#this rotten work

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

Look at my book baby!

Got my editor's copies of my book today! Aren't they gorgeous? (Ignore the "not for sale" line through the cover- that goes away during publication- and the shitty quality of my camera!) I'm going through the book to make final edits- it really is looking like this book about a sapphic ex-Chosen One (gotta love an unlikable lady protag) falling for her rival is going to be able to go up for y'all by the end of March.

(Also face reveal? I guess? None of y'all care about that, but I will be one of those annoying parents who poses with my kids, aka my characters.)

Which means there's only one real question: do y'all want me to post the playlists for the characters/ships here as a lead-up to the book coming out?

To everyone who has liked my posts about the book so far or liked my last book: @henrythepug @mywily @artemisiaarm @lilyoflolana @randomhobbitgoblin @khruschevshoe @thanatosdetesreves @kayechanted @neshatriumphs @evelynhug0 @sillylittlecheeto @harrietmjones @jaceum @jacksope-lives @marchionessdebrannas @screechingdonutengineer @beeesworld @meet-me-behindthemall12 @neutral-wizard @elposting @little-bloodied-angel @thearcaneuniversity @artemisbones @mikereads @augment-techs @snazzy-hats-and-adhd @safesoundxswift @sapphicsigh @anaddictiontofanfiction @aboutblankpages-blog-blog @weedpoop @aboutblankpages-blog-blog @danieldeluca01 @suz-blog @morganmara @shehungthemoon @man-me--a-sand @geekerne @madhare0512

[mushroom-skeletons]

please recommend marauders fics

.

currently reading:

Crimson Rivers - bizarrestars

Kill Your Darlings - MesserMoon

Under Pressure - serethereal

This Rotten Work - Rollercoasterwords

Viva La Vida - iamnotacabinet

finished

Best Friend's Brother - zeppazariel

just lovers (like we were supposed to be) - zeppazariel

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

For all of you picking "ex-Chosen-One Done With This Shit falls for her ex-rival" in the publishing poll, just dropping in to let you know that this is the exact dynamic of Rachel (ex-Chosen One) and Daiyu (her rival). Just throw in some lightning and fire powers, some Shakespeare-reenactments, some Kosher BBQ, a hell of a lot of trauma/rocky recovery, and way too many sparring practices that end with someone pinned to the ground with their rival's face way too close to the other's, and you've got the basic vibes of the ship.

The only valid interpretation of enemies to lovers is when it is combined with the "X fell first, but Y fell harder." Like, X has been in so much love for so long that it feels like it's going to burn them from the inside out bc they're enemies, and they can't be together, and every time they think about Y they feel like they're touching a live bonfire that will one day destroy them, while Y is completely oblivious, insisting they hate X who is "annoyingly attractive, it's not fair" until the moment the revelation bonks them over head and they are immediately like "welp, looks like I'm in love and I refuse to live without X, they are not allowed to bury themselves away from me bc we WILL take on the world together whether they like it or not. No, I will not burn them, we will burn the world together, you hear me?" Also, they're gay. Also necessary. In this essay I will—

[waterme-stories]

Chewing on a headcanon that Wade let Cable walk away... and he wasn't going to make the same mistake with Logan

[marlowe-art]

some eggs for eggtober 🍳

[palomalexa]

Always inside your mind.

[babyslutbuck]

[mmmairon]

I fear my hands may always be stained red

[lena-oleanderson]

collected writings on trying to submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known and seen and letting people care about you even though you're not, and probably never will be quite done getting better

