dragoneggos

i’m finally able to share my COBB 2023 piece!!

it’s a beauty and the beast retelling, that i absolutely cannot wait to post the entirety of! 

thanks for the tag @forabeatofadrum !! i!! have!! been!! writing!!!!! so i finally feel like i have something to share this week. once again from my cobb fic, which i am just so so excited to share with you all.

I babble on into silence, as Baz neither stops me nor interrupts me. He doesn’t say anything for a long time, and I trace back through my speech, wondering what it is I said this time to fuck things up. He lets out a long breath, before finally asking, in a tight voice, “Why are you doing this, Snow?” “Doing what?” I cock my head at him, trying to read his unreadable expression. “Doing this.” He waves his hand about in a way that tells me absolutely nothing, but I expect is supposed to tell me a whole lot. “Trying to be all—friendly with me.” It’s my turn to stare at him for a moment, wondering if he’s actually being serious.

a happy birthday simon snow!! i’m going to make scones for him later--happy solstice to everyone!

thanks for the tag @shrekgogurt !!

it’s been so long since i’ve had something to share, but my exams finish for the year next week, so i’ve been writing a little more in procrastination. hopefully i can get a lot more written over the summer--i miss it!!

but here’s a little bit from my cobb fic! i’ve been working on it for months and i’m really excited to share it :))

“I could teach you. If you like.” He says it quietly, his tone still wild with distaste, as if even the thought of offering this makes him sick.

“I don’t want anything from you.”

He rolls his eyes, as if I’m being particularly difficult. “In all likelihood, Snow, you’re going to be stuck here a long time. You might as well make use of all the time indoors.”

I don’t get him. I don’t get what he gets out of offering this.

if you liked my cobb last year i’m hoping you’ll like this year’s too ;))

my first sss in forever and ever!!! thanks for the tag @forabeatofadrum and for everyone who’s kept tagging me theses last few weeks :,)) <3333

now cobb matches have been made, here’s my first little sneak peek into what i’ve been working on (i’m so excited about it!)

“Oh, Merlin, what do we have here?” A voice, a female one, flutters somewhere behind me. It doesn’t sound particularly malicious. Maybe exasperated? Maybe I’m stalling. I turn around slowly, my sword still held out in front of me.

so excited to share this

HEY

i feel like it’s been forever since i posted (it’s only been since countdown, but that feels like forever ago now) and i am imploring people to send me fic requests !!!

the only real wip i have atm is my cobb piece, which i’m super excited about but obviously won’t be up for posting until the summer

if there are any fics or tropes or anything at all people want to see, pls pls send them to my ask box, because i want to write desperately, but i also do not know *what* to write

i did this last year, and was reminded by @annabellelux on the discord that it was that time of the year again!

last year’s top 10

i read a total of 123 books this year, but here are my top 10--once again in no real order, because i’m way too indecisive for that

10. Love on the Brain

(and also The Love Hypothesis.) honestly Ali Hazelwood had me in a chokehold this year and i’m not complaining. love love love

9. All That’s Left in the World

WHY DON’T MORE PEOPLE RAVE ABOUT THIS BOOK genuinely so so good. perfect queer apocalyptic romance goodness.

8. Infamous

(and Reputation--i read both this year). Lex Croucher is a god. truly i couldn’t put either of them down until i’d finished them. i am counting the HOURS until gwen and art.

7. The Charm Offensive

this one was really really important to me. the rep in this was so perfect and exactly what i needed. demisexual and ocd? it was so important. i’m also so glad i got a chance to tell Alison Cochrun that this year, because i genuinely could not be more thankful this book exists. (again, also loved Kiss Her Once For Me--and it’s still the holidays, right? give it a read!!)

6. This is All: The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn

i was given this by a colleague this year, and it wasn’t something i’d ever heard of, but god did it change my life. one of the few times i’ve felt truly seen by a book--it felt like some of it was literally lifted from my own head.

5. When I See Blue

this is middle grade, but also i think the best ocd rep i’ve ever seen in a book. it’s the book i wish i’d had growing up, and i’m so glad exists now.

4. In Deeper Waters

i expected it to be So This is Ever After that would steal the show this year, but while i liked it, it was this one that truly captured my heart. just some really lovely, lovely romance. and merman/prince?! perfect (i wish there was more fic for it)

3. Boyfriend Material

HOW did it take me so long to read this?!?! i think we all know how incredible Alexis Hall is, but god i didn’t leave my house for days because i had to read this and the sequel

2. I’m Glad My Mom Died

obviously a completely different tone to the rest of this list, but i couldn’t not include it. Jennette McCurdy did such a wonderful, heartbreaking job with this.

1. The Cruel Prince

really, the whole of TFOTA i loved them ALL. absolutely exactly what i was craving when i was craving it, i cannot WAIT for The Stolen Heir.

a strong year!! especially for rep for me--i’m so grateful these book exist. some of them truly got me through the year <3333

it’s been one whole year since i used @captain-aralias questions, so i thought it would be a fun way to wrap up again this year!!

My Fics From 2022:

-   a little bit of you, a little bit of me- Teen, 2k

-   lay down and cry- Teen, 4k

-   keep you safe like a secret- Teen, 5k

-   a world of laughter- Teen, 13k

-   we own the night- General, 9k

-   what once was mine- Teen, 6k

-   to love means to lose- Teen, 2k

-   since we’ve no place to go- Teen, 30k

all but one are teen again! 😂 maybe one day i’ll write something classed as M lol!

