, though I’m usually fine with it, and common triggers. I try to keep extremely triggering stuff out of my writing, but I at least add warnings.

Any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

Martial arts classes have changed how I think of fight scenes!

Have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or story?

I’m literally reading through the Atla fandom wiki to have a better hold on the cultures.

Copy/paste a few scents des or a short paragraph of something that you’re particularly proud of.

From Age of Aisha: “Katara realized with a jolt that mostly everyone on the ship was from the Southern Water Tribe. They had seen her grow up. The world may have lost the Avatar, but that ship had lost a family member.”

[philcoulsonismyhero]

Fic Writer Interview

I got tagged by the excellent @astriiformes Ages ago to do this fic writer interview thing, and I’m finally getting around it! So here goes...

Name:

Mairi (sounds like 'marry'), Kamemor over on AO3 (after a particularly cool Romulan politician in a Star Trek novel, if you were wondering)

Fandoms:

Currently, I'm writing a lot of RWBY fic and that's unlikely to change because I'm deep in Special Interest Hell with no signs of coming up for air. In the past, I've also written a bunch of stuff for Criminal Minds and The Flash/DCTV. I've got a lot of other fandoms, but those are the main ones I've written for.

Two-shot:

Assuming this is asking if I've ever written one, technically no. But I do have a series (Just Hold On, a RWBY fix-it) that currently consists of two fics which could stand alone as they are, although I have plans to continue that one for quite a few more fics if I can find the motivation and time. And I guess I also have a couple of fics that I could have split into two chapters because they switch from one POV to another about halfway through. I like to stick to third person limited POV, and that means I often have section breaks when I want to switch from one character's perspective to another's, and for a two-person scene that usually means two sections. But I like the oneshot structure, and usually I don't feel like what I'm writing is long enough to split into chapters.

Most popular multi-chapter:

I only have one true multi-chapter fic, and it's Moving Forward, a Flash fic based on the idea of Reverse Flash being taken prisoner at the end of s1 rather than being wiped from existence. It's technically still unfinished, but I got a lot of lovely comments on that one a few years back when I was posting it, including a few folks that went through and commented on each chapter and really made my day. Maybe one day I'll actually finish it...

The only other thing I have that’s multi-chapter is a collection of missing scene ficlets, also Flash fic, but that doesn’t really count.

Actual worst part of writing:

My brain tends to be very visual when I'm writing fanfic for a TV show, and few things are as annoying as knowing exactly the facial expression someone is pulling and having No Idea how to describe it in words. Same with tones of voice. Also, I tend to jump straight into writing the bits of scenes that are most interesting to me, and going back and adding in the context that you need to make something actually readable for someone that isn't you can be a bit tiresome.

How you choose your titles:

It depends, tbh. A lot of my older fics are titled with short verb phrases that are pretty straightforward (like 'Moving Forward' or 'Breaking the Cycle'), but recently I've rather enjoyed using song lyrics. Most of my RWBY fics have lyric titles either from songs from the show itself or songs that I've got on my extensive Ironwood character playlist or otherwise just quite like and feel like they fit. I don't tend to find titles all that difficult, and I've got a fair few WIPs that have them already.

Do you outline:

Again, depends on the fic. With longer ones, yes, usually as a list of bullet points describing what happens. But shorter missing scene fics or things that I bashed out in only one or two sessions and only follow a single conversation tend not to be outlined because they just flow as I write them. I've got some more extensive outlines for a few of the fix-it AUs I've been playing with, but even then they're just bullet point lists or mostly held in my own head.

Ideas I probably won't get around to but wouldn't it be nice:

I have. So many. Most of them are RWBY fix-it fic, which is fun to write at the moment of divergence but then A Huge Endeavour to follow any further than that. I’ve planned out a bunch of different shapes for where the three different versions I’ve already written and posted would go, but there’s only one of them that I’m really continuing (aforementioned two fic series). Although I have a dilemma there, because the climax of the story arc that I figured out for that ‘verse would work even better in the other one that focuses more on Penny & Ironwood. But it’s not as simple as just throwing the idea into continuity with that one, because there’s a Major difference between the two in that in one of them, Qrow was the one who got through to Ironwood, and in the other they kinda hate each other over the whole ‘I blame you (and also me but mostly you) for Clover’s death’ thing, so I’d have to plot out a completely different relationship arc there which would have a knock-on impact on how well Ironwood is dealing with everything else. Canon divergence fic! it’s a good time.

I’ve also got So Much other RWBY fic in bits and pieces in various Google docs, it’s ridiculous. (Including a superhero AU that I’m rather fond of conceptually, but don’t really have a solid arc plot for.) A lot of it would be nice to get into a publishable state, but I probably won’t ever be bothered to.

On the not-RWBY front, I've also got a big Criminal Minds/Silent Witness crossover that I've planned out all the beats of, but actually writing it means coming up with the specific details of the murders and the autopsy scenes and a whole lot of technical stuff that I'm not comfortable just winging based on what I've seen on TV. But I also don't like researching real life crime stuff even though I love a good crime drama, so you see my dilemma. I like casefic in theory, but in practice I'm probably not going to write much of it. 

Callouts @ me:

Just because you’re an insomniac who mostly writes fic at night rather than sleeping doesn’t mean that every conversation fic has to happen as a result of one or both characters being unable to sleep, my dude. There are Other circumstances in which people talk to each other.