[ascesabo]

the great irony of early one piece antagonists believing zoro was the actual captain and using luffy as a puppet ... oda really threw us a bone and curb-stomped it right in our faces. yes, zoro could be a captain in his own right. yes, zoro could match luffy in strength. yes, zoro knows this perfectly well. and you know what? he chose luffy two years ago, and he will continue to choose luffy again and again. roronoa zoro, the pirate hunter, who followed a wannabe pirate with a nonexistent crew on a whim because luffy brought him his swords and made a half-assed attempt at a bargain. zoro, who made a vow to never lose again on both his and luffy's honor. zoro, who told luffy he'd make him commit harakiri if he got in the way of zoro's goal, only to turn around and be willing to sacrifice his dream if it means that luffy reaches his. zoro, who stood in place and took luffy's pain and told a warlord to take his head instead of luffy's, who got down on his knees before his supposed rival and begged mihawk to mentor him so that he could return strong enough to protect his captain. zoro, who has conqueror's haki- a natural born leader- but chooses to stay at the right hand of a man he has deemed greater than himself.

and the thing that luffy fears most? being alone. being rejected. being left behind. and what should have been his foil- the pirate hunter to his pirate king, the nonbeliever to his divine, the king of hell to his sun god- instead becomes his first and most devout follower; the one who demands to follow him to hell and back. oughhhggg i'm sick to my stomach

[strawberry-halla]

something so amazing about solas is that he is very good at predicting his enemies and his allies moves. he’s always thinking 5 steps ahead, even varric says this. (long post incoming!)

but when it comes to lavellan, he could never predict her. when he first meets her, solas thinks she’s just another dalish elf that is unwilling to listen to his advice. nope turns out she can be willing and not only that but asks him about what he knows so she can better understand the fade/spirits/ancient elves.

and then the haven dream kiss! she’s the one who initiates and solas is once again thrown off guard because he never expected that. and then he just gives into it with so much passion and fade tongue.

in all new, faded for her, solas is once again surprised lavellan agrees with his plan to free his friend, the spirit of wisdom. because nobody in the entire inquisition (except cole) would be down for this?? like all the world knows about spirits is that they don’t ever come in contact with people unless very rarely. they’re an enigma, something to be feared even because they can become demons. but nah lavellan is like ‘yep sounds good let’s go save your friend!’

and solas after this tries to rationalize lavellan’s bizarre behavior as something the anchor changed about her. because he has always known how to read people. he can’t understand her. he thinks her ‘spirit’ has changed due to magic’s influence.

but no, lavellan surprises once again by pointing out that her choices are her own or that if the anchor did change her, wouldn’t she notice? like no wonder solas is so fucking down bad. lavellan subverts everything he thought about the modern people, not just exclusively elves. she’s constantly showing him new points of view and challenging his whole mission. and so the cracks start to form.

“you show a wisdom i haven’t seen since…*pause* my deepest journeys into the ancient memories of the fade.”

“your mind, your morals, your… *pause* spirit.”

“it would be kinder in the long run. but losing you would- *cuts himself off*”

and then if lavellan drinks from the well, this conversation and the previous quest itself (what pride had wrought) just cracks solas wide open (even if she didn’t drink). he’s visibly upset because he’s afraid the well will change lavellan and he knows first hand what it’s like to do everything for someone who made the wrong choices! so solas asks what she would do with the power of the well and he’s ONCE AGAIN thrown off guard by her answer. i really like the “help the world move forward” option because it almost aligns with solas’s plan but it doesn’t.

s: “you would risk everything you have in the hope the future is better? what if it isn’t? what if you wake up to find the future you shaped is worse than what it was?”

l: “i’ll take a breath, see where things went wrong, and then try again.”

s: “just like that?”

l: “if we don’t keep trying, we’ll never get it right.”

you’d think this would be an affirmation that solas’s plan is right, but it’s not. lavellan is wanting to fix things now and shape a better future with the well’s power. it’s eerily similar, but once again a path solas didn’t consider. she surprises once more. using the wisdom from the well to help, rather than command. sound familiar? this conversation just solidifies solas’s want. to be himself and to be solas, not fen’harel, with lavellan.

so he takes her to crestwood. somewhere intimate and quiet just for the two of them. a place where the veil is thinnest because it’s easy for spirits to cross and be comfortable. solas is going to tell lavellan the truth. he’s going to abandon his plan. but then solas gets in his own head. he fights with the possibility of her rejecting him because why wouldn’t she? he’s the very god in her culture that ruined everything. what if lavellan sees him for the monster history painted him? and then he realizes why he even wanted to tear down the veil. to avenge his oldest friend and right the wrongs he did to the elves. and it all comes crashing down in not even a second.