8 fics total this year, with 72,226 words altogether!!

Best/Worst Title?

i still really like ‘keep you safe like a secret’, because i do think it perfectly encapsulates the fic (for once!). i do also have a soft spot for my coc title again, mostly just because i was referencing my coc fic from last year, and i really like that they fit together like that <3

worst is probably ‘a little bit of you, a little bit of me,’ because while i like it for the frozen reference, it probably doesn’t fit the fic massively well, looking back.

Best/Worst Summary?

best i think is ‘what once was mine’--i still really like the quote i used, and i’m still really happy with how i centred it around the prompt.

worst is maybe ‘lay down and cry’? idk, she’s not very well loved, and i often wonder if that’s because of the vague description.

Best/Worst First Line?

best i’m gonna go for ‘what once was mine’ again:

“Oh for fuck’s sake—Baz, it’s happened again!”

i’m really happy generally with how that fic starts, i think it might be one of my favourite opening paragraphs i’ve written.

worst i’m gonna go for ‘a world of laughter’, just because i think it’s a bit boring compared with some of the others, but tbh i’m not overly mad about it

It’s a hot summer’s day in early June, when Penny invites us all over to her flat.

Best/Worst Last Line?

oh i have to go with ‘we own the night’ for the best. i’m still so happy with it:

I fall asleep in his arms, and when I wake up, Simon Snow is still here.

worst i’m gonna say is ‘lay down and cry’ because looking at it i just think it’s too clunky still, and i just don’t really like it:

And for the first time since I turned five, I take a breath, and let myself actually have a birthday.

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

probably less! i wrote a LOT more last year, and i’m trying not to beat myself up for not achieving the same numbers this year, but i think honestly with awtwb releasing last year, and it being my first full year as a fic writer, this year was always going to be a bit less word count wise! i’m still happy with what i have written though, i just hope i can keep up the momentum!

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?

i wrote a lot more different povs this year than i expected!! Ebb pov, Lucy pov, Natasha pov, the Mage pov--it was a year of firsts for my povs!

i also think generally i wrote a lot more on side ships--it might not look like it from first glance, but my coc fic ended up with a LOT more side ships than i’d originally planned for it.

What’s your favourite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

easily easily easily my cobb fic, ‘we own the night’. i genuinely still think it’s the best thing i’ve ever written, and if people were to read just one of my fics ever, i’d want it to be that one.

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

it’s ‘keep you safe like a secret’, currently at 313 kudos! which honestly i get, it’s probably the fic i’d most like to read too.

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

again gonna shout about ‘we own the night’!!! i didn’t expect it to get too many hits, but i still wish more people would give it a chance!

otherwise, ‘to love means to lose’ got the least love this year, which surprised me, because it was one of the only pieces of post-canon i wrote this year. it is pretty sad though, but i put a lot of emotion into it.

Story that could’ve been better?

i think ‘a little bit of you, a little bit of me’ suffers a lot from the fact it was the first fic i wrote post-coc last year, and i think it shows. i think it has some nice moments, but i also don’t think it’s everything i wanted it to be.

Saddest story?

oh definitely, ‘to love means to lose’ which almost had me sobbing by the end.

Most fun?

maybe ‘a world of laughter’? i mean it is my disneyland fic--it was a lot of fun to write!

Story with the single sweetest moment?

there’s a lot of soft fluff i love in my coc fic this year, but i couldn’t possibly choose between all of it. so instead i’m going with this moment from ‘a world of laughter’:

The surety in his voice, the prepared tone. I think I fall more and more in love with Simon every day. Each time I think I’ve reached a ceiling, I discover more and more room. I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving him more.

I think love is simply infinite and immeasurable.

Hardest story to write?

oh again, easily my cobb fic, ‘we own the night’. i spent six months editing and re-editing that fic, and i still think i could go at it again, and it’s not even 10k words.

Easiest/most fun story to write?

‘to love means to lose’ was by no means fun, but it was the first time a fic came to me pretty much fully formed. i was standing outside my 9am lecture frantically trying to get it all down in my notes app.

actually fun was probably my coc fic--it was a lot, but those prompts are always fun, especially since i was an admin ;)

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

maybe?? i think i like writing brobelove a lot more, now that i wrote them getting together in my coc fic. i think the more agatha i write, the more i fall in love with her. she was probably my least favourite character when i first read CO, but i fall more and more in love with her the more fic i write.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

i wrote a lot more aus and i am having a blast with them. specifically, my fairytale type aus! i loved my promptfest entry and i hope i write more like it in the future!!

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

just to keep writing!!

i’m still having a blast, but like i said, i’m writing less. i want to participate in more events next year--i did three this year (cobb, prompt fest, and coc), but i’d love to do some different ones next year. (maybe cotta?? ;))

but otherwise, just keep having fun!!!

and with that, COC 2022 is over!!!

this has been such a special countdown to me, and i’ve loved absolutely every moment of it, and i’m so proud of everything we’ve created over these past 30 days.

happy holidays everyone!! 🎄

@carryon-countdown day 29 is here!!

@carryon-countdown day 28 is here!!

@carryon-countdown day 27 is here!!

@carryon-countdown day 26 is here!!

@carryon-countdown day 25 is here!!