Best writing traits:

I’m good at character voice, although that’s a pretty standard thing to be good at. I also really like unconventional crossovers, I’ve gotten pretty good at playing around with conversations between characters who never met or aren’t even from the same universe and coming up with a believable dynamic for them. I also like to think that I’m good at getting into the heads of awkward characters and figuring out which bits to poke at in order to get them to do things they didn’t do in canon. (And figuring out how they rationalised the things they did actually do.) That’s a big reason why I liked writing Reverse Flash, the complicated bastard, and it’s why I’m having so much fun with Ironwood now. You’ve really got to work at him to get him to change direction, great big stubborn disaster that he is, and I think I’ve rather gotten the hang of that.

Spicy tangential opinion:

People should write more longfic focused on gen relationships. Some of the most fascinating relationships in stories, at least to me, are the ones between people you’d never expect to be friends, or between adults and the kids they feel responsible for who also feel kinda responsible for them, and that makes for a (imho) much more interesting story than most ships. I Live for a good complicated mentor/mentee relationship, but I hate looking for fic about them because then I have to deal with the fact that a lot of people ship those relationships and it squicks me out. Give me the longfics about types of relationships I actually care about!

(This whole thing is a good 40% of the reason that I’ve ended up get absorbed in planning out a RWBY Vol8 re-write where the parallels and the newly complicated relationship between Ruby and Ironwood is The Main Agenda. (The other 60% of the reason being ‘[x character] deserved better’.) There’s some Really Good Stuff there and I want to play with it in more of a longform situation than my usual oneshots.)

No pressure tagging:

@squireofgeekdom , @catgirlalchemist , and anyone else who wants to give it a go! Feel free to say I tagged you :D

[bereft-of-frogs]

Doctor Strange, Antman and the Wasp, Avengers Infinity War and Loki

I hope those are not too many :-)

not at all!

doctor strange - describe the process that leads up to publishing your fics. do you outline the whole thing? obsessively edit it? create moodboards?

It definitely depends! There are like 3 tiers:

- most complicated: aka multiple outlines/drafts - ex. ‘alone amidst the ruins’. For big complicated things I like making multiple outlines, usually one ‘conversational’ one right at the top of the document where I in paragraph form explain the plot like I’m explaining the plot to a friend, then a point-by-point plot outline (like A. Prologue....i. scene one...B. Chapter One...i. scene one...ii. scene two....), then a ‘worst’ draft, and a second/final draft. I usually do all the prep work and the first draft in Scrivener, and then the second draft back in Pages

- medium: similar to the first, except it’s all in Pages, the ‘point-by-point plot outline’ is in [brackets] right in the document. This is the most common.

- easiest: I usually just like....have the idea, write the idea, for the short fics (and also the not-so-short but kind of scary ones where I’m like ‘hm idea’ and then like 12 hours later I have 6k words and am like....’uhhh ok thanks brain u ok?’. ex. ‘the sleepwalkers’ iirc...haven’t had one of those in a while, I miss them). I’ll often write it out of order, starting with the most vivid scenes and then going back and filling in plot-necessary info

For all fics, I usually just reread a few times (until it gets to the point where I’m like ‘oh no it’s boring’), then format for AO3 in the google doc script thing, but even then I usually still have to go through and fix italics but that’s okay because the change in font usually makes random typos start to stand out, then I turn on Grammarly for a last typo pass (lol or really, let’s be real, rethinking some of those commas pass...) and then post! and run away. XD

I don’t really make moodboards...I do often research stuff while brainstorming/while the idea is percolating. A few I have actually read nonfiction books for inspiration (’alone amidst the ruins’, the medieval-ish fantasy AU). I do feel like I need a new way to get inspired for a couple fics I’m feeling like are sort of slogs/I’m stuck, maybe I’ll consider moodboards. Or playlists.

I don’t know, for people who do make moodboards or other creative inspiration for fics, any advice?

ant-man and the wasp - what’s your favorite type of comment to recieve?

I mean here’s where I should say ‘all comments’ because technically yes, all comments, even just short ones, but yes the best comments are the long ones with yelling and where you can tell the reader was really engaged. I’m most likely to respond to those because, that one post going around is true, honestly it’s not about just getting comments, I mostly just want to yell about my fics. XD (I’m sorry if I haven’t responded - there’s one in particular right now in my inbox I’ve been meaning to respond to for like...several weeks, maybe I’ll do that when I get back from my run.)

avengers: infinity war - do you have any fanfic recs?

I glanced through my bookmarks which are a mess but you can trawl through there. I usually respond with ‘he’s been dead for years’ because I still think it’s one of the best concept+executions of a fic I’ve ever seen (and also #calledout it is sooo accurate when I first read it I had to check whether or not it was roleplaying). And also unironically whenever someone asks me about depictions of death/funerals in media, internally I think ‘**sob** jacob and esau say their goodbyes’ before out-loud saying something about like...The Haunting of Hill House or whatever XD

loki - what’s the most outlandish (or it could just be your favorite) au you’ve ever read/wanted to write/thought of?

Hmmm. I don’t usually do big AUs unless there’s a reason for it, which is how I ended up with the “all-human AU” **cough** of dark underground//violent sky, I guess the medieval-ish fantasy AU is the most dramatic I’ve ever written. I’m honestly a bigger fan of dramatic canon divergence AUs. I would like to finish my ‘Loki wins Avengers 1′ AU one day, or the Sam/Bucky apocalypse AU (where the other set of people get snapped) but inspiration has currently stalled, I’m trying to be patient with it. :-)

[mcu asks]