“then what i must tell you… *pause* …the truth.”

solas backpedals so fucking hard. the reality of everything just hits him. so he quickly redirects to the vallaslin topic because it’s familiar as he looks down at lavellan’s face and sees the markings of the very gods he locked away.

remove the vallaslin or not solas still loves her no matter what. and the sad option is still my favorite here because once again solas is slipping.

s: “you have a rare and marvelous spirit. in another world-“

l: “why not this one?”

and then at the end of veilguard, lavellan does one more thing solas doesn’t expect. after hurting her, betraying her, leaving her alone without any answers, killing one of her friends, and almost succeeding in his plan, she forgives him. lavellan abandons thedas and everything she knew to be with him. to the very end, she is subverting his tragic expectations.

“this journey is not yours alone. we make it together, always.”

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

This Rotten Work Has Been Published!

Do you like Carry On or NBC's Community? Do you like messy lesbians in an enemies-to-lovers dynamic? Do you want to know what happens to Chosen Ones after they defeat their villain? Do you wish for a version of Harry Potter that isn't transphobic, homophobic, antisemitic, and racist? (Did you enjoy the seventy million fics I wrote about the mentors coping with the aftermath of the Hunger Games?) Do you like messy background poly bisexuals?

Well, here it is, y'all: all of the edits are done and my book baby has been published! Rachel and Daiyu are finally here for y'all to meet! I'm ordering my own copies now (and will definitely update y'all with photos when they arrive, especially now that I can get a photo with BOTH of my books), but for now, I just wanted to give y'all the link so you can check it out. I'm going to put the blurb below to those who are confused as to what this might be!

Amazon.com: This Rotten Work: 9798879537734: Jenkins, Kenna: Books

The moment Chosen One Rachel Barsky finally kills her magical high school’s evil Headmaster, she’s out. No pressure, no politics, and certainly no more death tournaments for her. She ditches the Magical Realm for a far more chill Normie community college with her two best friends, determined to finally get some blessed peace and quiet—maybe even a good nap. It’s what she deserves after giving up her teenage years to a prophecy that nearly killed her more times than she can count.

But of course Rachel can’t catch a break. Her first day of classes, tragedy arrives on campus in the form of Daiyu Nightbane, Rachel’s archrival and the annoyingly attractive daughter of the now-dead Headmaster. Daiyu’s acting suspiciously normal, Rachel is pissed, and her friends are preaching forgiveness and peace. What gives?

Rachel expects to have to grit her teeth and soldier through the annoyance of her rival haunting her early retirement, but she quickly learns that expectations are never made to last. After an explosive duel that ends up with one of them knocked off of their feet, Rachel is forced to see a kinder side of Daiyu than she ever glimpsed during high school.

Over a school year filled with Shakespeare, lightning magic, and quite a lot of kosher BBQ, Rachel finds herself toppling head-over-heels into an unlikely romance with her rival while she struggles with nightmares, grief, and lingering questions from her high school years. Is it possible to finally make a life for herself? Can the Chosen One really have a happy ending with the golden girl that ruled the school?

---

And to all those who have been following this saga (or liked my fics with similar premises/themes), I think I've managed to gather all of your usernames here for the official publishing!

[yeonjune]

Yeonjun about the strain he felt while preparing for his debut solo project ✙ "GGUM" MAKING FILM

[gorgynei]

the inherent homoeroticism of carrying someone across the continent when doing so is actively dangerous to your health

[rottenapplefae]

smiley kit and jade

[bugmeeku]

I think I haven’t drawn them in decades

Me irl